Showing posts with label love. Show all posts
Showing posts with label love. Show all posts

Monday

The 5 Best Quotes on Love + Free Printable - Coffee & Conversation








I am not a fan of QUOTES

In fact sometimes I get very annoyed at how people almost treat a quote
 as more important than the Word of God

I actually wrote a blog post about Do We Really Need This Quote?








I'm taking a theme of Love this month which is no surprise because it is February but I not looking at Love because of Valentine's Day but centred around God's Love.

I have seen soppy love quotes, and funny love quotes but I'm looking at serious love quotes from people I would respect.

So in the list below I will quote


Not  Lysa Terkeurst   but   Corrie Ten boom

Not  Brennan Manning   but   Jerry Bridges   

Not  Rick Warren   but   C.S. Lewis





1.  St. Augustine
          "God loves each of us as if there were only one of us."








2.  Corrie Ten Boom
"There is no pit so deep, that God's Love is not deeper still."








3.  Jerry Bridges
"God's unfailing love for us is an objective fact affirmed over and over in the Scriptures. It is true whether we believe it or not. Our doubts do not destroy God's love, nor does our faith create it. It originates in the very nature of God, who is love, and it flows to us through our union with His beloved Son."






4.  Charles Spurgeon
"When the time comes for you to die, you need not be afraid, because death cannot separate you from God's love."



 

 



The visual below is available as a  Love Quotes Free Printable







5.  C.S. Lewis


I could not decide between these two quotes so I've included them both
(I had the same problem in The 5 Best Quotes on Forgiveness too)


"You cannot love a fellow creature fully till you love God."

 




"To ask that God's love should be content with us as we are is to ask that God should cease to be God."















and I know that C.S. Lewis is definitely reassuring us all when he also said

"Though our feelings come and go,

God's love for us does not."


 


A personal Question of my own about Love is










Don't forget to download your Love Quotes Free Printable










 

 

Wednesday

Thankfulness & Happiness go Hand in Hand - A Dose of Encouragement








When you think of Thankfulness what comes to your mind?



When you think of Happiness what comes to your mind?








When my husband and I think of thankfulness we often talk of God's protection over the years.         

       One winter Sunday evening we were driving home on the same road on which we then travelled twice every Sunday to go from our home in Banbridge to the church we attended in Lurgan. The drive takes 20/25 mins depending on traffic but on Sunday evenings there is normally very little traffic on that road.


        A certain section of the road has a few quite significant dips so that as you drive up towards one of these you have no real view ahead and the road is clearly signed to tell drivers about this in advance. So as we drove along in the dark around 8.30pm and came to the slight brow of a hill before one of these dips we suddenly saw several lights of cars coming towards us but as well as this we saw a set of lights coming towards us on our side of the road. 


       This is a country road with a very narrow footpath and hedges or walls etc. so usually no room to manoeuvre. A large lorry (truck for my American friends) was trying to overtake 3 or 4 cars and was still on the wrong side of the road; he had obviously ignored the signs about the dips in the road and also the road markings which clearly showed that no overtaking was allowed on that stretch of road.


        The only thing my husband Fred could do was to swerve in to the side of the road as the lorry tried to cut back into his proper side in front of the lead car. Up until then there had been no break in the narrow footpath but at the exact place that we had to cut in there was a gap in the footpath and in the hedge because there was an entrance to something there. 

Just enough room for our car to get in out of the way as the lorry skimmed past us.


Obviously God had brought us to the right spot at the right time

 and saved our lives.



There are big things in our lives that can cause us to be thankful & happy like this time 
and the other times He has protected us in the car. 

 You can read about these occasions at:
4 Accidents and a ????  (pt1)
4 Accidents and a ????  (pt2)
4 Accidents and a ????  (pt3)
4 Accidents and a ????  (pt4)
4 Accidents and a ????  (pt5)



But there are also the other smaller things everyday that we sometimes forget to be happy about. 

We have had several times when we have been thankful to God because of his hand of protection but so many other times we forget to be thankful for the things that make us happy.  Most of us will have something each day which makes us happy but often we forget to thank God for that (however small) thing He has provided in our life.




