Tag: LOVE

Waiting…

Tomorrow I will….

You fill in the blank….

What are you struggling with right now that you have put off until tomorrow?

It doesn’t even need to be tomorrow, maybe it’s just “later”

say for instance it is the ever popular in need to….Read my Bible…

“I need to read my Bible”

“I need to be better about praying”

What about committing to Christ, going to church, being a better steward of your time….

I want to talk about waiting, something that I have been and at times still can be guilty of…

This type of waiting is not “patiently” waiting as in

“I wait for the LORD, my soul does wait, And in His word do I hope. My soul waits for the Lord More than the watchmen for the morning; Indeed, more than the watchmen for the morning.”  Psalms 130:5-6

this is the “procrastination” waiting.

From verywellmind.com I found an article Tips for overcoming procrastination, that said this about procrastinating…



As I read this I definitely see so much truth in these statements, there was a time in my life that I would actually call myself a procrastinator, I would prefer not to label myself that way anymore because I used to admit to it not seeing any problem with it, because somehow, someway, I would seem to get things done…. (but I “sold” so much time for this lifestyle, and no to mention, health and sanity as well)

sticky notes on rustic wood background concept for time management procrastination
sticky notes on rustic wood background concept for time management procrastination

Gods word has helped me overcome so many of my old, harmful habits, and still continues to do so, I take steps forward each day that I choose to, follow, seek, and depend upon it and Jesus.

“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.” Matthew‬ ‭5:6‬

Let’s just take a second and break down what this is telling us….

Blessed: happy, joyful, and truly thankful.

Are those: those who do what this says👇

Who hunger and thirst: what do we do when we are hungry and or thirsty, we start thinking of what we want to eat, drink, and we eat and drink.

It’s rare to say that we would call ourselves hungry and sit in front of food or water, and let ourselves starve, or thirst.

We don’t say I’m hungry, and thirsty, tomorrow I will eat, unless we are trying to fast, or don’t have the means to do it.

“And He said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. I will give of the fountain of the water of life freely to him who thirsts.” Revelation 21:6

God will satisfy the needs of the hungry and thirsty but we must choose to:

1. understand our need for it

2. choose to take it, just as much as we choose to eat or drink, to fulfill our physical needs, we also have spiritual needs.

For righteousness: to be morally right, or justified, those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, seek to be morally right, not just right, as in have the right answers but right as in their actions proves them right, and not right to ourselves, or the world but to the One God who created us, and that makes a fruitful Christian.

For they shall be satisfied: seeking to do the right thing, the answers can be found in Gods Word, the living waters…is not just a “good read” but when applied to our moral character and actions it is truly satisfying to the soul….

So….

What are you waiting for,

What harm is waiting doing to you?

Why do we wait until we are spiritually deprived and starving before we will spiritually feed on the bread of life! Waiting to make positive changes until it is a convenient time, is most likely only going to pull you further away making the time that would be convenient, less, and less convenient.

Don’t get fixated on tomorrow, tomorrow you will most likely regret something you didn’t do today,

Don’t wait to be perfect before you try to make a change, we only kid ourselves when we think this way…circumstances will probably look ugly when you realize you need to change. Right now if you see an area in your life that you should be better in it, my advise would be start, no matter how difficult, scary, or impossible it may seem.

One important detail about change that we must understand is that it isn’t always easy, the process can be hard, changing habits, and lifestyles that were hard on us can be just as grueling as the pain we faced because of this issue, if not even more…

My last post I wrote was on honesty, and this is a very important quality that we must have as we make changes.  Its so important to surround ourselves with honest people, be an honest person, and have an honest heart when reading or hearing the word of God, as much as we possibly can, because there will be times where we will want to give up, or look back, remember the good and not the bad that comes with damaging habits, and we will lie to ourselves and say again, it’s not so bad, to give in, give up, or set some important things aside to indulge ourselves in harmful habits again….

I think this is a major reason why we may procrastinate certain things in our lives because we know that some things, some changes that we know we need to make are just plain difficult.

So how do we do all of this? How do we stop procrastinating, or waiting for the perfect moments to be and do better, and how do we push through, when it gets difficult?

And just so you know there are many, many stories in the Bible of these very patterns of human behaviors that you can look too and see what happens you give in to yourself and of give up on God rather than push through…

Let me just say there will be times that It gets worse before it gets better, but the better is worth the worse, we must see the end goal, we must have hope, faith… and understand the greatest act of love that taught us how to start fresh….

Jesus

“Now there was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews; this man came to Jesus by night and said to Him, “Rabbi, we know that You have come from God as a teacher; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him.” Jesus answered and said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” Nicodemus *said to Him, “How can a man be born when he is old? He cannot enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born, can he?” Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not be amazed that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ The wind blows where it wishes and you hear the sound of it, but do not know where it comes from and where it is going; so is everyone who is born of the Spirit.” Nicodemus said to Him, “How can these things be?” Jesus answered and said to him, “Are you the teacher of Israel and do not understand these things? Truly, truly, I say to you, we speak of what we know and testify of what we have seen, and you do not accept our testimony. If I told you earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things? No one has ascended into heaven, but He who descended from heaven: the Son of Man. As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up; so that whoever believes will in Him have eternal life. “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him. He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil. For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. But he who practices the truth comes to the Light, so that his deeds may be manifested as having been wrought in God.” After these things Jesus and His disciples came into the land of Judea, and there He was spending time with them and baptizing. John also was baptizing in Aenon near Salim, because there was much water there; and people were coming and were being baptized—” John 3:1-23

Baptism into Christ places you in the the kingdom of God, there are so many benifits to being in His kingdom it would take me blogs and blogs to tell you all about it which Im sure you will continue to hear about it from me… but for now let’s just say one of the greatest benefits of that is the hope of  heaven, eternal peace, surrounded by the purest LOVE…

I think we all have some sort of grasp on Love, in some way or another, we either have it, have known it, want to know about it, or we long to grow in it…

What’s stopping us from reaching that love and it’s full potential is ourselves…the thought of tomorrow I will take care of that, or I’m going to wait until I feel better, I’m not good enough for any sort of Love, I fear what I might need to do, change or give up, to be in a better place.

let me ask you…

What are some important changes that you will put off?

