God is Love

1 John 4:7-21The Message (MSG)

God Is Love

7-10 My beloved friends, let us continue to love each other since love comes from God. Everyone who loves is born of God and experiences a relationship with God. The person who refuses to love doesn’t know the first thing about God, because God is love—so you can’t know him if you don’t love. This is how God showed his love for us: God sent his only Son into the world so we might live through him. This is the kind of love we are talking about—not that we once upon a time loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to clear away our sins and the damage they’ve done to our relationship with God.

11-12 My dear, dear friends, if God loved us like this, we certainly ought to love each other. No one has seen God, ever. But if we love one another, God dwells deeply within us, and his love becomes complete in us—perfect love!

13-16 This is how we know we’re living steadily and deeply in him, and he in us: He’s given us life from his life, from his very own Spirit. Also, we’ve seen for ourselves and continue to state openly that the Father sent his Son as Savior of the world. Everyone who confesses that Jesus is God’s Son participates continuously in an intimate relationship with God. We know it so well, we’ve embraced it heart and soul, this love that comes from God.

To Love, to Be Loved

17-18 God is love. When we take up permanent residence in a life of love, we live in God and God lives in us. This way, love has the run of the house, becomes at home and mature in us, so that we’re free of worry on Judgment Day—our standing in the world is identical with Christ’s. There is no room in love for fear. Well-formed love banishes fear. Since fear is crippling, a fearful life—fear of death, fear of judgment—is one not yet fully formed in love.

19 We, though, are going to love—love and be loved. First we were loved, now we love. He loved us first.

20-21 If anyone boasts, “I love God,” and goes right on hating his brother or sister, thinking nothing of it, he is a liar. If he won’t love the person he can see, how can he love the God he can’t see? The command we have from Christ is blunt: Loving God includes loving people. You’ve got to love both.

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                 This chapter is God's Love and how we should show it to others. These verses are from "The Message". As I was listening to these verses last night at church and writing them down in a notebook earlier today, I was thinking about how these verses would make good wedding verses and/or sermon. The whole book of 1 John would be good for a wedding because it is all about Love. 
             The verses were all about how our relationship with God should be of intimate Love. So intimate that when we love people they see more of God then they see of us. They show us what Real Love looks like. Real Love is all about the sacrifices that we make in our lives. I mean God gave up His only Son to save us from our sins. Isn't that Love? I also like where it says in the NIV version that God is Love. He is also Life and the Light. That means that we can never really know what Love is because it is vast beyond our measures just like God is and that when we love we are full of life. If we don't love, then we aren't full of life. We are just random people walking the streets. 
              We are God's "Beloved". He even says so in the Bible. We must abide in Him and Him in us when we do love each other. When we believe that we are His Beloved then that helps us abide in Him and then we can live out that Love to other people around us. We don't have to fear anything when we have the Love of God in us. Plus we can have confidence on the day of judgement and any other time because we know God loves us. Having that confidence is a big one for me because when I am reminded that I am His Beloved that also reminds that I can do anything with Him by my side. 
              It reminds me that God won't let me down because He loves me enough to help me. It gives me confidence just to live life most days. It should give me and the rest of you the confidence to share the Goof News but I know that I am still working on that one. There is this saying at the end of the sermon last night that the preacher wanted us to write down so here it is:

"Those who Love God abide in Him. Those who abide in Him Loves well."

           We can't love totally until we are disciples of Love, which means: 

-Total Sanctification 
-Complete Love
-Complete Obedience
-Total Surrender.

           Yes, I will admit I used the notes I took from the sermon last night but most of them were in my words up til the quote and past that. :)

