Love and Service What do they show?

A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: even as I have loved you, that you also love one another.  By this all men will know you are My disciples, if you love one another (emphasis mine).
John 13:34,35


Love.  With Valentines Day just turning the corner there has been a lot of emphasis on love, flowing around us.  Cards to buy, flowers, candy and all types of gifts given to express one persons love to another. It is a wonderfully joyous day for couples and looked forward to by all those in love each year.

During this Valentines day, no longer being part of a couple, I spent some time contemplating this word "love", and another word theme that I've been focusing on, "service" to others.   And then after mulling things around later while reading a devotional this Scripture above spoke volumes to me.

We as believers are commanded by our Lord to love one another.  Commanded! Strong word meaning ordered, do.  He commanded the disciples who were with Him at the time of His ministry to love one another, and by that expressed love, others would know they were His disciples--followers.

So how does this have anything to do with the love expressed at Valentines.   It has to do with what love is; what we perceive it to mean.  There is a huge difference between what the world says is love and what God says is love.   A closer look here reveals the reason,  because the key passage of this Scripture is,"even as I have loved you". So many miss this part.  It is only by the love of Christ shared with us, that we can truly reveal love to others.   Jesus Christ is the epitome of love.  Real love. Genuine love.  The deep down core love that's says "I am with you always, I will not forsake you." "I have your hand".

The world offers a type of love that most of us look to today, to mean real love; but much to freqently this love, is  more an emotional "me" directed kind of  love.  What am "I" going to get out of this relationship, this gift, this special day?

As I have come to experience  the love of Christ, I am starting to understand more about what Scripture calls, "love".  Gods love is a patient love, a gentle, love, a kind love, (Gal. 5:22) and above all a sacrificial love.  This is the kind  of love God has for us.  This is the love Jesus is talking to His disciples to show toward each other, the love He has shown them.

It is this quality, sacrificially loving others, I believe that sets true followers of Christ apart from those who do not know Him in a personal relationship.  For myself I never really knew what real love was until I met Jesus.  I also never fully experienced real love directed toward me, until I experienced His love.    Believers loving others in specific ways reflects the love we have for Him.  We also know it, and show it, when we  serve others,-- hence title.

Brothers and sisters in Christ,  the world is watching how we love each other on a daily basis.  Do they see the love of Jesus reflected in what they see from us?  The love of Christ is service to others, not just expecting something for ourselves.  Can we each ask of ourselves, "Am I loving as Christ loves, so that, all men will know I am His disciple"?

O' precious Lord, how I so often I express and show  the worlds example of love, rather than Your perfect love, which is available if I only ask.  Can I love my brothers and sisters, and all Your creations with the love that You show me and I show then as Your disciple?  I pray so Lord!    And only by Your mercy and love for me is it even possible.
Thank You that You came from the Father to reveal to us what Gods love for us really looks like.  Your goodness is beyond anything words can say.  Your life says it all.

Love and Fear... Can you feel both at the same time?

 And there is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves punishment, and the one who fears is not perfected in love.     1 John 4:18

As I was reading the blog of another dear friend from whom I find a wealth of experiential and spiritual wisdom,  I came away with a gem she had gleaned from a book she was reading.  The subject was on reactive attachment disorder and the gem that had my attention was a concept that love and fear can not be felt at the same time.
This caught my attention because FEAR, is a subject I am dealing with in my own life.  Seeing exactly how fear, deep rooted and buried within until recent years has ruled my life and kept me from experiencing what real love is.

Fear has colored many of the  choices I have made from a very early age. Fear that hid down deep in  inner thoughts and feelings that I tried to cover with business, or distractions  or the surface things of this world.  Fear for me was deep in my core and I didn't  want anyone else to know about it. Much of the time I didn't want to know about it.   It was covered heavily with the facade that I was in control, I had it altogether; I could handle anything, even when I knew I could not.

The facade was my protective shield. Or so I thought-more later on this.  In this world of broken souls and minds and bodies there are many of us who live or have lived our lives in fear, and there is an answer.

The perfect love of Jesus Christ.  He is perfect love and when you come to know Him in a personal and intimate relationship He truly gives you perfect love. The kind of love that sets you free from the bondage of fear. The kind of love that let's you love others without the need of covering your inner self protectively.
The kind of love that says: "Therefore there is now no condemnation--punishment--for those who are in Christ Jesus...the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set us free...Romans 8:1-2   We are free IN the Lord.

