Tag: love

Mercy

The world could use a little—actually, a LOT—more mercy. God is abundant in mercy but we are clearly lacking it. God looks at each of us and forgives in mercy. We look at each other and want to do the opposite. That’s no wonder because the world is sorely lacking in God.

We are clearly lost in a world that is becoming more estranged from God and, in the process, mercy is becoming harder to find. Fights, shootings, wars, and lots of terrible things fill the news waves. And the farther we get from God the worse the headlines become.

Change only happens one person at a time. It starts with me and you. I intend to move even closer to God this Christmas season in a renewed to show those around me more forgiveness and, in the process, more mercy. My start is just more kindness!

Turning to God is the necessary first step because without God there is a void. With God, it starts with a smile, helping someone in need, and simply smiling. It’s not rocket science. It’s just God.

Let’s all try to spread a little joy, forgiveness, and mercy. Maybe, just maybe, we can light a fuse and start change.

ENJOY the rest of the week—in mercy!

One Christian Requirement

LOVE. That’s it. If you walk in LOVE you follow the walk of Jesus Christ. You are a Christian. Pretty simple, right? Conversely, if you don’t walk in LOVE you are not a Christian. You are simply something else.

Jesus commanded us to do one simple thing. LOVE. So, if we walk in LOVE, as Jesus did, we are a follower. A “Christ”ian. If we don’t, we aren’t. Again, pretty simple.

There are a lot of self-professed “Christians” in this world that clearly don’t walk in LOVE. So, they may think they are “Christian” but are anything but true Christian. Again, Jesus commanded us to do one simple thing. LOVE. If we LOVE we are followers. If we don’t, we are not.

“This is my commandment: Love each other in the same way I have loved you.” john 15:12 

There is no mistaking that. LOVE. And just to be clear, Jesus is talking about loving all as He loves each one of us. LOVE if you are a true Christian.

Have an EXCEPTIONAL day walking in LOVE!

One Little Simple Thing!

LOVE. That’s the one little simple thing God commanded us to do before Jesus’ coming. Then, Jesus before His death commanded us to do the same thing. LOVE. It’s so very simple but as with everything in life we complicate it. In fact, we downright ignore it!!!

Why is the world spinning out of control? Because we ignore God’s command to LOVE. Hatred has taken over so many that LOVE is blotted out. God is shaking His head and the devil is eating up all the hatred. And fueling it!

The only way we will turn this twisted, out-of-control world around is by loving. And that starts with each one of us. It starts with a smile and extends to putting the other person before yourself. It involves me focusing on “you” and not on “me.”

LOVE, LOVE, LOVE. It’s a key Secret to Life that we increasingly ignore.

Start by spreading some LOVE today. It’s not hard. And the world needs a whole lot of LOVE to stop it spinning out of control.

LOVE!!!

How Little Has Changed in the Middle East!

War has been a thing in the Middle East since the dawn of time, or at least since the time of Abraham. Read the Bible and it’s one conflict after another. The Holy Land has always been a war zone, is today, and I think will be tomorrow. That’s because God’s call for LOVE goes unheard.

Right now God is looking down at current events and yet another war killing thousands of His innocent children. He is just shaking His head. God has given us a message to LOVE, and even let His Son be sacrificed for LOVE. Jesus commanded us to do one thing and that is LOVE. But we ignore every word. We hate.

What can you and I do with war now going on (again) in the Middle East, not to mention the war in Ukraine? We can love. LISTEN for and to God who is practically screaming, if not really screaming, for us to LOVE. It’s not hard. Just start with a smile, forgive as you want God to forgive you, and think about the other person before yourself. Think God. Think Jesus. Think Spirit. Call for help. They are there.

The world is a powder keg because we can’t LOVE. It’s easier to hate and be mad. But the path to eternal life is LOVE but as a collective people we are taking another path, and the end won’t be pretty.

Change starts with each one of us, person by person. So, you and I can start a chain if we can just LOVE. Like life itself, God meant this to be be very simple. We are the ones who complicate it.

