LOVE - 1 Corinthians 13

The following is taken from LISTEN TO LOVE by Regina Press:

"Love has many voices.  Love sends its greeting in the smile of a friend,

the contented sighs of a baby, the felt whisperings of the Spirit.

Often we are slow to recognize how many voices are really love's voice.

"God is love" says John the Evangelist.  "He who dwells in love is dwelling in

God and God in him."

Love speaks in many places.  It leans against the neighbor's fence or

comes sniffing into a kitchen filled with cooking.  It walks amid

the bustle of the city streets or stands on a crowded bus.

Love has many moods.  Sometimes love is bold and happy or else

it is anxious and hestitant.  Sometimes it is riotous and demanding, or

gentle and relaxed, or even sober and practical.  Sometimes love just waits.

Loves comes in all seasons.  It rides the icy winds of winter and

laughs with raindrops in the spring.  It wanders through the restless

heat of summer and catches leaves of autumn as they fall.

Listen to love."

The trouble is, we're not very good listeners these days...we talk, we text, we tweet.  If we really listened to the "felt whisperings of the Spirit", we would know that "love comes from God", that "everyone who loves has been born of God", that "there is no fear in love...", that "we love because he first loved us."  (1 John 4:2-19).

So John tells us we have been loved and, therefore, we should (and can) love.  This Valentine's Day...

...be patient and kind

...don't envy or boast

...don't be proud or rude or self-seeking

...don't be angry or keep track when others are

...rejoice in the truth

...protect, trust, hope, persevere

(1 Corinthians 13)

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY, FRIENDS. Love someone else as you have been loved!

For further study:  Deuteronomy 6:5, Psalm 100:5, Isaiah 54:10, Jeremiah 31:3, Matthew 22:37-40,

John 10:27, John 13:34-35, Romans 5:8, Philippians 1:9-11

Be blessed in your understanding of God's love!

Love,

Holly





"Though the fig tree does not bud...yet I will rejoice in the Lord" - Habakkuk 3:17-18

The Old Testament prophet, Habbakkuk, had, as the saying goes, "a difficult row to hoe".  His book is a lament and plea to God about the moral and spiritual decay in the land of Judah.  We see his complaints and the Lord's answers.  But the words, which may have been written to sing in the temple, in the final chapter are especially worth noting.

Notice he doesn't say what he feels...he says what he wills!  By sheer faith and determination, he made a choice to rejoice!  He had a heart of faith and he knew, even if there was something like a complete crop failutre in the land and there was nothing to eat, God would still be worthy of praise.  My commentary said "so long as he knew the Giver, he could be unconcerned about the gifts."  Wow, what a lesson for us!

My friend, Barbara Troutz, wrote Resurfacing:Climbing Out of the Pit of Grief and after losing a precious son, she said she had lost her joy and wanted it back.  She said "joy is not the absence of suffering, but the presence of God".  So what happens to the joy? She said "I have quenched it by my actions, my choices, my selfishness".  What might be robbing you of joy today?

So with our prophet and my friend, today let's say "...yet I will rejoice in the Lord".

For further study:  Nehemiah 8:10, Psalm 51:12, Psalm 118:24, Romans 12:12, Galatians 5:22-23, Philippians 4:4, 1 Thes. 5:16, Hebrews 11:1, James 1:2-3.

Be blessed in your understanding of God's word.

Love,
Holly

"Pray" - A great way to start the New Year!

Happy New Year, everyone!  It seems like forever since we've been together...we married off our youngest son (see picture below) and it was a beautiful ceremony and event...family and friends came from all over...I thought I would die of happiness!   But the year has started and I've committed to once again reading the Bible through this year.  I add that to my regular devotional and am always blessed when I do.  But one discipline I can never change is my need for prayer.  I can't imagine having gone through Christmas and the wedding without my own dependence upon the Lord or the promise of our friends and family to pray for His work in all the events.  So it seemed appropriate to introduce my new pillow style for 2012 with the admonition to "pray".  I am speaking to a women's group this week about praying for our husbands and I'm using one of my points for this blog.

So, generally, why do we pray?  Oswald Chambers says "it is not so true that prayer changes things as that prayer changes me and I change things".  Besides the fact that we are in a love relationship with our Almighty God and need to spend time with him, the following are 5 possible reasons why you might pray:

1.  We pray because the Bible calls us to pray.  2 Chron. 7:14, Prov. 15:8, Romans 12:12, Phil. 4:6, James 5:16.

2.  We pray because we need to be changed.  Psalm 51:10, Prov. 21:19, Jer. 17:9, Ez. 47:1-12

3.  We pray because there is no other power available to us. Joshua 1:9, Psalm 46:1, James 4:8

4.  We pray because Jesus modeled prayer for us and we are His followers. Matt. 6:9, John 17, Matt. 26:36

5.  We pray because it is our only defense against the enemy.  Eph. 6:10-18.

If you are too busy to pray, then you will find yourself frustrataed and weary.  Stormy Omartian says "there is too much at stake if we don't pray".

May you be blessed in your understanding of God's word.

Love,

Holly