God is Love

It hits you like a thief in the night sometimes, doesn't it? You could be walking down the street or playing video games with your friends. The situation doesn't matter, the people you are with seem irrelevant. Who you are, what you are doing, it all suddenly melts away and you get hit with a realization: you are loved. Whatever has provoked this thought far less important than what the message actually is. Some people refer to it as lighting a fire for God, others say that you've just become a little closer to him. I say enjoy the moment and cling to it for all its worth. Our relationships with God encounter both their up and down moments and sometimes the down ones are draining. But we are then rewarded with this amazing sense of belonging, of faith, of truth, of wonder. It's an amazing gift that makes me feel better about the hard times. If we didn't have them, the good times wouldn't feel so good!

At a time when God is pulling away from me so that I can grow in my faith and learn what it means for me to be a Christian now, I draw from tons of things he has given me for strength. For some it can be the bible, others their friends, family, inspirational reading, or music. Today, my blessing came in the form of 1 John 4:7-21. This combined with "Everyday People" jamming out in my CD Player really helped comfort me. I'll share 'em with y'all then put a few comments on the end.

"Everyday People"

Sometimes I'm right then I can be wrong
My own beliefs are in my songs
A butcher, a banker, a drummer and then
Makes no difference what group I'm in

I am everyday people

Then it's the blue ones who can't accept
The green ones for living with
The black ones tryin' to be a skinny one

Different strokes for different folks
And so on and so on and scooby dooby dooby
Ooh sha sha
We gotta live together

I am no better and neither are you
We're all the same whatever we do
You love me you hate me
You know me and then
Still can't figure out the scene I'm in

I am everyday people

Then it's the new man
That doesn't like the short man
For being such a rich one
That will not help the poor one

Different strokes for different folks
And so on and so on scooby dooby dooby
Ooh sha sha
We got to live together

There is a yellow one that won't
Accept the black one
That won't accept the red one
That won't accept the white one

Different strokes for different folks
And so on and so on and
Scooby dooby dooby
Ooh sha sha
I am everyday people

Now... off with you and read 1 John 4:7-21! Highlights:

"God is love, and those who abide in love abide in God, and God abides in them." -- 4:17

"Those who say, "I love God," and hate their brothers or sisters, are liars; for those who do not love a brother or sister whom they have seen, cannot love God whom they have not seen. The commandment we have from him is this: those who love God must love their brothers and sisters also." -- 4:20-21

I encourage you to draw whatever you need from either the song or the passage above. For me, it meant looking critically at my relationships and analyzing what it means for me to be called to love. It's hard for us to pull ourselves away from the world long enough to let God do his work, but it's an endeavor worth striving for all the way. I thank God for the challenges he has given me in regard to loving my parents no matter what they may do or anyone else he puts in my life. If I were to die tomorrow, I'd want to be remembered here as someone who loved and loved with all of her heart. Someone who didn't distinguish between people, but loved them regardless of anything that tied them to this world. Because in the end, we're all God's children.