Category: love

Posted on

Not Again

Not again. Not again. Another mass shooting. Another community in pain, in shock and horror. Families grieving the loss of loved ones. Amid the trauma, stories of those who sounded the alarm, came to the rescue, schools and organizations locked down, and those who ran for cover. Again this nation faces another tragedy due to gun violence.  Dr. Janis Orlowski, Chief Medical Officer stated, “I would like to be out of a job. I would like my team use their skills repairing injuries, but not those caused by bullets [paraphrased].”

Here we are again, as if Sandy Hook did not happen. There was evil present in Sandy Hook, Columbine, and in the Naval Yard, and as I watched the reports in sorrow, there were other reports of the evil;  a young girl killed herself because she was being bullied, an officer killed an unarmed young man, and a young man shot and killed a baby.  Whether it is a mass shooting, or a report of death or destruction, it is clear the evil that so easily beset us is around us.  And yet in the midst of this pain and suffering, this is the day that the Lord has made, and we must show that good does triumph over the darkness.

Recently, I met a woman who started a conversation with me because I smiled at her.  She chatted about different states she had lived where some people weren’t so nice.  With a twinkle in her eye, we exchanged tidbits about families, travels, jobs and race relations.  In a moment, I became a marker for her.   Markers are important because they defined us, and although invisible they tell the world who we are, and what we hold dear.  Markers are the spiritual imprints of love, joy, peace, diligence, patience, and understanding.  They are the byproducts of our relationship with God, and time spent in His presence.  As we spend time seeking God and His will for our lives, we become a powerful marker for a world riddled with the pain of evil.  Our markers must be brighter and stronger than the slings and the fiery darts of the enemy.  Our markers must be places of refuge and love covering and conquering the darkness. These markers proclaim the amazing truth that Jesus loves us, and He won the war.  So, let us turn the Not again, into Yet we win.

O’ Lord, help me to be a marker for some poor soul who is lost, afraid, and alone in the darkness.  Guide me towards and not away from those needing the touch of the Master. Because I know in the end we win.  Amen.

Posted on

A Morning Thought

mountain-and-trees-394910-sw

I’m reading from the book “The Daybook of Grace” and today’s meditation comes from 1 Thessalonians 5:8;
“But since we belong to the day, let us be self-controlled, putting on faith and love as a breastplate, and the hope of salvation as a helmet.”
Put on the whole armor of God is a divine directive. God’s armor defeats the enemy; for we wrestle not against people, but against spiritual wickedness in high places. But nothing out there can defeat us, because of our position as “more than conquerors” through Christ our Lord and Savior. So no obstacle, circumstance, economic shift, or disaster – nothing can bring us down because of His amazing love and power.
So fully armed yourselves by being self-controlled, and clothed in faith, love and hope. Christ has done his part. He has provided everything needed for the day. And we can rest in the blessed assurance of His magnificent power and love for us. Thomas Brooks once wrote, “God hath in Himself all power to defend you, all wisdom to direct you, all mercy to pardon you, all grace to enrich you, all righteousness to clothe you, all goodness to supply you, and all happiness to crown you.” Out of heaven’s storehouse receive these precious and powerful gifts for this day.

Posted on

Reflections

Forty five years ago today, God presented me with an enormous assignment, that of mother to a beautiful daughter.
Becoming a parent launches you into the mysteries of life, love and living unlike any other role. At every stage you learn so many things about yourself, your own parents and God. And with each lesson learned you give way to the most precious of all things-love.
As I think about my daughter, and the years I’ve been granted, I thank you God for allowing me the privilege and honor of being her mother.
Happy Birthday Coquese. I am proud to be your mother.

Posted on

Forgiveness and Love

“Forgiveness is the key that unlocks the door of resentment and the handcuffs of hate.  It is a power that breaks the chains of bitterness and the shackles of selfishness.” 

William Arthur Ward.

Forgiveness is created in the priceless love that never fails.  We can’t truly forgive unless we decide to love.  Love heals the broken-hearted and repairs the damage and unlocks the  door to forgiveness.

