Theme first ¼ - True Life
Thesis: True life – a life that matters for eternity and pleases God is one which is based and rooted in truth. Jesus said he is the “Truth.” He is God’s truth to this world and all measurement of true and false are measured against Him and His teachings. If you want to live a true life instead of a deceived life you have to place you faith and trust in following Jesus.
Scripture for theme: John 14:6 (NIV): “Jesus answered, I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”
Series 1: Perceive
Scripture for series 1: Proverbs 29:18 (The Message): 18If people can’t see what God is doing, they stumble all over themselves; But when they attend to what he reveals, they are most blessed.
Definition of Perceive: To become aware or conscious of (something); come to realize or understand.
Thesis for series: For us this month of Jan. we are seeking to become more aware of Truth – actually we are seeking to become more conscious of what is truth and what is deception. This all has to do with perceiving and understanding truth. When we understand truth it’s easier to discern what is deception and therefore it’s pitfalls. When we understand truth as Jesus taught then we will not fall prey to deceptions or lies. If we cannot discern truth from deception then we live a life which is called a “Deceived Life” not a “True Life.” Our goal is to perceive and understand what is called a “True Life.”
Reality Check: The truth is some people are more deceived than they may know!
Sermon 1: Perceive Vision
Sermon 2: Perceive Faith
Sermon 3: Perceive Love
Thesis: We need to perceive what true love is and then live it out in our lives. When we do this we encounter God and please God. We also see lives transformed and changed!
Introduction:
Love was what God had me explore in my first year of being a Christian. I read the Bible over and over looking up the word love. I read Christian books on this subject any I could find. I was amazed by His love and wanted to learn all about it. So I studied it and researched it so much that my first sermon I ever preached was on love. I was mesmerized by the subject of God’s love.
Francis Chan states, “Would you say that your life is characterized by love? Love for God? Love for the people around you? Or is there something else that drives you? We’d probably all be quick to affirm that we love God and love the people around us. But how many of us could really say we are driven by love?...I suppose love would be easy if we could define it any way we’d like. But at the heart of the biblical concept of love is a God who demonstrate His love by making the supreme sacrifice: “God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners. Christ died for us” (Rom. 5:8). When you put it like that, love does seem to easy. Add to that Jesus’ statement in John 14:15: “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.” Clearly love is far more important, far less fluffy, and far more involved that we tend to think” (page 9, Living Crazy Love, Workbook).
As a Christian our lives should be characterized by love!
1. We should have been transformed by the love of God.
2. We should understand that the Creator of the Universe – the God who spoke the world into being actually loves us personally and He sacrificed for our love.
3. Perceiving this thought and believing this reality should change us forever!
4. We because of love should think differently, feel differently, live differently and be living a life filled with truth and love.
5. This amazing reality of love should cause us to love God even more.
The subject of love – wow talk about a 4 letter power pact word filled with emotion-heartache-ecstasy and misrepresentation.
LOVE – When I say that word what crosses your mind? Let me say it again LOVE! What perceptions race through your minds. What do you perceive about LOVE – what do you see in your mind when I say love.
I did a unofficial survey of our school asking the teachers to ask the students what comes to mind when you say the word LOVE!
Weddings, sweet, romantic, a kiss, kisses, kissing, heart, everything, emotion, doves, joy, caring, violets, serving, John 3:16, God, hug, some said huge?, kind, kindness, peace, like, k, family, others, unconditional, nothings some said!
God has His own definition of love – the Bible makes it clear what it looks like and how it acts.
Questions to ponder:
1. What is love?
2. How is the world’s perspective of love different than how Jesus loved?
3. Who is God calling you to love and why?
Opening Scripture Text:
1 John 4:7-21
God Is Love
7My beloved friends, let us continue to love each other since love comes from God. Everyone who loves is born of God and experiences a relationship with God.
8The person who refuses to love doesn’t know the first thing about God, because God is love—so you can’t know him if you don’t love.
9This is how God showed his love for us: God sent his only Son into the world so we might live through him.
10This 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.
11My dear, dear friends, if God loved us like this, we certainly ought to love each other.
12No one has seen God, ever. But if we love one another, God dwells deeply within us, and his love becomes complete in us—perfect love!
13This is how we know we’re living steadily and deeply in him, and he in us: He’s given us life from his life, from his very own Spirit.
