A Few Years
John writes in 1John 1, in the first few verses, that he is writing so that his (along with the other disciples and even the readers) joy may be complete. There is some full circle that is reached when we share about God’s glory and love and faithfulness… That is why I write this morning. I am filled with joy, and I write so that this joy may be made complete.
This morning I was reflecting over the past year of my life…and then the past 2 years. I did what I often end up doing; I pulled out the old journals- such a wonderful resource, and I found a few things that I just truly feel compelled to share for God’s glory. John and the other disciples wrote proclaiming about having actually seen and touched the Word of God sent into the world. Well, I have not physically touched Jesus Christ, but I too write to share about how I have touched in a spiritual way and felt in a spiritual way and met my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. And the past two years hold some testimony of it. I don’t proclaim complete theological perfection in this testimony; nor do I desire to debate it with you- I want to share revelations Jesus PUT in me and pressed into me…squeezed into me like squeezing juice from grapes in the winepress.
May 10th, 2007 What God has taught me about LOVE this past year:
1. It is not a feeling
2. If I’m not actively loving God, I wont’ be able to love others- love is from God, and it’s cultivated by/in God.
3. All the love we need comes from God! We are told to love others but not to bask in that they love us. Love from others will NOT ever satisfy or complete me. It isn’t what defines me either.
4. At the heart of love is self-sacrifice! It is self-denial.
5. Love does not concern itself whether it is loved back. It just loves. And, it doesn’t desire a person to hurt!
6. Love forgives! AND love forgets!
7. It doesn’t leave you vulnerable IF your heart is secured in Jesus Christ
8. Real love for someone comes from God and is fostered when the lover is in relationship with God…NOT the object of someone’s love.
9. Love does what is good for a person.
10. God loves me because of Christ…because Christ dies…this is too much for me to get…but it is also why I can love.
11. Lastly, love requires death.
May 11th, 2008
The knowledge that God love me to the uttermost, putting aside his natural affinities and own well being sends me out into the world to love others, this ALONE! And, love is maintained by discipline…
Love suffereth LONG. The Lord suffereth long. The holy ghost sheds love in my heart, the love of Christ in my heart. Romans 5.
May 13th, 2008
When I can’t…. “there is hope when my faith runs out…I’m in better hands now.” –Natalie Grant
I wish I could tell you all what God has done in simply two years- and by ‘done’ I do not mean simply in physical circumstance. I really don’t mean that much at all…I ‘mean’ what God has done in my mind…my heart…my soul. How He has changed me…my paradigms…fears….faith….There truly is hope for those who find there inside in shambles, battered and bruised…who look into a mirror and see a past of scars and insurmountable mountains. And truly, more than so many things, I see through these journals that God prepares us every second for the next and never brings us to anything that He has not equipped us THROUGH Himself to conquer. Praise Jesus.
May 5, 2009
“this is how God showed his love among us; He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through Him.” 1John 4:9….live not only eternally…but now- that we might LIVE in the present…be able to live…be able to love…through Him.
Beloved, let us love one another; for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God…..Non one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us, and his love is perfected in us. 1John 4:7-12- various verses.
Through the perfection of this love…we see God. wow
This morning I was reflecting over the past year of my life…and then the past 2 years. I did what I often end up doing; I pulled out the old journals- such a wonderful resource, and I found a few things that I just truly feel compelled to share for God’s glory. John and the other disciples wrote proclaiming about having actually seen and touched the Word of God sent into the world. Well, I have not physically touched Jesus Christ, but I too write to share about how I have touched in a spiritual way and felt in a spiritual way and met my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. And the past two years hold some testimony of it. I don’t proclaim complete theological perfection in this testimony; nor do I desire to debate it with you- I want to share revelations Jesus PUT in me and pressed into me…squeezed into me like squeezing juice from grapes in the winepress.
May 10th, 2007 What God has taught me about LOVE this past year:
1. It is not a feeling
2. If I’m not actively loving God, I wont’ be able to love others- love is from God, and it’s cultivated by/in God.
3. All the love we need comes from God! We are told to love others but not to bask in that they love us. Love from others will NOT ever satisfy or complete me. It isn’t what defines me either.
4. At the heart of love is self-sacrifice! It is self-denial.
5. Love does not concern itself whether it is loved back. It just loves. And, it doesn’t desire a person to hurt!
6. Love forgives! AND love forgets!
7. It doesn’t leave you vulnerable IF your heart is secured in Jesus Christ
8. Real love for someone comes from God and is fostered when the lover is in relationship with God…NOT the object of someone’s love.
9. Love does what is good for a person.
10. God loves me because of Christ…because Christ dies…this is too much for me to get…but it is also why I can love.
11. Lastly, love requires death.
May 11th, 2008
The knowledge that God love me to the uttermost, putting aside his natural affinities and own well being sends me out into the world to love others, this ALONE! And, love is maintained by discipline…
Love suffereth LONG. The Lord suffereth long. The holy ghost sheds love in my heart, the love of Christ in my heart. Romans 5.
May 13th, 2008
When I can’t…. “there is hope when my faith runs out…I’m in better hands now.” –Natalie Grant
I wish I could tell you all what God has done in simply two years- and by ‘done’ I do not mean simply in physical circumstance. I really don’t mean that much at all…I ‘mean’ what God has done in my mind…my heart…my soul. How He has changed me…my paradigms…fears….faith….There truly is hope for those who find there inside in shambles, battered and bruised…who look into a mirror and see a past of scars and insurmountable mountains. And truly, more than so many things, I see through these journals that God prepares us every second for the next and never brings us to anything that He has not equipped us THROUGH Himself to conquer. Praise Jesus.
May 5, 2009
“this is how God showed his love among us; He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through Him.” 1John 4:9….live not only eternally…but now- that we might LIVE in the present…be able to live…be able to love…through Him.
Beloved, let us love one another; for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God…..Non one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us, and his love is perfected in us. 1John 4:7-12- various verses.
Through the perfection of this love…we see God. wow
Comments