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For God so loved

“For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son,
that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.
For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world,
but to save the world through Him.”

I’m pretty sure a majority of Christians (and even some none Christians) today could rattle that off no problem because it’s one of the more well-known Bible verses.

But what does it really mean?

The main idea is obvious – that we have an opportunity for eternal life through Christ’s sacrifice and resurrection – but there’s more.

Read that first sentence again. Now break it up and read to the first comma. What do you notice?

“For God so LOVED the world that He gave His ONE and ONLY Son,”

Did you catch it that time?

The God of the universe chose to send His only Son down to earth to save us.

Jesus willingly came down to be that perfect sacrifice for our sins.

Not because they had to, but because of the unconditional, everlasting love that they have for us, a broken creation.

This is one of the reasons why the gospel of John is my favorite out of the four. He focuses on the fact that it was love that drove Christ to become human, to dwell among us for 30-odd years, to perform miraculous signs, to demonstrate what it means to “live like Christ” and then to allow Himself to be hung on a cross for crimes He never committed.

Our crimes.

What it must’ve been like to have witnessed all of that?

In his gospel, John gives us a chance to experience what he saw, felt and thought during his time with the Lord and it seems like the thing that impacted him the most was the love that was continually pouring out of Christ.

There was never any hint of hate or selfishness, only love and selflessness.

John had the privilege to develop a close relationship with the Lord by being a part of The Twelve Disciples. He also was a part of the “inner three” with Peter and James (as seen in Mark 5:37, 9:2-13, 13:3 and 14:33), which means that he was able to spend time with Him in a more intimate setting.

Have you ever noticed that throughout the entire book of John, the author never refers to himself by name? There’s a certain phrase he uses whenever he talks about himself:

“The disciple whom Jesus loved”

The love Christ demonstrated during His ministry here on earth had become a personalized love for John and this phrase illustrates how much it had impacted him.

One of my favorite examples of the relationship between Jesus and John is found in John 13:21-25

“After He had said this, Jesus was troubled in spirit and testified, ‘I tell you the truth, one of you is going to betray Me.’ His disciples stared at one another, at a loss to know which of them He meant. One of them, the disciple whom Jesus loved, was reclining next to Him.

Simon Peter motioned to this disciple and said ‘Ask Him which one He means.’
Leaning back against Jesus, he asked him, ‘Lord, who is it?'”

John was comfortable enough to lean back against our Lord and Savior (he heard God’s heartbeat!) and that just blows me away.

Yet, that’s exactly the kind of relationship that God longs to have with His children. A close, loving relationship where we feel comfortable enough to talk with Him about the difficult things as well as rejoice in the happy things in life.

I love how Jesus sums up the kind of relationship He wants to have with us in John 17:20-26 (one of my favorite passages)

“My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in Me through their message,
that all of them may be one, Father, just as You are in Me and I am in You.
May they also be in Us so that the world may believe that You have sent Me.
I have given them the glory that You gave me,
that they may be one as We are one: I in them and You in Me.
May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that You sent Me
and have loved them even as You have loved Me.
Father I want those You have given Me to be with Me where I am, and to see My glory,
the glory You have given Me because You loved Me before the creation of the world.
Righteous Father, though the world does not know You, I know You, and they know that You have sent Me.
I have made You known to them and will continue to make You known
in order that the love You have for Me may be in them and that I, Myself, may be in them.”

Need I say more? 🙂

Love is…

July 30, 2013 / Anna / 0 Comments

Most of us know (or at least recognize) the familiar 1 Corinthians 13 passage:

“Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.

Love does not delight in evil, but rejoices with the truth.

It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

Love never fails” (13:4-8)

Yet, do we ever stop to think what that love would look like in action? What would it look like to love, really love, as Christ loves us?

In the book of Matthew, we find a passage where the Pharisees overheard Jesus talking to the Sadducees about the law of Moses and decided to question Him as to what He considered to be the greatest commandment. You know what He told them?

“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'” (Matt. 22:37-38)

It sounds simple, right? Love others as God loves us.

Yet, while it’s such a simple command, it can be easy to get stuck in the “good Christian” mindset. You know what I mean. The mindset that says, “Of course I’m a good Christian. I go to church every Sunday, I help out with the kids in youth group, I read my Bible every day. I post verses as my Facebook status.”

Those are all good things, don’t get me wrong, but the danger is when our heart isn’t fully in it and we start mindlessly going through the motions each day.

