The God Hole

By Lori Freeland –

Barring basic physical needs, what one thing can people not live without? The answer is love.

“And now these three remain: faith, hope, love. And the greatest of these is love” (I Corinthians 13:13 NIV). We come into the world craving love, spend our lives chasing after love, and die wanting more love.

Love pushes me through prickly patches in my marriage. Love prompts me to put my arms around my kids when my frustration peaks and all I want to do is walk away. Love paves the way to forgiveness when my anger rides high.

I find love at the center of every close relationship I have. Why?

My humanity. God’s humanity. “So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them” (Genesis 1:27 NIV). God fashioned us in His image to love and to be loved. He gave Eve to Adam for this very reason. Out of His deep love for us, He sent His only Son to pay the price for our insufficiency.

God fashioned us with a giant-sized “God Hole” in our hearts—an abyss He put there for Himself. Everyone has a God Hole. Not everyone knows how to define that space—especially if they lack an intimate relationship with Him. This empty cavern goes by many different names. I call that place restlessness, emptiness, longing, rawness, sadness, frustration, depression, neediness. What do you call it?

When that space remains vacant, it hurts. So why am I surprised then when I ignore the cavern, the emptiness screams to be filled? The vacuum turns into a great restless pit of need. Why haven’t I learned that I can’t just shove any old thing in that hole to ease the ache?

God owns that space and He’s not renting it out to anyone else. It’s set apart. For Him and Him alone. “Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it” (Proverbs 4:23 NIV).

When will I learn that once He fills my heart, my restlessness will melt away and the ache will fade?

Do you have a hollow space? Like me are you trying to fill it with family, friends, food, jobs, multiple non-stop activities? Do you think if you do more, be more, want more, the restless ache will disappear? I’ve learned the hard way over the years that it won’t. God made that hole for Himself. And He’s a jealous God. “Do not worship any other god, for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God” (Exodus 34:14 NIV).

See if I’m right. Let Him fill the space. What have you got to lose?

Remaking Love

By Jarrod Spencer  –

Valentine’s Day – A day set aside for love and romance. However, love is not just “soft”, “pink”, and feminine as Valentine’s Day often depicts. Love is about giving ourselves, just like Christ gave of Himself. Love is about staying committed through pain.

The church is also called to love–to love one another. Love is about action, which brings us to this quote about love by Ursula Le Guin, “Love doesn’t just sit there, like a stone; it had to be made, like bread, remade all the time, made new.”

As I previously mentioned, love is an action. Love that sits is not love at all. Love is about forgiving those that wrong you. Love is about going to someone you have a problem with. Love is to be made new every morning (Lamentations 3:3). Love that remains the same will become hardened and lack elasticity. Love must be able to stretch, so you can forgive those who wrong you. If you won’t stretch to give grace to your transgressor, then love no longer is love. Christians are called to love each other. The church should be modeling love to each other and those in the world. How will you model love?

Have a great rest of your week! May you have many opportunities to model what it means to love others in a Christ-like way today, tomorrow, this weekend, and so on.

Because of His Love ~

PRAYER: Thank You for Your love! Thank you for sending Your Son and lavishing us with Your mercy be allowing us to be forgiven, despite our worthiness!

“This is how much God loved the world: He gave his Son, his one and only Son. And this is why: so that no one need be destroyed; by believing in him, anyone can have a whole and lasting life” (John 3:16 MSG).

The Trouble With Words

By Kim Stokely –

Don’t get me wrong. I like words. All kinds of words. I like how they help me communicate with people, whether through writing or speaking. The best thing about words is the way they sound as they make their way past my lips. Some words are more fun to say than others. “Muffin,” for example, is an amusing word. What’s not to love about that “m” sound combined with those two “f”s? You know what’s even better? The word “waffle.” Say it a couple of times. Really play with “w” and “f” sounds, and I’ll bet you’ll be smiling.

The trouble with the word “waffle” is that can mean two different things. In one instance, it refers to a yummy breakfast treat smothered in either syrup or fruit and whipped cream. (This is, in fact, my favorite meaning of the word!) Sometimes it’s a verb meaning you are struggling between two choices. Very rarely will you confuse the two unless you happen to be at an IHop, waffling between ordering waffles or pancakes for breakfast.

Context becomes important when we use words that have double meanings. A friend of mine found that out recently after she was involved in an accident on the freeway one Sunday morning. When the car in front of her stopped suddenly, my friend braked in time to avoid the collision. The person behind her, however, did not. The police arrived, discerned no one was seriously injured, then began questioning those involved.

