Thank You, Father, for safe travels and for watching over us bus drivers on our trip to Columbus. There were a couple of close calls, but I believe You answered my prayers and kept harm at bay. All praise to You!

1 John 4:8-19 (<<click here to read the passage)

Regardless of where we live, north or south, or the season in which we find ourselves, we live in a cold, cold world. So much pain and suffering, so much hate and violence, so much selfishness and greed – we are all chilled to the bone. Sin does that. We, in and of ourselves, can do nothing about it. We are condemned to suffer in a meaningless existence, frozen to the core.

I know it is spring – at least where I live – but all of John’s talk of love has brought this cold to mind.

I don’t recall meeting anyone who did not enjoy a crackling fire. In a fireplace inside or a fire ring outside, there is just something about a fire that draws you in. It is inviting. It is comforting. Regardless of gender, race, or age, we like to sit and watch it do its thing, we enjoy basking in its warmth.

Love – real genuine love – does the same thing.

Lord, You are the source of all love, for You are love.

But anyone who does not love does not know God, for God is love. John 4:8

This is real love—not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins. v10

We know how much God loves us, and we have put our trust in his love.
God is love, and all who live in love live in God, and God lives in them. v16

We love each other because he loved us first. v19 NLT

Lord, I may live in a cold, cold world but the fire of Your love within me dispels the cold. Cold has no power of its own – it cannot recreate itself. In actuality cold does not exist, it is merely the absence of heat. May I radiate the heat – the love – that you have placed within me. May I be a comfort to those in need, to the lost, the hurting…and the frozen. May they be drawn to You through me. And may they welcome Your fire in themselves so the cold may be banished in their lives, as well. Amen!

(May 16th, 2017, Tues, 6:26 am)
May 31st, 2023, Wed, 7:38 pm