When He is at the center of our lives we no longer have to fear anything; mentally, emotionally, even physically (with wisdom) because God is Sovereign,  He has established His throne in the heavens and rules over all. God is in control even if we choose not to believe it so.  Unbelief doesn't change this fact.  We as humans get into trouble simple because we choose to disbelieve what His Word says.  Either in unbelief or simply not knowing what His Words says we do not hear the precious truths that sets us free.

Jesus proved His love for us at Calvary.  He gave up His very own life so that we would be free of eternal condemnation.  He took upon Himself the punishment I  deserved but no longer have to be afraid of as Gods  child.  Oh how long it has taken me to understand that I am now free and do not have to let fear reign within.

I am free in Jesus love and then free to love others as He loves me.  When I love, I do not feel fear.  When I fear I do not feel love.  So the answer to my title is no, we can not feel love and fear at the same time. One or the other is in control of how we feel.

Does this mean I do not feel fear at all.  No! Believe me when I say this is still a daily battle of my mind and emotions.  But what is different now is that I can choose to believe what Scripture tells me or let my fear rule.
God speaks many times throughout the Scripture for His children to not be afraid, He is with them.  Isa. 41:10  When I choose to trust this truth when I am experiencing fear,  His love pours in and the fear goes away.
Oh how I desire others to know this freedom they too can experience....it's not for a few "spiritually elite".  It's for each and every person who want's to except this love Christ offers us.   My prayer is that any one reading this may also come to know that same Perfect Love, my precious, precious Jesus Christ.

Oh Lord, so many of this world know so little truth about you The Son of God the Father. How much You love them, each one.  How you have a plan and  purpose for their lives and want to lavish Your  love on Your children.  And who doesn't want to be loved.  All of us seek it so and only truly find it in You.  May You reveal Yourself to fearful hearts and set them free with Your love.

God's Silence in the Darkness?

My soul waits in silence for the Lord God only; from Him is my salvation.  He is my rock and my salvation, my stronghold; I shall not be shaken.....Psalms 62:1-2


What do we do when we feel God is  silent when we are in the midst of darkness or adversity?  As His children we cry out to Him to help us because we want escape or relief from whatever circumstances we are in at that moment.  I have found myself here so many times, darkness surrounding me and wondering why the Lord didn't hear me when I cried out; why wasn't He answering  me.

It is only of late I have begun to see that it isn't He who isn't listening but I who may not be hearing.  Scripture tells us that God hears the cry's of His children, the afflicted and needed,  (Ps???)  It also tells us He is sovereign...(   ) and all things are in His control,  He even uses evil to His purposes.

Recently I went through what I can only describe as a time of pure chaos and total neediness due to my illness.  Alone and unable to reach anyone, I suddenly needed help I could not find.  I should have been totally panicked, yet all through the hours it took to get the help I needed, I knew the Lord was with me, working out all the circumstances for my good. His presences was the most peaceful and calming thing I have ever experienced.  When God says He is our peace and our strength and our shield. He does what He says.   He was for me that night.

Most of us wonder, at times, when adversity strikes, why God doesn't seem to  "help" us when we are calling out to Him. When we are asking, Where are You God? Don't you see what's happening to me?   What I've come to know is He knows exactly what's happening to me and why, even if I don't at the time.

As I have come to know the Lord Presence in my daily life and His ways through Scriptures, one truth stands out to me,  I have been learning  He does hear His children ... always.   What we don't understand is what His purpose and plan is for what's happening.  He answers many times very differently than I think or expect He should.   One of the most difficult lessons I've had to learn, next to learning to listen to Him, is surrendering to His sovereign will.  Accepting as His daughter, that as long as I am not walking in willful disobedience, He will not allow anything into my life that is not His will.  He has promised this is so.

Gods Word says, "The Lord has established His throne in the heavens, and His sovereignty rules over all ... Psalms 103:19...Whether one chooses to believe this, or not, doesn't make it any less true.  And I for one am so glad it is true.  If God is for me, who can be against me?  Absolutely nothing can separate me from His love and He will work all things to my good...sometime, someway, somehow....I just have to make sure my relationship is right with Him.  Then I will hear what He wants to speak to me at His appointed time and I can trust in His sovereignty while I wait.

Oh Lord, You are so loving and wonderful.  I can not image my life without You by my side. Without Your wonderful peace that You give especially when darkness assails me..  I never want to  lose the experience of Your Presence and pray that through me others may come to know Your wonderful love as well.  Thank You Lord. Thank You!

The heavens speak  the glory of God; and their expanse declares the work of His hands. Psalms 19:1

How can anyone declare there is no God.  Our earth and the entire Universe, shouts there is a God; a Creator, the Maker of heaven and earth.

