Tag Archive - love

Unconditional Love

November 26, 2009 in Challenges with 34 Comments

Smile

What a fail from me this morning. I let my temper get the better of me and I screamed at my baby girl because she couldn’t sleep due to cutting teeth.

I was so tired I didn’t know what to due, and lost it. My temper is something that I have been working hard at to keep under control, as it can get the better of me very quickly. And now this morning I had to loose it on her.

I felt so bad, and didn’t know how I could remedy the situation, as I could see that she was really shocked at my reaction.

In any case, after some pain medication for her, she finally went back to sleep, and I was able to get in another hour, to tally my sleeping hours at about 4.

When she got up a couple hours later, what did I get? The BIGGEST smile ever. It really knocked me. How is this little girl able to forget her fathers reactions so quickly, and just show love towards him?

Thinking about this after dropping her off at day care, it hit me that that is exactly how God is towards us. Even if we do the worst thing possible, His grace is still big enough to love us. We don’t deserve it, not for a second, but He does.

This is the amazing thing in following Christ for me. Thinking about grace just gets me every time.

Doing Nothing

November 2, 2009 in Challenges with 1 Comment

Romans 10 (The Message)

It’s the word of faith that welcomes God to go to work and set things right for us. This is the core of our preaching. Say the welcoming word to God—”Jesus is my Master”—embracing, body and soul, God’s work of doing in us what he did in raising Jesus from the dead. That’s it. You’re not “doing” anything; you’re simply calling out to God, trusting him to do it for you.

This weekend we had our church’s congregation camp. The message that was shared during the weekend was Love, and how do we as humans love.

Last night, during the final service, back at church, I probably cried about 3 time during it all, as all the emotions within me got the best of me. Listening to stories of people that loses their children, and finding that peace once somebody shows them true love just really got to me.

I was spending a lot of time last night thinking about how can I sow that kind of love to people and really communicate the love of God through the love that I show people.

Reading this scripture this morning it just became abundantly clear that nothing I can do will make me be able to do this, but only through the grace of God, He will fill me with this love in such a way that I will not be able to contain it within me any more, and the anointing will be on me, and flowing out of me.

Treasures in Heaven

October 2, 2009 in Challenges with 0 Comments

Matthew 6:19-21 (The Message)

Don’t hoard treasure down here where it gets eaten by moths and corroded by rust or—worse!—stolen by burglars. Stockpile treasure in heaven, where it’s safe from moth and rust and burglars. It’s obvious, isn’t it? The place where your treasure is, is the place you will most want to be, and end up being.

materialismThis post was triggered yesterday evening, when I checked my emails one last time before going to bed, and reading comments made to a friend on a question she asked, on whether, if you had the chance, choose happiness or the money that you already earn.

Now, my personal view on this, after many years of chasing wealth, and finally coming to the conclusion, or rather the realisation, that money never will buy true happiness. Yes, being able to buy a new iPod or a new car, gives one feelings of joy, but they only last a short while, and then you will go out and look for the next ‘toy’ to fulfil that emptiness within you.

Compare that feeling of joy, to the feeling of knowing that there is people in your life the REALLY love you, and would give their lives for you, and then still neglecting them due to you trying to find happiness in material things, and them leaving you. I just can not imagine that feeling. I doubt that I will be able to carry on.

I thank the Lord for the ability to store up the real treasures in heaven, and not having to rely on my earthly possessions in order to be happy. If I were to loose everything today, I would like to believe that I will be able to carry on with my life, knowing that there are people that love me, and would support me in any way that they can, and hopefully they know that if that would happen to them, I would do the same for them.

Update on Community

September 10, 2009 in Challenges with 0 Comments

This morning, while reading my Bible I got this piece of scripture that really ties in nicely with my post on Community from last night.

I really don’t think I need to say anything more on the subject that what Philippians 2:1-4 (The Message) says about it.

If you’ve gotten anything at all out of following Christ, if his love has made any difference in your life, if being in a community of the Spirit means anything to you, if you have a heart, if you care— then do me a favor: Agree with each other, love each other, be deep-spirited friends. Don’t push your way to the front; don’t sweet-talk your way to the top. Put yourself aside, and help others get ahead. Don’t be obsessed with getting your own advantage. Forget yourselves long enough to lend a helping hand.

Community

September 9, 2009 in Challenges with 0 Comments

community

Acts 2:43-47 (The Message)

Everyone around was in awe—all those wonders and signs done through the apostles! And all the believers lived in a wonderful harmony, holding everything in common. They sold whatever they owned and pooled their resources so that each person’s need was met.

They followed a daily discipline of worship in the Temple followed by meals at home, every meal a celebration, exuberant and joyful, as they praised God. People in general liked what they saw. Every day their number grew as God added those who were saved.

This evening at home church, we discussed these verses, and how it would apply to us as the modern church. I really feel that with the world around us as well as all the technology that we use to communicate these days, we are really missing the essence of these verses.

Even though this section can almost be misconstrued as the basis for communism, which it obviously is not, these early Christians really went out of their way to accommodate each other, by selling all their possessions and sharing everything equally. In the world today, we are so indoctrinated to focus on ourselves, and what material things we can accumulate for ourselves, that we are missing each other.

One shock I had tonight was the fact that for 2 of the 5 families present at the house church, I only know what is going on in 2 other families’ lives, other than myself, obviously.

This was quite a shock for me, as we are brothers and sisters in Christ, and yet we manage to live on a ‘howdy’ basis. By this I mean that we will ask each other how they are doing, not really being interressted in the answer, and the other person knowing this, will say things are OK.

I believe we need to go and sit down with ourselves and God, and get rid of this mentality of saying ‘howdy’ and really get back to caring. We need to get the love for other people, and not just some, all people, that Jesus had for us. He gave His life for us on the cross, even though we definitely didn’t deserve it.

Start with the people around you, and start to really care. Don’t just say ‘howdy’ but really take time to find out what the person sitting next to you at work have going on in his/her life.

They followed a daily discipline of worship in the Temple followed by meals at home, every meal a celebration, exuberant and joyful, as they praised God. People in general liked what they saw. Every day their number grew as God added those who were saved.

Love

July 31, 2009 in Challenges with 1 Comment

My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you.
Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.
You are my friends if you do what I command.
I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you.
You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit–fruit that will last. Then the Father will give you whatever you ask in my name.
This is my command: Love each other.
What impact does this scripture make on your life?
Do you really love everybody, irrespective of who they are?
Do you show love to the beggar on the street corner, or the super rich businessman in his expensive car that cut in front of you on the highway?
This is such a profound command by Jesus, and we tend to just make of it what we want to. We only love those that we want to love. Those that are easy to love…
Page 2 of 2«12

Switch to our mobile site