welcome friends.....thanks for popping in my world....
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*~Love~*

Hello! I hope you all enjoyed your Christmas and are still feeling the spirit of it all....I have been trying to spend as much time with my family and friends as I can this past week. I wasn't planning on blogging and/or spending time online as much but God placed something on my heart when I heard about the one word theme with Bridget Chumbley and Peter Pollock's carnival this week and decided to join in. Forgive the more than normal run-on sentences and thoughts....I am just typing as my heart leads in these early morning hours. Make sure you pop on over to Bridget's place where many friends are sharing their thoughts on love....and I am sure they are grammatically correct, well versed and put together!

The one word theme is love.

Now we happen to be covering nouns and verbs with N's homeschooling......and if School House Rock serves me correctly.....love is a noun and a verb. (btw, if you need a great blast from the past....go to You Tube and watch some of those classic videos!)

Dictionary.com tells us that

love: [luhv]

-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.

-verb~ 1.to have a profoundly tender, passionate affection for 2. to need or require; benefit greatly from

-synonyms: Love, affection, devotion all mean a deep and enduring emotional regard, usually for another person. Love may apply to various kinds of regard: the charity of the Creator, reverent adoration toward God or toward a person, the relation of parent and child, the regard of friends for each other, romantic feelings for another person, etc. Affection is a fondness for others that is enduring and tender, but calm. Devotion is an intense love and steadfast, enduring loyalty to a person;

Sounds good to me. And pretty darn simple. We all pretty much know what the world describes as love. We love our children, family and friends. I know I definitely love God in many ways, especially in the "need, benefit greatly from" department. We can love our church, love our jobs (that is not always the case!), try to love our neighbors (again, try is the key word, especially in the hillbilly boonies)....basically, we all know what love "is" and have it in our lives.

But now let's look at the Ultimate Reference Book......The Bible. Let's see what It has to say about love.

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, 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. ~1 Corinthians 13:4-7

Now I might step on some toes with this.....I can tell you mine are downright bruised! I am not always loving my children, husband and family/friends with God's definition of love. Of course I love them, I would do anything for them. But in day to day living, I certainly am not always patient. I have my times where I can be downright snappy. I have a habit of bringing up the past when I am hurt or angry. I have times of doubt and discouragement. I can be selfish and self serving. I will admit it.....I sometimes love conditionally. My love for others is sometimes based when they fulfill a condition I require. Or sometimes it waivers based on feelings and emotions.

So although I "boast" on my love of others.....am I really loving others the way God wants me to? Do I really feel love when my kids show disrespect? Do I really feel love and peace in my heart when I force myself to be kind to people who have hurt me in the past? Do I really feel love in my heart when I am holding that grudge or reminding my husband of his shortcomings? Hmmm.....

How thankful I am that God sticks to His definition of love with me.

God waits patiently for me....when I am off doing my own thing, He never gets irritated or anxious. When I came to Him.....filthy and weak.....He wrapped His loving arms around me, filled with kindness and compassion. He did not and does not point out my wrongdoings (more like trainwrecks). He does not place blame or guilt on me. No, He simply embraces me and washes me clean. He loves me unconditionally. He loves me when I am shining His Light, and also when I am in my own murky darkness. He loves me when I am on fire for Him and surrounded by a body of Believers....and even when I choose to push Him aside and travel solo. He loves me when I am on top of the mountain.....and when I am wallowing in the valleys. He loves me when I am serving others.......and also when I am serving myself. He loves me when I am praising His name....and still loves me when I question His ways. God's love is beyond what I (we) expect or deserve. He lets me (us) do what I (we) want, but rejoices when I (we) choose to love Him in return. Bottom line. His love is unconditional, never failing, unwaivering.....it is amazing.

And guess what? He loves you just the same. He loves us all this way. Not sure who needed to hear this today, but something in my heart (God) wanted me to tell you. He wants us to feel the freedom that His love will bring. His love will tear down any walls that have been built up.....His love will bring you to a supernatural place of peace and joy....

