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| thank You for the times that i feel unloved, because it reminds me that only Your love is forever and always.
thank You for the times that i feel loved, because it reminds me that every bit of love i feel is ultimately from You.
thank You for opportunities to serve, because it reminds me that the world doesn't revolve around me.
thank You for allowing me to be served, because it reminds me that i matter.
thank You for the times that i feel alone, because it reminds me that i can't always depend on others.
thank You for giving me friends, because it reminds me that i don't have to do everything by myself.
thank You for opportunities to show grace and forgive, because it gives me the chance to love like You.
thank You for those who have shown grace and forgiven me, because i know that i don't deserve it.
thank You for not giving me all of the answers, because it forces me to trust in Your timing, not mine.
thank You for reconciliation, because it reminds me that the wait and the pain is worth it.
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beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loves is born of God, and knows God. - 1 john 4:7
beloved = BE LOVED. and love one another.
i think the only way for us to love other people the way God loves us is to know God's love in our life. and to actually let Him love us so much that it overflows in us and penetrates our emotions (dana, i got that from what's so amazing about grace!) to the point where loving other people the way God loves us isn't so hard.
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at bing this weekend, i kept hearing the phrase "choose love." not loving conditionally like most of us tend to do...because of what you said, or what you did. but choosing to love just because God does...not letting our emotions get in the way.
i'm choosing love. real, unconditional, never-changing, overflowing, only-from-God, love. because being loved conditionally hurts too much. because i can't find it anywhere else. because it reevaluates my priorities and shifts my focus to what matters. because this is how God loves, and we should all be striving to be like God, right?
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be thankful. happy thanksgiving :)
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| i'd like to think i've been learning more about God's love this year. & sometimes realizing how unconditional it really is, it melts my heart. but at the same time, learning more about how perfect His love is, makes me all the more disappointed in our worldly definition of love. our watered down version & how the context that i use 'love' in is definitely not in accordance to God's love.
i crave love. REAL love. but i've been wondering if real love, God love, even exists in this world.
i hate how the way people search for love & the things in which people try to find love influence me. & how i end up wanting what other people have, shifting my focus and my priorities away from the only real love i've ever known. & then i realize how distracting i must be to other people.
sometimes people make it SO hard for me to love them. & then i realize that i probably make it equally as hard for people to love me. & then God shows up & he loves you & me equally & it's just like...what? how is that even possible? but somehow it is & that just blows my mind.
i'm trying to challenge myself to not use the word 'love' so much anymore. i love my uggs, and i love my sweatpants, and i love this, and i love that, but i don't think i love anything enough to send off my son to die on a cross for it. i challenge you (if anyone reads this) to do the same. it's going to be hard.
can you love someone without knowing their pain? i think we can make the choice to love them but we can't show our love without knowing how, & knowing how comes from knowing the person, which includes their pain. & and i think that showing love is more important; i guess over the years i've become a huge advocate to 'actions speak louder than words' & how anyone can say 'i love you' but actions that prove love is worth so much more. & i guess i've been realizing how much i hate it when people say they love me, because i doubt it. either that or because i'm still carrying around all this emotional baggage from people who said they loved me and were using it out of context. yeah, that might be it.
i want a pain growing love. or maybe i'm in the 'pain' part now & the love growing part is yet to come. why am i so impatient? why do i need to know everything?
i'm so complicated. & i'm so sorry for that. | | |
| tonight i was reminded that
You don't give me anything more than i can handle
because You bear my burdens
and anything that is in Your control
can never be out of control
with all the weight of my problems
on Your shoulders
there's not a doubt in the world that reconciliation can be made
and i know that You will bring healing
to those who trust in You
not by my time, but by Yours
and until then,
i'll just have to be patient,
trust a little more,
and love a lot more.
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| the righteous cry out, and the lord hears them;
he delivers them from all their troubles.
the lord is close to the brokenhearted,
and saves those who are crushed in spirit. psalm 34:17-18 | | |
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for blue skies,
i'll forgive you.
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