GOD IS LOVE. (1 John 4:16)
Love comes from God. (1 John 4:7)
Let us not love with words or tongue but with *actions* and in *truth*. (1 John 3:18)
Since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. (1 John 4:11)
If we love one another, God lives in us and His love is made complete in us. (1 John 4:12)
Love is not self-seeking. (1 Cor. 13:5)
Love never fails. (1 Cor. 13:8)
Love always perseveres. (1 Cor. 13:7)
If I can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am *nothing*. (1 Cor. 13:2)
The fruit of the Spirit is *love*. (Gal. 5:22)
Do *everything* in Love. (1 Cor. 16:14)
Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind... And... Love your neighbor as yourself. *All* the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments. (Matt. 22:37-40)
How great is the love the Father has *lavished* on us! (1 John 3:1)
*****
Notice a pattern?
This weekend I spent Sunday afternoon at Kurasini orphanage, and I prayed on the long route there that God would use me as a **mighty instrument of His LOVE**. Knowing the pain, the despair, the hopelessness, the sense of aloneness..... the longing for love, affection, a sense of belonging, a sense of worthiness... the need for physical affection... that these orphans feel in their deepest places.... I prayed that God would use me in any and every way that He could to lavish His love onto them and to help in some way to heal their deep wounds. Their needs are so great. And they are SO very real. I have lately been reading more on the deep wounds and pains of orphaned children (not that some of it isn't common sense, but I have been reading more in depth on it).... and so my awareness of their needs, their pains, their longings, has just been heightened.
I knew that I desperately wanted to be used by God to give them the love and affection- the care and attention- the healing and sense of worth- that they so desperately need and deserve.... So I prayed that God would use me in any and every way that He possibly could.
And I can honestly say that on that day, I experienced His love in one of the most profound ways I ever have. I felt SUCH immense love for these children as I spent time with them.... my heart longed for the pain in each of their lives to subside.... it felt some of the pain that they experience and it hurt so much for them... it longed for them, yearned for them, LOVED them. I truly felt God's love pouring out of me onto these children.... giving me seemingly limitless love for them, wanting to hold them and give them the physical affection they so desperately need.... to hold them and care for them and make them feel important, cherished, beloved.... to make them know how heartbroken their Heavenly Father is over their pain and their loss.... how much He longs for them, loves them, cares so incredibly for them. And Oh, how I can truly say- more than ever before- that I KNOW that He does. Because I *felt* it. I felt it *from* Him. It wasn't of or from me.... the limitless love I experienced came from a deeper source, a place that I couldn't conjure up on my own.... it came from HIM. From His SPIRIT and His unending source of Love that IS *WHO HE IS*.
And I don't know what all my purpose is in writing this blog post, but I can state a few things that I know to be true.
God LOVES orphans. His heart yearns for them and absolutely grieves over their pain. He LONGS to lavish His love upon them. As He also longs to lavish His love on each one of us, His children.
And God placed US in this world to be His hands and His feet. He can't physically touch or hold orphans or the downtrodden or the rejected in society, as they need it- but WE CAN. And He ASKS us to. If we don't, who else will? If I didn't pick up those children and hug them and kiss them on Sunday, who else would have? You may hope that the answer is "well.... someone else." But no, that's not the reality. The real answer is No one. No one else would have on Sunday. And today.... most likely *no one* is showing physical affection or love to those children.
We can "leave those things" for others to do all day long.... all our lives long.... but the reality is, someone else *may not be doing them.*
I'm not trying to guilt you into doing good deeds.... but know that there are ways you can be used today to impact the world- to impact eternity- to change the life of someone who desperately needs it.... in ways that otherwise would not happen.
God IS Love. He SO incredibly, desperately loves His children. He desperately wants to *lavish* His love on His children (and yes- you and me, too). But so many of His children do not know that- and they may not ever know that- unless you show it to them.... tell them. *Especially* those who are the "least of these" in our society. Who in your life is the "least" of those around you? Who most needs some caring words, an affectionate touch, a loving sacrifice of your time and attention? A sense that they are valued and cared about? If you don't show them those things today, very likely no one will.
We can be vessels of the love of the GOD OF THE UNIVERSE. How amazing is that? It is unfathomable. Yet it is true.
"Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me." Matthew 25:40
So ask for His spirit today- to give you the love that you may not otherwise have for the "least of those" around you.... and allow yourself to be a vessel of His unending Love for them. "How much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him" Luke 11:13
*****
"How *great* is the love the Father has *lavished* on us, that we would be called children of God!" 1 John 3:1
Oh, how GREAT is His Love.
*****
[Note: it isn't that there are never any caring adults in these children's lives, but they are very few and far between.... the reality is that they are at a government-run orphanage, and the few workers are government workers who mostly just sit as guardians.]