What are things you often give up on when they get difficult?

I ask myself…

why do I fear difficult circumstances, so I wait, or avoid change.

I tend to fear uncomfortable, vulnerability, and the lack of my own self sufficiency, I don’t want anyone else to know that this life is hard,  and I need help at times, every single one of us needs help actually.

And that is why God had given us, Jesus, each other i.e. the Church and His word to guide us into all understanding of the truth, that is why it was so important to Jesus that He teach his disciples of this.

Teach each other, help each other, and Love each other, are some of His core teachings.

“And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Matthew 28:18-20

If we wait too long on trusting God, we will become self reliant (to the extent that we can) and not now how to be reliant on God when we really need Him, it is best to make that change right now, rely on Gods help…Just face the fears, whatever they may be,  YOU CAN TRUST that God will be right there by your side even through the difficult stages, that are bound to show up.

When you make a commitment to start working out, are the days always easy? no, are there set backs? yes, and are there going to be times where you have to push through? absolutely, but with and end goal in mind, we can start.

Don’t wait to start, with an end goal like heaven,

it’s so worth the process, for, that hope makes every challenge we face worth it.  But even so the change of life style here on this earth and being a part of the spiritual kingdom of the Church of Christ, has many benefits too (you can read about this unity and love, and christian walk in Ephesians 4) …. waiting just gives us more time to doubt and delay… and I’m afraid waiting only makes it harder to commit in the future.

Proverbs chapter 24 is where the thought of this Post came from, I hope it encourages you as much as it did me, to stop waiting, to be strong, push through when it gets tough, to get back up when you fall, not giving up but always trying and be better.  Thank you so much for reading, Please as always let me know if you have any questions.  May God Bless you, and may you desire to know and seek His word, His Truth.

“A wise man is strong, And a man of knowledge increases power. For by wise guidance you will wage war, And in abundance of counselors there is victory. Wisdom is too exalted for a fool, He does not open his mouth in the gate. One who plans to do evil, Men will call a schemer. The devising of folly is sin, And the scoffer is an abomination to men. If you are slack in the day of distress, Your strength is limited. Deliver those who are being taken away to death, And those who are staggering to slaughter, Oh hold them back. If you say, “See, we did not know this,” Does He not consider it who weighs the hearts? And does He not know it who keeps your soul? And will He not render to man according to his work? My son, eat honey, for it is good, Yes, the honey from the comb is sweet to your taste; Know that wisdom is thus for your soul; If you find it, then there will be a future, And your hope will not be cut off.”  Proverbs 24:5-14

“Do not lie in wait, O wicked man, against the dwelling of the righteous; Do not plunder his resting place; For a righteous man may fall seven times And rise again, But the wicked shall fall by calamity. Do not rejoice when your enemy falls, And do not let your heart be glad when he stumbles; Lest the LORD see it, and it displease Him, And He turn away His wrath from him. Do not fret because of evildoers, Nor be envious of the wicked; For there will be no prospect for the evil man; The lamp of the wicked will be put out. My son, fear the LORD and the king; Do not associate with those given to change; For their calamity will rise suddenly, And who knows the ruin those two can bring?” Proverbs 24:15-22

I went by the field of the lazy man, And by the vineyard of the man devoid of understanding; And there it was, all overgrown with thorns; Its surface was covered with nettles; Its stone wall was broken down. When I saw it, I considered it well; I looked on it and received instruction:

A little sleep, a little slumber, A little folding of the hands to rest; So shall your poverty come like a prowler, And your need like an armed man. Proverbs 24:30-34

Irritated young woman putting her alarm clock off in the morning with soft morning light. Relaxing concept.

 

The Jesus Trend

We are seeing Jesus lovers popping up all over the internet,

I just can’t help but notice,

And please don’t get me wrong I love Jesus too, and I don’t think we should ever be ashamed to tell others about Him.

But I just can’t help but question the truth behind the matter of some,

And I wonder is this a trend or is this for real,

I am all for spreading the good news of Jesus, I’m all for encouragement, I’m all for helping others Find God!

But I just can’t help but think of the sermon on the mount, the words from Jesus himself, for 3 chapters of the Book of Matthew we have the greatest sermon ever preached, please understand one thing as you read the Word,

The chapters in the books were mans adding not Gods, when you read the sermon on the mount don’t pull this verse out and use it the way you want it…

““Judge not, that you be not judged.”

Matthew 7:1 read the entire sermon preached by Jesus….

Understand why it’s there, what it’s purpose was, and the context of the entire message.

This message is for you not for you to throw in someone else’s face, if someone is trying to help you because they see you going down a not so good path, please grab their hand as they are trying to pull you from destruction and thank them….