The Lord is good to all He has made and His lovingkindness is everlasting.  Oh how He wants us to know Him.  And to love Him and worship Him.  Every man, woman, and child created has a place within them that can only be filled by Him.  Nothing else in this life can satisfy that place except Jesus Christ, God's Son, who purchased our redemption, our way to a relationship with the God who created us.

That redemption, what was the plan, since man had been separated from a holy God because the resulting sin from the Fall, how did He plan to bring this redemption plan about?  Through the most ordinary circumstances man has ever known.  The birth of a Baby Boy, a Savior, a King,  in a lowly stable,  to a young couple committed to obeying God, even when they most likely didn't understand every thing which was happening. From the very beginning of time, God knew man would sin against Him and He had a perfect plan already in place.   A Perfect Man coming to show the world how much the Father loves His creation.

The God of Heaven wants us to know His love for us; to know that we can be accepted by Him just as we are when we accept the gift He offered in that manger the night the angels sang from heaven at the birth of Gods Son, come to save His people.  Christ alone is our way to the Father.  Our only way to fill the void that so many live with day in and day out.  He gives life and light and peace and joy that can never be satisfied another way.


Oh Lord how wonderful You are to me.  How You fill my life with Your love and Your peace and Light my path.  I could never image life without You at the center now.  Scripture says many are invited, but few are chosen.  Thank You, thank You, thank You for choosing me as one of Your children, my blessed Redeemer.

Light.....Darkness

In this world you will have trouble.  But take heart! I have overcome the world. (John 16:33)...I AM THE LIGHT of the world (emphasis added); he [she] who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the LIGHT OF LIFE. (John 8:12)


At this time of year we are brimming full with the festivities, celebrations ringing  in so many homes for Christmas and the New Year to come.  Excitement and anticipation are in the air and everywhere we see the glow and sparkle of lights, shining out brightly from decorated builds, homes and streetlights.  They light up the grayness of day and the darkness of night in winters dreariest months.  I have read this may be the reason this time of year was chosen to  celebrate Christs birth, but to me what is so important about all the sparkle of the season, is that it reminds me, because when Jesus came as that Babe in a manger, then grew to  manhood, died on a cross and was resurrected, He overcame the darkness of this world and is the Light shining eternally. And in Him I too, and you, can overcome the darkness of this world.  He is our "LIGHT" in the darkness. Praise His Holy Name!

Scripture tells us, Jesus is God the Fathers redeeming  Light to His Creation.  Sent to show us who the Father in heaven is and how we can have a personal, intimate, relationship with the Creator of the Universe The Father wants, even desires, to have a relationship with each of us personally.  How awesomely, magnificently!  No sun will be needed in heaven  because He as the glorious LIGHT will be the light of all eternity.


2000 years ago the brightest star ever seen shined down on a stable manger, on the Son of God who came into this world to light our way to salvation.  Those who believe in Him no longer walk in darkness, but are saved and given a new life which He helps us to live.

As we celebrate this Christmas, may His wonderful Light shine in our hearts, our homes, and our nation.

Oh Lord, how exciting it will be to look upon the radiant light of your face when our time in this troubled, dark world is over,  When we will walk beside You, who overcame that darkness through You victory over death,  so we could be forever be in Your Light.   You are my bright and shining Star this season.  My hope eternal! Thank You and bless You, in your precious, precious name!

Why God's Word Is So Important

For the Word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword...Heb 4:12

Why is Gods Word so important?  Because it is alive and active as this verse says.  It gives life to the "dead". It is the very words of God given to His creation in order for them to  know Him and follow Him.  It is His Spirit alive and at work with in each child who has accepted the gift of salvation from His Son, Jesus Christ.

Scripture says that the Spirit of God reveals the things of God... God wants us to know Him and His ways and thoughts; that's what the Bible is, God speaking, first to the nation of Israel, His chosen people and then to those who accept His Son as Savior.

Scriptures proclaim the glory of God, and man has no excuse for rejecting Him, saying He does not exist  because all creation shouts of His existence.  Scripture is God telling us about Himself and about ourselves, dead in or sins till Jesus gives us life.

Throughout life we are constantly learning, beginning in infancy we are instructed on how to live.  We have to learn in order to function and survive.  The Bible is our instruction manual on how to live a godly life.  How God created us to live before sin entered the world and robbed and blinded us to what He had created us to be--His child.

If we do not read, learn,  and do what Scripture says, we can never be fulfilled, truly happy and at peace.
Scripture tells us all about Jesus, the One whom we learn from and follow to a relationship with God....no man comes to the Father except through Him.

