Each time someone close to us passes on, I feel a very deep emotional pull to re-evaluate my life and it’s priorities. The daily pesky things, the nuances, the hassles, the hustle bustle and pretty much anything outside of “love for my family and friends” drifts off into a perspective of insignificance.
>So much time is wasted by not improving our relationships that we have with others. Volunteering our time, giving compliments and words of encouragement, being a good listener to someone who needs to vent or just spending time with someone doing what “they enjoy doing” can go a loooooong way in reaping the significant benefits that life has to offer us. I am seeing that we should spend less time on ourselves and more time with others. That seems like part of the foundation that love is based on.
But unfortunately it’s much too easy getting caught up in our own little worldly habits, comfort zones, hobbies and “things” that just keeps our Steady Freddy Heady pre-occupied. Not that there’s anything wrong with those things, but too much of the same things tend to make life seem monotonous, repetitive and predictive. That’s the recipe for boredom and anxiety which leads to unease and stress. Those things DO NOT seem like part of the foundation that love is based on.
We were not made in God’s image to simply “react” to life and what it deals us. We were not created to just go through the motions as if we are the ping pong ball and life is the paddles. We are here to spread love to one another through “meaningful” relationships that should encourage us to do better in everything we do. Companionship with one another and God and the spreading of His truths are why we are here. That’s part of the foundation that love is built on!!
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True love comes from the creator of it – God Almighty!! Without a PERSONAL relationship with Him, we can never see the many avenues that “True Love” can be seen through. Sure, the feeling of love can be had outside of a relationship with God, but it’s only a diluted version of it. Watered down anything is no good. The closer we get to Jesus and others in Christ, the closer we can get to tangibly realizing the many magnificent degrees of love. Peace, harmony, contentment, joy and wisdom are all interwoven within the True Love that only God offers. I feel like we are wasting our time here on earth if we don’t spread all of these great attributes of love to those people that are important to us.
“Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails…” – 1 Corinthians 13:4-8
The ultimate sign of love is this – “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” – Romans 5:8. We see here that God loves us so much, that He sent His only Son to die for us so that all who believe in Jesus and what He accomplished on the cross, will be saved and live forever in Heaven surrounded by His perfect love – just like God designed for us to live in the garden of Eden like.
Heaven is the place we should all aspire to go to. Heaven is the ultimate place where there is no disease, no suffering, no pain, tears or sorrow!! Some say God isn’t fair by allowing bad things to happen here on earth but those same people forget that mankind caused sin and disobedience to enter this world way back in the garden of Eden. Well, let’s remember that also on that very same day that the apple chomping happened, God spoke and set in motion the redemption of humanity through His son Jesus.
From that day forward, God put a plan together based on His perfect love for His created man to get back into Paradise with Him. “And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel” – Genesis 3:15. When God spoke this to satan the serpent, He was referring to the genealogical connection of Jesus Christ as the seed of the woman (Eve). This happened via Able – see Matthew 1:1-16. The bruised heel of the seed of the woman refers to the crucifixion of Christ. The bruised head of the serpent refers to the final judgment of Satan.
So you see, God had a plan from long ago that showed us that His love for us is endless and second to none. He spent so much time and effort to put a plan together and follow through with it, so that by believing in Christ and following His example and teachings we can again be in paradise with Him!! Spreading this “good news” (gospel) is what we are called to do. By following Jesus’ example of seeking Gods heart and teaching others about what God’s word teaches us as to how we are to live our lives, is what He has called us to do.
This my friends can be accomplished by spending time with others and be more involved in their lives. Some are called to preach, some are called to lead by example, some are called to plant seeds of truth, while others are called to use their God given talents to lift God in praise and glory through music, art and even something as simple as good business conduct. We are all called to “advance” the kingdom of God.
Since God made us with specific talents, I ask – what are we doing to advance His kingdom with these talents? God created all of us to use our talents for His good. Spending more “quality” time with friends and family allows us to enjoy the love that God designed us to enjoy. In fact, doing this while including discussions about God, Jesus and His teachings will explode a level of personal fulfillment never experienced before as God rewards those who diligently seek Him. “But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him” – Hebrews 11:6 “Draw near to God, & He will draw near to you.” – James 4:8. When we observe and spread Gods teachings, we fall in line with His perfect love – THAT”S AMAZING!!!! “He that dwells in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty” – Psalm 91:1
In closing, I know I said a lot, so let me conclude with this. The passing of a loved one provides a perspective that we are normally much too busy to see. Questions like, “why are we here” and “where are we going” permeate our minds. For those that have Christ in their hearts, (like I do) their desire to spread the good news (gospel) becomes paramount because that’s what really has ALL the answers to life’s questions. I LOVE the acronym for B.I.B.L.E – Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth – Kind of says it all!!
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