“If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. 3 If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast,but do not have love, I gain nothing.

4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

8 Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. 9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10 but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears. 11 When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me. 12 For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.

13 And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.  1 Corinthians 13 [NIV]

Spread a little love today, and then take the key of forgiveness to that closed door.  You’ll find it’s been opened.

Posted on

What Are You Prepared to Do?

 “The Lord is with you when you are with Him.

If you seek Him, he will be found by you, but if you forsake him, he will forsake you.” 2 Chronicles 15:2 b (NIV)

What are you prepared to do?  What are you prepared to do to seek God?  What are you prepared to do to honor and love Him?  What are you prepared to do to gain Christ?  The journey to seek and find God can be an easy or perilous one.   We were designed for the task, and the very best markers were left to guide our paths.   But the real question is, what are you prepared to do?

Scripture said if we seek him, we shall find him.  That if is a huge marker that indicates some action on our part.  We must initiate the seeking.  God is already there waiting for us to discover Him, but it is up to us to do so.  Seeking Him means taking part in the process. When you want something bad enough, you will rally your resources to get the intended object.  If we really want to find God, we will do everything within our power to seek Him out.

Seeking also means serving Him.   Service, when done out of love and deep appreciation for what He did for us, becomes a glorious journey of discovery and experiencing God.   Along the way, you discover why God gave us His very, very best His Son, Christ our blessed redeemer.  The process of seeking also reveals the real purpose for which we were created.   The seeking creates windows of opportunity for the expression of God’s goodness and mercy through service.  And as we serve, our lives become a beautiful reflection of Christ’s magnificent gift.   We learn that we fulfill the whole law as we serve Him.  We lose nothing, we only gain.  We discover love, joy, peace, understanding, diligence, and beauty.   Life becomes more about Him and less about us.  We undercover the true family, fruitful relationships, abilities, gifts, and talents through the gateway of service in His kingdom.   We taste and see that the Lord is good, and His mercy endures forever.  We find out He will be with us until the end of time.

So, what are you prepared to do?   If you forsake the Lord, and all He has done, then the journey to find fulfillment, and happiness becomes empty, shallow reflections; tainted, worthless idols of fame and fortune.  Our souls become bleached and withered from the years of wandering in the wilderness.   If you forsake Him, you lose all; everything; you lose God.  He will not force it; for this is a voluntary act of gratefulness to find Him who is our all in all.    There is a cost to seeking God.  It may cost everything.  But He reassured,  there is great reward.

What are you prepared to do to find God?

 

Posted on

A Prayer for Peace, Growth, and Recovery

I wanted to share a classic devotional from St. Francis of Assisi from my meditation book, A Daybook of Grace.

“Lord, make me an instrument of your peace. Where there is hatred, let me sow love; Where there is injury, pardon; Where there is doubt, faith; Where there is despair, hope; Where there is darkness, light; Where there is sadness, joy.

O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console; To be understood as to understand; To be loved as to love. For it is in giving that we received. It is in pardoning that we are pardoned. It is in dying that we are born to eternal life.”

May we all aspire to become willing vessels of peace, love and mercy this day.  Amen.

Posted on

Where is the Love?

Let me tell you a story.  Once upon a time there was a little girl whose baby brother was very ill.  The little girl watched as her mother and father cared for the little boy.  They wanted so desperately for the boy to get well. But all their attempts at healing failed.  They tried everything, but no one had the answer.   The little girl loved her baby brother.  She thought she must do something to help.  She remembered a story her grandmother told her about a magical bird, a little blue bird with powers to grant wishes to anyone brave enough to find it.  So off the little girl went in search of the mystical creature.