Kind of reminds me of the story of the rich young ruler. This guy had strictly followed the commandments, given a part of his earnings to the religious leaders and done everything that was required to be a follower of Christ… or had he?

“Looking at him, Jesus felt a love for him and said to him, ‘One thing you lack: go and sell all you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.’

But at these words he was saddened and he went away grieving,

for he was one who owned much property.”

(Mark 10:21-22)

Living a life for God should be about sharing the love that He so generously gives to us… and that can be a lot harder than it sounds. We can become so caught up in what others think or trying to get it right, that we forget to include the most important thing..

… LOVE

Each of us are gifted with different talents that we’re to use for the glory of God. Some are good with talking, others are better at listening and still others are better at hands-on/helping type of love.

I like how Paul puts it in 1 Corinthians 12:4-6:

“There are different kinds of spiritual gifts, but the same Spirit is the source of them all. There are different kinds of service, but we serve the same Lord. God works in different ways, but it is the same God who does the work in all of us.”

Each of us are given certain talents to use for the glory of God and we’re all given a unique purpose for our lives, but there is only one command that overrides everything else: “love.”

That’s it. And the thing is, it doesn’t have to be anything huge. It can be as simple as…

…a kind look.

…a helping hand.

….taking the time to listen to someone or just be there for them when they needed a shoulder to lean on.

“Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity”

(Colossians 3:12-14)

Let my girls be Hermiones…

July 16, 2013 / Anna / 0 Comments

“It’s about what girls want to be, what they’re told they should be and how they feel about who they are. I’ve got two daughters who will have to make their way in this skinny-obsessed world, and it worries me, because I don’t want them to be empty-headed, self-obsessed, emaciated clones; I’d rather they were independent, interesting, idealistic, kind, opinionated, original, funny – a thousand things, before ‘thin.’ And frankly, I’d rather they didn’t give a gust of stinking chihuahua flatulence whether the woman standing next to them has fleshier knees than they do. Let my girls be Hermiones, rather than Pansy Parkinsons.”

This is a quote that was taken from J.K. Rowling’s blog where she’s venting her frustration about how this world is so look-obsessed and how it tries to convince girls that the thinner they are, the prettier they’ll be.

Now, as girls and young women, it is very flattering to get compliments from others (especially guys that we’re interested in). It can be very easy to slip into thinking that if we lost that extra 5 pounds or worked on toning our “thunder thighs” we would be even more attractive than we already are.

That’s exactly where Satan and the world step in and twists our thinking to a point where our outward appearance is all we worry about and focus on. We can get so caught up in criticizing ourselves that we assume others are looking at us and judging us in the same way..

… and then world takes it a step further.

Take a look around. There are numerous examples of the world’s handiwork: billboards with the latest fashions on display, magazine ads with the sexiest perfumes, photos of models with the perfect bodies and movies with actresses who are made to look like the perfect woman with the perfect man and the perfect happy ending… and the sad thing is that girls these days are buying it.Over the past couple years of leading small group Bible studies and helping out in youth group, I’ve seen and heard young Christian girls talk about needing to go on a diet, how much weight they need to lose or how they don’t consider themselves to be pretty… and it’s heartbreaking. So many of them seem to forget or just haven’t realized yet that they are beautiful just the way God made them.

This reminds me of the song “More Beautiful You” by Jonny Diaz (check it out!). During the chorus, he says,

“There could never be a more beautiful you. Don’t buy the lies, disguises and hoops they make you jump through. You were made to fill a purpose, that only you could do, so there could never be a more beautiful you.”

The world around us is filled with girls who are falling for the lie that they’ll be beautiful if they hardly eat anything, wear as little clothes as possible, slather on the makeup and more… all striving for that unattainable perfection.

All these girls need is love. Seriously. They want to be noticed. That’s why they’re buying into these lies that the world and media is feeding them.. and the God of love is calling out, trying to remind them that they are unique…

… an original

… a masterpiece

… BEAUTIFUL!

I have to keep telling myself this daily. It’s natural for us to compare ourselves to others. The danger is when we start looking down on ourselves and criticizing God’s masterpiece (us).

Don’t buy into the lies.

Remember…

“The king is enthralled by your beauty; honor Him, for His is your Lord.” – Psalm 45:11

Anna's Alcove

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Tag: love (page 2 of 2)

For God so loved

Let my girls be Hermiones…

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