14Also, we’ve seen for ourselves and continue to state openly that the Father sent his Son as Savior of the world.
15Everyone who confesses that Jesus is God’s Son participates continuously in an intimate relationship with God.
16We know it so well, we’ve embraced it heart and soul, this love that comes from God. To Love, to Be Loved God is love. When we take up permanent residence in a life of love, we live in God and God lives in us.
17This way, love has the run of the house, becomes at home and mature in us, so that we’re free of worry on Judgment Day—our standing in the world is identical with Christ’s.
18There is no room in love for fear. Well-formed love banishes fear. Since fear is crippling, a fearful life—fear of death, fear of judgment—is one not yet fully formed in love.
19We, though, are going to love—love and be loved. First we were loved, now we love. He loved us first.
20If anyone boasts, “I love God,” and goes right on hating his brother or sister, thinking nothing of it, he is a liar. If he won’t love the person he can see, how can he love the God he can’t see?
21The command we have from Christ is blunt: Loving God includes loving people. You’ve got to love both.
I. What is love?
a. Love or the subject of love brings with it a whole lot of misconceptions.
i. As we have been talking about living a true life and not a deceived life this subject is one which needs to be clearly defined because love has been misspelled and misunderstood especially in our current media era.
ii. Love needs to be defined correctly if you want to live a true life filled with God’s truth.
iii. Love needs to be compared to the author and creator of love God.
1. The Bible says – this is how you define God – God is love – he does not just practice love, give love, breathe love dispense love he is love. God is the measuring stick of love – God is the foundation of love and to be a person who truly loves means you must base love off the one who is love.
2. 1 John 4:8 tells us that ". . . God is love."
b. To discover the proper meaning of love we need to look at the writings of the apostle John. He has become known as "the apostle of love" (John 13:23) Why because he loved to highlight God and Jesus view of love in his writings. Love was one of his favorite subjects to talk about and preach about.
i. John 14:21
He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him." (NKJ)
ii. The Love of God = that we keep His Commandments (1 John 5:3) and Love = walking according to his commandments (2 John 1:6).
iii. 1 John 4:16 “God is love!”
iv. 1 John 4:20 “Don’t love others then you don’t love God!”
c. From our text above we discover the following about God’s type of love – which is true love:
i. Love comes from God and you cannot truly love without Him.
ii. Love true love causes us to experience God and cultivate and intimate relationship with Him.
iii. No Love No God – Know God Know Love!
iv. Jesus proves that God loves us.
v. God’s love touched us before we ever loved Him.
vi. His amazing love should drive us to love others.
vii. Love helps us to live in God.
viii. Love has the power to drive out fear.
ix. If we want to live a true life and not a deceived life we must live in the context of God’s love!
d. Defining the word Love from the Bible can best be summarized as: "Sacrificing for another before they ever commit to you!"
i. In the Bible it is a fact that loving God is equated with obeying His Word. The two are inseparable.
ii. In our day, most define love as some type of feeling. We "fall in love," or two people meet and it is "love at first sight." But the world's love is a selfish matter. If you are attractive to me, be nice to me, meet my needs and love me I in return will "love" you. The world's love is based on getting something from some else. The world does not give love where it does not benefit them. If you do not please me then I have no love for you.
1. For the world love must be earned by making someone else feel good.
2. Powerful emotions may accompany love, but it is the commitment of the will that holds true biblical love steadfast.
3. Emotions may change, but a commitment to love in a biblical manner endures and is the hallmark of a disciple of Christ.
4. Emotions will vary, but a commitment which has its basis in biblical love will not be affected by the whelm of emotion or of one's circumstances.
5. Our example of true love is shown in God's love for the sinner. Romans 5:8 says ". . .commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." The lost sinner living in rebellion and sin is still loved by the Lord. He loved us enough to die for us and pay our sin debt while we were sinning against Him. This shows that true biblical love is a matter of will....not of emotion. God choose to love us and His love was not based on our meriting it in any way.
e. The three meanings of love from the Greek according to Barry Newton:
i. Eros
1. Eros is probably what most people mean when they announce with a smile, "I'm in love." This type of love covers everything from queasy stomachs and warm fuzzy feelings to strong sensual passion.
