“For God so loved the world, that he
gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish,
but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn
the world; but that the world through him might be saved.”—John 3: 16-17 (KJV)
"Rejoice evermore. Pray without
ceasing. In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ
Jesus concerning you."--1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 (KJV)
“But let patience have her perfect work, that
ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.”-- James 1:4 (KJV)
“Blessed is the man that endureth temptation:
for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath
promised to them that love him.”-- James 1:20 (KJV)
"Rejoice evermore. Pray without ceasing. In every
thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning
you."--1 Thessalonians 5:16-18
“Behold, I give unto
you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the
enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you.”—Luke 10:19 (KJV)
"Let
all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put
away from you, with all malice: And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted,
forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you."--Ephesians
4:31-32
”The Lord thy God in the midst of thee is mighty; he
will save, he will rejoice over thee with joy; he will rest in his love, he
will joy over thee with singing.”—Zephaniah 3:17 (KJV)
“I have set the
Lord always before me: because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved.
Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoiceth: my flesh also shall rest in
hope.”-- Psalm 16:8-9 (KJV)
“Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your
mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister
grace unto the hearers.And grieve not
the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of
redemption.”—Ephesians 4:29, 30 (KJV)
“Fear thou not; for I am with thee:
be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help
thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.”-- Isaiah 41:10 (KJV)
Photo courtesy
of George Hodan and PublicDomainPictures.net
“Behold,
what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called
the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not.”
“Beloved,
now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we
know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as
he is.”
“And
every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure.”—1 John
3: 1-3 (KJV)
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Who
doesn’t feel broken in these tough times?At the very least, we wonder when toilet paper will be widely available.
At the most, we’ve lost our job, our health--or even a loved one.
And
those masks…aren’t they uncomfortable? (I have asthma and claustrophobia. I
also wear glasses. That’s three strikes against me. )
So
many aspects of life make us doubt both our current value as well as our
potential. That’s why I want to share the wise thoughts of a relative of mine,
David Schmitt.
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This
past week I watched Disney's "Prince of Egypt," probably the best
movie ever made. However, one scene in particular stood out to me; when a
giant, nomad-priest, Jethro, with forearms bigger than my head, sings a song to
comfort his future son in law, Moses. To provide some sort of backdrop, Moses
had recently escaped into the desert, and fled the comforts and privileges of
his home to become part of Jethro's nomad band.
At
this point Moses was severely doubting his worth and purpose in life, so, to
comfort him, Jethro sings him this A1 slapper. The song is called, and rightly
so, "Through Heavens Eyes". Jethro expresses to Moses via this song
that with our finite mortal vision, we cannot accurately judge our worth or
value. To do so, we must look at ourselves through heaven's eyes.
This
made me think. What do we see when we look at our lives through heaven's eyes?
To
answer this question I had to do some digging. I started with the secular
perspective of worth and value, as determined by economics. Value has 2
separate facets, 'Exchange Value' and 'Use Value'. Both denote different
things. Exchange value is arbitrated by the market. A diamond is obviously more
valuable than a water bottle according to the market. Use Value, however, is
determined by necessity. A diamond, while stranded in a hot desert, is of less
value than a water bottle.
With
these concepts in mind, we can come to better understand what is seen when
"Looking at life through heaven's eyes". We know we are of infinite
value. Being children of the Most High automatically gives us innate worth and
purpose. That is our market or exchange value. It is incalculable.
I
believe however, that it is at the intersection of these two perspectives,
understanding your "exchange value" (infinite) and realizing your
"use value" (potential), that you come to see yourself through
heavens eyes. It is with both that we truly come to understand, and come to be
the person that God sees in us. We come to quite literally see ourselves
through heavens eyes.
“Can a
woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son
of her womb? yea, they may forget, yet will I not forget thee.”—Isaiah 49:15
(KJV)
"What time I am afraid, I will
trust in thee. In God I will praise his word, in God I have put my trust; I
will not fear what flesh can do unto me.”--Psalm 56:3-4 (KJV)
Now
the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may
abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost."-- Romans 15:13 (KJV)
“Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I
am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but
shall have the light of life.”-- John 8:12 (KJV)
“Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the
morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is
the evil thereof.”—Matthew 6:34 (KJV)
God doesn’t leave projects unfinished. “But now thus
saith the Lord that created thee, O Jacob, and he that formed thee, O Israel,
Fear not: for I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy name; thou art
mine.”
