Friday, March 26th, 2021
Photo Credit: Me [Hendricks County, IN]
September 21, 2014
“I have shown you many good works from my father; for which of these are you stoning me?” — John 10:23
Happy Friday everyone —
The great mystery of Jesus, as described by Henri Nouwen is this, “Jesus who is the sinless Son of God, chose in total freedom to suffer fully our pains and thus to let us discover the true nature of our own passions. In him, we see and experience our broken humanity not as a curse (Genesis 3:14-19), but as a blessing. His divine compassion makes it possible for us to face our sinful selves, because it transforms our broken human condition from a cause of despair into a source of hope.”(1).
Genesis 3:14-19 – https://www.biblegateway.com/passage?search=Genesis%203:14-19&version=NRSVA
In everything that Jesus did during his life on earth was to teach us and to show us LOVE. And, “that the love we most long for is given to us by God, not because we deserve it, but because God is a God of love.”(2).
It really is that simple…LOVE. God’s Word tells us throughout the scriptures that the key to everything is LOVE, why is it that we, all God’s children keep messing this up?
💙💚💛🧡❤️LOVE 🤎🤍🖤💜💗
1 John 4:20 ESV
“If anyone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen.”
1 Peter 4:8 ESV
“Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins.”
John 13:34-35 ESV
“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”
Romans 12:10 ESV
“Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor.”
1 John 4:7-10 ESV
“Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.”
1 John 4:11 ESV
“Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.”
Romans 13:8 ESV
“Owe no one anything, except to love each other, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law.”
1 John 3:18 ESV
“Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth.”
Galatians 5:13 ESV
“For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.”
John 15:12 ESV
“This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.”
💙💚💛🧡❤️LOVE 🤎🤍🖤💜💗
I know, that was a lot of verses. I’m not apologizing for them, simply a reminder largely for myself and hopefully to others to know that God loves us and he knows us. God knows the hearts of all his children and Jesus literally feels our pains, our sorrows, our passions, our joys…our everything.
Our world his filled with so much darkness and evil, it can seem overwhelming at times. But there is hope, seize the moments when truth and love shine through, celebrate the good in all people. God moves and works in mysterious ways, keep the eyes and ears of your heart open to receive blessings from God. Just today, I was feeling a bit under-the-weather, not sick but not overflowing with joy…I have the most amazing coworkers, one in particular showed me love in the form of a hug. Nothing groundbreaking to most but this person is not normally the hugging kind. Mutual love and respect for another person can and does happen, I’m glad to have been on the receiving end of one of God’s mysterious ways today. The depth of our friendship is invaluable to me. I hope and pray you have moments that fill you with joy as this one did for me.
God loved us so much that he sent his only son into the world not to judge the world, but so that through him the world might be saved. “In these words the meaning of the Incarnation is summed up. God has become human — that is, God-With-Us — in order to show us that the anxious concern for recognition and the violence among us spring from a lack of faith in the love of God. If we had a firm faith in God’s unconditional love for us, it would no longer be necessary to be always on the lookout for ways of being admired by people, and we would need, even less, to obtain from people by force what God desires to give us so abundantly.”(3).
Be mindful today of how you treat others, I pray that you are met with kindness, respect and love. Thank you for stopping by my blog today, I am blessed to share God’s word with you.
🟢🔷🟢🔷🟢🔷🟢🔷🟢🔷🟢🔷🟢🔷🟢
Lenten M•I•C•R•O Practice for today:
~ Jesus Prayer – Day 33
Recite the Jesus prayer 10 times, either in one sitting or throughout the course of the day. “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me a sinner.” For children, it can be as simple as, “Jesus loves me and my neighbor.”
💠 ~ Prayer ~ 💠
Lord Jesus Christ,
you suffered for us
and left an example
for us to follow in your steps.
You had done nothing wrong,
and had spoken no deceit.
You were insulted
and did not retaliate with insults;
when you were suffering
you made no threats
but put your trust
in the upright judge.
You were bearing our sins
in your body on the cross,
so that we might die to our sins
and live for uprightness;
through your bruises
we have been healed.
— After 1 Peter 2:21-24
~Charlotte, Seeker of unexpected Comfort, Happiness, Joy and Patience.
References:
Show Me The Way — Henri J.M.Nouwen • 1992 The Crossroad Publishing
(1) Show Me The Way — Henri J.M.Nouwen • 1992 The Crossroad Publishing • Page 113, paragraph 1.
(2) Show Me The Way — Henri J.M.Nouwen • 1992 The Crossroad Publishing • Page 114, paragraph 1.
(3) Show Me The Way — Henri J.M.Nouwen • 1992 The Crossroad Publishing • Page 114, paragraph 2.
https://www.openbible.info/topics/love_one_another
(NIV) New International Version Bible/Translation
(ESV) English Standard Version
(NRSVA) New Revised Standard Version Apocrypha
(NJBV) New Jerusalem Bible Version/Translation
HOPE SEEKER 
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