ENCOURAGE - EQUIP - EMPOWER
IT STARTS HERE.
Often, I can easily become wrapped up in the stressors and hardships of things of this world. Psalm 103 reminds me that my struggles are temporary and my time on earth is fleeting… The psalms are full of great examples of praise and lament. There are many I go to often, but Psalm 103 is probably my favorite. Let’s dive in for a closer look.
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I get frustrated when I need to say the same thing to someone over and over again. Why don’t they just do it? Why do I keep having to repeat myself? It doesn’t take much for me to lose patience and start to have a bad attitude. So, when I keep messing up and don’t follow God’s commands, it’s easy for me to think He’s given up on me too, or at the very least, is running low on grace for my mistakes.
As a lifelong single person so far, it’s an understatement to say that Valentine’s Day can be a source of sadness. After moving past the days of receiving Fun Dip and paper valentines from everyone in my elementary school class, it became a little harder each year to get excited about a holiday that celebrates a type of love I’ve never had.
The first thing that was destroyed when sin entered into the world was man’s relationship with God. Genesis 3 talks about the Great Fall -- “…I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so, I hid” (Genesis 3:10). Despite the disobedience in the Garden of Eden, God still loved Adam and Eve but did not hesitate to call out their sin.
Love is one of those polarizing words. It can seem simple or complex. It can be obvious or evasive. It conjures up feelings of hurt or feelings of healing. It can be easily said or awkwardly unsaid. So how can a simple blog post attempt to grasp “love?” Well, it can’t, and I can’t. So I’ll just speak about what God says about love.
Love Prays. The words embossed on a T-shirt and purchased as a fundraiser for a dying young girl whose life I had only followed through an online blog, have had far-reaching effects. The vibrant life of the small child for which these words were penned may be gone, but the message of her life and those who loved her will live forever.
Matthew 22:36-40 tells us: “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” Jesus replied: ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and Prophets hang on these two commandments.”
“Guiding Light” by Foy Vance is the song my husband and I danced to at our wedding. One of the first times we hung out was at a Foy Vance concert, and his music always evokes memories of our relationship. But long before I met my husband, there were other love songs that would latch on to my emotions and take me for a ride — but I’d never been in a dating relationship before I met my husband, so how could that be?
Who am I? Do I matter? Where do I belong?
Over the summer, our Jennersville pastors Doug Walker (student ministry) and Johnny Johnston (campus pastor) taught on these questions adolescents strive to answer before entering their adulthood. As they popped up on the screen, I thought, “as an adult, I still ask these questions!” In my twenties I struggled with depression, mostly because my answer to these questions were:
My husband and I celebrate our 35th wedding anniversary later this month. This Brad Paisley song with the words “I thought I loved you then” has been our theme song for many years. (It was not the song we danced to at our wedding…we eloped…a fact he has not lived down in 35 years!) Young love is wonderful and exciting, but “old” love is even richer and has so much more depth.
The effort started out simply enough.
I set out to pen a note to my sweet mister on the occasion of our 20 years of life together. Over two decades, we’ve exchanged countless expressions of affection and appreciation for one another. But as the 20-year mark approached, I was looking for a fresh way to let him know how grateful I am to walk this life with him.
This past year, we studied the book of John in Bible study. In chapter 15, Jesus uses the analogy of a garden and gardener to reveal to us how we are to live. God is the gardener, Jesus is the vine and we are branches and are to remain close to the vine in order to bear fruit and have life. We are also told that the branches are pruned in order to produce more fruit. In this story, Jesus reveals to us his command for us, his followers. Not once, but twice. In verse 12 he states, "My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you." And then again in verse 17 he says, "This is my command: Love each other." Sounds simple enough, right?