Where is the love?   The little girl in our story went off to find an object, a mythical creature who she hoped would see heart’s desire, and grant her request to cure her baby brother.   When we arrive on this planet, we are also in search of something, or someone who will see our desires, and grant our wishes, and love us.  We struggle with the not only the object, but along the journey.    We go off looking for it, whatever it is, but our internal GPS is off.  We look for love in all the wrong places.  Our vision is distorted, and convoluted. We’ve gotten lost in the jungle, in the desert, in the wilderness; blinded by illusions, lies, legacies, false dreams, images, hurts, pain, disappointments, and those blinded eyes cannot see the truth. We don’t know where is the love, nor what love really is. 

So, where is the love?

Scripture says love comes from God. 1 John 4: 7.  Love is also everlasting.  Love is divine, heavenly, it never fails.  Love is patient, kind; it is not proud or boastful.  Love is wonderous, miraculous, and we were born out of love, so we are both beloved and love.  Now, when I say we are love, and beloved, many of you were probably immediately turned off.  No, not me.  I’m not lovely, I’m not lovable,  I have never really, really been loved.  My father, mother, sisters, brothers, husband, wife; they didn’t love me.  Oh, they said they did, but they didn’t.  If they had loved, they would have___.  If they had, they would have shown me that I was beloved.  Or how can I be beloved when I_______?  Just look at me!  I’ve done so many horrible things.  I don’t know who I am.  I’m all messed up.  No one really loves me.

Beloved is a powerful word.  The mere speaking of it does something to our heart, mind, and soul.  When we first experience what we feel is love, our whole being changes.  Our soul hungers for it.  It becomes a drug.  Once we’ve tasted it, we want more.  But that kind of love is not love as God defines it.    So, where is the love?

“The Lord appeared to us in the past saying: “I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with unfailing kindness. Jeremiah 31:3 NIV

Love is a song of life, hope and deliverance.  It is a clear, sweet heart song like none other. And it is special and different to each of us.  We received it at the moment of conception.  God told the angels look at this one, look how marvelous he is, she is.  They will bring something the world has never known.   How beautiful they are?  Look at them, my son, my daughter.  Look at the love.  See how they shine, sparkle;  My children; My crowning achievement.  I made them in my image;  My beloved.   We heard the voice of love right in the very heart of our DNA.  It was a song that said yes to Him who is love.   It is one of recognition, and angels rejoiced at our new birth, because another song of love filled the earth, another soul bringing glory to Father.  Our yes becomes His symphony, and our combined voices fill the atmosphere with love songs to Him, and those needing to find their love songs.

It is love that creates and heals.  It is love that builds, restores, and gives. It is love which endures all things, and demonstrates courage in the midst of the storms.  It is love that makes a home, and a community. It corrects injustice, and sacrifices.  It is a  song one hears that the soul longs for; it is the melody of life – a sweet harmony experienced when we embrace Him.  When we remember He is love, and His very essence, character is divine love, we are complete.  It is astonishing, magnificent, majestic, saving love.  Beloved, when we get the message of Jesus, that He (God) so loved the whole world that He gave us love wrapped up in Christ, then we see, feel and know we are beloved.  And God’s eyes sparkle, and He smiles when we discovered we are loved by Him.  Fully loved.

Say yes to His love, for he created us; you and me out of heavenly love. Remember our love song, our true song, and refuse to allow yourself to become dull, blurred and seared by the world anymore. No more running around to and fro. Cease the frenzy pace.  Stop, because we are no longer seeking the answer to the question where’s the love. The answer was given to each of us; a prime directive from the God Creator of all.   The real question is, does the world see it?   Does it see the love of Christ in you and me?  When you look at me, and I look at me, do we see love?   Are we reflecting the answer to the question, where is the love? Our lives must reflect the love.  Fully aware, transmit love to the world as He did, and does.   Tell the world, He loves with an everlasting love.  Tell them, we are from God, and whoever knows God must hear the voice of love, because we have been born of God’s love.   Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God.  No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us. 1 John 4: 6, 11 [paraphrased].  The world needs to hear the strings of God’s love.  They desperately need to see your belief that you are love, and beloved of God.  It is through us they hear their own love song –  the divine plan of salvation.