“Ma’am,” the policeman asked my friend. “Have you been drinking?”

“Yes,” She replied.

The cop gave her a strange look. “How many drinks have you had?”

She thought for a moment. “A glass of orange juice and tea with breakfast. At least two bottles of water and─” She caught the policeman’s bemused face. “Oh! I thought you were asking if I was hydrated today!”

For my friend, a bicycling enthusiast and a Christian, the idea of drinking alcohol on a Sunday morning was such a foreign concept that she naturally assumed the policeman was concerned about her being dehydrated. For the policeman, alcohol and accidents coincide so often that he had no trouble believing a person could be drunk so early in the day.

I try to remember this lesson in context when I speak to others about my faith. I have to be aware of what colors their perspective of God. Even a word like “sin” has different meanings to different people depending on their own past and present experiences. But “love” and “acceptance” are words that most people understand. If I start on common ground with our need as human beings to be loved and accepted for who we are, I find people to be much more receptive to the other words I speak about God.

What’s Love Got to Do With It?

By Marty Norman

Dear Friends, let us love one another for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God because God is love. I John 4:7

A popular song in the 1980’s and ‘90’s was a song by Tina Turner “What’s Love Got to Do with It?” The song calls love a second hand emotion and questions why one would want a heart when it can be broken. It won many awards and great acclaim and was included in a number of Turner’s albums.

Contrast that with scripture which states clearly that love is the answer. God is love. Everyone born of God knows God and that no one can love that does not know God. This is a pretty strong statement. One I’m sure much of the world would not agree with. But further investigation reveals God knew what he was talking about.

Recently a friend who moved from her home shared a profound word with me. Christmas was difficult for her this year – not in her nest of thirty plus years, not surrounded by her Christmas traditions and décor she felt lost and depressed. Discombobulated is how she described it.

But then a miracle happened on Christmas Eve. As she prepared for her first entertaining in her new home, she shopped for groceries and set the table for Christmas lunch. She reported that the heaviness lifted as she prepared for her extended family that was coming for lunch. “That’s what Christmas is all about,” she said. “Love, celebrating the Love that came down from heaven and lived among us; surrounding ourselves with those we love, family and friends. It has nothing to do with a house. It’s all about love.

The truth is there is nothing but love. Love is the answer, and the answer is God. God is love and makes perfect sense once you can understand this simple concept.

As we prepare to celebrate Valentine’s Day, the day when cards and gifts measure the depth of love, let us remember that this is not true love. True love is the love of Christ, sacrificial love, a love that serves and gives. That is what we are called to be about this Valentine’s Days.

So when you walk down the aisle of the Hallmark store, keep in mind Jesus and what he did for us. Let’s be more concerned with telling others about His love than building ourselves up with expensive and important gifts. A simple “I love you”, a kind deed, a helping hand, an unexpected gift of love, that’s what Valentine’s Day should be all about.

So Happy Valentine’s Day, Jesus. Thank you for coming to earth to show us what real love is. Help us to love as you did, sacrificially and in service to others. If we all did that , the world would be a better place for everyone.

Showdown

by Elaine James –

Do you remember ever watching an old western movie when the showdown was about to occur between the good guy and the bad guy? Usually before the showdown, they agree on where and when they would meet. They then get their guns ready and put them in their holsters.

I woke up one morning, picturing my family and me getting ready for a showdown with the enemy (Satan). We were to meet in front of the sheriff’s office, in an old western town just like in the movies. As we walked out of our house and headed down the street, I spoke out: “This is our ammunition we are bringing with us.”

“Because of the LORD’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail.
They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness” (Lamentations 3:22-23 NIV). Moving forward, my next words were “the grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of the Lord stands forever” (1Peter 1:24b-25 NIV).

Yet more steps led to “He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed” (1Peter 2:24 NIV).

I walked a few more steps, saying “Seek first the kingdom and His righteousness and then all things will be given to you as well” (Matthew 6:33).

I continued with “I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater than these, because I am going to the Father” (John 14:12 NIV).

One last shout out “Repent, then and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord” (Acts 3:19 NIV).

We were all armed and ready. We won the battle. We were free from worry, anxiety, fears and negative or critical thinking. We will continue to claim the victory because of Jesus.
Be prepared to face the enemy, by arming and protecting yourself with the power and love of Jesus.

PRAYER: Father in heaven, thank You for showing me that we are in a battle but Jesus always wins!

“Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom” (2 Corinthians 3:17 NIV).

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