Category: love

I heard eight-year-old John talking in the back seat of the car last week on the way home from school. Looking in the rear view mirror,  I saw him pretending to talk on a cell phone and his side of the conversation went like this: “Hey Sanna. How have you been doing? We are doing fine here. I sure hope things are going well in Sweden. Take care! Bye.”

I laughed to myself and marveled at the meaning of this imaginary phone call. John went with us to Sweden this past summer. It was his first time on an airplane and he was quick to strike up a conversation with any stranger he happened to meet. On one leg of the journey he sat next to a business man from South Korea who spoke little English. But the language barrier does not deter a child. Soon John and his new friend were playing a card game and having a great time… at least John was :).

Of all the people we met at the Youth With A Mission base in Sweden, Sanna became John’s best friend. Sanna lives in a nearby village and has to ride a bus a couple of hours to reach the base. She is probably in her thirties and has experienced some difficult trials in her life. She volunteers with YWAM, and the missionaries pour out God’s love on her. She in turn poured out God’s love on John. She treated him as an honored guest and played with him with great energy. I could tell when we departed that the adult and the child would truly miss each other. But I guess I didn’t know that ‘conversations’ would still be taking place almost three months later.

Our team got to help the missionaries with some practical things. We accomplished several work projects and each person, including John, pitched in and did his or her share. Often God allows relationships to be the highlight of mission trips. God loves to build relationships! His first priority is to develop a deep relationship with each of his children. He treasures this far above any knowledge or skills we may possess. He knows each of us intimately and He wants us to know him in like manner. “Come spend time with me. Sit at my feet and learn of me and you will see I am gentle and humble in spirit. Don’t just know me as a distant God who has all power and wisdom; know me as Father God who created you and who cares for you with unfathomable love.”

God’s second priority is that we develop deep relationships with one another. “Do you really know your brother? Do you really love your sister? Do you really care for your neighbor? Suppose a person wants to honor me by giving a generous offering; I want that person to lay the gift aside until any conflict is resolved with a brother or sister. I want my children to love one another. Strong relationships please me far more than you can imagine.”

When Paul wrote letters to the early Christians, he often called individuals by name whom he had come to love in the course of his journey. “Greet Philogus and Julia, Nereus and his sister, and Olympas, and all the saints who are with them.” (Romans 16:15) We often skip over such parts of the Bible, but God might want us to know that such communication is dear to his heart.

Jesus said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your , with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.” (Matthew 22:37-40)

“You show that you are a letter from Christ, the result of our ministry, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts.” II Corinthians 3:3

What if we lived daily remembering that we are letters from Christ? As Jesus is the Logos, the Word of God who lived on earth and showed what the Father is really like, so we are letters reflecting the One who has saved us. And the Author of the letter is none other than the ‘Spirit of the living God.’

What an incredible strategy God has chosen! But I must ask myself: What do people read in me? Do I deny self and give the Holy Spirit complete access to my heart and full liberty to write as He chooses? Having experienced God’s love and forgiveness, will I let the chief messages of my life be mercy, grace, and love?

Richard and Sabina Wurmbrand were born in Romania in the early 1900’s. Both were raised in Orthodox Jewish homes, but after marrying and moving to Budapest, the couple became consumed with the pleasures of the world. But Jesus found Richard and Sabina and revealed Himself as the Messiah and the true meaning of life. The Wurmbrands became ‘letters from Christ’ to all they met. In the 1940’s, Sabina’s family was captured in their small village and taken to a concentration camp where they died under Hitler’s terror. After World War II, a million Russian soldiers entered Romania as Communism invaded Europe. Richard spoke nine languages and tried to share Christ with Russians, Germans, fellow Romanians, and Jews and Gentiles from every nation. The Wurmbrand home became a place of refuge for orphans and brokenhearted people from many backgrounds. Even though friends warned them of the dangers of loving all people, Richard and Sabina knew the will of God. Both husband and wife spent years in jail as a result of being Christians, but even in prison, people came to know Christ through his servants.

Late one night, Richard met a German soldier who confessed his role in the murder of many Jews. In fact, he had worked in the very concentration camp where Sabina’s family was murdered. The rugged man would not accept Richard’s message of a Savior who died so that even Nazi atrocities could be forgiven. “OK, here will be my proof that what I tell you is true. Come to my home at this late hour and I will wake my wife and introduce you as one who had a role in the death of her family. She will welcome you to our home and say you are forgiven. She will then set food on our table and treat you as an honored guest. You will see for yourself the amazing love of God.” The man took Richard up on his offer and when Sabina did just as her husband predicted, the man’s heart melted and he came to know Christ.

Of course not every person the Wurmbrands met accepted God, but the ‘letter’ does not control the reader. Some may not understand, some will ignore or reject the message, and others will adamantly oppose the gospel. We are not to judge or be angry, but rather continue to love and ask the Holy Spirit to mold us into the image of the Son.

“Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his likeness with everlasting glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.” II Corinthians 3:17-18

Recommended reading: The Pastor’s Wife by Sabina Wurmbrand, ©1970 The Voice of the Martyrs, Inc.

Child of God: In this season in which we celebrate the Gift you gave us, we have decided we want to give you a present. So, what do you want for Christmas?

Father God: How kind of you. Do you think there is something I need?