Spread a little LOVE this week. The world certainly needs it!

What is God?

Love. Pure and simple, God is love. John said it best so suggest you read 1 John 4:7-12. God is love and everything that comes from God is love.

If God were anything but pure and unconditional love then we would be in big trouble. At the very least, He would not have sacrificed His Only Son to clear out all sins past, present, and future.

It’s hard to think about a God that is pure refined love. The ultimate expression of love. But that is what God is. It’s hard to believe because we live in a world so filled with strife and downright hatred.

There is only one way to get closer to God and that’s to love. Not just love people close to you but love everyone, regardless of who they are. Love, love, and love. There is only one path to God.

So, the next time you want to say something bad, do something bad, lash out, or do anything but love, think again if you want to really feel love in your life. Love is just like an electric current. It’s not static but flows. Love can’t exist as a static feeling. It has to flow.

Let your love flow this week. LOVE is truly a Secret to Life. So have a great week and let it flow!

It’s Not About Me. It’s About You!

There are two ways to look at life. The simply way is to look inward and make life all about you. Me, me, me, me, and more me. The other people out there don’t count. Or at least count only when you want them to count.

The other way to live is to make it all about other people. Your feelings and wants are on the back burner to others’. It’s all about them. Not you.

Forget for a minute that God commanded us to love others. And that before He died for us, Jesus left us with the same command to sacrifice for others. To love them. Forget those commandments and just think how life would be if we just spent more time thinking about others than we do ourselves. The world would be a far, far different place. A much, much better place!

It’s not easy putting ourselves behind others. The “animal” side of us is wired for us. But the “human” side of us is wired for others. Why? Because God wired that human side. He wired us for love and love is about taking a backseat to others. It’s that simple. Hard to do, but simple.

I try to think every morning about how I could have put others in front of me the day before. And what I need to do differently today. It’s not easy. Trust me—I screw up all the time. But I try not to give up. I want my life to depend on it.

Think others! And have a FABULOUS day doing so!

Nice

Be nice. It’s as simple as that. God commanded us to live in love and Jesus put an exclamation point on that same command! (“This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you” John 15:12) But looking around the world today, starting here in the U.S., there is not much love. So, maybe we should start at square one by trying (hopefully!) to just be nice. That’s a start.

Think good thoughts. Smile. Help someone today. Maybe even pay forward that cup of coffee you are buying at Starbucks for the person in line behind you. Just try to be nice. It’s that simple. Maybe us being nice will influence others.

The toughest thing is being nice to someone who is not nice to you. The person who jumps a line or cuts in front of you in traffic. It’s really tough to return a scowl with a smile. But that’s what this very unhappy and angry world needs. It needs nice.

I’m trying to be nice this week and I hope you will join me. We desperately need nice right now.

Have an AMAZING, and NICE, week ahead!!!

It’s All About God (Repeat: It’s All About God)

Take a look around this country and the world. Storming the U.S. Capitol. Asian hate. Rioting and looting Portland. Crazy conspiracy theories. Black Lives Matter. Blue Lives Matter. Shootings. Russian tampering in U.S. elections. Congressional partisanship like never before. North Korea. China. Myanmar. Miami beach spring break. Masks. No masks. Everything COVID-19. And on, and on, and on. Where is God in this? MIA. Why? Because we don’t want God in our lives. Pure and simple.

Regardless of COVID-19 resulting in more people turning to God, the world is absolutely moving toward secularization, which means away from God. I sound like a broken record —even to myself—but look no further than the exodus story in the Bible to see how this ends. Repeatedly, the Israelites turned away from God in their 40 years of aimlessly wandering in the desert. And bad things happened all along the way. There is a reason this story is in the Bible. Because it is now our story. The people of this world, starting with the United States, are aimlessly wandering in this desert of a world, which ironically is becoming more of a desert. And as we turn further away from God bad things happen.