2. There are a couple of very interesting characteristics about eros.
a. First, in order to exist eros is dependent upon the situation and circumstances. As long as a couple is enjoying a romantic situation, eros can thrive. But, as soon as hurtful words or actions appear, eros simply evaporates.
b. Second, eros is also held captive to each person's perception. For example, if someone perceives a particular quiet evening dinner with candles to be romantic, eros will thrive. However, passion becomes squashed for someone whenever he or she interprets the current situation to be undesirable. Eros thus grows strong and then wastes away based upon our perceptions.
c. Although eros at times might make us feel like we are on cloud nine, it can not provide a reliable basis for building a deep and meaningful relationship since it is so fickle and dependent upon perception and circumstances. Because of such things as accidents, diseases, and the fact that someone can choose to doubt or despise you regardless of your actions, it is clear that we can not determine how others will perceive us nor are we masters of our own circumstances. Although eros is exhilarating, this is not the Biblical word used for His type of true love.
ii. Philia
1. We recognize philia and its meaning from the name Philadelphia, that is, the city of brotherly love. This is the love of friendship, best friends, and the fellowship of being with those people you enjoy.
2. Although philia is wonderful, it too is not reliable since it is also held captive by the shifting sands of situation as well as by ours and other's perceptions and expectations. Unfortunately, we probably all know of a friendship which waned or was severed because of time, distance, harsh words, how someone interpreted another's actions, etc. When the New Testament commends love, philia is the not the word which is used most often instead it is Agape love.
iii. Agape
1. Unlike the previous two types of love, agape is not limited to being held hostage by its environment and someone's perception. The reason why agape can soar above these is because it is based upon the commitment of a decision. It entails the decision to proactively seek someone's well-being. Since it is not a knee jerk reaction nor just a responsive feeling to how I've been treated, agape is capable of acting in a hostile environment where there are no warm fuzzy feelings. For example, Jesus' teaching that we should agape our enemies is intended to show the boundless nature of the Christian commitment toward seeking another's well-being. Luke 6:35
2. The New Testament is full of examples and teachings illustrating the nature of agape as well as teaching designed to train the disciple's heart to be shaped by agape. A few examples illustrating the active nature of agape include:
a. Knowing that sinful man would kill His Son, but also knowing that without Jesus we were doomed, God loved (agape) us by sending his Son. John 3:16
b. Those who love (agape) Jesus will do what Jesus taught. John 14:15,23
c. If a person has material resources and the love (agape) of God within him, his heart will take care of his brother who is in need. 1 John 3:17
d. Just as Christ through love (agape) acted on behalf of the church, so too the Christian husband is to be motivated by love (agape) to act on behalf of his wife. Ephesians 5:25-29
i. If it were not enough that the proactive nature of agape has the power to rise above its environment, it can also empower passion and friendship! For example, when a spouse chooses to speak and act toward the mate with agape, this creates the loving environment in which eros and philia can thrive! Although the proactive spouse might even perceive the other spouse as being unkind or rude, additional problems can be prevented by responding out of agape while the power of agape works at nurturing the growth of the other forms of love!
e. Jesus taught his disciples that the world would know that they were His people if they would show agape toward one another. John 13:35
i. All points under D taken directly from Barry Newton, Copyright © 2002
T.S. – We have to define Love God’s way because He created and is it! The world on the other hand has taken the word love and twisted it’s true meaning but Jesus came along and demonstrated what love looks like and acts like.
II. How is the world’s perception of love different than Jesus demonstration of love?
a. John 4:1-26: Women at the well:
i. The Woman at the Well
1Jesus realized that the Pharisees were keeping count of the baptisms that he and John performed
2(although his disciples, not Jesus, did the actual baptizing). They had posted the score that Jesus was ahead, turning him and John into rivals in the eyes of the people.
3So Jesus left the Judean countryside and went back to Galilee.
4To get there, he had to pass through Samaria.
5He came into Sychar, a Samaritan village that bordered the field Jacob had given his son Joseph.
6Jacob’s well was still there. Jesus, worn out by the trip, sat down at the well. It was noon.
7A woman, a Samaritan, came to draw water. Jesus said, “Would you give me a drink of water?”
8(His disciples had gone to the village to buy food for lunch.)
9The Samaritan woman, taken aback, asked, “How come you, a Jew, are asking me, a Samaritan woman, for a drink?” (Jews in those days wouldn’t be caught dead talking to Samaritans.)
