One Another

One Anothering One Another

"By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another" (John 13:35).

Jesus truly wants us to one another one another. When we look for "one another" in our Bible we see a great many verses. Even the seemingly negative ones really have a positive meaning. Our Bible is God's Word, God's Word is Jesus, and we know that all Scripture comes from Jesus' heart (2 Timothy 3:16).

"One another" is right there in the centre of God's heart. It speaks about what happens within the group.

Jesus tells us that when we come to Him we can begin to "live life and live it to the full" (John 10:10). One anothering is part of this.

Over the years I often noted the "one another" Scriptures during my quiet times. Recently I felt called to seek out and then print off dozens and dozens from a number of Bible translations. I then spent time reading and pondering them; I was like a herd of cows grazing rich pasture, going from one verse to the next, mulling over the words, seeing God's deep desire for us to be "one, as [Jesus, Father God and Holy Spirit] are one" (John 17:11).

We are each uniquely hand made in the "image and likeness" of God (Genesis 1:26). Because God is essentially relational, (God is Father, Son and Holy Spirit eternally), we also are relational. Jesus, Head of His church, wants us to live this out.

Early in my study I thought that the disciple John was the biggest "one another" author .. But no, "one another" is extensively in Paul's letters and in Peter and in Hebrews, (the Jewish people who knew themselves as "God's own", had been given the Law centuries before, and what we call the Old Covenant has "one another" appearing in Leviticus in the same sense as I see it in the New Testament).

(Perhaps I see John's "one another" verses so clearly because I am John, and am very aware that John was "the disciple whom Jesus loved" (John 21:7, 21:20); he was in such a breathtakingly beautiful relationship with our Lord).

Themes

There are themes among the "one another" verses; the very big one is "love one another".

Here are some of the "one another" verses I found; they cover many aspects of our lives:

Loving One Another

"A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another" (John 13:34).

"Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for whoever loves others has fulfilled the law" (Romans 13:8).

"You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather, serve one another humbly in love" (Galatians 5:13).

 Behaving As God's Representatives Towards One Another

"Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you" (Ephesians 4:32).

"Bear one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ" (Galatians 6:2).

And what I believe to be a very big "one another" for our generations; sharing our time, our home, our table:

"Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling" (1 Peter 4:9).

 Community Living With One Another

"Community" means being known as belonging to and being with one another, positioning ourselves with one another. Remember how Peter was asked if he was with Jesus and he said "no". Three times he did this; but then he knew differently and his life was changed. "Simon Peter answered him, 'Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life'" (John 6:68). We are asked to one another one another and be with one another.

"Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God" (Romans 15:7).

"I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another in what you say and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly united in mind and thought" (1 Corinthians 1:10).

"No longer will they teach their neighbor, or say to one another, 'Know the Lord,' because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest,' declares the Lord. 'For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more'" (Jeremiah 31:34)

Justice With One Another

"Do not steal. Do not lie. Do not deceive one another" (Leviticus 19:11).

"This is what the Lord Almighty said: 'Administer true justice; show mercy and compassion to one another'" (Zechariah 7:9). 

"But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin" (1 John 1:7).

We see God's desire that we "one another" one another in many ways, indeed in every part of our lives. This is far from "just on Sundays" and far from "just my group".

In Acts Chapter 2 the new Christian church was established. The people were so much in community that they would have been rubbing shoulders pretty much all the time. We know that they visited, ate, prayed and worshipped together and in each others' homes. They shared things and helped each other out in every aspect of living. Their children would have played together when young and then married as they came into adulthood.

"They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.  Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles.  All the believers were together and had everything in common.  They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need.  Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts,  praising God and enjoying the favour of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved" (Acts 2:42-47).

Christians' neighbours saw their active and loving community, their transparency, their generosity and the richness of their lives. Scripture expressly tells us that they won "favour" among the people and many of those same people "were saved" and joined them to also walk with Jesus.

These early Christians called themselves "The Way" because their lifestyle and commitments were so different from anything humanity had seen before. They knew that they were being led by Jesus into this new lifestyle, this new "way" (John 14:5-6).

Do we see anything of "The Way" today?

The world may not know it, but they are relying on us to start making things right .. to bring some reality and honesty of care and community and inter-relationship into our screen dominated lives.

I now know many people who would love to find a husband or a wife; women, men, young and older, many. They find it incredibly hard to connect with new people. Nobody trusts anyone; everybody's motives seem suspect.

When my friends go to a church they find an effusive, well trained "greeter" then are ignored. Everyone else is already in their clique.

I know these single people, they are sincere, intelligent, and have good jobs, they are fun, energetic and generous. They are Christian. You know, the kind of people we all want as our friends and would want our children to marry!

Loneliness is epidemic in Western societies. So many of us find it near impossible to make new friends; we find impenetrable walls everywhere. People seem to be surrounded by their own shiny plastic shield, phone in hand connecting them to an artificial world, conversing as though they are in a movie, unconcerned that they will never meet or have anything to do with the celebrities and professional sports people who are central to the virtual world.

Our understanding of relationships and connecting seems to have been damaged as our societies have become wealthier. We seem to let people go so easily, just as we change our cars and clothes. The idea of family is under attack in all Western countries. We are also letting go of our values, those foundations of living which have supported our cultures for generations, and which were largely introduced by Jesus and His people through the centuries.

What to do? These problems have no simple answers, but the questions they generate are real. As in everything, we can find our answers in Jesus!

I believe that one anothering helps. It brings lives into contact in very real ways and opens the way for hearts and minds to talk and share with other hearts and minds. It opens the way for true conversations and relationships to form. And it shows shallowness and "political correctness" for what it is.

