Dream Big

I recently saw an advertisement for a book that I want to read. The book is about having God -sized dreams. It sounds interesting. The reason I

think so, is because I have dreams…some of which I’ve never dare mentioned aloud. It’s because I am afraid. Afraid that others will think they are silly, or crazy, or well…..too big.

Sigh.

Doesn’t God want us to have big dreams, because He is so big? And because nothing is impossible with God? (Luke 1:37)

Can’t He take the smallest and seemingly insignificant things and turn them into the extraordinary?

Didn’t He say that He would use the weak things of this world to shame the strong? And don’t I often feel weak? And can’t He use me for something great?

But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. 1 Corinthians 1:27 NIV  

On days when I feel insignificant, overwhelmed, or frustrated, I need to remember. 

I need to remind myself ……“Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us”. Ephesian 3: 20 NIV

More than I can ask or imagine.

That is pretty big.

 

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Love With Fierce Determination

“Actions can change feelings.”

“Motion can result in emotion.”

“Love is established not so much by fervent promise as by often-repeated deeds.”

I read this in yesterday’s devotional. The truth of the words struck me. Love is not always about the other person, most of the time, it is about me. What am I doing? How am I showing love?

In this world, love has been cheapened, distorted, and tortured. There are people looking for love in all the wrong places, wanting, hoping, seeking to find what seems so elusive. Love is treated like a game, instead of a commitment. Marriage is seen as unnecessary by today’s standards, and vows are said with the intent, “I’ll stay with you as long as I love you.” Love is understood as an emotional whim, not a fierce determination.

There are times, even in close relationships that love feels lost, or old, or broken. None of are perfect and neither is our love. But, there is One who does have perfect love and it is through His Word that we can learn what love should be.

I am reminded what love really is…

1 Corinthians 13:4–8a
Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails … (NIV)

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

Ephesians 5:33
However, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband. (NIV)

1 Peter 4:8
Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins. (NIV)

1 John 3:18
Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth. (NIV)

1 John 4:8
Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. (NIV)

 

 

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Made For More…

“We are not human beings having a spiritual experience; we are spiritual beings having a human experience.” — Jesuit Priest

I need to remember this…

C. S. Lewis’ house (The Kilns) (Photo credit: MikeBlyth)

This journey, can seem so long on some days and painfully short on others.

I’m reminded, once again, that I am just passing through. This place is not my forever home. I was made for more than this world is able to give me.

When my heart overflows with gratitude…

When I feel the arms of my children around me…

When I gently kiss my husband…

When I receive words of encouragement…

When the music takes me to another place…

When the sunrise is so brilliant that I cannot imagine more beautiful colors….

I realize as much as I enjoy these things—they don’t even begin to scratch the surface of what is to come.

“If we find ourselves with a desire that nothing in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that we were made for another world.” C.S. Lewis

“…but just as it is written, “Things which eye has not seen and ear has not heard, And [which] have not entered the heart of man, all that God has prepared for those who love Him.”  1 Corinthians 2:9

 

 

 

 

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It Is Really Going To Be Something

However, as it is written:

Heaven (Photo credit: adyyflickr)

“What no eye has seen,
    what no ear has heard,
and what no human mind has conceived”—
    the things God has prepared for those who love him— 1 Corinthians 2:9  NIV

I’ve been thinking about this lately.

And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. John 14:3 NIV

Christ is preparing a place… for me.

I recently watched a video where one of the speakers said, “God created this Earth with all its beauty in only six days…..what must my place in Heaven look like, since He has been there preparing it for me ever since He went back?” (that was my paraphrase of the speaker’s words)

I had never really thought of it that way before…

God created each of us uniquely. None of us are exactly the same. Even though we might share some of the same likes or dislike some of the same things….only He knows what really makes us tick. He alone knows all our thoughts that we can’t put into words. It is He that knows what makes us each smile on the inside…those things that give us comfort and what leaves us awestruck. He knows how best to prepare…

It is really going to be something.

I just know it.

 

 

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Love In The Day To Day

Today, at A Holy Experience,  Ann has her readers posting about the practice of love.

I just knew I would write this wonderful blog post about love! I thought maybe Hallmark might even want it for their Valentine card collection. Maybe I’d write something using the verses from the “love” chapter 13 in 1 Corinthians. The more I thought about my wonderful ideas on love, the more I felt drawn to write the real stuff. You all know what I mean. Not the Hollywood “chick flick” romance. Not the bouquet of roses and candy. Not the slick pictures in the magazines for jewelry companies. So, here goes. The real stuff. Not the fluff stuff.

Here is my take on love in 60 seconds. Ready. Set. Go.

The daily practice of love is usually not romantic, or cinematic…

nor is it cavalier or conceited.

Love can be gritty and hard…

Some days the walk is all up hill.

The battle is hard fought.

Love can be exhausting.

Miscommunication and boredom

march to the front lines ready to do battle.

Love must be tough…

if it is to survive.

Commitment, sacrifice, and sometimes…

hanging on with white knuckles and wobbly legs.

It’s not giving up, not giving in–

even when throwing in the towel might seem easier.

Love is messy, and crazy and frustrating

and serious, and funny, and happy and

sad.

Love is both time consuming, and energy renewing.

Some days it requires standing down and looking up,

on others, it is asking for a hand to hold.

It is fierce and all consuming,

soft and safe and starting again.

Love doesn’t give up.

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

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In The Name Of Love

Image by QuinnDombrowski via Flickr

*I promise to love, honor, and cherish you; from this day forward until death do us part.

*Mommy, I love you very, very much. You are the bestest mommy ever!

*Love you, Mom! Love you, too.

*For God so loved the world…

*Love you, babe!

*I think I’m in love.

*Don’t you just love that?

*Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.

*What’s love got to do with it?

Love is patient, love is kind…

*******************************************************

Sometimes the word, love, is a scary word to utter. Unsure. Unnerving. A word that holds so much meaning, but will the speaker of the word have it returned back to him/her?

A mother and child. A husband and wife. A boyfriend and girlfriend. God to His people.

The world would have us believe that love is a fragile emotion, best not to use the word too often. On one hand, love is over simplified, and overused. Love hurts. Love stinks. Love breaks hearts and ruins lives. The world also says that love makes the world go round.

So, what is love?

⁴ Love is patient, love is kind.       (love allows one to try again, love treats others in a way that she herself would like to be treated…even if it isn’t returned)

It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. (love is humble and does not have a smart mouth)

⁵ It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, (love is giving up the spotlight, love is stepping down and letting the other person shine, love is choosing to make itself less)

it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. (love holds its tongue, love doesn’t roll it’s eyes, or attempt to cut another down, love should not hurt)

⁶ Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. (love heals the hurts, love triumphs in the truth, love stands tall and is not ashamed)

⁷ It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. (love gives the benefit of the doubt, love tries harder, pushes farther, and longs for the best)

 ⁸ Love never fails. (real love is what everyone craves, we all want it, long for it, live for it)

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

************************************

Will you share the love?

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