God's word has become the most important thing in my life. because learning what God's wants me to do and how to do it, is my life.  It is where we receive the abundant life that Scripture speaks of.  We became spiritually wealthy when we treasure the Word of God in our hearts and minds.   We receive peace, joy, love, gentleness, goodness, faithful, forgiveness,  all the fruits that the indwelling Spirit of God produce as we grow in God's grace.

God gives a peace that surpasses all understanding, a strong refuge in times of life's trials and storms and I never want to be without it.  His Word truly is a light unto my path and a lamp unto my feet.  He never fails me and always, always does exactly as He says He will do in His Word.

Dear God thank You that You do not leave us as orphans but have given us You precious Word to learn and live by.  Just as an earthly father teaches his children what they need to know and grow, You as my/our heavenly Father also teach us even deeper how to live and have eternal life in You.  Thank You Father for Your perfect plan and absolute sovereignty. What an awesome privilege to be wanted by You in an intimate relationship.  To be loved so very, very much.  Praise You Lord God! Praise You!

FOR.......IN?

...in everything give thanks; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.....1 Thessalonians 5:18

As I reflect on this time of thanksgiving, I realize it is easy to thank God for all the good things in my life.  Those things I consider blessings, but for those of us who suffer, whatever the reason, giving thanks to God can be difficult or almost impossible at these times.  When we are in agony, we often wonder if there really is a God, and if so why does He let us suffer so?  I know I have in the past.

The "why" of suffering, I cannot answer you.  Many say its because we've sinned and God is punishing us.  For unbelievers this could be true, but not for  the child of God.  Scripture tells us God loves us with an everlasting love.  He does not punish us. He may lovingly chastise us if we have gotten away from Him and His ways, so that we will turn back to Him. But punish? No! That is not what the Word says. That is not what the NEW COVENANT God made with His followers Is all about.  He is the perfect Father, who only love us unconditionally.Any sin we commit  as His child. is already forgiven and cleansed through the blood of Jesus Christ who died on the Cross of Calvary for us.  As His redeemed child, God the Father loves us and Jesus is with us no matter what we are going through.  Even in the worst of times, He is there, ready to give us His love and comfort and help if we just ask.

I know this for a fact because His sweet loving Presence has met me,  in many times of darkness.  He has sustained me, walked beside me, given me His peace and love, when I thought I could not take one more step in this life.

Do I know about suffering.  Oh yes!  Can I thank God while I am hurting in a difficult trial of life?  Yes, I can!  And I am learning how.  Many people think we are to thank God for the suffering but that's not what Scripture says.  I have come to know by reading Gods Word,  the above verse being one of many such verses, we don't thank FOR the trial or hurt, but IN the trial.  Whatever we are suffering, we can thank Him that He is with us, that His promises to us are true and He always, always keeps them.  That is His nature and His character.

It may not be easy, but there is always "something" we can thank Him about because His  mercies are new everyday.  We can thank Him for His love, His strength; which I know He gives me each and every time I bring my physical pain or emotional sorrow to Him in prayer.  God loves me with a love that can never take me out of His arms.  He will never forsake or leave me or you once we have become His child.

When we learn to run to God in our pain and suffering, and not away from Him, He will wrap us in His everlasting arms and hold us tight.  I know.  I have experience this love for myself and prayerfully offer you what I have found.  Giving thanks in all things brings God into whatever you are experiencing.  And that's just where He want's to be.   Scripture tells us that Gods ways are not our ways, so I have to choose to trust that even in my most trying, painful times, He will work them for my good and His glory.  He promises so.

God does what He says He will do.  Look into His Word and hear His sweet voice speaking to you.  The Psalms are full of His love.  They bring me so much comfort in my times of suffering.  Read them, see what you find.

Dear Lord, You alone know all things and have all power under heaven and earth.  You also know each and every pain and sorrow, for You, Yourself experienced them while here on earth.  You alone know the most true agony of suffering...the Cross....so You understand what suffering is.  Thank You Jesus, that I am never alone in any time of suffering and I can thank You for Your wonderful love and Presence....You my Lord, who went to the cross for me.  Thank You also that Your are not on that cross any longer but are resurrected and sitting at the right hand of the Father always making intercession on our behalf. And that You now indwell the hearts of Your children.  I'm so gratefully for Your absolute perfect love that can only come from an intimate relationship with You. Thank You Lord! Thank You!
 May You except my offering of thanksgiving and praise my Lord Jesus.    Amen