Real Love

My dear children, let's not just talk about love; let's practice real love. 1 John 3:18 (MSG)

REAL LOVE . . .

• is patient and kind. 
• is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. 
• does not demand its own way. 
• is not irritable.
• keeps no record of being wronged. 
• does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. 
• never gives up. 
• never loses faith.
• is always hopeful.
• endures through every circumstance. 
• does no wrong to a neighbor.
• edifies.
• is the perfect bond of unity. 
• covers a multitude of sins. 
• is the more excellent way.

Happy 33rd anniversary to the one who keeps teaching me, by example, what real love really is.

Full

When we think of something being full or filled, it means there is no space left. There is no more room for anything else. We understand that when we say, "I filled up the gas tank" that we put as much gas in the tank as it would hold. It will hold no more. After a meal we say, "I am full" or "I couldn't eat another bite." There is no more space in the stomach to be filled.

Scriptures speak of being filled with various things such as: the fruit of your salvation, the Holy Spirit, all the fullness of God, the knowledge of His will, joy.  If I am full of these, then there is no room for the things that are not beneficial or sinful.

God's House

1 Chronicles 16:28-29 (NLT) O nations of the world, recognize the LORD, recognize that the LORD is glorious and strong. Give to the LORD the glory he deserves! Bring your offering and come into his presence. Worship the LORD in all his holy splendor.

For several weeks Maasai John had been our contact with the local Maasai community as a number of them assisted us and dozens of other families to learn to live in a rural East African setting.
At night the men patrolled our campsite to ward off the leopards eager to hunt the plump baboons that slept in the fig trees towering above our tents. In the mornings, women carried our laundry in tubs on their heads to the stream to wash our clothes, and their children. Toward the end of our time together, Maasai John invited our family and one other to join him and his family for chai, or afternoon tea, in their compound.

The manatta (homestead) consisted of several dung and mud huts with stick covered roofs, forming a circle around an inner corral where a few cattle and restless goats were housed at night. These animals, gaunt and haggard, represented the full wealth and honor of John, his brothers and their families.  We were welcomed with grace and kindness into one of the huts, offered small stools to sit upon and drank together hot tea mixed with smoked milk and cups of sugar.  His wife showered me with shy grins and gifts of beaded jewelry.

Though John spoke English, his family and our family did not speak a common language but we shared a common love -- a love for Jesus and in just a few hours, a love for one another.

As we made our way back to the jeep, John invited us to stop into one more house. This one was made of cinder blocks and cement with a tin roof.  It had several benches and open spaced-windows. This was God’s house. John built it for his family to gather each week to worship God, study His word, and learn to follow His Son.

Shortly after that holy afternoon, I learned that the common perception in the local rural area is that if you are poor, you live in a mud hut; if you are more well-off, you live in a wooden structure; and if you are wealthy, you live in a stone house.And so it was that John had built for God, his King, a stone palace, while he and his loved ones continued to live in their humble huts.

The gentle grace

It is a mighty grace to look at an offense through the lens of forgiveness.
It is a gentle grace to overlook the offense in the first place.

Make allowance for each other’s faults, and forgive anyone who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others. Colossians 3:13 (NLT)

One year later

1 John 1:4 (NLT)  We are writing these things so that you may fully share our joy.

Today marks the one year anniversary of this blog. The idea to start it came about through the encouragement of others and reflects various gleanings from Scriptures that I have shared with a number of dear-ones through many years, over countless cups of coffee, in various cities and continents.

So here we are, one year and 76 entries later.

There are many online blogs to read -- on many, many different topics, by many creative, wise and insightful folks. But somehow in that mix, you are also reading this one.

Thanks for folding the thoughts posted here into your own thoughts and for making your own comments  from time to time. May the insights we gain together continue to spur us "on to love and good deeds."

On track

Like the rails of a train track, I find staying on these two principles helps to steady me:

Be faithful.  Be thankful.

Being faithful means that in the power of the Holy Spirit, I try to live out my faith with obedience and integrity for the good of others and the glory of God.

Being thankful means that in humility, I acknowledge that all that I am and have is because God and others have given of themselves for my good and His glory.

In the same breath

 "The king asked, 'Well, how can I help you?' With a prayer to the God of heaven, I replied..." Nehemiah 2:4-5a

Maybe this verse could say, "I prayed and replied" or "all in the same breath I prayed and answered." In the moment it took to inhale and exhale, Nehemiah had consulted with God and stood confidently before the King. Now, we know this followed days of fasting and mourning and praying, and quite some time of waiting for the right moment. When that moment came, Nehemiah consulted with God one last time. We don't know what he prayed, but we do see God's answer. The King granted everything (and more) that Nehemiah had hoped for.

The first prayer

Sometimes I wonder if we make knowing God too complicated.
In the end, doesn't it really boil down to what we learned at the beginning
-- in one of our first prayers:

"God is Great.

God is Good."

Because He is GREAT, He is able.   

Because He is GOOD, He is willing.

Maybe that is all
childlike faith

really ever
needs to know.

Good, Pleasing, Perfect

Romans 12:2 (NLT)  Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect. 

God's will is good.  God's will is pleasing to Him. God's will is perfect. For all His children, always. 

That means that what God desires for me isn't just good for me. It is also good for others. He won't call me to do something that isn't of benefit to others in His Kingdom. 

In Jesus Name

John 15:16  You didn’t choose me. I chose you. I appointed you to go and produce lasting fruit, so that the Father will give you whatever you ask for, using my name. 

I was teaching a Sunday School class of 80+ year old women. We were talking about what it means to pray in Jesus' name.  Mrs. R. told of the time after her husband passed away and she was trying to get her own credit card for buying gasoline. She was denied because as a home maker she had no work history. In other words, she had no credibility. But her son, a business man, was able to get her one in his name. He had the credibility and she could buy her gas using his name.

When I pray, I come to God on the merits of Christ's relationship and obedience to the Father.  He has the credibility and I may confidently approach God in Jesus' name.