10Jesus answered, “If you knew the generosity of God and who I am, you would be asking me for a drink, and I would give you fresh, living water.”
11The woman said, “Sir, you don’t even have a bucket to draw with, and this well is deep. So how are you going to get this ‘living water’?
12Are you a better man than our ancestor Jacob, who dug this well and drank from it, he and his sons and livestock, and passed it down to us?”
13Jesus said, “Everyone who drinks this water will get thirsty again and again.
14Anyone who drinks the water I give will never thirst—not ever. The water I give will be an artesian spring within, gushing fountains of endless life.”
15The woman said, “Sir, give me this water so I won’t ever get thirsty, won’t ever have to come back to this well again!”
16He said, “Go call your husband and then come back.”
17“I have no husband,” she said. “That’s nicely put: ‘I have no husband.’
18You’ve had five husbands, and the man you’re living with now isn’t even your husband. You spoke the truth there, sure enough.”
19“Oh, so you’re a prophet!
20Well, tell me this: Our ancestors worshiped God at this mountain, but you Jews insist that Jerusalem is the only place for worship, right?”
21“Believe me, woman, the time is coming when you Samaritans will worship the Father neither here at this mountain nor there in Jerusalem.
22You worship guessing in the dark; we Jews worship in the clear light of day. God’s way of salvation is made available through the Jews.
23But the time is coming—it has, in fact, come—when what you’re called will not matter and where you go to worship will not matter. “It’s who you are and the way you live that count before God. Your worship must engage your spirit in the pursuit of truth. That’s the kind of people the Father is out looking for: those who are simply and honestly themselves before him in their worship.
24God is sheer being itself—Spirit. Those who worship him must do it out of their very being, their spirits, their true selves, in adoration.”
25The woman said, “I don’t know about that. I do know that the Messiah is coming. When he arrives, we’ll get the whole story.”
26“I am he,” said Jesus. “You don’t have to wait any longer or look any further.”
ii. Jesus reached out to a person who was an outcast to the Jewish community – this why the disciples were shocked that he was even talking to her.
1. But Jesus reached out to the downtrodden of society to show them love.
a. He did it with women, lepers, sick people handicap people and outcasts.
b. Why because this is what love naturally does.
b. John 8:1-11: Women caught in adultery:
i. To Throw the Stone
1Jesus went across to Mount Olives,
2but he was soon back in the Temple again. Swarms of people came to him. He sat down and taught them.
3The religion scholars and Pharisees led in a woman who had been caught in an act of adultery. They stood her in plain sight of everyone
4and said, “Teacher, this woman was caught red-handed in the act of adultery.
5Moses, in the Law, gives orders to stone such persons. What do you say?”
6They were trying to trap him into saying something incriminating so they could bring charges against him. Jesus bent down and wrote with his finger in the dirt.
7They kept at him, badgering him. He straightened up and said, “The sinless one among you, go first: Throw the stone.”
8Bending down again, he wrote some more in the dirt.
9Hearing that, they walked away, one after another, beginning with the oldest. The woman was left alone.
10Jesus stood up and spoke to her. “Woman, where are they? Does no one condemn you?”
11“No one, Master.” “Neither do I,” said Jesus. “Go on your way. From now on, don’t sin.” You’re Missing God in All This!
1. He showed this woman love and many think this woman was Mary Magdalene – who followed Jesus from this point forward.
2. Have your rock up on stage and hold up- Go ahead throw the first stone!
c. There is also an article from Paul S. which references Jesus teaching us how we have to show love to God and to others:
i. Much has been spoken and written about the subject of "love." The greatest statement about "love" is the "Great Commandment." Its two commands revolve around practicing "love." The Great Commandment is found in several places. Matthew 22:37-40 is one of the most complete presentations. Matt 22:37-40 Jesus said to him, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. 38 This is the first and great commandment. 39 And the second is like it: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself. 40 On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets." (NKJ) Most never even come close to understanding and keeping the "Great Commandment." This is because most tend to redefine love in terms of their own emotional ideas or even worse, the "Hollywood" portrayals of "love." As Jesus presented this "Great Commandment," He personally believed that it was the summation of all the commandments found in the Law and the Prophets.
The Lord God defines "love" succinctly in His Word. Any human understanding of "love" MUST BE FOUNDED ON God's Own definition.