Your love, O LORD, reaches to the heavens,
your faithfulness to the skies ~Psalm 36:5


With 2010 coming soon...I hope and pray that I am able to have more of Christ and His unconditional, unfailing love in me. I encourage you to print this out and insert your name in the spaces. Speak these words over yourself every morning. Ask God to pour His love.....His eyes, His hands, His heart into you.....and just see what happens.

________ is patient,
________ is kind.
________ does not envy, it does not boast,
________ is not proud.
________ is not rude,
________ is not self-seeking,
________ is not easily angered,
________ keeps no record of wrongs.
________ does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.
________ always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

I pray you are blessed with a safe and happy new year.....I have "met" so many beautiful people with my blog this past year. So many of you are doing such great things in the name of Jesus....I can't wait to see what God has in store for me as well!

Peace and love~
~*Michelle~*

19 comments:

Andrea said...

Sorry I haven't been around much this past week....I have really missed you.
GOD=LOVE....AMEN!!

Blessings and hugs,
andrea

PS: keep encouraging!

Anonymous said...

Thank you, Michelle!

I'm so glad you decided to share this with us and I NEEDED to read it!

I struggle with so many of these same issues... I love your posts!

Blessings, my friend!

Deborah Ann said...

Well this is a God thing. I was just getting the feeling this morning HE was whispering tender little love notes, and I thought...are you kidding!!! What about when I said "@*%^#," and when I xxxx my xxxx!

"Still love you" He whispered. Huh...I just can't figure Him out, can you?

Heart2Heart said...

Michelle,

It is so great to have such a wonderful example of love through our Father, Jesus but what a honor it is to truly follow Him to the best of our abilities in all we do, and say!

Love and Hugs ~ Kat

RCUBEs said...

His love is wide..long..high..deep..May we all be deeply rooted in His love so we can have the capacity to comprehend how high, how long, how deep, how wide His love is...No limits!!! God bless you abundantly as another year comes!

Glynn said...

Great list, Michelle -- and you're absolutely right in suggesting it should be said daily.

Mich said...

I LOVED this...

Hope you had a beautiful christmas.

Anonymous said...

I am having a harder and harder time keeping up with the comments at my place, but I always appreciate yours and your blog! Thank you so much for dropping by and all the nice comments!

This was a perfect New Year post!

xxMere

Candy said...

I think that would make a great "to do" list for every day of the week. I know I need reminders!

Tracy said...

We are indeed blessed to be so loved by God. I like your faith filled prayer idea of filling our name into the 1 Cor. love list. I'm agreeing with you that we'll see more of God's love in us this year.

Annie K said...

Wonderfully written Michelle. I should post that on my mirror in the morning and start off my day reminding myself to be patient, kind, forgiving...

Russell Holloway said...

Your post made me think of how love works best when we let Love, that is Christ, move through us.

Thanks Michelle!

christy rose said...

This was absolutely wonderful Michelle! It is as we receive this kind of love from LOVE HIMSELF, that we will be able to pass it along to others. What a great way to start off the year, recognizing and remembering a love that is transforming. Love to you and hope for a happy new year!!

Laura said...

Thank you for following your heart on this post. I needed it!! God has placed a little 4 yr old boy in our lives everyday that has aspbergers. We are learning so much about HIS love as HE stretches us!! It's a marvellous thing to be loved by HIM!! Keep up the great encouragement!!

Corinne Cunningham said...

This was so, so good! So many of the things you brought up have crossed my mind, but seeing them all in one spot was so powerful. Well done!

Anonymous said...

there is so much to learn about love...i could take a lifetime.

Anonymous said...

you are always relevant, Michelle, in that I can trust!!!

wife.mom.nurse said...

Boy does this speak to me tonight.

I love my girl with all my heart...but tonight I was just unkind.

She is asleep, but soon I will go lay beside her and snuggle and pray that she will forgive me in the morning.

sanjeet said...

I'm so glad you decided to share this with us and I NEEDED to read it!

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