I would post the whole sermon but instead, I would greatly encourage you to open your Bible and read it for yourself from start to finish starting in Matthew chapter 5. Jesus didn’t stop preaching at the end of chapter 5 and pick up where he left off a day later, he preached continuously from chapter 5 through to chapter 7, It’s an important message!

““Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it. For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it. “Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits. Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes nor figs from thistles, are they? So every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, nor can a bad tree produce good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. So then, you will know them by their fruits. “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; DEPART FROM M E, YOU WHO PRACTICE LAWLESSNESS.’ “Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts on them, may be compared to a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and yet it did not fall, for it had been founded on the rock. Everyone who hears these words of Mine and does not act on them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. The rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and it fell—and great was its fall.” When Jesus had finished these words, the crowds were amazed at His teaching; for He was teaching them as one having authority, and not as their scribes.”

Matthew 7:13-29 NASB

It hurts a little to see the mass amount of people proclaiming Jesus, how much they love Him and The message of grace…backed by such worldly lifestyles!

Its seems more like confusion than a message of truth to me,

Jesus came to save us from this world that we want to participate in while holding on to the Jesus diamond cross around our neck,

he died on that cross for you,

and you get to wear it,

Does that not seem backwards to you!

(I’m not saying that everyone does this but this is just an example)

He told us to carry our crosses not flaunt them

“Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple.”

Luke 14:27 NASB

Go and find out what this means.

And I don’t share this out of hate or judgment but care and concern because the fruits of our life will always speak so much louder than the words that come out of our mouths,

Or in this case, the posts of our social media accounts.

This is an avenue that I try to be cautious of because it is so easy to show the world a different you, it’s easy to be a “Jesus lover” or “saved by grace” On the internet, but who are we at home to our families, friends, spouses, who are we to our co-workers or neighbors, and most importantly who are we to God?

What kind of fruits are you displaying in public, or private, how do you yield to temptations? (self-control)

“Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law. And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.”

Galatians 5:19-26 NKJV

Each one of those fruits should be dissected in our lives, they are hard to master, but not impossible, we have an example and we must follow it everyday especially as we proclaim to be His followers, we must be different from the world.

Let us not be conceited…

Provoking one another…

Envying one another!

Social Media has to be the largest outlet for this kind of behavior, provoking (look at me)and envying (look at them)…

What is your purpose to show Gods glory or yours? trust me I know it’s easy to get caught up in attention…but is it worth your soul or someone you may be affecting as they watch your example.

“Let not many of you become teachers, my brethren, knowing that as such we will incur a stricter judgment. For we all stumble in many ways. If anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect man, able to bridle the whole body as well. Now if we put the bits into the horses’ mouths so that they will obey us, we direct their entire body as well. Look at the ships also, though they are so great and are driven by strong winds, are still directed by a very small rudder wherever the inclination of the pilot desires. So also the tongue is a small part of the body, and yet it boasts of great things. S ee how great a forest is set aflame by such a small fire! And the tongue is a fire, the very world of iniquity; the tongue is set among our members as that which defiles the entire body, and sets on fire the course of our life, and is set on fire by hell. For every species of beasts and birds, of reptiles and creatures of the sea, is tamed and has been tamed by the human race. But no one can tame the tongue; it is a restless evil and full of deadly poison. With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in the likeness of God; from the same mouth come both blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not to be this way. Does a fountain send out from the same opening both fresh and bitter water? Can a fig tree, my brethren, produce olives, or a vine produce figs? Nor can salt water produce fresh. Who among you is wise and understanding? Let him show by his good behavior his deeds in the gentleness of wisdom. But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your heart, do not be arrogant and so lie against the truth. This wisdom is not that which comes down from above, but is earthly, natural, demonic. For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there is disorder and every evil thing. But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, reasonable, full of mercy and good fruits, unwavering, without hypocrisy. And the seed whose fruit is righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.”

James 3:1-18 NASB

This is hard to share, I’m not trying to exalt myself above anyone else by any means,

Please take this with a sincere love from me and for the truth.

And thank you for taking the time to read, with love,

Beverly

I was in a rut a few years back wondering why things just didn’t feel like they matched, I thought I was doing everything right…this sermon really helped me put things into perspective. Please take the time to listen, I pray it would help you as it did me!

Where is your Peace?

 

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Guided imagery brings you to a place of peace.

Usually when asked to close your eyes and go to a place that is calm and peaceful, 

We think of mountains, beaches, meadows, rivers, forests

the sounds are those of waves crashing, or birds chirping, wind blowing, rain pouring

Where is your place of peace?

And why is it, that this place usually involves nature,

I honestly don’t know, maybe yours doesn’t involve nature 

But when I think of complete peace within myself I’m near the ocean,

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A warm breeze, and the sun setting

I love sunsets,

I could watch them all day!

if only…

Why do we get these glimpses of beauty? Why can’t we just stay there forever?

What’s so beautiful about the sun setting?

to me it is that I can actually look at the sun without being blinded by its brightness 

the colors of the sky amaze me and the reflection of light seen upon the water shows just how powerful God really is.

To think that this earth just accidentally happened, to me is hopeless

What’s the point of the beauty if this is all just an accident

What the point of joy, if we don’t have love 

What’s the point of life when we don’t have a God, 

What is our purpose if it is not for Christ 

(Now hold on…)

A long time ago God created the world,

Whether you believe it or not, it doesn’t change a fact! 

