All in Love
One way we become free of ourselves is through praise. True worship recognizes that
God’s character, not our preferences, is the center of worship. Miller writes, “There is a
key difference between the worship of God and superficial distractions. One is an
escape; the other is a return.” Rather than neglecting ourselves, she encourages us to
redirect our focus outward—to God and to others.
These walls of bitterness, unforgiveness, anger, withdrawal... may have given you a false sense of security, peace, or even justice. Yet, these walls have no place in the lives of believers. Have you tried to tear down a divisive wall in your own strength? Perhaps you’ve discovered that a well-fortified, long-standing wall is extremely difficult to remove.
As I looked in the mirror it hit me that hair or no hair, I was still God’s beautiful creation. I am more than just my hair. I am an heir to the Kingdom. God will be faithful to me regardless. I bought the wig. It sits on a chair in my bedroom. It is a reminder of God’s love for me and that I am not defined by my hair. He wants me to feel good about myself. As my hair in my brush accumulates, the wig is becoming more of a reality. But I know that God is with me every step of the way holding my hand. Hair or no hair, He loves us!
By the end of May the Covid threat was lessening, so when aunt ‘Chelle called to recruit blueberry pickers, grandson #3 and I jumped at the chance. It was a gorgeous day. Didn’t matter that we had to drive twenty minutes. Didn’t matter that they had to take our temperature. We were free, our masks were off, and the blueberries were plentiful. Armed with the secret to efficiency—attach your pail to your belt so you can use both hands—we found a row to ourselves.
A young mother raised in a culture hostile to Christianity shared a joyful experience with me. After discovering the love of God through Jesus Christ, she immediately noticed how the sky glistened with a deep blue and the leaves on trees reflected various shades of green!
Accompanying a friend to a conference on domestic violence introduced me to the impact of traumatic experiences on children. A child’s brain rapidly forms during those earliest years and the unprocessed emotions of the trauma become hard-wired into their brains and creates a template for viewing life as adults.
Once the certainty of the resurrection of Christ is established in your mind and you have called on the name of the Lord: if you confess with your mouth “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved (Romans 10:9,13)—how then do you live?
Have you ever felt that regardless how much you do to please that significant person, it will never be enough? No matter how hard you try, you’ll never measure up to his expectations? Has the dream of love from your younger years been shattered?
I am a very sentimental person. One item that is very dear to me is a Raggedy Ann doll. It was a birthday present from my dad when I turned four. I loved Raggedy Ann as a child. My room even had Raggedy Ann drapes, until I got too cool for the drapes. But not the doll.
Growing up with a "short fuse" on my dad's Scotch-Irish side, I quickly learned to blame my quick temper on my family background. For a long time, it was my easy excuse. But eventually, a deeper conviction set in: this wasn't just genetics; it was impatience and anger, plain and simple.
What neighborhood do you live in? Where do you work? Who do you live with? Where do you shop? Who do you often pass by without even noticing?
Jesus’ focus from the beginning of His ministry was that direct. The people were loving the healing miracles; whereas, telling as many as He could the good news of the kingdom was why He was sent.
Remember our definition of a parable: “an illustrative story that compares or contrasts an earthly reality with a spiritual truth.”* I am intrigued as Jennifer Kennedy Dean** describes the Incarnation as the “lived-out parable” of the love of God. After all, Jesus was not only with God in the beginning; He was God. And with His birth, life, and death among us He would illustrate the spiritual truth of God’s love. A parable “puts flesh on the eternal truth so we can see it.”**
Jesus’ urgency to reveal the secrets of the kingdom to those who believe was prefaced by a connection on a personal level with His true followers. His prayer to the Father for the “little children”—those humbly open to truth—is underlined with love for them: “Yes, Father, for this was your good pleasure” (11:25-26).
Forty years had passed, A second census was ordered by the LORD (26:2), only this time it was for a new generation to enter the Promised Land (plus Caleb and Joshua, 26:65). The gravity of unbelief had been enormous.
God’s love varies greatly from human love, which is often conditional and fickle. His love endures forever (Psalm 107:1). It is unchanging despite our actions.
God’s Word—how heavenly! When we open the Bible, His scriptures go straight to our hearts and wrap around them. The meaning permeates our whole being.
I think I finally got it! How could it have taken so long? While reading through Paul’s first letter to the Corinthian believers, I came to the familiar chapter on love, so familiar that I decided to skip straight to the next chapter. The Holy Spirit must have prompted me to stop and read through the famous ‘love chapter’ for the umpteenth time. That’s when I finally got it—love never ends!
When caught in uncomfortable and painful circumstances, it can feel like they last forever. We tend to pray, “God, if You hear me, fix the problem, fix the other person, get me out of the mess I’m in!” “Now, please.”
My life story is being rewritten by the one true God, who is, always has been, and always will be—Creator of the universe.
