Love is...Digging deep & then digging deeper

I have taken the invitation to tear the scriptures apart.. beginning with 1 Corinthians 13v4-8...
And I invite you to jump in on the journey. If you are scared, jump! Just don't hold your breath (smile).

Most are familiar with 1 Corinthians 13v4-8... many times referred to as the "love verses" or "marriage scriptures"..But as we begin this journey together let us read it with a renewed heart and mind asking God to reveal to us His character as He is the essence of Love. 

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.  It does not dishonor others, 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.

God is the essence of Love.

So we read 1 Corinthians 13v4-8 with Him in mind:

God is patient, God is kind. God does not envy, God does not boast, God is not proud.  God does not dishonor others, God is not self-seeking, God is not easily angered, God keeps no record of wrongs.  God does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.  God always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.  God never fails.

Now, lets dig in, shall we?!
Breaking down the scriptures is such an adventure... you think you have dug deep until you get to "deep" and you can go "deeper." Loving the mystery of God!

Here are the definitions and antonyms of the words that are being used to describe love...

Patient- Bearing provocation, annoyance, misfortune, delay, hardship, pain, etc., with fortitude and calm and without complaint, anger, or the like.
Impatient- not patient; not accepting delay, opposition, pain, etc., with calm or patience. Restless in    desire or expectation; eagerly desirous. 

Kind-  implies a deep-seated characteristic shown either habitually or on occasion by considerate behavior
unkind- lacking in kindness or mercy; severe.

Does not envy 
Envy- a feeling of discontent or covetousness with regard to another's advantages, success, possessions, etc.

Does not boast
Boast -to speak in exaggerated or excessively proud terms of one's possessions, skills, or superior qualities; brag


Is not Proud
Proud-feeling pleasure or satisfaction over something regarded as highly honorable or creditable to oneself

Does not dishonor others
Dishonor-  to deprive of honor; disgrace; bring reproach or shame on

Is not self-seeking
Self-seeking- the act or an instance of seeking one's own profit or interest, esp exclusively 

Is not easily angered 
angered- a strong feeling of displeasure and belligerence [easily] aroused by a wrong; wrath

Keeps no record of wrong
forgiving- to grant pardon of..

Does not delight in evil
evil-morally wrong;wicked,

Rejoices with truth
truth- the state or character of being true

Always protects
protects- to defend or guard from attack

Always hopes
hopes- to look forward to with desire and reasonable confidence

Always perseveres
persevere- to persist with anything undertaken; maintain a purpose in spite of difficulty

Never fails
fails- to fall short of success


As we pray through this scripture we see the depth of the love God has for us... let this love transform our hearts and drip off of us so we may learn to love deeper...and when we think we are loving deep we see that deep can go deeper.

 

 

Tis' The Season In Being Thankful... (part III)

It is said that the life is in the journey.  That there is life to be had here and now. The life to be had is in the good, the messy, the broken.. that the life is not when perfection comes. It's not having to be put together for the journey...the journey is for being put together. 

To begin the journey is in response to the One who invites us. The journey is an adventure.. the unknown..the only journey that is found full of LIFE!

So why I am so afraid to risk? I live for adventure...I have been given the gift of 2 boys! I LOVE adventure.. it's in my blood.. it makes me come alive..

I have been wrestling in the depths of my heart with why I have the tendency to hold back from fully engaging on this journey? Is it because I know that when taking the adventure, the journey, you are either all in or not. Ready to risk it all or to risk nothing. That it requires complete trust. Requires complete faith. That it WILL cost me something or possibly everything... Yet I do know, freedom comes when true life is experienced.

A thief is only there to steal and kill and destroy. I came so they can have real and eternal life, more and better life than they ever dreamed of. - John 10v10 (msg)

I pray we respond to the invitation in reckless abandonment day after day, may it be moment to moment....being put back together while on the journey, while experiencing this adventure. This journey is promised to be good and fulfilling.. praying we will know this full and well.

Thankful for the invitation. Thankful for LIFE in the journey, full of a deep love, a deep calling...full of hope.
  
The ONE who calls is faithful.