Then also we often forget to thank others who in some big or small way help us out.

One example is the time I was happy to have been able to help someone I only knew online, with somethings that I used to have to ask others to help me with.






Isn't that nice that Caroline acknowledged the help I had given her, she didn't need to do that, but thankyous are always appreciated.


Then there are the friends that you make that no matter what happens throughout the years you know they will always be your friends.  The ones who know you for who you really are.  Such a gift to be thankful for.








Who or what are you thankful for & happy about today?


So many times we are drawn to think on the more unpleasant things in life which lead to unhappiness and they can keep us from being thankful for anything when we are in that frame of mind.  






What can we do to keep the right frame of mind and not get into that attitude that can get worse and worse as we dwell on the hurts and unpleasantness caused by others?





 

We can remember that God has not promised us that everything will always be perfect for us, that every day will not be full of happy events, that many days will bring upon us the more unpleasant things in this imperfect world.

 

One of the saddest times in my life was when I miscarried my first pregnancy.

All those years ago most people did not know what to say or how to comfort someone but God sent me someone – not a particularly close friend, not someone who had gone through a similar experience, not someone who was even married.

He sent me someone who simply said they were sorry about what had happened and were praying for me and then they gave me a card with a little poem.  Somehow that card got lost – I just don’t know how or when but then one day I saw the same poem

 




I bought this box and it sits in my study now (empty) but it reminds me to be thankful and happy that God will care for me through the worst of times.


Memories of times when we proved God's comfort and love are GOOD! 




God’s word also reminds us that: 
  • God’s love to us never ends.
  • God’s mercy to us never ends.
  • God’s faithfulness to us never ends.







So let's not forget that:
  • God has promised to be with us at all times, the best and the worst.
  • God has given us His Holy Spirit to guide us in all our days.
  • God is still with us even when we don’t feel we are close to Him.
  • God is still demonstrating His love even if we are not looking for it.









Sunday

10 Bible Verses of Encouragement in times of Fear



We all need encouragement and the best place to go is to the Bible.

In this blog Post I have tried to gather some Bible passages or Bible verses which will encourage us all in times of fear.







I do believe that we should not just grab a verse and read it on its own but we should always lift our bibles and read a passage of scripture to make sure that we know the real meaning and context of each of the verses we are putting our trust in. 

I pray that you will do the same and only use this list to guide you as to where you may find help.



So here are 10 Bible verses or short passages for us to turn to in times when we are afraid





1.   Isaiah 41 v 10 & 13     

God truly is the one who wants to encourage us in times when we are afraid or when a fear (just or unjust) comes upon us or in those times when we do not even really know what we fear.

God always knew that we would need reassurance against fears and He prepares us and is ready to help us through the fear.

God also knew that this fear we would face would be very real to us but He also knew that His presence was the answer to our fear and He wants us to know that as we rest in His presence we do not need to fear anything.

We find this in Isaiah 41 v 10



Here His instruction is not to Fear,  
  • Why - because He is with us.
  • Why - because He is our God.
  • Why - because He will strengthen us.
  • Why - because He will Help us.
  • Why - because He will hold us in His Hand.


Then a few verses later He repeats Himself


We find this in Isaiah 41 v 13



Here His instruction again is not to Fear,  
  • Why - because He is our God.
  • Why - because He will hold our right Hand.
  • Why - because He will Help us.

When God says something we need to listen and take heed to His Words but when He repeats something it makes it all the more important.






2.   Joshua 1 v 9
    
God is gracious to us and knows that we forget what He has told us or lapse in our faith so we need to be reminded of what He has said He will do as this verse states








Not only is God with us now so we should not fear but He is going to always be with us wherever that may be so should never need to fear.




3.   Matthew 10 v 28 


Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul
Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell.


Here we have two kinds of fear


Fear of Man and the influence of evil

Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul


Fear of God who is Good

Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell.


Fear of God
 is awe of God,
 respect of God,
 admiration of God
 and
 believing that He is in control of everything



The Fear of God is the right type of fear because it leads us to God.

