What Is Love?

Scripture plainly says that "God is love" (1 John 4:8, 16).  For that reason, when God's authority is being expressed, love is present.  To put it another way, the exercise of divine authority is always framed in love.
Love is willing to admonish others when they falter.  It rejects freelancing, do-it-yourself, long-ranger spirituality.  Instead, it values the interdependence of the body.
Love realizes that because we are members one of another and have the same ancestry, our actions have a profound effect on our fellow brethren.  Love deplores individualistic, privatized Christianity.  Instead it affirms its need for the other members of the church.
Love is sometimes sweet, kind, and nice.  But when it faces the horrors of unrepentant sin, it can be combative and unbending.  Love is patient, respectful, and gentle.  It's never strident, demeaning, or dictatorial.  Love repudiates pompous and inflated claims to authority.  Instead, it's stamped with humility and meekness.
Love isn't flabby or sentimental, but keenly perceptive and discerning.  It never manipulates or imposes its own will.  It never threatens, forces, demands, or coerces.
Love propels us to accept responsibility in being our "brother's keeper."  But it forbids us from becoming intrusive meddlers into his life.  Love never usurps the place of God nor judges the motives of others' hearts.  Nor does it think the worst of them.
Love recognizes that we are called to represent the Holy Spirit's will to one another, not to substitute for His person or replace His work.

Who is Love?
God is love.

Church and "church"

Do you have frustrations with the "church?"
"Church." You know, that building that most of the time will have a cross on it that people go to once or twice a week to sit for an hour, maybe "sing" a few songs, listen to some guy talk and sometimes rant at you, then leave and forget immediately what he said that morning, and continue living your life as if you had never him speak. Yea that place.
Now don't get me wrong, great things can happen in/out/because of "church," and God can truly do some incredible things within the church, but the twenty-first century "church" has drastically changed from the New Testament Churches the Bible speaks about, and as you may have picked up on, I have a few frustrations with this "church." So before I share with you my frustrations I want to hear what your frustrations are with what the "church" is or has become.
May the revolt against the "church" begin.

Clouds

This morning I pulled out of my neighborhood, and drove up to school about an hour earlier than usual. You see, I have a baseball tournament this weekend, and with that, I missed school today and will miss most of school tomorrow. So, during this time away from the burdens of school, I miss two tests plus a memory work thing that I have to recite. So this morning, I leave the house an hour earlier to go on in to take one test and then take the other test and do the mem work tomorrow. Well as I pull out of my neighborhood I see these clouds and I am immediately calmed. My nervousness is gone. My stress about having to do all of this in the allotted time left goes away. The last time I saw these clouds we were in a storm. Except, we weren't really in the storm. The storm was pretty severe all around us, but not where we were. These clouds were a reminder to me that God is in control. That God was there with me. And that I shouldn't worry or be afraid of what will happen. God soothed me during this time, and I immediately went to prayer, while I was driving to school. God took away my fears that not everything will get done, and with that, God blessed me with being able to take my two tests leaving the mem work to do tomorrow. God truly is awesome. And it doesn't have to always be big things. And it shouldn't be either. Meaning it shouldn't take a big miracle to make us say "God, You are incredible. Thank you so much for doing this. I love you so much!" Because miracles happen all around us, everyday. That is how awesome God is. So for me, this small sign was so huge today in my life and God got my attention right away with it, and because of it, I was able to make God an active part of my day, which I should be doing a lot more of.
So once again, Who do you say God is? What miracles, big or small, has He done in your life recently? How are you going to glorify God today?

Who do I say God is?

For me, God is many things.
He is my all. I've grown up in a Christian home with a mindset that God there with us every step of the way in everything that we do, that He will never leave us nor forsake us, and that He knows everything that we will do. Because of that, God first and foremost is my everything. He is my life. Because He is my all, my worldview, the way I view everything going on around me, is through His Word, The Bible. It is The Bible that has influenced my thoughts and the way I see people and the world itself.
He is my best friend. For years I have struggled with feeling like I did not belong in the place that I was. But time and time again God has reminded me of why he has put me in the place that I am. Even in those times though, God has been there for me when I have those doubts. He is the ultimate friend. I know that he will never leave me, I can talk to Him at any time, day or night, and know that He is always listening, and above all, He love's me.
He forgives. I screw up. I fall. I make mistakes. I sin. But every time I sin, God forgives me. And even though I screw up, He loves me, and doesn't love me any less.
He loves. The biggest one. He loves me. So much that He sent His Son to die on the Cross for my sins so that I could live with Him for eternity. Love is a powerful thing. But no love is greater than His for me and for us. And there is nothing that I could do to make Him love me any less, which is incredible, cause I've done some pretty bad stuff growing up. But He loves me. And He loves you too. Jesus died so that we could spend eternity with Him in Heaven. This is the greatest love of all.
So who do you say God is?
What has God done in your life that reminds you of His love?

Who do you say God is?

Who do you say God is?

What's Next?

So I've been having a rough time trying to figure out what to write about next and I was wondering what you personally would like to hear?
Examples - my story, what God has been doing my life, or something else that you may be wondering about that we can discuss on here. So let me know what yall think.

Remember Why...

You've heard the cliche statement "Jesus Loves You." Whether that be your mom or dad or a Sunday school teacher growing up or even just some random person you came in contact with one in day. And that person probably either did one of two things, they just said it to you and that's all they said about it and went on their way, or they took the time to explain the statement to you. And if you have not heard that statement before, then you are about to once again.
Ready?
Jesus Loves You.
Probably one of the most commonly used phrases in this world, and unfortunately it has not been explained as well as it should be. So here it is.
"For God So Loved The World That He Gave His One And Only Son, That Whoever Believes In Him Will Not Perish But Have Everlasting Life." (John 3:16)
We screw up. Everybody screws up. We all make mistakes. We all do bad things. None of us, emphasizing the word NONE, None of us are better than each other. We all sin. I sin. I screw up. And if we continue to do so, we destined to spend eternity in Hell. And ladies and gentlemen, Hell is as real as this earth.
But do you want to know the silver lining in all of this. Its Jesus Christ. He came to this earth and died for all of our sins. He took the burden and weight of all of our sins and washed them away with his death on the cross. This was His gift to us. Why did He do it? Because He loves us. Because of His love, He has saved each and every one of us from an eternity apart from Him in Hell. All we have to do is accept that gift. Accept that Jesus Christ really came to this earth to take all of our sins away and believe that He is our One and Only Savior. Jesus Loves you so much that he died for you and for me. The question for you, is how are you going to respond to that gift of love? Are you going to ignore it or are you going to accept God's gift of love and start living a life that is pleasing to God?
Remember it doesn't matter what you do or who you are: Jesus. Loves. You.
Next time you here this remember why this statement is so important.