Love comes from God. (1 John 4:7)
Let us not love with words or tongue but with *actions* and in *truth*. (1 John 3:18)
Since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. (1 John 4:11)
If we love one another, God lives in us and His love is made complete in us. (1 John 4:12)
Love is not self-seeking. (1 Cor. 13:5)
Love never fails. (1 Cor. 13:8)
Love always perseveres. (1 Cor. 13:7)
If I can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am *nothing*. (1 Cor. 13:2)
The fruit of the Spirit is *love*. (Gal. 5:22)
Do *everything* in Love. (1 Cor. 16:14)
Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind... And... Love your neighbor as yourself. *All* the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments. (Matt. 22:37-40)
How great is the love the Father has *lavished* on us! (1 John 3:1)
*****
Notice a pattern?
This weekend I spent Sunday afternoon at Kurasini orphanage, and I prayed on the long route there that God would use me as a **mighty instrument of His LOVE**. Knowing the pain, the despair, the hopelessness, the sense of aloneness..... the longing for love, affection, a sense of belonging, a sense of worthiness... the need for physical affection... that these orphans feel in their deepest places.... I prayed that God would use me in any and every way that He could to lavish His love onto them and to help in some way to heal their deep wounds. Their needs are so great. And they are SO very real. I have lately been reading more on the deep wounds and pains of orphaned children (not that some of it isn't common sense, but I have been reading more in depth on it).... and so my awareness of their needs, their pains, their longings, has just been heightened.
I knew that I desperately wanted to be used by God to give them the love and affection- the care and attention- the healing and sense of worth- that they so desperately need and deserve.... So I prayed that God would use me in any and every way that He possibly could.
And I can honestly say that on that day, I experienced His love in one of the most profound ways I ever have. I felt SUCH immense love for these children as I spent time with them.... my heart longed for the pain in each of their lives to subside.... it felt some of the pain that they experience and it hurt so much for them... it longed for them, yearned for them, LOVED them. I truly felt God's love pouring out of me onto these children.... giving me seemingly limitless love for them, wanting to hold them and give them the physical affection they so desperately need.... to hold them and care for them and make them feel important, cherished, beloved.... to make them know how heartbroken their Heavenly Father is over their pain and their loss.... how much He longs for them, loves them, cares so incredibly for them. And Oh, how I can truly say- more than ever before- that I KNOW that He does. Because I *felt* it. I felt it *from* Him. It wasn't of or from me.... the limitless love I experienced came from a deeper source, a place that I couldn't conjure up on my own.... it came from HIM. From His SPIRIT and His unending source of Love that IS *WHO HE IS*.
blowing bubbles with the kids :)
And I don't know what all my purpose is in writing this blog post, but I can state a few things that I know to be true.
God LOVES orphans. His heart yearns for them and absolutely grieves over their pain. He LONGS to lavish His love upon them. As He also longs to lavish His love on each one of us, His children.
And God placed US in this world to be His hands and His feet. He can't physically touch or hold orphans or the downtrodden or the rejected in society, as they need it- but WE CAN. And He ASKS us to. If we don't, who else will? If I didn't pick up those children and hug them and kiss them on Sunday, who else would have? You may hope that the answer is "well.... someone else." But no, that's not the reality. The real answer is No one. No one else would have on Sunday. And today.... most likely *no one* is showing physical affection or love to those children.
We can "leave those things" for others to do all day long.... all our lives long.... but the reality is, someone else *may not be doing them.*
I'm not trying to guilt you into doing good deeds.... but know that there are ways you can be used today to impact the world- to impact eternity- to change the life of someone who desperately needs it.... in ways that otherwise would not happen.
God IS Love. He SO incredibly, desperately loves His children. He desperately wants to *lavish* His love on His children (and yes- you and me, too). But so many of His children do not know that- and they may not ever know that- unless you show it to them.... tell them. *Especially* those who are the "least of these" in our society. Who in your life is the "least" of those around you? Who most needs some caring words, an affectionate touch, a loving sacrifice of your time and attention? A sense that they are valued and cared about? If you don't show them those things today, very likely no one will.
some of the precious ones at Kurasini :)
*please* pray for these little ones....
[and please do something to act on behalf of the
millions of orphans in the world]
We can be vessels of the love of the GOD OF THE UNIVERSE. How amazing is that? It is unfathomable. Yet it is true.
"Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me." Matthew 25:40
So ask for His spirit today- to give you the love that you may not otherwise have for the "least of those" around you.... and allow yourself to be a vessel of His unending Love for them. "How much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him" Luke 11:13
*****
"How *great* is the love the Father has *lavished* on us, that we would be called children of God!" 1 John 3:1
Oh, how GREAT is His Love.
*****
[Note: it isn't that there are never any caring adults in these children's lives, but they are very few and far between.... the reality is that they are at a government-run orphanage, and the few workers are government workers who mostly just sit as guardians.]