Different Prayers

               It is hard trying to decide what entry I want to write in each weekend but this one has been on my mind and I don't think I have wrote one like this before. I was thinking that I have but I just think I was going to and never did. I feel like God keeps bring this idea back to me so I am finally going to write about it and if I already did then it is just twice as important and that is what God is showing me. Have you ever been praying something for years or months and God told you to change how you were praying? Have you ever prayed something and thought it wasn't working so you changed it but then changed back because you wanted something more? Well, I have and it has changed a lot of things.
                I know I was actually going to do a entry that was called "Praying and Believing" but I deleted it awhile back because I thought I was done with those thoughts but I feel like God has been bring them back to me. I don't want to say much on here because it is mostly personal but I want to get the idea across of how God can change the things or people we care about most and that how we pray for them does matter. I start writing about college and how I prayed during that time of my life. I am a prayer writer big time. During college, I would pray a lot about my life but there were times that I would write a sentence or two about people that I really cared about. It mainly was about keeping them safe or helping them through something.
                But then I got this idea about keeping a prayer journal just for them and their career so I started to do that. The prayers were more about the career then about the person, which was okay at the time but here lately God has been leading me back to praying for the person. It seemed like I was seeing the career more then the person and God wanted me to see the person for the person. Now I am back to praying for that person. It is strange how you can see change when you change prayers like that. I mean God really does focus your attention on what really matters and what you are praying for. I was so into the career that I would try to help and watch everything that was made and so on when I was praying for the career. Now that I am personally praying for just the person, it is different.
                 It just seems more like I am interested in the person as a person and I could care less about the career. To me, being an outsider in all of this, it seems like the person is changing too like prayers are being answered. Not only is that person being changed or seems like it but it also seems like I am being changed because I want to keep up or because I need to keep up. I am not meaning to but it just seems like God knows what I need and He gives that to me. I think God gives me the lessons He does because He wants me to understand and "keep up" with the person that I am praying for. Isn't it true that you can pray better for a person when you know what that person is going through or has been through? When that person is really busy, you don't know what they are going through unless God shows you through Him, right?
                 All of this to say that I am not trying to second guess or be over God. I am saying this to say that God does answer prayers when we believe and trust that He will. God will change people on both ends. That is how people come together, isn't it? I don't need anything but God to help me understand life because nothing else works like God does. When you try other things, they could just make life worse and make you mess up things especially things that you care about. I know when I was on meds. for my anxiety, that is when I prayed for the career and not the person. I don't know if that says anything or not but I did notice that change. Since I started praying for the person, I have noticed myself running to prayer a lot more then to people or even to that person for advice. I turn to God when things start to get confusing or I start feeling a certain way.
               I can share anything with God and that be okay. I will never regret saying things to God that I might regret saying to a person later on in life. Praying for certain things and people can be scary and make us anxious at times but we have to realize that it is for the good. Praying is a way to get close spiritually and some of us might be scared of that but it is needed at times. I don't regret praying for the career and I never will regret it. I mean I still pray for it sometimes but more then often I pray for the person in charge of it because I know it is needed more. I will admit too that I pray for things that the person would never think to pray for because I am looking from an outsider's view with other feelings too.
               It does matter how you pray and what you pray for because God will answer them. He might just answer some of them to show you and ask you, "Is this what you really want or do you what it another way?" I know for me that is what He did and that is why I am now praying for the person a lot more then the career. There is a balance between the two.

Psalm 73-Not Understanding People

       These are just some verses that I found. I was going to write an entry about them but I have had them in my drafts for 2 months. That is why I am just posting them like this. I don't really need to explain every verse that I come across. I just need to have them where I can reach them easily and my blog is a place for that. I will have a lot more entries like this one in the weeks to come because I have maybe 5 or more in my drafts waiting to get published.


Verses 3-8:


"For I envied the proud
    when I saw them prosper despite their wickedness.
4 They seem to live such painless lives;
    their bodies are so healthy and strong.
5 They don’t have troubles like other people;
    they’re not plagued with problems like everyone else.
6 They wear pride like a jeweled necklace
    and clothe themselves with cruelty.
7 These fat cats have everything
    their hearts could ever wish for!
8 They scoff and speak only evil;
    in their pride they seek to crush others."-NTL

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Verses 16-17:


"Still, when I tried to figure it out,
    all I got was a splitting headache . . .
Until I entered the sanctuary of God.
    Then I saw the whole picture:
The slippery road you’ve put them on,
    with a final crash in a ditch of delusions.
In the blink of an eye, disaster!
    A blind curve in the dark, and—nightmare!"-The Message

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Verses 21-26:


"Then I realized that my heart was bitter,
    and I was all torn up inside.
22 I was so foolish and ignorant—
    I must have seemed like a senseless animal to you.
23 Yet I still belong to you;
    you hold my right hand.
24 You guide me with your counsel,
    leading me to a glorious destiny.
25 Whom have I in heaven but you?
    I desire you more than anything on earth.
26 My health may fail, and my spirit may grow weak,
    but God remains the strength of my heart;
    he is mine forever."-NLT

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A Promise From God

Proverbs 29:25English Standard Version (ESV)

25 The fear of man lays a snare,
    but whoever trusts in the Lord is safe.

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Proverbs 29:25New International Version (NIV)

25 Fear of man will prove to be a snare,
    but whoever trusts in the Lord is kept safe.

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            This verse means a lot to me in whatever version you want to take it in. It is the theme of what I have been praying for a lot of people lately. A friend had it in an email that they sent out and it just hit the right spot for me when praying. There are times that I pray that certain people whether family or friends are safe in the Lord. When I say safe, I could mean traveling, health, their attitude, their heart, and much more. I usually end my prayers with "Please keep ____________ safe" and sometimes if I know they are traveling or more exactly what they are doing I add that on to the end. 

