I think that it's time I share two more of my favorite scriptures. The first is 1 John 4:8 "He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love." Ponder on that. If you do not love, or do not know or recognize love you really can't know God. In fact, it's hard to comprehend the love of God, the greatest sign of his love being manifest in sending the Son (John 3:17), if you do not manifest love for Him and for others. For more on that point, see i write to understand myself: Love.
Another great scripture, another written by John the Beloved, is John 17:3 "For this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent." Life eternal comes from knowing God and Jesus. To know them we must walk more than a mile in their shoes; we must come to and strive to live the life that they live. We find life eternal in repenting of our individual sins and striving to keep the commandments and covenants.
My focus with these two scriptures leads me away from discussing man's potential to become like God. I want to couple the two together. First, let's begin with the last (hmmm I feel a chiasmus coming on...): life eternal is knowing God. Join that with "he that loveth not knoweth not God. It would seem to follow then that in order to find life eternal we must learn to love. It all comes back to love. The whole plan of salvation, the atonement, EVERYTHING about the gospel of Jesus Christ centers on love for God and our fellow man, Christ being the very center of our love being the ultimate symbol of and corporeal embodiment of the love of the Father.
I've begun to understand even deeper what love is lately. A new love on a new and deeper level is developing. I feel as though I'm beginning to understand a little better what love is and what it's like. Of course that love will deepen as it consistently has throughout my life. I learned to love my siblings and parents. Then my school. That moved on to loving my friends. It continued into loving the people I was serving and teaching as a missionary. Now that love is deepening even further into a beautiful romance. It will move into loving my children and then further on when more posterity is born.
Sunday, September 26, 2010
Friday, September 24, 2010
Sunday, September 19, 2010
One thought sticks out to me...
For the past couple of weeks I've pondered what to write for my followers. I've even felt some pain at not having anything to write or say for a while. This idea remains in the forefront for me.
A while back I wrote about pain, desire, and submission. I was confronting a strong trial. Or at least at the time the storm sure was fierce. In retrospect I was able to see the fulfillment of 1 Corinthians 10:13 "There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it."
At that time I felt a strong interest in a particular person. While the friendship was still new and strong she introduced me to the radio station KLOVE. They play Christian worship music all day long. I love hearing these songs. So many great, inspiring, uplifting and upbeat songs constantly stream across the airwaves. Now normally when someone introduces me to something new, whatever that thing may be is often associated with memories of that person. Not this time. The songs from this station lead my thoughts to Christ and strength and faith.
As I could feel the storm raging around me I dove deeper, rooted myself more firmly, and placed my faith in the Lord while listening to these uplifting and encouraging songs. The storm seemed to pass rather quickly. In a very literal sense, my escape had been prepared for me and it was neatly bundled with the person associated with the test.
Josh Wilson sings a song titled "Before the Morning" (it's posted on my music blog). At one point the chorus says "All the pain that you've been feeling it can't compare to the joy that's coming." I've been holding onto that promise, and I think its fulfillment is coming soon :)
On another note, it has been a year since I started this blog. In it I have recorded some rather intimate moments. I feel the growth that has come since then. I hope my readers can see it in my writing. Even more, I hope that they too find encouragement to put their faith and trust in Christ.
A while back I wrote about pain, desire, and submission. I was confronting a strong trial. Or at least at the time the storm sure was fierce. In retrospect I was able to see the fulfillment of 1 Corinthians 10:13 "There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it."
At that time I felt a strong interest in a particular person. While the friendship was still new and strong she introduced me to the radio station KLOVE. They play Christian worship music all day long. I love hearing these songs. So many great, inspiring, uplifting and upbeat songs constantly stream across the airwaves. Now normally when someone introduces me to something new, whatever that thing may be is often associated with memories of that person. Not this time. The songs from this station lead my thoughts to Christ and strength and faith.
As I could feel the storm raging around me I dove deeper, rooted myself more firmly, and placed my faith in the Lord while listening to these uplifting and encouraging songs. The storm seemed to pass rather quickly. In a very literal sense, my escape had been prepared for me and it was neatly bundled with the person associated with the test.
Josh Wilson sings a song titled "Before the Morning" (it's posted on my music blog). At one point the chorus says "All the pain that you've been feeling it can't compare to the joy that's coming." I've been holding onto that promise, and I think its fulfillment is coming soon :)
On another note, it has been a year since I started this blog. In it I have recorded some rather intimate moments. I feel the growth that has come since then. I hope my readers can see it in my writing. Even more, I hope that they too find encouragement to put their faith and trust in Christ.
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