There is this unbelievable feeling when you are in love with someone. You think about them all the time. You can’t wait to see, talk, or be with them again. There is nothing else that feels the same way. This is how I feel about my wife. Ok, I know some of you, who know us, will say, “Yeah, but you two have only been married 7 months!” This may be true, but you see I have purposed in my heart to never fall “out” of love with her. I have this desire to forever find another way, to make her feel loved.
Which is a nice segue into my second point. A greater feeling than loving someone else is knowing that you are loved by them. Again, I have to point to my wife. She is so understanding, patient, and forgiving. Knowing I am loved by her will cause me to smile for no particular reason.
But even greater than her love, is God’s love. His love is perfect, and again I will smile when I sense his love come over me in waves. Not because He just did something for me, but because I am his child. God can’t help but love us because, after all, He is love. (1 John 4:8)
Ways to experience this kind of love:
- This kind of love is recognized when you spend time with God.
- This kind of love is known after spending time reading the Bible, and learning how He has loved others.
- This kind of love is solidified by loving God back. You do that by praising him, and worshipping him. When you are confident, knowing how much God loves you, nothing that happens to you in life can threaten your relationship with God.
Be love to others:
In the current condition of our world, we, who know, have, and trust in God’s love need more now than ever to share that kind of love with others, who may be lost, confused, or scared. God’s love through you, might just be the very thing that saves their life now and for eternity!
Copyright © 2019 Mark Brady. All rights reserved.
I had a friend that once stated she doesn’t want to hear her spouse say, “I love you” every day. Somehow, she feels it cheapens the words. I asked her, “Well, how do you want to know you are loved then?” She replied, “Just knowing someone is thinking about me makes me feel loved.” Yes, the next question I had to ask was, “How do you know you are being thought of if that person doesn’t express it in some form?”
I got remarried yesterday evening, after being divorced for twenty-three years. I no longer have to check that dreaded little box, “Divorced”. I married a wonderful woman of God who is a Filipino. The only problem is, I’m an American, and she is not allowed to enter the United States without a Visa, which could take a year or longer to arrive. When she said, “I do,” she became an “IR”. Instant Relative. This status gives her priority over everyone else trying to enter America by any other means. Work Visa, Student Visa, Fiancé Visa, etc. It also gives her access to a “Green Card” and two weeks after she arrives in America she will get her Social Security card. Being an “IR” has instant privileges.
One of the hardest decisions to make, after having your heart ran through a shredder, is to try again. You have said, “No way!” “I could never trust again.” “I can’t take the chance, or I never want to feel that kind of pain again!”
The more you love the person, the more you love the relationship. “I love you, Jesus!”
Yesterday, I celebrated being retired for one year. I also had a birthday this past week. In reflecting back upon both, it didn’t take long to see God’s goodness. His mighty hand, his gentle kindness, his correction, his presence, but in all of it, his love!
I was in a court room this week. On trial was my perception of someone. After hearing arguments from both the accuser and the defendant, the judge was ready to rule. I was found guilty of thinking I knew someone and the motive behind their behavior. If the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help us God was told, the fact of the case was, I didn’t. Honestly, I didn’t know them at all. In court, both parties in the case, sat down and explained their side. Each party was heard.
Today should not be about what I got wrong, but about what I got right!
I think God came up with the word “impossible”, just so He could do it!
How do you measure spiritual growth? Do you compare yourself to Billy Graham? The Apostle Paul? Mother Teresa? Joel Osteen? Or perhaps you compare yourself to your pastor. First of all, what is “spiritual growth”? It is the process of becoming more mature in one’s relationship with Jesus Christ.
brady, mark a. 