This month on the blog we are focusing on different expressions of love. As we seek to live lives of love, the best way to truly love others is to first and foremost personally receive the incredible gift of God’s love toward us. When I think about His gift of love and the many ways it manifests in our lives, I can’t help but parallel it to gifts we give one another.
God’s Love is like a lighthouse - it is a comfort to those tossed to and fro, and shines brighter than all surrounding darkness (Psalm 26:8).
God’s Love is like a fire - it is atoning, refining, and enduring (Hebrews 12:29, Psalms 136:26).
God’s Love is like a friend who gives you their sandwich when you forgot yours - it is sacrificial and generous, a simple truth at its core (John 15:13).
Yielding is laying down the idol of control and choosing to trust God. It’s trusting God over my own ideas about what would be best for me. Yielding is making time to listen.
I recently asked Instagram followers in a poll (it was very scientific!) what they thought of the term “yielding” in regard to their prayer life. The most common answers were “surrender” and “listening”. These were lovely responses, causing me to wish my first instinctive answer was equally as graceful.
My two-year-old granddaughter has found her words. They flow ceaselessly with a variety of expressions, cascading in often indistinguishable words, phrases or bits of songs that are bouncing around in her head. I smile as I watch her daddy lovingly bend down to listen to her. He hears her heart, not just her words. He knows her needs, even when she doesn’t. She responds to his voice and his promptings. And he responds to her with words and actions that demonstrate his great love to her.
Repentance in and of itself is an interesting thing. Did you know it is both a noun and a verb? By definition, the noun form refers to sincere regret or remorse, while in the verb form it means to turn from sin; to feel regret; to change one's mind; to feel sorrow for. From this short grammar lesson, I realize that repentance is both a state of mind for me to embrace and an activity for me to take part in.
I have a sweet friend who is the most polite “texter” I know. Whatever the subject of her text, she never fails to begin with “Hello, how are you doing, hope you are having a good day”. Most people I know, including myself, usually just blurt out the question or the comment they want the person on the other end of the text to see. We know that texting was designed to be short and to the point, but if we talked that way to people face to face, it would seem like a rude way to start a conversation. That started me thinking about my prayer conversations with God.
We are focusing on qualities of God we are most thankful for on the blog this month. If you’re like me, though, it’s tough to dial it down to just one characteristic. His faithfulness, mercy, and grace would top my list for sure. The comfort of the Holy Spirit and peace He brings are irreplaceable, and the way He knows and loves us is enough to bring tears to my eyes. He is just so good, and I am just so thankful for Him.
Faithfulness is a word often used, but rarely defined in Christian circles. A quick google search will tell you that faithfulness is a firm or even unfailing devotion. It’s hard to believe that God is firmly devoted to us, though, when we’re in the midst of a difficult circumstance that he could miraculously change, yet doesn’t. What if God’s faithfulness is not primarily a statement describing his relationship to us, but a character quality of himself?
