Song in the Heart…Part II…

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There is a tribe in East Africa where the birth of a child is marked not on the day of the physical birth, but the first time the child is a thought in the mother’s mind.

Aware of her intention to conceive a child with a particular father, the mother goes off alone and sits under a tree.

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There under the tree she sits and listens until she can hear the song of the child she hopes to conceive.

Once she has heard it…

She goes back to her village and teaches it to the father so they can sing it together as they make love, inviting the child to join them.

The mother sings this song to the baby in her womb. She teaches it to the old women and midwives of the village so that at the miracle of birth the child is greeted with this song.

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This song is taught to all the villagers so when the child falls or hurts himself they sing this song to comfort.

This song becomes part of the marriage ceremony and at the end of life, loved ones gather around the deathbed and sing this song for the last time.

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If all creation sings God’s praise, then we too sing praise from the depths of who we are. We do have a song in our hearts….we came into this world in a love song of heavenly praise. Discover your song. Assist others to do the same. We will be a symphony of praise to the Lord.

“Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, as in all wisdom you teach and admonish one another, singing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God.”  Col 3: 16

Litmus Test…

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What is the Litmus Test for Love?

“Love is Patient”…

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Am I?

“Love is kind”…

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Am I?

“It is not jealous, is not pompous, it is not inflated”…

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Am I?

“It is not rude, it does not seek its own interests”…

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Do I?

“It is not quick tempered, it does not brood over wrongdoing but rejoices with the truth.”

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Do I?

“It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things” …

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Do I?

“Love never fails.”

Have I?

“But when the  kindness and generous love of God our savior appeared, not because of any righteous deeds we had done but because of his mercy, he saved us through the bath of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he richly poured out on us through Jesus Christ our savior, so that we might be justified by his grace and become heirs in hope of eternal life.” Titus 3: 4-7

We have much to be thankful for!

Can You Pinch More Than an Inch?…

Love is Sacrifice…

The two words can be used interchangably.

I love you….I Sacrifice for you.

Love pinches…Sacrifice pinches.

Love takes a bit of our heart….And gives to another.

Love calls for Obedience. Obedience to God’s Law of Love.

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Look carefully at the word Obedience.

See the 3 letter word within?

DIE…

To be Obedient is to Die to self…

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To Die to self is to Sacrifice…

To Sacrifice is to love…

Jesus left us an example.

So…today…

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Can you pinch more than an inch?

“I give you a new commandment:  love one another.  As I have loved you, so you also should love one another.  This is how all will know that you are my disciples, if  you have love for one another.” John 13:34-35

Feel the Burn…

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Love…

the word…overused and misunderstood.

Love is not based on feelings…

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stars in the eyes, sweaty palms, Hollywood hype feelings.

Love is not even based on understanding,

for as hard as we try we cannot ever fully understand each other.

Love is acceptance.

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Otentimes acceptance is uncomfortable….it goes against the grain.

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But it’s in the uncomfortable we begin to love.

Love is loving the unlovable and that is where true virtue begins.

Let’s look more closely at the uncomfortable in our lives…

there’s room for love there.

Let us stretch ourselves and feel the burn of our prides convicted and our very selves challenged.

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We have to give up to win!

That’s when we truly begin to love.

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FEEL THE BURN!

“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your STRENGTH.”

Mark 12:30

Wrapped….

The after effect of resting in the the Mystery of the Molding?…

Coming into the vastness of the Love of God.

The finite…enters the infinite….

boundaries melt away.

Heart expands beyond the fleshly vessel.

Even the prayers of praise and thanksgiving are but tiny whispers

within the largeness of this extravagant Love.

For words cannot contain, express, or verbalize…

this Unconditional Love.

Like a soft wrap enveloping inside and out…

Enfolded in God’s Glory!

“That the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in Him, in accord with the grace of our God and Lord Jesus Christ.” 2 Thes 1:14

Are you Thirsty?..

Beauty exalts our mind.  Beauty feeds our soul.

Our thirst for Beauty can never be satisfied…

For we were created with a restlessness within that searches for Beauty.

Beauty is the Creator’s invitation.

To seek Him;  To find Him.

And in the finding the holes in our hearts are filled.

We find rest from the striving.

True thankfulness, praise and worship stream forth from the heart that rests in Beauty.

St. Augustine, a philosopher and a theologian, writes this of the journey of his heart:

“Late have I loved you, O Beauty so ancient and so new, late have I loved you!

You were within me, but I was outside, and it was there I searched for you.

In my unloveliness I plunged into the lovely things which you created.

You were with me, but I was not with you.

Created things kept me from you;  yet if they had not been in you they would not have been at all.

You called, you shouted, and you broke through  my deafness.

You flashed, you shone, and you dispelled my blindness.

You breathed your fragrance on me;

I drew in breath and now I pant for you.

I have tasted you, now I hunger and thirst for more.

You touched me, and I burned for your peace.

“Jesus stood up and exclaimed, “Let anyone who thirst come to me and drink.  Whoever believes in me, as scripture says:  ‘Rivers of living water will flow from within him.’ ”  John 7:37-38

Thieves and Pickpockets…

Thieves of the Mind….Pickpockets of the Heart….

(Beauty Revisited….)

Thieves of the mind attempt to rob the truth of Beauty written within. Whispering deceits of doubt, division, discouragement, despair. Emotions get twisted around the lies. Beliefs, not of God, swell and bring infection to the heart.

“I am alone”, “I am worthless”, “No one cares”, “No one loves me”

Pickpocket steals peace from the heart. Leaves it in broken bits.

Yet…….

A Whisper…softer but more powerful than the noisy din is heard.

“I AM WITH YOU”

Saturating the wound the whisper dispels the lies, the deceits.

“I AM WITH YOU”

 Jesus speaks from the cross.

The Blood of the Lamb streams forth.

Victory.

Christ allows His heart to be broken, in order to heal ours.

Let not the lies become your truth. The battle has been won.

You are chosen. You are loved. You are beautiful.

“Though the mountains leave their place and the hills be shaken, My Love shall never leave you nor my covenant of peace be shaken, says the Lord, who has mercy on  you.” IS 54:10

First Comes Thanksgiving…

“The day before He suffered He took bread in His sacred hands and looking up to heaven to You, His almighty Father He gave you thanks and praise. “

Thanksgiving prepared the way.

Thanksgiving preceded the Miracle.

 We too take the daily bread of our lives and through Him, with Him, in Him, look up to heaven and give thanks and praise.

Thanksgiving opens our heart to RECEIVE the miracle.

This  day let us take all that we are, and all that we have been given….

With Jesus give thanks to Our Father…

and BELIEVE in the miracle of transformation.

“In all circumstances give thanks, for this is the will of God for you in Christ Jesus.”  1 Thes 5:18