In the beginning God created the heavens and the Earth. Genesis 1:1 

The world was a perfect place of absolute peace, not a worry, not a sorrow, not a burden, not a tear.

God made animals, and he made a man, this man was different from the animals because God breathed His own breath into him…

His soul into man! ( how blessed are we) 

That soul was uncorrupted knowing no evil, man was given a helper, a woman (taken from and for the man, but also given a soul of her own)

Together they were given a perfect home to enjoy and be completely taken care of! 

God, because of His love gave them a free will (yes, you have choice in this life) 

In this perfect garden there was a tree…a tree to understand, 

Understand something different from what they knew,

Knowledge of good and evil,

With that tree of knowledge came another thing that was death 

The perfect home and everlasting life would be severed through disobedience,

Death! 

A tempter came told the woman you won’t die you will just be like God, don’t you want that..to know good and evil…the thing is they already knew good, but it couldn’t have been considered good without the counterpart evil. Good without evil is perfect! 

(What did God say when he created it all, “it is good”,perfect. Genesis 1:31  God saw all that he had made, and behold, it was very good.)

Back to the fruit of that tree of knowledge of good and evil…

Eve took it 

She didn’t die instantly

What!!??

she passed it on to Adam,

Everything changed! 

Here comes the knowledge…

They instantly understood what evil was…

disobedience to their Creator, 

They were ashamed, and instantly wanted to hide away! Naked, vulnerable, and now they understood the one thing that God wanted to keep them pure from! 

Evil! 

But a God so loving knew this would happen 

He had a plan of redemption, 

The Tree of Life…

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in order to live they must now take from that…you see all along it wasn’t about forcing anything for God, God is Love and all He wants is children that love Him, not because they are  forced to, but because they want to love Him! The peace, the beauty, the wonders, the love, they all come from God!

And He gave us an opportunity to do that, His word is a gift, a gift of life, and manual on how to live it to the fullest, it’s a powerful message of His love, we don’t want to read it because that just seems so unfair that God would just create us, put us in this world, and then make us read a book on how to live in it…

(so unfair right) 

I think not…

But honestly the whole thought of reading the Bible used to burden me, but what I have actually realized is that it is not His Word that is a burden, but the world and the lies within it, they damage us! 

They take us away from those places of peace, calmness, and love.  So far away that we need to deliberately close our eyes and think deep to find that happy place again! 

God knows our burdens, He gave us this gift inside the gift, that is Christ! 

A perfect example, to come to earth and show us how to cast every burden aside, He did something that none before Him could ever do and that is die for our sins! 

We killed him, in anger, in jealously, in lies, In deceit, in selfishness! But still He said “Father forgive them for they know not what they do” Luke 23:34

The walk of a perfect life, to a cross of  crucifixion, an absolute selfless act to pay a price for heaven to give to us, for everyone who cares to understand, everyone who cares to say Glory to God in the highest, I love Him because He first love me!  

Everyone Who understands the necessity of the death that Christ faced for us, and the necessity of the need to clothe ourselves in that death, burial, and resurrection.

The death defeated sin, but only defeated sin for those that would remove it through His holy cleansing power! 

Rest is found through His love,

Fear of death, defeated! 

Comfort is a promise! For now and forever through Christ, but only for those willing to receive that comfort! It’s not a simple as speaking, it’s not as simple as a thought! Death came when disobedience happened in the Garden of Eden, 

Life comes through obedience, to the Tree of life.

Taking from that Tree of life, to live in the comfort and peace in the Kingdom of Heaven! 

Close your eyes, and imagine a place

Where you are completely at peace,

Find yourself in that happy place 

Tell me, what part of that exercise involves  chaos, clutter, fear, darkness. 

We do that to ourselves, while our hearts LONG for that peace, 

God wants us to trust His journey for us, (not my will, but His) 

It hurts sometimes as we walk this journey with Him because there are so many things that we have only ever known, that have been weighing us down, 

God wants to help us remove them to find that peace, 

that removal can be painful,

That place of comfort, will one day be our never-ending home! 

Time was created by God who doesn’t exist within that matter of time, that’s hard to take in, but the beginning and the end are something created by Him to teach us that this world is not the home we should strive for because it doesn’t last forever, 

Peace with Him though, 

That can start now, 

And that never needs to end, 

Obedience, 

Removal of selfish motives, 

Putting on love, 

Again God who created us didn’t create us to force us into anything,

We all have a choice,

The lie that tells you that, He is unjust, unloving, and fake,

Or even the lie that tells YOU that you are unworthy to be saved! 

Is the same lie that started the fall of man, 

“Surely you will not die,” said the serpent! 

“You will be just like God” said the serpent! 

As hard as we may try, we could Never compete with God,

Call yourself a “lucky accident” that came about from a mashing of rocks billions of years ago! 

Or call yourself a child of a Creator that loves you and will give you every opportunity to turn to Him, 

Who knows how to free you from the chaos, fears, and darkness. 

He doesn’t promise it to be easy, 

But promises freedom, peace,

Comfort, and love! 

“But do not let this one fact escape your notice, beloved, that with the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years like one day. The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.”  2 Peter 3:8-9 

What is your promise?

What is you image of peace? 

What is your life? 

What is your purpose? 

Where is your peace?

As my title emphasizes my love for the truth, if you have any questions about my post, I would first recommend reading the Word for yourself, here are the listed scripture references, any further questions please let me know! 