“When thou passest through the waters, I will be with
thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest
through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon
thee.”
“For I am the Lord thy God, the Holy One of Israel,
thy Saviour:”—Isaiah 43: 1-3 (KJV)
"If it be so, our God whom we
serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver
us out of thine hand, O king."--Daniel 3:17 (KJV)
“Verily, verily, I say unto you, That ye shall weep
and lament, but the world shall rejoice: and ye shall be sorrowful, but your
sorrow shall be turned into joy.”-- John 16:20 (KJV)
“And we have known and believed the
love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in
God, and God in him.”--1 John 4:16 (KJV)
“There is no fear in love; but
perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is
not made perfect in love.”-- 1 John 4:18 (KJV)
“Beloved, let us love one another:
for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God. He
that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love. In this was manifested the
love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the
world, that we might live through him.”--1 John 4: 7-9 (KJV)
"Let all your
things be done with charity."--1 Corinthians 16:14 (KJV)
“…never
having to say you’re sorry.” (from Love
Story) It’s been almost five decades since the novel and movie, Love Story, exploded onto the U.S. pop-
culture scene. The tragic drama of star-crossed young lovers starring All
Macgraw and Ryan O’Neal kept us crying for decades. The beautiful theme song, “Where
do I Begin?” enchants us even today.
Truthfully,
that saying, the “meme” of those low-tech times, had some of us scratching our
heads. Could love really be that that uncomplicated? Aren’t accepting
responsibility and apologizing essential aspects of any healthy relationship?
Yes, we need to accept each other as we are, but there’s more to love than that…right?
Valentine’s
Day will arrive before we know it. That’s
a celebration of romantic love. The
next few articles will explore various aspects of this important, complicated
topic.
We have one
word for love in English. That’s not always the case with other languages.
Greek is the
original language of New Testament. It includes about seven words for love. Totescute.com
lists the four main types of this emotion:
Eros—sexual passion
Philia—deep friendship; warm and tender
platonic love
Storge—family (parent/child); friendship
Agape—(unconditional; Godlike) self-sacrificing
love for everyone
Developgoodhabits.com
lists some quotes that clarify the divine emotion. I have grouped them into
categories:
Life-giving
“Where
there is love there is life.” – Mahatma Gandhi
Active, not Passive
“Love is not only something you feel, it is
something you do.” – David Wilkerson
Focused
“The most desired gift of love is not diamonds
or roses or chocolate. It is focused attention.”– Richard Warren
Felt with the Heart
"The best
and most beautiful things in this world cannot be seen or even heard but must
be felt with the heart.”– Helen Keller
Selfless
“In
order to be happy oneself, it is necessary to make at least one other person
happy.”– Theodor Reik“
******************************
Love
is that condition in which the happiness of another person is essential to your
own.” – Robert Heinlein
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“Love
does not dominate; it cultivates.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Persistent
“The art of love is largely the art of
persistence.”– Albert Ellis
Essential to Happiness
“Love is the master key that opens the gates
of happiness.” – Oliver Wendell Holmes
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“One
word frees us of all the weight and pain of life. That word is love.” –
Sophocles
Stronger than Death
“It
is love, not reason, that is stronger than death.” – Thomas Mann
Mutually Beneficial
“This
is the miracle that happens every time to those who really love; the more they
give, the more they possess.” – Rainer Maria Rilke
Inspiring
“Love
in its essence is spiritual fire.” – Seneca
My Conclusion
Love
is meek, yet powerful. It is a resource for living right. 1 Corinthians,
chapter 13, probes deeply into the characteristics of charity/love/agape.
Please enjoy this slide show set to instrumental music by Keith Washo:
“Behold, I will do a new thing; now it shall spring forth; shall ye not know it? I will even make a way in the wilderness, and
rivers in the desert.”-- Isaiah 43:19 (KJV)
“But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of
righteousness arise with healing in his wings; and ye shall go forth, and grow
up as calves of the stall.”--Malachi 4:2 (KJV)
“Know ye not that they which run in a
race run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain. And
every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate
in all things. Now they [do it] to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible.”--
1 Corinthians 9:24-25 (KJV) (italics added)