1. The above from http://www.scriptureman.com/love-def.html Defining love, God’s own definition of love by Rev. Paul Schmidtbleicher
ii. Quote: Sweeting, “Love is the Greatest” page 9 “Our world is starving for love. Deep down inside every human being. God has planted a thirst for Himself that is never satisfied until we are united with Him” (Real LOVE).
iii. Quote - Sweeting – Love is the Greatest - page 122 “God’s love is not cheap or sentimental. It is priceless and incomparable. The way of love is God’s way, and His way is the only way to abundant and victorious living. It is the best way. Life apart from God’s love is failure. In fact, living without love is merely existing! The prize of love can be gained when we are willing to pay the price. It may involve heartbreak, suffering, disappointment, frustration, exhaustion, and tears. The call to love is not for the halfhearted. It is a full-time, lifelong vocation. Though it is not an easy road, it is a satisfying one. Those who embark on it would never turn back for any simple pleasures of the old turned-in way of life. It is the exciting peak that must be climbed, the zenith of all Christian experience. Love is the greatest!
1. The truth is love will not always be rewarded back by the world.
a. Share the story of the Vineyard folks who cleared away all the snow for the block in Chicago and what happened.
i. They claimed all the parking spots and the ones who cleared the son lost theirs.
T.S. – We have to express love and live love God’s way and when we do we please God and people’s lives are changed.
III. Who is God calling you to love and why?
a. Why should you reach out and love them?
i. Answer: 1 John 4:19-21: We love because he first loved us. If anyone says, “I love God,” yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen. And he has given us this command: Whoever loves God must also love his brother.
ii. A true love story:
1. Richard Nixon wrote in his book In The Arena about how right after he resigned from the Presidency and was in the hospital for surgery how he wanted to die. He was at his lowest point in life with no hope and severely depressed. Then one day a nurse came in and opened the drapes of his hospital room and told him to look outside. He saw a plane pulling a sign which read” GOD LOVES YOU, AND SO DO WE! Ruth Graham, evangelist Billy Graham’s wife had arranged for the plane to fly by the hospital. President Nixon states he experienced a turning point in his life. That expression of love gave him the courage and hope to press on and recover.
a. It makes a difference in a person’s heart and life!
iii. A true story of love:
1. A Man called Norman (Book and movie)
a. Here is what one person said about the story: This book served as a great reminder of what God wants us all to do. The author encountered a different neighbor, Norman, who was very different and, indeed, difficult to love. But he loved him anyway. Actively. Mike Adkins did it right. And he made Norman's life better, and his own. And the world is a better place because of their relationship and because their story has been shared…I think the story is best taken as a challenge. It is a challenge to all of us to look differently than we are tempted to look at the folks that we encounter every day. Are there people around you who you don't understand? Are there people around you who, frankly, you don't like? Are there people around you who you avoid? Well, guess what . . . all of those people are God's very own children. Would you treat the only begotten Son of God the way that you're treating these children of that same God?
b. We need to reach out to others because it’s the power of love which changes the hearts of people. Listen to the power of love from the following authors:
i. M. Scott Peck states: I cannot be any more specific about the methodology of Love than to quote these words of an old priest who spent many years in the battle: “There are dozens of ways to deal with evil and several ways to conquer it. All of them are facets of the truth that the only ultimate way to conquer evil is to let it be smothered within a willing, living human being. When it is absorbed there like blood in a sponge or a spear into one’s heart, it loses its power and goes no further.” The healing of evil-scientifically or otherwise-can be accomplished only by the love of individuals. A willing sacrifice is required...I do not know how this occurs. But I know that it does...Whenever this happens there is a slight shift in the balance of power in the world.(Yancey, 204).
ii. Yancey adds “The cross redefines God as One who was willing to relinquish power for the sake of love. Jesus became, in Dorothy Solle’s phrase, ‘God‘s unilateral disarmament.” Power, no matter how well-intentioned, tends to cause suffering. Love, being vulnerable, absorbs it. In a point of convergence on a hill called Calvary, God renounced the one for the sake of the other” (205).
