Tag: God

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Love

“Spread love everywhere you go. Let no one ever come to you without leaving happier.”. – Mother Teresa.

  • If I have faith that can move mountains but do not have love, I am nothing.
  • 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.  For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears.  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.  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.  And now these three remain faith, hope, and love.  But the greatest of these is love.  (Excerpts from 1 Cor. 13)
  •  John 3:16-  For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

Wow!  How powerful a reminder.  Love really is great.  Is there someone that you love?  Is there someone you know loves you?  Consider these things Paul has told us about love: it is kind and patient, it does not boast, it is not proud, it is not self-seeking, or easily angered, it keeps no records of wrongs.  Love does not delight in evil but rejoices in the truth.  Love always protects, trusts, hopes, and perseveres.

 It is sometimes easy to forget that we are loved and that people care about us.  Perhaps you don’t feel loved?  Remember how great our Lord’s love is for us, though.  His unfailing love led him to sacrifice Jesus on the cross for our sins.   Most things come and go, but faith, hope, and love will always remain.  When you are feeling down, remember the greatest of these is love, and always remember that you are and always will be loved.  Today you can choose to love and be loved!

(Photo by Samuel McGarrigle)

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Hope

“We must accept finite disappointment, but never lose infinite hope.” – Martin Luther King, Jr.

  • Isaiah 40:31- But those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength.  They will soar on wings like eagles.  They will run and not grow weary; they will walk and not be faint.
  • In Isaiah 40:31, the Lord says, “those who have hope in me will not be disappointed.”
  • In Jeremiah 29:11, the Lord declares His plans for our future, plans to prosper us and not to harm us, plans to give us hope and a future.
  • Proverbs 3:5 tells us to trust in the Lord with all our hearts and not lean on our own understanding. 

There have been times when I have lost hope.  Looking back, those were some of the most depressing times of my life.  It felt like I couldn’t get any further down. Like it was the end and nothing was going to get better.  Times when I contemplated suicide and began partaking in reckless behavior.  Times when I lost sight of God.  Every day I continued my journey down that path; those feelings of loneliness, hopelessness, and depression only worsened.  Nothing ever got better on my walk down that path.  The only solace I have ever found when it comes to emerging from that darkness is in turning to the light of God.  In those times, down that path, my strength was renewed.  I was not weary.  Believing in God’s plan for me and trusting Him has not left me disappointed.  Trust, believe, and HOPE in Him and disappointment will allude you as well.  Today you can dare to hope that things can and will get better!

(Photo by John Towner)

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Perseverance

“Patience and perseverance have a magical effect, before which difficulties disappear and obstacles vanish”. – John Quincy Adams.

  • Hebrews 10:36- You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God you will receive what He has promised. 
  • Hebrews 11:27- By faith he left Egypt, not fearing the king’s anger, he persevered because he saw Him who is invisible.  
  • James 5:11- As you know we count those blessed that have persevered.  You have heard of Job’s perseverance and have seen what the Lord finally brought about.  The Lord is full of compassion and mercy. 
  • James 1:12- Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love Him. 

Every day brings its own problems (temptation, greed, lust, agony, pride) the list goes on and on.  There is hope however!  We can choose, like Job and Moses, to persevere and overcome whatever the problem is that life has thrown at us today.  Persevering today will reap us benefits tomorrow.  Be strong, be courageous, do not fear, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.  God has said that He will never give us more than we can handle, and those that persevere He has promised the crown of life.  Today you can persevere!  

(Photo by Jason Hogan)

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Life

When you should be dead by rights and death is in your sights.
When you wake up from a coma and you still smell death’s aroma
When you can’t eat, and it hurts to speak, and comfort is all you seek.
When you can’t walk, and people can’t understand you when you talk.
You can’t drink, you can barely think, and every color looks pink.
When you lose fifty pounds and don’t understand certain sounds.
When you are weak, and your future looks bleak.
When you can barely lift a pound, and a wheelchair is your only way around.
When you can’t write, and people tear up at your sight.
When you don’t have control, and you feel all alone.
When your passion is taken, and you feel mistaken.
Then you see life in a different way, you thank God for every day.
Your thoughts grow deep, and you are thankful for sleep.
You are thankful for every meal and are grateful to be able to feel.
You think before you speak and wisdom is what you seek.
You try to make people smile and help them through any trial.
You are happy to be alive, and for great things, you strive.
You appreciate the little things in life, and that brings you less strife.
You appreciate your family more, and you don’t mind being a little sore.
Happy you will be, be patient, you will see!
If you let it, life will be great. Just wait! Do your best and God will take care of the rest.

(Life is a poem by Justin Heupel) (Photo by Greg Rakozy )