Love Language from God's Word

It's Happy Valentine's Day in the USA!

So, here's some of the language of the Bible when it comes to Love -- an appetizer of sorts for our hearts, I suppose:

John 3:16  “For God so loved the world,that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life."

Romans 5:8 "...but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us."

Galatians 2:20 "I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me."

1 John 3:1 "See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him."

Grateful

Blindsided by Bitterness at the Trash Dump

I have an old, early-1990's, Ford Ranger pick-up truck that I lovingly refer to as "my trash truck". My dog, Oreo, thinks it's his truck, so I affectionately refer to it as "Oreo's Truck", too.

Usually, once a week, I load up the household trash, my faithful dog, and together we make the four mile round trip to and from the local dump. It's almost always a simple time of inexpensive dog and master bonding and a short season of real release for my often weary brain. It really seems that the trip there and back restores a healthy sense of normalcy to my life. For my dog, too, I would say.

Well, today my trash trip was a little different. I mean everything pretty much started the same, but as I was unloading the trash bags in the dumpster a lady passed me and said: "Hello Pastor Kerry. I know you are a Christian, but the reason I quit going to your church is you all give money to people in our community who don't deserve it." She went on and on about how someone that we blessed financially at Christmastime is a drinker, drug user, lays out of work, and even hangs out in bars.

In a few words, all I can say is, "I was blindsided by bitterness at the trash dump." I responded slowly and sweetly to her accusations, and as I was about to pull away she passed by my window carrying an old lamp, of all things, to the dumpster. I leaned out the window of my old Ford to get more light on the subject and tenderly asked her: "So, you are upset with us as a local church because we help people who don't deserve it?" "Yes, indeed", she said."The church shouldn't help people who won't help themselves."

I just arrived back home from my interesting, trash-dump journey and my mind is still spinning, somewhat. Here is the way I see it. I'm glad that God didn't wait until I could deserve His grace to offer it to me. And, surely I am grateful that I didn't have to be willing to help myself before Jesus would offer His life as a sacrifice for my sins. I love Romans 5:8 (ESV) -- "...but God shows His love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us."

Let us not forget dear friends, that "Grace is the undeserved favor of Holy God -- showing goodness towards bad people who don't deserve it."

Yes, I do confess that the last place on earth I ever expected such an encounter was at the trash dump. However, as I think about it, maybe it was the perfect place for such an encounter, because what I heard there was some really sad trash-talking, fueled by what appeared to be stinking thinking.

Maybe you would advise me to wear a ski mask to the trash dump from now on? Then, perhaps I wouldn't be such an easy target for another disheartening encounter. But having processed the experience for a while now, I can say that for the most part I really don't mind being the target. 

You see, I am finally fondly recalling her opening words to me at the dump and I am kind of feeling even encouragement coming on. She began her complaint with an under-handed compliment, saying, "Hello Pastor Kerry. I know you are a Christian!"

Well, I say, "Hallelujah!!! Yes, I really am! And, I guess that makes me a friend of sinners, too."

All joy.
Grateful

"Do You Love Me?" -- Jesus

God has loved us with a demonstrated love from the very beginning. This verse is a most powerful proof of His love for us:

Romans 5:8 (GWT) Christ died for us while we were still sinners. This demonstrates God’s love for us.

So, God surely loves us. The only question remaining now is the question the Lord Jesus asked Peter in John 21 alongside the Sea of Galilee: "Do you love Me?" Do you love Jesus? Do I?

Let us love Him, because He first loved us!
Grateful

Only Over My Dead Body

But God put His love on the line for us by offering His Son in sacrificial death... Romans 5:8a

Supporting Scripture Readings: Isaiah 53; 2 Corinthians 5:11-21

It was early-spring 1992. My photography schedule led me to an elementary school along the Carolina coastline to photograph the basketball team and cheerleaders. After the photo-shoot ended, I left out the front doors of the old field house. In my mind, I was focusing on a message I would be preaching in my first revival meeting as a bi-vocational evangelist that night. I whispered under my breath to God: "How can a loving God send people to Hell?" As soon as the thought slipped through my mind, a passionate whisper within my heart cried out: “I am a loving God. I don’t send people to Hell. Set your camera cases down. I’m about to give you a visual illustration of My love.” I sat my cases down immediately and buttoned my coat to shield my neck from the bone-chilling breezes.

God’s breathtaking-visual-illustration was already underway.A kindergarten teacher had her class outside for recess. As she stood with her back against the school house, her students were in the midst of a simple but profound running exercise. The children were told to run away from their teacher about 50 yards, touch a chain-link fence, and then return back to be reunited and congratulated by their teacher.I noticed that a few boys were exercising rebellion. They were not touching the chain-link fence and returning. They were instead trying hard to climb over the chain-link fence. On the other side of the chain-link fence was the community cemetery. The graveyard was their goal.As I picked up my camera cases and continued my trek to my vehicle, I passed close by the teacher. Most of the kids were returning to her applause and affirmation. She lovingly said to each returning student: "You’re a winner!" Yes, everyone who finished won the race. In between affirming those who were obeying the rules of the exercise, she continued to call out to the boys who were scaling the cemetery fence.

God’s whisper within my heart now seemed more passionate: "The chain-link fence is Calvary. Life, like this kindergarten recess exercise, is a race intended to be a run to the chain-link fence and back to Me. On the other side of the chain-link fence is death (Hell). When my Son died on the Cross, My Love drew a line in the sands of time, erected a fence, so that anyone who goes to Hell will have to climb over the fence of my Son’s crucifixion. Even while some are climbing the fence, I continue to call them back to Me. In other words, in His sacrificial death, my only Son, Jesus, was crying out, 'Only over my dead body will people go to Hell. I don’t send people there, but they can choose to scale the fence.'”

With the lesson on God's Love learned, I smiled at the teacher and said: "I think all the kids are coming back to you now. They look really tired running in these cold breezes." With a smile she said: "Yes, I’ll take them inside now, give them milk and cookies, and let them get some rest." WOW! I thought. The teacher's words were the exact reverse of Hell -- Heaven.

IF MY PEOPLE... WILL? I WILL! God's Promise in 2 Chron. 7:14.
Grateful