You are loved

"My love endures forever." Wouldn't that be a great valentine quote on the inside of a card? It would be a great sentiment. Yet its lasting impact would be contingent upon who signs the card.

In my case I see God's signature at the bottom. A ministry teammate for our Sowing Hope team, Celeste Kern, directed us to Psalm 136 where the phrase His love endures forever is repeated after each declaration is given. God's love endures forever. No matter how vile or evil my life, God's love endures it forever. He loves me.

I read in I John 4:10-11, "In this is love, not that we loved God , but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation of our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another." The Message paraphrase puts it another way, "This is the kind of love we are talking about--not that we once upon a time loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to clear away our sins and the damage they've done to our relationship with God. My dear, dear friends, if God loved us like this, we certainly ought to love each other."

I can love others because God loves me. I have the power to love others even when I feel that others may not deserve any love at all. I can love because God first loved me.

Now for those who see this day as awful, lonely, and a day of despair. God extends His love to you. No matter how terrible the breakup was, how wicked the person acted, how vile the situation is presently, or how hollow and lonely you feel, God loves you. In fact, he's prepared a place for you. In Psalm 68:6, the Bible says, "God makes a home for the lonely." God invites you to come to His house when you feel all alone. He's prepared a place for you. He loves you. As you let that thought slap you in the face, don't react with aggression, but stop and take a deep breath and repeat this phrase, "God loves me." Say it again, "God loves me." Cry out to God and ask Him to make that real for you. Scream out to Him and ask Him to show you His love. As you journey on in your life, you will discover His love. Look for Him. Discover God's home for the lonely. You can live through the pain of love-lossed. You can triumph over despair. Ask God to reveal His love to you and consider how you'll embrace it. God loves you. How do I know? Because I have experienced His love for me. Find out for yourself. Take the step of faith to cry out to Him. He will answer. He does care. He truly loves you.

You are loved!

Sowing Hope

Tonight I helped throw a party! Our church at Wooster Grace is focused on outreach. We have targeted a apartment complex where single moms and the working poor live. We extend to them God's love. The name of this outreah is Sowing Hope. Tonight we threw a valentine's party. Yeah, I know. It's not Valentine's Day yet. But we did something cool.

This is the second year the outreach team mobilized believers to throw this party. The church gathers valentines, a meal, a gospel message, and people to love-on the children and adults. The kids who attend create take-home boxes which they decorate. We purchase for them valentine card sets for them to take home so that they can prepare them for their friends at school or in the neighborhood. Most of these children can't afford to buy valentines, so we provide them. Then they can share them with their friends. We don't rubber stamp the valentines with our logo or church name. We just let them take 'em home to give out to their friends--no strings attached.

I can't tell you how amazing it is to learn names of new friends. Little ones who want to feel loved. You see the glee in their eyes as they receive the valentine cards. Their beaming smiles shine out the smell of body odor (some kids don't bathe too often). Still, God loves each of them very much. I know this pleases God! He wants us to love others as we have been loved. God is great God. He can do amazing things through us. May God give you the prompting to love others around you in His name, attribute your acts and words of love to Him. Bless people with God's love through you!