Creation and fall of man 

Genesis 1-3 

The righteous and wicked contrasted 

Psalms 1 

Proverbs 14

The works and the Word of God 

Psalms 19 

What is the Tree of life?

“The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life, And he who is wise wins souls.” Proverbs 11:30 

Revelations 22 

About Jesus and his care:

John- chapters 14-16 (read this without the chapter breaks, it breathtaking, beautiful, and comforting.   The chapter breaks in the Bible are man-made not necessarily meant for stopping points sometimes we miss great passages from stopping too soon.) 

And why did Jesus Die? 

Collisions 2 and 3 

The whole Word of God is full of this love, and knowledge! The Bible is truly and treasure given for our benefit, not for our burden! My prayer is that you would read it filterless, with the ability to break down the barriers placed upon your hearts! The promise is truly fulfilling! May God bless you always! 

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What do you want to be when you grow up Mom?

My kids asked me this question recently…

What do you want to be when you grow up?

Grown up…hmmmm? That sounds like fun? 😉

I guess I have always known exactly what I have wanted to be when I grew up…
now here I am a grown up (I think)…

It was a mom…
I wanted to be a mom..

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I wanted to be a mom so I could be needed,
I have always had a passion for caring…
Especially when it came to children, I wanted little hearts who would cry for me!
And I could pick them up and comfort them…
Little did I know that desire was fulfilling a need of my own
I quickly realized that being a mom wasn’t as pretty as it looked it was much more challenging,
Being needed wasn’t actually about being needed but needing,
Needing help, needing love, needing patience, needing faith, needing trust…
Having children taught me how to be a child, a child of God,
We are all children of God his desire has always been to be our comforter, to pick us up when we fall, to hear us when we cry, to teach us, nurture us, feed us, and love us.
But We must have the humility to need him.

“At that time the disciples came to Jesus and said, “Who then is greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” And He called a child to Himself and set him before them, and said, “Truly I say to you, unless you are converted and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever then humbles himself as this child, he is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. And whoever receives one such child in My name receives Me; but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble, it would be better for him to have a heavy millstone hung around his neck, and to be drowned in the depth of the sea.”
‭‭Matthew‬ ‭18:1-6‬ ‭NASB‬‬

As parents I think something we could all relate to is the protective nature we each have for our children, you would say the same thing if someone were to mess up your child’s life wouldn’t you?

Children truly are a gift, even if you don’t have children of your own I think you could still appreciate the beauty they bring into this world,
Their unfiltered, innocent,and pure nature.
I will work as hard as I can to protect their innocence as long as I can, teaching them kindness and love!

“Behold, children are a gift of the LORD, The fruit of the womb is a reward.”
‭‭Psalms‬ ‭127:3‬ ‭NASB‬‬

“Strength and dignity are her clothing, And she smiles at the future. She opens her mouth in wisdom, And the teaching of kindness is on her tongue. She looks well to the ways of her household, And does not eat the bread of idleness. Her children rise up and bless her; Her husband also, and he praises her, saying: “Many daughters have done nobly, But you excel them all.” Charm is deceitful and beauty is vain, But a woman who fears the LORD, she shall be praised.”
‭‭Proverbs‬ ‭31:25-30‬ ‭NASB‬‬

This scripture inspires more than you know,
I strive to be this woman,
My children bless me beyond measure,
God is so good!

My children;

I love each one of them so deeply and dearly as I observe them each day protecting their souls and keeping them, and teaching them of Gods love is my top priority. I couldn’t imagine life without being their mother.

Tiernan

First I was your Auntie Over the moon in love with you, such a sweet little boy, I wanted to spend time with you all the time, you didn’t know at the time but you were teaching Mom and Dad how to love, not only others but each other.  God sent you into the belly of a mommy that watched out for you, loved you so much that she made one of the hardest choices she ever had to make, and putting her trust in me and Dad to raise you the best we could! And now we get to share you again with her and it fills my heart more than you could ever know. She is near and dear to my heart she also taught me how to Love, God works through moments in our life that challenge us in ways that sometimes we don’t want to go, or they hurt to see, but he teaches us to lean on him and when we do he helps us grow into people with greater joy than we ever knew we could exist with and a faith that can move mountains. Being a mom to you has really, really, REALLY  helped me grow and I am not putting that lightly, you taught me how to give up myself for another person. Through the joy and love that you shared with me, you stamped my heart so deep that I became willing to step into places that scared me so bad, but I knew there was a little boy there that needed me and I needed him! So I did it over and over for you and will continue to do it over and over, my heart hurts because I sometimes feel like I’m not good enough for you but you teach me too about grace, forgiveness, and love, you may not have grown in my belly but you did grow in my heart, and not just mine but many other Peoples too! You have such a big heart and it’s so loyal to the ones that love it in return!! Keep growing for the Lord, you have a wisdom inside of you that can teach multitudes one day!! I love you dearly!

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Brooklyn

Mommy and daddy prayed for a beautiful little girl and God gave us the most beautiful little girl that shines from the inside out! Watching you everyday love with so
Much grace and forgiveness, there are times I feel that I don’t even love to the measures you do!

If anyone does you wrong before they even get to the chance to say I’m sorry you have already said that’s okay it was an accident I forgive you!! You observe love the most out of everything I do, and believe me I have my faults you could observe…watching me mother and mimicking it to T with your dolls and sister! Always Cherishing your bible and God with so much faith, hope, and purity!! Your prayers consisting of things like Help us be loving and kindness, and forgiveness and thank you for loving us and thank you for God. My little Brooklyn we sure prayed for you hard and God just proved to us that he blesses and answers prayers in the most beautiful ways!