I previously wrote a Dose of Encouragement about the Right Type of Fear it's called  A Good Kind of Fear




4.   Psalm 23 v 4 

This psalm is a Psalm of great comfort to us because if we read it carefully and thoughtfully we will see that the Psalmist is acknowledging how God is with us in everything.

No matter what situation we are in we need not be afraid.



Even when we feel we may be near death:

 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil;
For You are with me;
Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.


He will be with us and we will not need to fear any evil.


You may want to look further into Psalm 23




5.   Psalm 34 v 4    


Oh how good it is to know that God knows all our fears, listens to us and hears us when we are afraid and on top of that is loving towards us in His attitude to us in our fear because He cares enough to bring us through whatever the situation is.






God asks one thing of us when we are afraid - seek Him.

God does two things for us when we are afraid & seek Him - He hears us & He delivers us




6.   Psalm 27 v 1


In this verse God is 3 things to the Psalmist and because of these 3 things the Psalmist has the confidence that he need not be afraid of anyone.




The Lord is his Light

The Lord is his Salvation

The Lord is the Stronghold of his life

Think carefully and consider do we believe like the Psalmist that the Lord is these things to us?

If we do then just like the Psalmist we can say

"Who can we possibly fear?"





7.   Psalm 56 v 3


We are only human and no matter what happens we will act and think in human ways.

So because of this we will often fear when a situation comes upon us but the important thing is not to stay engulfed in that fear but to remember that in that situation we can trust in God and then to act on that knowledge.










8.   1 John 4 v 18



Love is the opposite of fear.

Love is stronger than fear.

Hence where there is Love there can be no fear and God is Love and His Love is the perfect love that cannot be marred by anything even fear





God has love in store for us in which fear can have no stronghold nor cause us any harm.






9.   Deuteronomy 31 v 8





Not only will God not leave us alone when we are afraid but He also will never forsake us.

We are the ones who run away from God yet He is always there going in front of us and walking beside us.  He is prepared for what is going to happen because He knows everything.













10.   2 Timothy 1:7




Where does our feelings of fear come from?

They certainly do not come from God because His Word is clear to tell us this.

Not only is God not the author of fear He is instead the one who cares so much that He wants to give us His Spirit which is the Spirit of Power and the Spirit of Love and the Spirit of a sound mind.

God never adds to our Fear - He adds better qualities to our life.



God gives us the opposite of fear.

When we keep close to Him and trust in Him we will look at things in the right way and witness His Power and His Love and His right thought for us.












Sunday Scripture - Ephesians 4 v 2


Sunday Scripture is just simply a thought or two on a Bible verse that may have struck me afresh or maybe for the first time or has always been special to me.


Today I am looking at Ephesians 4 v 2







 Today's verse talks about

        lowliness,

                  meekness,

                            longsuffering,

                                       forbearance

                                                   and love.


Such a lot of virtues to think on and try to put into action.


Can we do this by ourselves?

I don't think so.


I believe we need God's help to provide the lowliness, meekness, longsuffering, and love in our lives because they are not part of our human nature.


With His help we will be able to love others more like He loves them.

With His help we will come to the point where we will be able to


forbear one another in love


because that means to be patient with one another, have self-control in situations with each other, show restraint and tolerance in words and actions which is only possible through truly loving someone.


As always I like to make sure we are taking this verse in context so let's read the first 6 verses of this chapter

I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called,
With all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love;
Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling;
One Lord, one faith, one baptism,
One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.

From this we can see that the theme here is unity, there should be no strife, no aggression, no impatience, etc. as we walk in the Spirit together and it is all because of love, the love that we all have received and the love which we are called to show to others - His love flowing through us.



It's Holiday time

          and the gardens are blooming

                    so I chose a flower to focus on

                                 when I was making a graphic for today's verse






Have you ever decided to ask God to help you grow these virtues in your life by the work of 
the Holy Spirit?


Have you ever decided to ask God to help you love others as He loves them?


This is an action on our part that God has told us we must do


but


we really need God's help because we cannot love others without it,



and we certainly cannot stand by them through everything without it.


Let's think on this as we go through this week.