Services every Sunday at 7:00 P.M.
|
Services every Sunday at 7:00 P.M.
|
|
|
"To love thee more dearly" 3/22/09 John 15:9-17
Day by Day, O dear Lord, three things I pray: To see thee more clearly, To love thee more dearly, To follow thee more nearly, Day by day, by day, by day. For this Lenten season we have been focusing our attention on commitment. And as part of this study we have been using the song Day by Day to look at the ways we walk with God each and every day of our lives. We have talked about prayer being essential to our relationship with God. And the ways we can see God more clearly in our day to day experience of living. Tonight we take our attention to the ways we can love God more dearly in our lives and in our world. As I reflected upon these words "To love God more dearly" I kept coming back to the scripture verse John 3: 16 "For God so loved the world that God gave the only Child, so that everyone who believes in Christ may not perish but may have eternal life." Our lives are lived in the presence of the One who loves us, who loves us unconditionally as a parent loves a child. And we know the love of God, we get a glimpse of the love of God through the ways that Jesus loved the people he met on his journey. It was a loved that reached out. It was a love that accepted each person just as they were. It was a love that ask for nothing in return. It was a love that sought to bring wholeness and peace. It was a love that embraced the child in everlasting arms. That is the kind of love that God has for us and the kind of love we are called, commanded to share with others. To grow in love with God more dearly is first to accept the love God has for us. I don't believe we can love God with all of our heart, soul, mind and strength until we first know in the core of our being that we are loved by God. But it's more than knowing - it's experiencing, it's feeling, it's truly accepting that we are a beloved child of God. “Jesus Loves Me" is one of the first songs I remember singing as a small child in Sunday school. And in many ways is a melody that needs to follow me through life. When we deal with our sexuality, when we make awful mistakes, when we experience guilt and shame over something that was done to us. In the midst of what ever life brings we need to hear the voice of God saying "I love you". No matter what I love you. As we learn to breath in the love of God, as we learn to soak in the love of God, as we put our whole being into the presence of the One who is Love, it is then that we learn what holy love is all about. And it is out of that sense of being the beloved that we can begin day by day to love God more dearly. I would suggest that knowing we are the beloved is a life long journey that grows and changes with years of relationship with God. And as the beloved we acknowledge our gratitude to God and live out of that gratitude each and every day. To love God more dearly means that we live each day being thankful to God for the gift of life. It is a recognition that who I am is a gift from the loving Creator. It is to live knowing that all I need will be supplied by the loving Sustainer. It is to walk confidently believing that God will carry me in loving arms when I can't seem to go on. It is having the courage to move into the future knowing God's strength will give me what I need. Each breath we take is a gift from our loving God. It is out of gratitude for what God has done and continues to do that we trust the love we have for God. And thirdly, to love God more dearly, is about faithfulness. It is about day by day showing up for God. Growing in our relationship in prayer with God. Asking what God would have us to do this day that will bring God's presence into the world. It is about truly loving those people that God sends into our lives. Not that warm fuzzy kind of love, but a love that says I'II go the extra mile, will to the best of my ability love you just as you are. It is a love that wants reconciliation, peace, forgiveness, and offers hope. It is a love that requires work and commitment as we give ourselves for God's use each and every day. To be faithfulness is to make God the number 1 priority in our life. No one or no thing should stand in our way of serving God to the best of our ability this day. How we use our time, what we do with our money, who we enter into relationship or friendship with are all ways that we demonstrate our faithfulness to God. And as we continue to grow in our faithfulness to God, we indeed love God more dearly. As we continue on our Lenten journey this year may we begin this week by praying about God's love for us. Do you believe in the core of your being that you are loved by God? Can you wake up in the morning and look in the mirror and see a beloved Child of God? As you go about your days this week take the time at least each morning and each night to thank God for all the ways that God has blessed your life that day. Be as specific as you can, so that you recognize how much God pays attention to all the parts of our lives. And lastly, demonstrate your love for God by showing up each day to see what God has in store for you this day. Your faithfulness to God shows how much you love God. May our Lenten season continue to be blessed as we “love God more dearly”. |
|
Send comments or suggestions about this website to webmaster at lpmartin2@verizon.net. |