Child: Well… I guess not. You have everything and all power is yours. We admit that all we have is from you, but surely there is something that would make your heart glad… glad like a child on Christmas morning.

Father: Hmmm… It is true that everything good comes from above… so what would I like to receive back from my children? Is this what you’re asking?

Child: Yes, Lord. What can we give you for Christmas?

Father: OK. Here’s my answer: ‘Love.’

Child: Love? We love you, Lord. We worship you, Lord. We praise you for saving us and for giving your Son to die for us. We know that you first loved us, so ‘yes, we will love you… with all of our heart and soul and mind and strength!’ But how can this be more than us simply telling you? We want to give you a gift that makes you smile.

Father: I always smile when I see my children pass my love to others. ‘Look how my children love one another’… this makes me smile. ‘Look how that husband loves his wife; look how that wife loves her husband; look how those parents love their children; look how those children love their parents’… these are the things that make me smile.

Child: Well, we surely can do that. I admit though, I sometimes have a hard time loving.

Father: Get rid of self, my child, and let me fill your heart. You, my children, are the ones I’m trusting to show who I am. And you know that ‘I am love.’ What can you do for the orphan and the widow? How do you love the homeless and the poor? How do you help the lost soul struggling with addiction and shame? How do you love your brothers and sisters facing persecution in other lands? When my children kneel down to lift up one whom I created in my image, I rejoice. This is the gift that keeps on giving. And when you pass my love to others, they will share it too.

Child: I don’t think we’ll be able to do this without your help. You’re talking about the way we live.

Father: You’re right! Christ in you… your hope of glory… and your secret for loving.

“May the Lord make your love increase and overflow for each other and for everyone else…” I Thess 3:11

“Now about brotherly love we do not need to write to you, for you yourselves have been taught by God to love each other. And, in fact, you do love all the brothers throughout Macedonia. Yet we urge you, brothers, to do so more and more.” I Thess 4:9-10

Merry Christmas!

So what’s your motivation for following Jesus? Is it for the blessings you will receive? Jesus once said, “I tell you the truth, no one who has left home or wife or brothers or parents or children for the sake of the kingdom of God will fail to receive many times as much in this age and, in the age to come, eternal life.” (Lk 18:29-30)

But this was stated after the disciples left everything, not before. Why did they leave their fishing nets, jobs, and families to follow a Rabbi from Nazareth? They followed because they believed He is the Anointed One, the Christ, the Messiah, the promised Son of David who has authority to command. The disadvantage of living in a democracy with a “we the people” mentality is that we’re not used to being told what to do. Yet when we pray, “Your Kingdom come, your will be done on earth (and in us) as it is in Heaven” we are really asking a King to have his way.

The rich young ruler was a moral man, a law-abiding citizen who had obeyed the law of Moses since he was a boy (see Lk 18:1-25). But he could not be a disciple until he followed the instruction of the Christ. If he had sold his possessions, given the money to the poor, and followed the Master, it would have all been worth it, but he could not give up his stuff. God’s main goal is not that we be healthy, wealthy, and wise by human standards, but that we know him… which equates with eternal life. “Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.” (Jn 17:3)

Look what the King did for us: Motivated by love, Jesus died for all the world and now He calls his followers ‘friends.’ Should He not be all the motivation we need? When the Lord says, “Follow me,” He is telling us to love others the way He loves us. May we say ‘yes.’

“As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you. Now remain in my love. If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father’s commands and remain in his love. I have told you this so my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. My command is this: Love each other the way I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command. I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything I learned from my Father I have made known to you.” John 15:9-15

Susan and I had a beautiful summer! Taylor and Emma were married on May 28 and Kinsey and Jordan were married on July 3! Our family is expanding!!

Shortly after his wedding Taylor said, “Dad, you know how God says he makes husband and wife one? I’m not sure I totally understand it, but I think He does the same thing for us in relationship to Jesus. I was driving home the other day and God showed me this and it was kind of overwhelming.”

Paul reveals this truth after he quotes Genesis in his letter to the Ephesians: “‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.’ This is a profound mystery — but I am talking about Christ and the church.” (Ephesians 5:31-32)

“I and the Father are one.” This was the secret of Jesus’ life on earth. “The Father is greater than I and I do exactly what He says. It is the Father living in me who is doing his work. Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me.” (read John 14) Being ‘one with God’ was the blessing Jesus treasured above all things. What man thought did not matter; traditions of religion carried no weight; personal glory was not the goal. “I love my Father and He loves me. I trust him completely and do everything He tells me to do.”

Can you and I live this way? Only if we humble ourselves and depend on the Holy Spirit to lead us. As Jesus had fellowship with his Father in Heaven so we are to have fellowship with the Savior of the world. I can’t tell my son everything it means to be one with his new bride, but I can share a little advice: “Love her, Taylor… and not just with words. Resist the ‘busy-ness’ of this world and spend time with Emma. Give up self for the one you married.”

And the Father says, “Love Jesus, Dana… and not just with words. Resist the ‘busy-ness’ of this world and spend time with my Son. Give up self for the One who saved you.”

“Jesus replied, ‘If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. He who does not love me will not obey my teaching. These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me. All this I have spoken while still with you. But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.” John 14:23-27

“I pray also for those who believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one: I in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.” John 17:20-23