              There was one night that I prayed this verse and that was all that the prayer was about or I should say mostly about. Then I said to the Lord, "When I say, Please keep ___________ safe, this is the verse that I want it to mean". It is also one of God's important promises to us and that is what I love about this verse. The last thing after the word "but" is a promise to all believers. It is a promise that "whoever trusts in the Lord is kept safe". That is all you have to do. Trust. Yeah, it is one word but it is harder then that.  The verse give a problem that is in the world and then it gives the solution/promise to that problem afterwards. 

             Snare means this:

"to catch or involve by trickery or wile".

           That means the first part of the verse is scary in a way because other man will try to get us involved in something we shouldn't be involved with or trick us into getting involved. Why do we usually get involved in something of this world because we are fearful of men and not in a good way? We do it because we are scared. We do it because we don't trust that the Lord can do it better. Yet the verse says that if we trust in Him, He will keep us safe. It didn't say that it will be better or the best but it is a way for God to keep us safe. Isn't being safe better then anything else in the world? Especially when it is under God's supervision? 

            I think this would be a good verse to teach our children at a young age and if not them, then especially teenagers because that is when man will try to get into their minds and test things epsically the dangerous things. Can't you see that in today's world. The magazines, the protests, the haters, the music and TV shows even. They are all telling teenagers about the scary things and that it is okay to do them when it isn't. They make the scary things look good when they are not. They don't show the bad sides of the good things because they won't make the sale or they won't get to be the biggest brand out there and so on. 

             Fear of man won't keep you safe like the world says it will. Only the trust that you have in God will keep you safe. That is a promise from God that you can count on for the good and for enterity. 

Gem for God

             The title might be strange and make you think that this is a boring entry but I'm going to try to make it interesting and deep learning one. I came up with wanting to write an entry about rocks because rocks are God's creation and I am also going to write about a memory that I had. I know the memory might not be big right now but one day it will be. I got the idea for an entry while I was looking and rocks and gems at a rock show in Springfield one weekend. It was just my parents and me, which was special in itself. My dad has a thing for rocks or at least he did in college. He wanted to be a person who studied rocks at first but then changed his career later on.
              Now to be honest, I don't know how many of the rocks at the show were truly found by the people selling them because some people did tell us that they brought some rocks from museums and then resold them at shows like the ones I was at. I couldn't help but thinking about these rocks and how they really were before and after. I couldn't help think either how much work it must take to make a gem out of the rocks. I thought I would like to do it but yet I don't want to do all the work that it would take to turn then into gems. It would be rewarding and all but yet all that climbing and digging would get to me really fast.
               As I was looking at all the different rocks and gems, I couldn't help but keep thinking how amazing God's Creation really is. I mean you take a rock that looks like nothing and then tumble it in a big metal thing and out it comes shining and almost looking brand new. Every rock is a surprise and unique in its own way so you would never know how it will turn out. Sometimes the prettiest gem is the most ugly looking rock or hard to find rock. The show really opened up my eyes to what God can do and what He does in a way. As Christians, we keep saying look at how many different flowers and birds and bugs God can make and care about but yet it is the same with rocks. Yet we never think that way.
               There are thousands of colors and shapes of rocks out there in the world. It just goes to show that Creation was not just made but designed by God and that He is in control of it too. You might think I am crazy for this next part but it is true and a lot of people compare the human race with lots of things but never with rocks. We are just like rocks. We are all unique in our own way. Some are sharp. Some are sparkly. Some are dull. Some are smooth. Just like putting the rocks in the tumbler, God works on us the same way. He is pulling and tumbling those bad spots and things out of us to make us unique. He does that, also, to make us shine for Him. I know it is a funny way to look at it but it is true and that is what I was thinking during the show.
              We are each a rock that is being turned into a gem by God. We could think of it has a diamond, moonstone, garnet, rose quartz, turquoise, amethyst, and so on. They all have different shininess to them at different times. Sometimes you even hear how the rives and other bodies of water shape them too because they have been tossed around by the waves and the currents. Yet some gems you can see the beauty of them until they are under a light or wet with water. They each of their own way of showing their beauty to others. Just like people have their own talents and looks to by used by God. It was also hard to chose which ones I wanted to buy for myself and/or a friend. There were just too many that I couldn't pick one so I picked a bag full of different rocks. It was grab bag though so I didn't know what kind of rocks were in there.
             That is like picking friends at times. You don't know what they are like until they really open up to you. Yet they might not be what you thought they were or hope that they were, they were still beautiful in their own way. Like in my bag, I was hoping to get more of gem like rocks but I got more of the natural colored looking rocks that were just shiny but not see through. When I say natural I mean more of the red, brown, black type rocks just looked like they have been polished. They were still pretty, though, just not what I thought they would be. I think I could make at least 3 rock necklaces out of that rock bag. They were that pretty and unique.