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Norah

Mama sure has learned a lot from you and I know your going to teach me many more lessons! You to have a heart bigger I think sometimes than you know how to handle at the age of 2 so it comes out that way! Your emotions are strong and so are you but when you love you give it all! Your hugs seep through the body into the soul they are so powerful, and your laugh and joy you share, also rubs off onto others similar to the way when you fall asleep and you are finding comfort, you find it by trying to comfort someone else, your little hand searches for skin to caress and gently rubs so lovingly whoever is nearest to you! I pray that you continue to help me practice grace, your little soul is the sweetest and I know your trying to figure it out. When we pray you try really hard to remember the things we pray for and you repeat them as you listen, you are an observer too and I sure do love you too! God knows the desires of our hearts and when we found out you were a baby girl mama cried because I knew you and your sister were going to lean on each other and help each other grow just like I did with the sisters God gave me! ❤️❤️

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I think about this job that God has given me, to be.

Their mom

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this gift,
A blessing beyond measure…

And then I think, ultimately they are not mine but HIS, I know them but I can never know them to the depths that God does,
What I wouldn’t give to know how to comfort them at every moment, but I know someone who does,

and that’s my real job,

it is  to teach these precious souls to know God, love him, and call on him when they need help because, he too wants to pick you up and give you a big warm loving hug when you cry, and mine couldn’t even come close to HIS!

I love my children and I love my Dear Heavenly Father!

Our children learn by the examples that we set, what better example than to be a Child of God, to become the Best Mom I could be.

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LOVE

Often we think about love and it seems that we all have a different definition for what it actually is! Some people may not even know how to define it! Love is complicated a lot of people like to say…and yes actually it can be!

Honestly if you want to know what sparked me to do a bible study on love I will tell you that I personally struggled with it and so I wanted to challenge myself. I’m sure we all could say we struggle with it in one way or another because after all love is complicated, or at least it can be. I often find myself questioning the love that I give to people and the guilt I feel when I don’t feel love, what’s wrong with me I think, why can’t I feel this love that I’m supposed to feel. This “brotherly” or “sisterly” love that we are supposed to have for one another in the church, the love that we are to have for our children, the love for our families or maybe even the love for our spouses or God.

Do you ever question yourself on those things why can’t I feel love, or am I doing this right?

Let me start with some research that I did on love which may help you all understand the complication of it! There are 4 different Greek words for love.
eros, storge, phileo, and agape.

Let that sink in for just one moment 4 words in Greek that define one word in English!

LOVE

No wonder it’s complicated!

I will start with the Greek word Eros this word is not actually used in the New Testament, which was originally written in Greek, but I think it is important to understand this word and its meaning because in the world we live in today a lot of people may fall trap to this idea and think it is LOVE.

In English the Greek word Eros translates erotic, it is a “love” or passion, that can overwhelm our mind creating a strong desire for something. This idea may often get confused by LUST which is also a strong desire or passionate longing for something usually forbidden, coming from the Greek word epithumia (lust).

Eros mainly seeks after its own self, or if it gives it gives in order to receive. It can be very short and temporal, as well as conditional. The philosophy of Eros is that being loved depends on being attractive in some way to another person . The basic idea of this love is self satisfaction and if it fails to get what it wants or expects bitterness or resentment can develop. Now as I read about this. It doesn’t sound like the kind of love that God wants for us or from us!
Where you would see this love being used (that is the passion and desire) is obviously in relationships and I think it is safe to say the only proper relationship this should be in is in a marriage and a marriage between a man and woman.
God does allow husband and wife’s the gift of this type of love as we see in

Hebrews 13:4 KJV

Marriage is honorable in all, and the bed undefiled : but whoremongers and adulterers God will judge.

 
God understands that we were given a desire for this naturally,

1 Corinthians 7:4-5 NASB

The wife does not have authority over her own body, but the husband does; and likewise also the husband does not have authority over his own body, but the wife does. Stop depriving one another, except by agreement for a time, so that you may devote yourselves to prayer, and come together again so that Satan will not tempt you because of your lack of self-control.

So I think we can definitely see the idea, and how we may use our desire for this properly. With the world that we live in today driven by selfish desires I think a lot of people believe that this is LOVE,  but think it’s safe to say that a marriage relationship built on this type of love set as a foundation will eventually develop problems.

So Moving on, the next Greek word for love is storge. This is a natural love that you have! The love of family, parent/child, brother, sister or any relatives that you may feel a strong bond between because you know that naturally you are connected through blood or maybe even just through the family name. It is a quiet, abiding feeling within a person that rests on something close to them that they feel good about. When we see this word in the New Testament it is not written as love but it is used in a negative context as, “without natural affection”.

See following verses:

2 Timothy 3:2-7 KJV

“For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, Without natural affection (STORGE) , trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away. For of this sort are they which creep into houses, and lead captive silly women laden with sins, led away with divers lusts, Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.”

And…
Romans 1:28-32 KJV
“And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient; Being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers, Backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, Without understanding, covenantbreakers, without natural affection (STORGE), implacable, unmerciful: Who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them.”

other versions of the bible, use the terms unloving (NASB), or no love (NIV)

BUT…
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We can think positivly of this natural affection that we have or are asked of to have, when we think of the the idea of “brotherly love” philadelphia which is a love that we as christians are asked to have for on another.