iii. Buechner states, “ Of all powers, love is the most powerful and the most powerless. It is the most powerful because it alone can conquer that final and most impregnable stronghold which is the human heart. It is the most powerless because it can do nothing except by consent”( God’s Treasury of Virtues, 53)
iv. Maxwell adds “The length and breadth of our influence on others are directly related to the depth of our concern for them. When it comes to helping people grow and feel good about themselves, there is no substitute for love. Vince Lombardi, the legendary coach of the Green Bay Packers, understood the power of love to bring out people’s best and make an impact on their lives. He said, “There are a lot of coaches with good ball clubs who know the fundamentals and have plenty of discipline but still don’t win the game. Then you come to the third ingredient: If you’re going to play together as a team, you’ve got to care for one another. You’ve got to love each other. Each player has to be thinking the next guy.’”(41).
v. Meskey states, “ Why love? Because it is the most unexpected act in this sinful world, for which Satan has no counterfeit. In a self-seeking, greedy world, where each person is his own god, where ‘charity begins at home’- and generally stays there- an unselfish act of pure love is the strike of a match in the looming darkness. It’s so different and so welcome that all who see it take notice. Although an act of love can be as quiet as a whisper-even anonymous-the act itself screams of God. This is God’s loudspeaker of truth to the world, and we are to display it visibly wherever we go. ‘Let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth’ (I John 3:18).If a young woman entering an abortion clinic expects condemnation and you give her love...if a gay-rights activist tries to provoke you to anger And you respond in love...if an unbelieving relative attempts to destroy you, and instead of retaliation, you cry out in love, what will they see? They will see Jesus. He always matched His words with His actions. The world is all too familiar with, expects, and sometimes even prefers the hateful response. It never expects love “(34)
Conclusion:
Here are some ideas on how to reach out to your neighbors in love:
The following ideas from Thrivingfamily.com:
Jean and I want our boys, Trent and Troy, to grasp the importance of reaching out to our neighbors. Jean made homemade pumpkin bread; Trent, Troy and I volunteered to deliver it, even though it was 10 below zero outside! The bread was a big hit, and Trent and Troy learned that it's worth going out in the cold to do a good deed.
—Jim Daly, president of Focus on the Family
My family and I befriended a single mom and her daughter. The husband was stationed overseas, leaving the mom at home to care for their teenage daughter, who was in a wheelchair. We noticed how the girl would spend the afternoons sitting on their porch. My wife would take our children to visit with the girl. We soon had a sweet friendship with the mom and daughter that resulted in many dinners and long conversations.
—Max Lucado, author of the newly released
children's book Tallest of the Smalls
When we moved into our neighborhood six years ago, friendly neighbors greeted us with a basket of cookies. The experience made us feel welcome. We decided to pass our neighbors' kindness on, so we delivered a basket of VeggieTales DVDs to new neighbors with a young child, and we delivered a coffee-themed basket to another new family. The spirit of neighborliness was infectious and helped not only shape our neighborhood, but also helped teach our kids what it means to "love your neighbor."
—Mike Nawrocki, a vice president at Big Idea Entertainment
and the voice of Larry the Cucumber in the upcoming
VeggieTales: Sweetpea Beauty
Our neighbor Mrs. Lucretia made an effort to meet my wife, Melanie, and I when we moved into the neighborhood. Later when her mother-in-law fell and needed an ambulance, our son John Michael promised Mrs. Lucretia that we would pray for them. Melanie sent our neighbor flowers and told her that she admired her willingness to selflessly care for her mother-in-law. We try to visit her more now because she doesn't get out much, and the kids like to give her things when they visit.
—Mark Hall, lead singer of Casting Crowns,
who recently released the album Until the Whole World Hears
My neighbor had diabetes and went to the hospital. During that time, my family and I took his son, who was my friend, to dinner and to visit his dad in the hospital. When his dad died, we invited my friend and his mom to join us for dinner several nights a week. Now, a year later, we like to join them for "family" events. I enjoy sharing memories of his father with him, especially on his dad's birthday and the anniversary of his dad's death.
—Caroline Williams from CCM group pureNRG
Our next-door neighbor asked, "Who's bringing in our trash can?"
Her husband, Frank, smiled at my daughter. "You've been doing it, haven't you?"
Katelyn nodded sheepishly.
Later, I said, "That's sweet of you to bring the Jeldys' can from the curb."
"I remembered you doing it for that single mom when you were walking the dog," she said. "Plus, I've heard you tell about all the things you secretly did for others when you were in college."
—Cyndi Lamb Curry, author of
Keeping Your Kids Afloat When It Feels Like You're Sinking
“Perceive Love!” WHY? So you can believe in love and receive His Love!