All this to say that: "Don't judge a rock or person by what is on the outside because you never know what is on the inside and how hard it was for them to get where they are today."

Friendship with God-Part 2

Birthmarks of Love

-1 John 3:10-ESV

              - "10 By this it is evident who are the children of God, and who are the children of the devil: whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is the one who does not love his brother."

-God is Love.

-Love is the fruit of salvation.
 
           -1 John 3:11, 14- ESV  

                    -"11 For this is the message that you have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another."

                   -"14 We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brothers. Whoever does not love abides in death."
 

-Fresh command-Love one another with a fresh love. Share His Love.

-1 John 3:1-2

             -"3 See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him. 2 Beloved, we are God's children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears[a] we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is."

-SEE

-"The Love of God is causeless, measureless, ceaseless."-Kenneth Boa

-"Pride always goes over God."

-Seeking the good of others regardless of cost.

             -1 John 3:17-18

                        -"17 But if anyone has the world's goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God's love abide in him? 18 Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth."

-Shows in generosity.

            -1 John 3:14b-15

                       -"14 We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brothers. Whoever does not love abides in death. 15 Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him."


-Failing to Love


-Reality of Hate

-Return to assurance

              -1 John 3:19-20

                        -"19 By this we shall know that we are of the truth and reassure our heart before him;20 for whenever our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and he knows everything."


-Growing in Love

          -Obeying
          -Abiding

-1 John 3:23-24

               -"23 And this is his commandment, that we believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and love one another, just as he has commanded us. 24 Whoever keeps his commandments abides in God, and God in him. And by this we know that he abides in us, by the Spirit whom he has given us."



-So mad at this season? Am I really or is there a little madness still left in me? Can I love people more for God and all they do? How can I show people without seeming freaky to them? 

Half of my Heart

         I can't believe how many "likes" and "looks" I got on my last entry after I didn't write in awhile. It had been about 3 weeks since I won't last. There were 30 "likes" last night after I got home and looked at it last night. I need to take about that much of a break every now and then, I guess. This entry is going to be about what one of my little girls said this past week and what it meant to me. It really did hit me hard.


         "Half of my heart loves her, and half of my heart is sad. But I'm on the love side."-Said by one of my little girls


            I just can't stop thinking about this saying. One of my little girls said it to me on Thursday at work and it has been on my mind ever since. She was having a fight with one of her girlfriends and was really upset and crying when she said it. I talked to her about what was going on and how she coulee handle it. After she felt a little better, she went onto play and I just laughed and thought it only gets harder from here on out. Not only with friends either. I thought about my friends and how I really felt about them. Then I thought it was the perfect way to explain I have been feeling and am feeling right now. This saying even went along with the message tonight at church.
             It was about love so that will be in the next one or two entries. Anyways, got off track. I couldn't explain how I was feeling in the past months but this quote really summed it up for me. I might even write a poem one of these days with the same title. This is what this quote means to me:
            Half of my heart loves my friends, and the other half of my heart is sad for reasons that I can't explain. Yet I am on the love side. I want to love my friends for who they are, not who I want them to be. I want my friends to be them and have fun. I love it when my little girl said that she was on the love side. That got me thinking that we should all want that for ourselves and everyone we come in contact with. The would would be a better place if we were all on that side.
              That quote could also be taken another way and maybe a little deeper or maybe it is the same way, I am just wording it differently here. The love half of the heart could mean that I love my friends for who they really are. The sad half of my heart could mean that I am sad and disappointed about the actions that they are doing. I could not be liking those. It is like the actions that the little girl's friend was doing. That little girl loved her friend and was on that side but she was sad because her friend was being bossy and mean to her. Her friend was telling her how to play the game that they were playing and making her "it" every time they would play it when she didn't want to be it in the first place.
               It goes to show that listening to our friends starts at a young age. The girl that thought she was in charge was not listening to her other friend. She was doing what she wanted and only wanted. We need to take the time to listen to people and show that we care for them. We need to watch out for our friends. We need to be on the Love Side at least and if not that then we need to Love with our whole heart. We need to love our friends and listen to them. That is what I am trying to get across in this entry. We need to love with all our heart, not just half of it.