So, the answer to the question,where is the love is inside of each of us. It is you.  It is me.  It’s Christ.  Together, we are the answer to question.

O, the little girl in the story, did she ever find the little blue bird?  She discovered, as we all do it where it was.  Right within her.

Today, before another thought of what I have to do; before you begin that internal self talk about this is nothing, or it is not for me, before another moment passes and you say no, come and say yes to love.  Answer the question, where is the love?

 

 

Posted on

Joy’s Fountain

A Classic Devotional from D.L. Moody

“Happiness is caused by things that happen around me, and circumstances will mar it; but joy flows right on through trouble; joy flows on through the dark; joy flows in the night as well as in the day; joy flows all through persecution and opposition.  It is an unceasing fountain bubbling up in the hearts; a secret spring the world can’t see and doesn’t know anything about. The Lord gives his people perpetual joy when they walk in obedience to him.

Joy is love exalted peace; peace is love in repose; long-suffering is love enduring; gentleness is love in society; goodness is love in action; faith is love on the battlefield; meekness is love in school; and temperance is love in training.  The world does not understand theology or dogma, but it understands love and sympathy.”

God, thank you for the joy that transcends all situations, problems, conditions.  Help me this day Lord to walk more closely with you, and be a Joy foundation filling up all those empty vessels with Your everlasting joy.  Amen

Posted on

Loving Eyes

Yesterday, as we prepared to leave to attend our uncle’s funeral, I thought about how we look at each other.  Although we are made in the image of God, we look at each other differently.  There are eyes of compassion, love, judgment, joy, sorrow, pain, celebration, and yes even hate.

Press the pause button for a moment, and recall someone special in your life.  Maybe it is your mother, father, grandparent, spouse, friend, or a child.  Bring that person into your mind’s eye.  What and how do you feel?  Are you smiling, right now?  Does the very thought of that person brings joy to your heart?   When we look at these special individuals, we look at them with loving eyes.    My uncle looked at me with loving eyes.  I knew his look.  It was a look of acceptance and appreciation.  I was valued, and important to him.   Everything about me was okay, and in return I looked at him with loving eyes.

Our Lord looks at us with the most indescribable loving eyes.  Everything about us at divine levels we can’t even imagine is filtered with love.  He looks at you and me with eyes of love – smiling eyes, hopeful eyes-grace filled eyes.  Only His loving eyes could look at us and say yes I will go to Calvary. [John 3:16] Only His loving eyes could see our sins, and love us anyway. 1 John 4:8 “God is love.”  Only Jesus could look at us, and despite our mistakes, flaws, challenges, see the beauty of our destiny with Him.  Jesus loving eyes looks at us daily, and sees God the Father’s crowning achievement in creation with love and compassion.  [Proverbs 10:12 (b) “…love covers all sins.” NKJV.]  What a glorious thing it is to know our Savior looks at us with those loving eyes.

I challenge you to look at others with the loving eyes of Jesus.  It is our role as His ambassadors to demonstrate His love to this hurting world. They need to see His loving eyes through us.  So look at someone with His loving eyes, and let them experience being appreciated, and accepted and loved.

Posted on

The Game-Postscript

In my last post I incorrectly quoted from the movie Pollyanna.  The inscription on her necklace was “If you look for the bad in people you shall surely find it”, Abraham Lincoln.    The major theme of the movie was to look for the good, not the bad.  Whatever you look for in people, you will see it.

Philippians 4: 8 [KJV]  Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.   Form an opinion of those things which heighten, elevate us and those around us.   People need to see the true, see integrity, see justice, purity, beauty, and the good.  They need to see they are made in the image of God.

The moment we behold [with our soul] as with the clear light of Christ, we are transformed, and so is our world.   Light removes the darkness.  It penetrates the heart and spirit, and take us to the sacred place of forgiveness and love.

Your good eyes shining on the poor soul who has lost their way will be like a drop of water in the dry desert.  Let resolve ourselves to see the good, and share the Good News today.