Naturally we understand that as humans, we come with this sort of “love”

an unconditional love, and it is probably one of the hardest loves to break or separate yourself from and because of that I think that this love can also hinder our relationship with God as well, if we are not careful. And what I mean by that is

 

Matthew 10:34-39
Do not think that I came to bring peace on the earth; I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I came to SET A MAN AGAINST HIS FATHER, AND A DAUGHTER AGAINST HER MOTHER, AND A DAUGHTER-IN-LAW AGAINST HER MOTHER-IN-LAW; and A MAN ‘ S ENEMIES WILL BE THE MEMBERS OF HIS HOUSEHOLD. “He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; and he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me. He who has found his life will lose it, and he who has lost his life for My sake will find it.

To understand this thought better, we need to understand that this verse is not telling us that we should not love our family, but what it is saying is that sometimes the love that we have for our family is so strong that we will make exceptions for things that are contradictory to the Word of God (TRUTH) in order to please our family because we love them so much. We are afraid we might lose them so instead we choose to disobey the will of God. We all grew up with certain traditions, beliefs, and lifestyles, some good and some bad, and as we continue to walk through life we witnesss our loved ones making choices that are sometimes hard to see and accept, the question is do we need to accept those choices? The answer is what does the Bible tell you, we are to love God and follow his will. The rest will fall into place when his plan is fulfilled!
You are not in control of what others around you choose to do especially those you love and that is a hard thing to realize, but also your actions if bad may hurt others who don’t understand, and if good may help! God has a plan though our lives, he knows far more than we can comprehend at one point, sometimes when we look at the world we live in we are quick to get discouraged by circumstances that are out of our control, they hurt us! Christ gives us a comfort through all of that, but the comfort only comes when we choose to surrender ourselves to the will of GOD, and understanding that many people may disagree with that!

Moving on we come to the word Phileo …phileo is a love mentioned in the New Testament. Phileo is a love that you feel. It speaks of affection, fondness or liking. It is more of a strong liking for something, or someone, rather than true love, when you have a strong emotional connection to a person, place, or even thing. This is what causes us to care for each other. When you feel cared for by another person a lot of the time, you will phileo care for or “love them” back. The problem with this love is that when it is greatly strained it can collapse in crisis. But it is important to have this love for one another because naturally we are emotional people, and our feelings do cause us to make decisions a lot of the time especially to those who don’t fully understand Gods word, so if we do not feel a phileo love for one another, family, friends, God what are we left with. But at the same time phileo can also hinder us if we have it for the wrong things.
You will see this in

 
Revelations 22:14-15
“Blessed are those who wash their robes, so that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter by the gates into the city. Outside are the dogs and the sorcerers and the immoral persons and the murderers and the idolaters, and everyone who loves (phileo) and practices lying.”
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John 12:25
“He who loves (phileo) his life loses it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it to life eternal.”

Understand this is talking about a love for the world with maybe a “you only live once” type of attitude where you just have so much fun and are careless you live life to the fullest in a way that does not coincide with Gods word.

It’s is very important to understand this type of love and difference between what is good and what is bad. Gods word will provide that! Phileo is not a bad love it is very important to show it the Bible also tells us that God loves (phileo) us!

Revelation 3:19

“Those whom I love,(Phileo/care for) I reprove and discipline; therefore be zealous and repent.”
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But more than the love of Phileo, God also agape loves us. Which brings me to the last Greek word for “love”,  And that is agape. Agape is not a feeling. Agape is everything that God is.

1 John 4:8
“The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love.” (Agape)

Agape is the noblest word for love in the Greek language. It is a love that is not kindled by merit or worth of its object but it originates in its own God-given nature. It delights in giving. It keeps on loving even when the loved one is unresponsive, unkind, unlovable, and unworthy. It is true unconditional love. It only desires good of the one loved. It is a consuming passion for the well being of others. The word agape is used approximately 320 times in the New Testament (important you would think)

We only know agape because of God! Because of the things that he has done for us.

 

1 John 4:9-10 

“By this the love of God was manifested in us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world so that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.”

And what Christ did for us…

Ephesians 5:1-2

“Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children; and walk in love, just as Christ also loved you and gave Himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma.”

So how do we conclude this. We must take action, understand the loves that we feel that may confuse or skew our thinking. We are now aware of Eros, storge, Phileo, and agape.

We are commanded to show others agape as well as to care for each other with brotherly love.

2 Peter 1:5-7

“Now for this very reason also, applying all diligence, in your faith supply moral excellence, and in your moral excellence, knowledge, and in your knowledge, self-control, and in your self-control, perseverance, and in your perseverance, godliness, and in your godliness, brotherly kindness, and in your brotherly kindness, love.”

So if you have faith and believe in God the next step is the morals that the faith provides where do you find those morals? Through knowledge (found in the word of God) …once you gain knowledge…you need self control (the I’m not gonna do this because it is bad for me self control) maybe once or twice or whenever we feel like we want to practice self control? No! Through perseverance (that is continually, all the time, perseverance that is hard work right) through that perseverance we practice godliness (having a respect for God and therefore following his word, but not just any respect a deep respect, a respect so strong that we begin to exhibit in our own behavior a constant piety towards God, not wanting to follow Gods will but actually doing it because there is a difference) and through the godliness you then will find the brotherly kindness, the care that I have been wondering about the care that you naturally have for your family, to have that for everyone, because of godliness. And from brotherly kindness you will find love.

