Sunday, July 19, 2009

A Winner!!!

And the winner of my bloggy give~away, as promised last Sunday is....
Jess @ BitterSweet!!!
Congratulations!
God bless you!

Friday, July 17, 2009

What is Love?

Love. We sing about it, we talk about it, we dream about it, we use the word daily in many ways regarding anything we have affection for..."I love coffee, chocolate, my dog, those shoes, that movie, etc.

Love has the power to make our hearts flutter and dance as well as hurt and shrivel...When I fell in love with my husband, it was fluttering, when I lost my brother it was shriveling.

But what is Love, really?

DC Talk sings, "Love is a Verb"
Aretha Franklin sings, "What's Love got to do with it?"
The Beatles sing, "Love is all you Need".
Third Day sings, "Love Heals Your Heart".
The Jonas Brothers sing, "Love is on It's Way".
Pat Benetar sings, "Love is a Battlefield".
John Paul Young sings, "Love is in the Air".
Joan Jett sings, "Love hurts".
J Geils band sings, "Love Stinks".

No doubt, love is a necessity of life. It has been said that babies often die in orphanages if they have no one to love them. I have heard of people dying of a broken heart, such as after losing a spouse...

It is something we are infatuated with. But what does it look like REALLY?

The dictionary says:
love  noun, verb, loved, lov⋅ing.
–noun
1.a profoundly tender, passionate affection for another person.
2.a feeling of warm personal attachment or deep affection, as for a parent, child, or friend.
4.a person toward whom love is felt; beloved person; sweetheart.


verb (used with object)
15.to have love or affection for: All her pupils love her.
16.to have a profoundly tender, passionate affection for (another person).
17.to have a strong liking for; take great pleasure in: to love music.
18.to need or require; benefit greatly from: Plants love sunlight.
19.to embrace and kiss (someone), as a lover.


The Bible says:
1 Corinthians 13:
4Love is patient, love is kind and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant,
5does not act unbecomingly; it
does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered,
6 does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth;
7
bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
8Love never fails;


In John 14:
15If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.
21He who has My commandments and keeps them is the one who loves Me; and he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and will disclose Myself to him."

And in John 15:13 : Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends.

A synonym for love is:
af⋅fec⋅tion  /əˈfɛkʃən/
1. fond attachment, devotion, or love: the affection of a parent for a child.

4. the act of affecting; act of influencing or acting upon.
5. the state of being affected.

Obviously Love is not something that can be simply defined. Love is complex and has many facets. The Bible says God is Love. We cannot contain, nor understand Him entirely this side of heaven, as He is so vast. It stands to reason then, that we cannot contain, nor understand Love this side of heaven either. It is something we must grow to know...by experience and study. In the act and experience of loving and being loved, we come to know what it is...

Though I have learned alot about love from being a child, a daughter, a sister, a wife, a mother, a friend and a mentor, I still, and will always have limited ability to express what it is.

It is said that we cannot express love unless we have experienced it. When I look at the definition of "affection", I see that it is influential. Our love expressed toward one another affects, influences, and has a ripple effect. It multiplies! If we love our children, they in turn will be loving, and will express love to their sphere of influence and it goes out from there.

God is love. We are called to be like Him, to know Him, to love Him with all our heart, and to love one another. Hence this quest for greater understanding and knowledge of "What is love?"

I will continue to explore this topic, would you please help me? Share your thoughts and insights here, or link to one of your posts about love, we can learn from one another.

Sunday, July 12, 2009

An Untroubled Heart


Micca Campbell's book came out in March/April 2009. I received a copy from her to read and write a review on. I believe she asked me because I have posted about wrestling much with fear. It has been good to go through this study over the long time period that it has taken in preparing our yard for Kayla's wedding. I have had much to ponder as I planted flowers, watered, and pulled weeds.



God has been pulling some weeds from my heart at the same time...



My struggle with fear hasn't been so much over "lions and tigers and bears", but the"What if's?" What if I fail at...what if I don't get that done....What if that person yells at me(my personal pronouns are quite revealing).





I first encountered Micca @ She Speaks last summer. I attended a workshop she spoke at. I remember sitting there thinking, "I would love to have a chat with her, I think we could be fast freinds." She was very comfortable in her own skin, and exhibited true love for Jesus. She used alot of her personal stories to highlight her message. She does the same thing in her book.





Micca knows the answer to fear is faith in God. The entire book points to His power, His love, and His ability to handle anything that comes our way. Each chapter paves the way for the next. The first chapter is her story of loss, and how she struggled, but through faith, found her peace and rest in God. Because of this experience, she can encourage us in all our struggles... Warning, I cried! You probably will too! But it is good to know how God has carried our sister.





Reading the book was like having a friend to dialog with about my fears. Micca shared so many personal stories that I could relate with. The Lord would bring to mind incidents in my own life with similarities. Many times I was encouraged that I had turned over fears to the Lord, and other times, I was seeing why the struggle had become difficult...due to my wrong focus, or wrong thinking about God.



There are questions at the end of each chapter to draw out how we think about things, or what we are currently struggling with, and scripture studies to encourage, and transform our thinking...

I have not been struggling currently with any overwhelming fears, but from time to time, the wedding prep has brought "what if's" to my heart, and I have been using those times to put my faith into practice and turn it over to the Lord...

Thank you Micca, for being faithful to share what the Lord called you to share. Isn't it beautiful how He brings good from everything?

Now I am having a bloggy give-away! Today is Sunday, July 12th. Next Sunday, July 19th, I will draw from comments for a copy of Micca's book!!

BTW, I did have a chat with Micca in the lobby of the hotel at the end of the confrence, and even though she didn't know me from Eve (smile) she was sweet like I knew she would be...

Thursday, July 9, 2009

Ten Indictments {A Historical 21st Century Message} (Paul Washer) [High-Quality Version]

This is nearly two hours long, but it is pure and raw and true. I am posting it because of the great worth of the message. May God give us ears to hear His heart through Paul Washer.

ShareThis