Maybe it is the wedding but I have found myself thinking more and more about love. Particularly I have been captivated by the love of God lately. I find myself looking forward to getting up every morning. I remember hearing Brennan Manning tell the story of his Irish uncle who was standing looking at a sunset. Brennan went up and stood beside him and his uncle smiled and said simply," My Heavenly Father is very fond of me". I guess I have been feeling more and more like that since it struck me that God created everything for the pleasure of Adam. I sit in my chair in the morning with my coffee and look out at the sunrise and think, "My Heavenly Father really is very fond of me". It is a very cool way to start my day. There are only four ways to motivate me to change...guilt, fear (those two are pretty closely connected), pride, and love. Maybe for the first time or at least for the first time in a long time, I feel like I am being changed by love. I don't know how long this feeling will last but I have found myself smiling every morning as I sit listening and talking to a God who pulled the sun up on a string just to show me.
Tuesday, June 12, 2007
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
1 comment:
Joe - I think maybe you've known about this for awhile without realizing it. This understanding of God's love for us is probably the main thing that brought my family to HCC. I'll never forget that 1st time when we visited at CVCA - at one point my husband and I turned and looked at each other and we couldn't help smiling so much we were almost laughing - and then we realized we hadn't smiled in church in a very, very long time. (It was the music and your faces - and the message - and you introduced Marshall - maybe for the 1st time - and it was a great story of some things that happened when you 1st met each other.) Then we knew what had been missing in our lives - the joy and love of Jesus for us, the kind that shows and spills out all over everyone else - it's so outstanding - and so very unique to true Christianity (compared to other religions). Then (back to that 1st visit) all of a sudden I forgot that it was my turn to prepare communion at our former church - and so I had to leave early & run to the car to drive 30 miles away - before they knew we had discovered some of the best fruits of the Holy Spirit! :) and that it would change everything! Thanks for showing the way - and to all your family too - and so many others at HCC. (and we tried for a year at our old church to show what we found - before we finally had to come and stay.)
Post a Comment