The love that God wants for each one of us! The love that God has for us! The true agape love. The love that loves no matter what! The greatest commandment love! The second greatest commandment love!

Matthew 22:37-40

“And He said to him, ” ‘Y OU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR G OD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND.’ This is the great and foremost commandment. The second is like it, ‘Y OU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.’ On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets.””

This love,

1 Corinthians 13:1-13

“If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but do not have love, I have become a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge; and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. And if I give all my possessions to feed the poor, and if I surrender my body to be burned, but do not have love, it profits me nothing. Love is patient, love is kind and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant, does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered, does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails; but if there are gifts of prophecy, they will be done away; if there are tongues, they will cease; if there is knowledge, it will be done away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part; but when the perfect comes, the partial will be done away. When I was a child, I used to speak like a child, think like a child, reason like a child; when I became a man, I did away with childish things. For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face; now I know in part, but then I will know fully just as I also have been fully known. But now faith, hope, love, abide these three; but the greatest of these is love.”
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It makes such perfect sense to me now! The Bible is perfect, I found this study so eye opening to so many questions! I want to leave you with one more thought because I know this task of love is not always the easiest of things to do is it?

So as I explained our English version of the Bible has the word love which can sometimes be so vague in our English language. But there was a conversation with Jesus and Peter that you will find in

John 21:15-17

“So when they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you love (agape) Me more than these?” He said to Him, “Yes, Lord; You know that I love (Phileo)You.” He said to him, “Tend My lambs.” He said to him again a second time, “Simon, son of John, do you love (agape) Me?” He said to Him, “Yes, Lord; You know that I love (Phileo)You.” He said to him, “Shepherd My sheep.” He said to him the third time, “Simon, son of John, do you love (Phileo)Me?” Peter was grieved because He said to him the third time, “Do you love (Phileo) Me?” And he said to Him, “Lord, You know all things; You know that I love (Phileo)You.” Jesus said to him, “Tend My sheep.

 

So Jesus asked Peter 2 times if he agape loved him and Peter responded yes lord you know that I Phileo love you (care about you) after each time Jesus asked Peter to tend my lambs and shepherd my sheep!

So what happened the third time Jesus asked Peter, well first of all Jesus stopped asking Peter if he agaped him, instead he asked if he Phileo (cared for) him. I don’t know about you but I have questioned people before on this one! Do you really love me because your not showing it so I really don’t feel it! Do you think maybe that is what Jesus was doing in this conversation. Well let’s see what happened to Peter, what was his response. (Peter was grieved because he said to him the third time do you love (Phileo) me) why do you think Peter became grieved,

Peters heart was challenged! Grief of the heart is not bad unless you choose from it to be hardened.. Peter did not become hardened but instead chose to grow from his grief!

Jesus works through us in ways like the way that he challenged Peter, it’s not blunt, but he challenges our hearts, he wants to know that we love him in a way that we will take action, not give up, and work for!

John 10:1-18

“”Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter by the door into the fold of the sheep, but climbs up some other way, he is a thief and a robber. But he who enters by the door is a shepherd of the sheep. To him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he puts forth all his own, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice. A stranger they simply will not follow, but will flee from him, because they do not know the voice of strangers.” This figure of speech Jesus spoke to them, but they did not understand what those things were which He had been saying to them. So Jesus said to them again, “Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. All who came before Me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them. I am the door; if anyone enters through Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly. “I am the good shepherd; the good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep. He who is a hired hand, and not a shepherd, who is not the owner of the sheep, sees the wolf coming, and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. He flees because he is a hired hand and is not concerned about the sheep. I am the good shepherd, and I know My own and My own know Me, even as the Father knows Me and I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep. I have other sheep, which are not of this fold; I must bring them also, and they will hear My voice; and they will become one flock with one shepherd. For this reason the Father loves Me, because I lay down My life so that I may take it again. No one has taken it away from Me, but I lay it down on My own initiative. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This commandment I received from My Father.””

Jesus is love, he showed us love we must follow him, God is love he showed us love he sent his son Jesus so that we may know that true agape love. And what are we to but to love.

1 John 4:7-21

“Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love. By this the love of God was manifested in us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world so that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has seen God at any time; if we love one another, God abides in us, and His love is perfected in us. By this we know that we abide in Him and He in us, because He has given us of His Spirit. We have seen and testify that the Father has sent the Son to be the Savior of the world. Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. We have come to know and have believed the love which God has for us. God is love, and the one who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. By this, love is perfected with us, so that we may have confidence in the day of judgment; because as He is, so also are we in this world. 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. We love, because He first loved us. If someone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for the one who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen. And this commandment we have from Him, that the one who loves God should love his brother also.”

Im constantly baffled by the mindset of the world we live in wanting to remove God from the picture, telling the world that God is not important, and obeying him is not necessary, His truth was given to us for one simple purpose, because, we are his and he loves us….

but why do we turn away from it like its the plague. Because giving up ourselves is hard, but so rewarding.  Each day that I choose to look to God is when I find the most peace, comfort, and love in a way that cannot simply be explained by the English definition according to google:

Love: noun

  1. an intense feeling of deep affection
  2. a person or thing that one loves

verb

1. feel deep romantic or sexual attachment to (someone)

It is much, much more than that, as always I hope you too would desire the Truth! Not for me or anyone else, but for you so that you too may know love, a true agape “LOVE” that gives you so much worth. May God Bless You!