Understanding Love

As a boy, Ming found his father harsh and distant. Even when Ming was ill and had to see the pediatrician, his father grumbled that it was troublesome. Once, he overheard a quarrel and learned his father had wanted him aborted. The feeling of being an unwanted child followed him into his adult years. When Ming became a believer in Jesus, he found it difficult to relate to God as Father, even though he knew Him as Lord of his life. If, like Ming, we haven’t felt loved…

The story that is the Sacred Romance begins not with God alone, the Author at his desk, but God in relationship, intimacy beyond our wildest imagination, heroic intimacy. The Trinity is at the center of the universe; perfect relationship is the heart of all reality. Think of your best moments of love or friendship or creative partnership, the best times with family or friends around the dinner table, your richest conversations, the acts of simple kindness that sometimes…

A mail carrier became concerned after seeing one of her customers’ mail pile up. The postal worker knew the elderly woman lived alone and usually picked up her mail every day. Making a wise choice, the worker mentioned her concern to one of the woman’s neighbors. This neighbor alerted yet another neighbor, who had a spare key to the woman’s home. Together they entered their friend’s home and found her lying on the floor. She had fallen four days…

The best thing you can do at this point is simply begin to love Jesus. Just love him. It will open up your heart and soul to experiencing him, and to receiving his life. Just begin to make a practice of loving Jesus. As I’m driving in my car, I will simply tell him, “I love you.” Not once, like a sneeze, but over and over again: “I love, I love you, I love you.” It turns my whole being toward him in love. When I wake up and the sunshine is…

We all felt the pain of the moment when it was reported that Michele, a 61-year-old women, had died tragically when a propane tank exploded in the office at a small local motel in our community. She was a night auditor there and had worked for the family-owned business for 34 years. Our hearts are hurting, even though we may not have known her personally. The headlines in today’s newspaper read: “The Most Loving” – Hundreds gather to honor woman who…

Several of the gospels mention children coming to Jesus (Matthew 19:13-14; Luke 18:15-17; Mark 10:13-16). Some of them probably climbed onto His lap, while others perhaps sat at His feet. We might picture them asking Him lots of questions, begging to hear more parables, and whispering secrets in His ear. It isn’t surprising that they would gather around Jesus, who loves us perfectly. Contrast this snapshot of Jesus’ warm nature with the picture some Christians…

They will call him Immanuel, which means “God is with us.” (Matthew 1:23 NLT) I was listening to a few refrains from “O Holy Night”: “A thrill of hope, the weary world rejoices” and something deep in my spirit said, O yes, dear Jesus, we need hope. Come for this weary world. Actually, this world is more than weary, it’s coming apart at the seams. Something deep is unraveling. I wonder if you’ve felt it too. The barrenness of,…

Scientists now believe that the Earth may have had all the elements needed for life within it all along, contrary to prior theories that these elements came from meteorites. For many years, scientists have predicted that many of the elements that are crucial ingredients for life, like sulfur and nitrogen, first came to Earth when asteroid-type objects carrying them crashed into our planet’s surface. I have a different theory. God created the heavens and the earth with…

The person we know as Saint Nicholas (Saint Nick) was born around ad 270 to a wealthy Grecian family. Tragically, his parents died when he was a boy, and he lived with his uncle who loved him and taught him to follow God. When Nicholas was a young man, legend says that he heard of three sisters who didn’t have a dowry for marriage and would soon be destitute. Wanting to follow Jesus’ teaching about giving to those in need, he took his inheritance and gave each…