No, I don’t think that COVID-19 was thrust upon us by God as punishment for turning away from Him. COVID-19 is just another one of the millions of viruses on this planet, but one we let get ignited because we simply don’t have out act together. Bad things happen because we let them happen as we increasingly don’t look to God for answers.

We should be a people with a vision of where we are going; namely our own Promised Land. We should be looking to lift each other up, to not let anyone go hungry or without. We should be good stewards of this earth and looking out to the stars. We should be looking to God for direction and answers, not trying to cut Him out of our lives.

I’m not some doom and gloom guy. I’m someone who constantly looks at the good and believes in the best. But as we turn our backs on God more bad “stuff” will happen. It’s that simple. Like the Israelites in the desert we will moan and groan and be unhappy. And bad things will happen. It’s as clear as day.

I for one will do everything I can to make this world a better place. Change happens one person at a time. I’m certainly no saint. In fact, because I think I know the answers, but screw up all the time, I may be the world’s greatest sinner. But I try. And I constantly turn back to God for direction and answers, God. The only answer in life.

It’s simply all about God!!!

I hope you have an AMAZING week ahead. Look for God in your life. He will make all the difference in your life!

Only Love Can Drive Out Hate

“Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that.” Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Dr. King must be shaking his head in disbelief on this day we dedicate to him and his message of peace, love, and equality. Our capitol city is literally an armed camp. In fact, you can’t even get near the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial in D.C. today. Ironic and sad.

Rather than try to unite, our politicians are pointing fingers, with some wanting to go on witch hunts. Rather than looking forward to healing, so many want to look back and further divide us. And the cable pundits who make millions and millions on stirring the pot, are stirring harder than ever.

The storming of the Capitol was a terrible crime. But it should be a wake up call to unite, not divide. If every politician were required to read the message above from Dr. King at the start of every day, our country would be a much better, stable & loving place. Only love can drive out hate.

Dr. King knew what God commanded and Jesus gave His life in commanding us to do: love. Can it really be that hard? We do a really good job listening to the devil’s call to hate rather than God’s call to love. Think about that! The only thing we love to do is hate. Sad.

I’m going to read those words of Dr. King every day this year. What a great message that only light can drive out darkness and only love can drive out hate. And Jesus is out light with a message (command) to love.

Have a peaceful day in the light!

When Will We Look at Each Other as God Looks at Us?

Yesterday was a very dark day in this country. I spend a lot of time on Capitol Hill, in the six House and Senate office buildings and in the Capitol. I respect everything on “The Hill” because it deserves respect, regardless of politics and differences of opinions. But yesterday The Hill was disrespected like I have never seen in my lifetime and, hopefully, will never see again. It was disrespected by a gang of vandals and by the President of the United States himself. And that’s not a political statement. It’s simply the sad fact. Unfortunately, underlying that disrespect, and the way that Washington, D.C. was disrespected earlier this year by another group of vandals, is a fundamental disrespect of each other. When will we start looking at each other as God looks at us?

How does God look at us? First, God doesn’t look outward at skin color, gender, and anything else on the outside. God looks inside. “The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” (1 Samuel 16:7). God doesn’t care what political party you belong to, what cause you follow, or any other differences. He looks at each one of us equally and loves us unconditionally, regardless of what we do. God looks at us in terms of similarities—all different but all the same.

As I have written more times than I can possibly count, God commands us to love. To do one simple thing. Love. He went to the length of sending His only Son to deliver that message body and soul to us. To give up Jesus’ life in the ultimate sacrifice of love.

It’s time to heal as a country, as a world, as a people. It’s so very clear how God looks at us and how he wants us to look at and treat each other—with love. But we don’t do that. We do anything to divide and not unite. We are an angry country—an angry world—that not even a pandemic has been able to unite. Maybe, just maybe, the terrible scenes from yesterday will help some of us start looking for answers. And start looking at each other as God looks at us!

Please help today! Go out of your way to smile at someone, pay something forward, lend someone a hand—just be nice, when nice is not what you want to be. Try to look through God’s eyes.

Thank you!