Tis' The Season In Being Thankful... (part II)

"What have I done? Because I am eternally thankful for what He has done to make us worthy of Him. We are nothing, and He gives us EVERYTHING!"  -Andie Camp

 I encourage everyone to pick up a journal and begin writing. I have had a journal since I could write... For me, who tends to internalize much, I have found my journal as an outlet..a place where my heart & thoughts feel safe. A place where I can be me... bare, holding nothing back, and it is okay. The pages of my journal are filled with every gift of emotion, all in response to different experiences.. they are the emotion of memories written down. They are filled with quotes and prayers, concerns, hopes and dreams, to one word of "help"... You know the greatest thing about filling the pages of a journal? You have those pages with you to remind you of grace, of joy, of hope, of redemption, of waiting...its all memory and we go back to those journals to remember.

When Jesus was reclining at the table, sharing the last meal with his beloved disciples, He gave thanks then broke the bread, passed it around, poured the wine and did the same.. this meal was the meal that Jesus was "eagerly" waiting to share with these men he loved..deeply.  As Jesus broke bread He said  "This is my body given to you; do this in remembrance of me." (Luke 22v20)

He's saying remember Me. The one who you have followed for years. The one who performed miracles right in front of your eyes. The one who cast out demons. The one who brought back life. The one who gave sight to the blind! The one you have been waiting for.. Don't forget ME! Remember Me! I am who I say I am! Remember.

I can only imagine being a disciple at that table and feeling the emotions that were there...They experienced Jesus in the flesh and still forgot...I can relate. Can you? 

For me I have experienced Jesus through a transformed life when I began following Him...yet I still forget. I have experienced Jesus in healing my son..and I still forget. I have experienced Jesus in His constant grace and mercy...and I still continue to forget. Yet His love reminds us that we are His and He is ours. Nothing could ever separate this.   

Our God, He is the same yesterday, the same today and forever... 

Let us remember that we are nothing and He gives us EVERYTHING.

There is life in remembering.

 

Tis' The Season In Being Thankful... (part I)

We serve our one day in the local food pantry, bring coats to a family in need. Set a baked good at the doorstep of our neighbor with a note attached reading " God Bless
you this holiday season" or something similar...We may even go as far as inviting one without family in our home for a meal...Yet it stops after that one time..

What is it about this time of year that we are more aware of those in need and do our part to serve them that one time? Why just that one time? As a follower of Christ shouldn't that be a part of our daily breath? Being so aware of those in need that we are serving & loving until we feel like we having nothing left and then we still keep going...

And then it goes beyond that. What is a need? I am sure the first thing that comes to mind is everything we all need: food,clothing,shelter... but what about something deeper? What about the depths of a soul that hurts because the lack of love and what about those who are wandering through life feeling lost & alone.  Mother Teresa once said,

"Being unwanted, unloved, uncared for, forgotten by everybody, I think that is a much greater hunger, a much greater poverty than the person who has nothing to eat. "

So, the question I am asking myself and I will ask you, "Has the awareness of need become a part of my, of your, daily life?"


...just journeying & processing out loud...

Writing is placing words on paper as a brush's stroke on canvas

"It's okay to hold your breath when you leap.Just don't look down."

...a friend of mine has a blog and she calls it her "paper canvas" I am obsessed with the whole idea... Isn't it so true... writing is placing words on paper as a brush's stroke on canvas...I am not a painter, yet I am inspired by it... I am not musically inclined but it brings life to me...I am not a dancer yet I am intrigued by the grace and beauty of it.. I am not a photographer but love the life that it captures...You see the painters, the musicians, the dancers, the photographers and so on...their gifts bring freedom...freedom to their own hearts and freedom to others in such unique ways to each. I love that... if you think of that, how we are all inspired in all different ways.. ha! I think of it as a giant mosaic... some pieces broken, some rough...some discolored and many looking like misfits but all having a place... and in that place bringing their piece of beauty.
As I write, One Sparrow's voice, I hope to bring my piece of beauty...so in that said, I'm holding my breath as I leap onto this writing journey. And trust me, I'm not looking down.