Sure it will be risky. To invite people that you do not know from church to your house, or to offer real and practical help to others who are struggling will be very daunting. It may be even difficult to find those facing troubles, many people will take care to hide any sign of struggle while at church (where we feel we may only show our successful, victorious face).

But isn't this what Jesus asks of us in His Word? He tells us that it will be hard. The New Testament is packed with stories of struggle, persistence and perseverance. The good Samaritan crossed social barriers (when everyone else had crossed the street to avoid the problem), he gave of his time, his money, (hotels are expensive!) and likely got blood on his clothes; "he had compassion"  (Luke 10:33). Jesus became famous for showing compassion. Is it our turn now?

Bless us all.

 Different Words

Some translations use different words. There are also many "each other" verses in our Bibles. These are so like the "one another" verses. For example in the NIV: "Salt is good, but if it loses its saltiness, how can you make it salty again? Have salt among yourselves, and be at peace with each other" (Mark 9:50).

Praise Jesus.

 Here Are Lots Of Verses (Annotated By Me) From The Bible

 "Do not steal. Do not lie. Do not deceive one another". (Leviticus 19:11)

 " .. be at peace with one another" (Mark 9:50)

 " .. wash one another's feet" (John 13:14)

 " .. love one another .." (John 13:34)

 " .. love one another .." (John 15:12)

 " .. love one another" (John 15:17)

 "Be devoted to one another in brotherly love .." (Romans 12:10)

 " .. honour one another above yourselves" (Romans 12:10)

 "Live in harmony with one another .." (Romans 12:16)

 " .. love one another .." (Romans 13:8)

 " .. stop passing judgment on one another" (Romans 14:13)

 "Accept one another, just as Christ accepted you .." (Romans 15:7)

 " .. instruct one another" (Romans 15:14)

 "Greet one another with a holy kiss .." (Romans 16:16)

 " .. when you come together to eat, wait for one another" (1 Corinthians 11:33)

 " .. have equal concern for one another" (1 Corinthians 12:25)

 " .. greet one another with a holy kiss" (1 Corinthians 16:20)

 "Greet one another with a holy kiss" (2 Corinthians 13:12)

 " .. serve one another in love" (Galatians 5:13)

 "If you keep on biting and devouring one another .. you will destroy one another" (Galatians 5:15)

 "Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying one another" (Galatians 5:26)

 "Carry one another's burdens .." (Galatians 6:2)

 " .. be patient, bearing with one another in love" (Ephesians 4:2)

 "Be kind and compassionate to one another .." (Ephesians 4:32)

 "Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other" (Ephesians 4:32)

 "Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs" (Ephesians 5:19)

 "Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ" (Ephesians 5:21)

 " .. in humility consider one another better than yourselves" (Philippians 2:3)

 "Do not lie to one another .." (Colossians 3:9)

 "Bear with one another .." (Colossians 3:13)

 " .. forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another" (Colossians 3:13)

 "Teach .. one another" (Colossians 3:16)

 " .. admonish one another" (Colossians 3:16)

 " .. make your love increase and overflow for one another" (1 Thessalonians 3:12)

 " .. love one another" (1 Thessalonians 4:9)

 " .. encourage one another .." (1 Thessalonians 4:18)

 " .. encourage one another .." (1 Thessalonians 5:11)

 " .. build one another up .." (1 Thessalonians 5:11)

 "Encourage one another daily .." (Hebrews 3:13)

 " .. spur one another on toward love and good deeds" (Hebrews 10:24)

 " .. encourage one another" (Hebrews 10:25)

 " .. do not slander one another" (James 4:11)

 "Don't grumble against one another .." (James 5:9)

 "Confess your sins to one another .." (James 5:16)

 " .. pray for one another" (James 5:16)

 " .. love one another deeply, from the heart" (1 Peter 3:8)

 " .. live in harmony with one another .." (1 Peter 3:8)

 " .. love one another deeply .." (1 Peter 4:8)

 "Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling" (1 Peter 4:9)

 "Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve one another .." (1 Peter 4:10)

 " .. clothe yourselves with humility toward one another .." (1 Peter 5:5)

 "Greet one another with a kiss of love" (1 Peter 5:14)

 " .. love one another" (1 John 3:11)

 " .. love one another" (1 John 3:23)

 " .. love one another" (1 John 4:7)

 " .. love one another" (1 John 4:11)

 " .. love one another" (1 John 4:12)

 " .. love one another" (2 John 5)

Amen.

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Praise Jesus.

Is God Love?

Is God ?

Is God Love ?

How Do We Know That God Is ?

Some people say that because of all the trouble and pain in the world, they cannot believe that God exists, or if there is a god, that he, she, or it, must certainly not be a loving and benign God who is for all of humanity. (Happily, we have Jesus and know truth). 

Others say that science has never found any evidence for any kind of spiritual reality, and certainly none for an all-seeing, all-knowing and loving God who is creator of the entire Universe, and personally of you, and of me. (We know that they have not seen correctly).

Many people seem to be upset that others do believe in a Creator God who is loving and good, who designed and created a very beautiful and complete world for us, who loves us always and sacrificially, and wants us to be with Him and be in His family, now and forever.

These ones try to separate us from our beliefs and work hard to get all discussion of "God" and "Jesus", and especially prayer, excluded from the public arena and kept right away from children and schools, as though it were dangerous and likely to damage the hearers.

So sad. All the arguments put forward by atheists and agnostics are deeply flawed, their foundations are sand, at best, not rock as they want us to believe. Their arguments all ignore facts, (truths), which are plain for everyone to see, and they all contain contradictions; often their arguments depend on two opposite facts being true simultaneously ..

How Do We Know That God Is?

Apart from the Bible telling us, how can we be sure that any god exists, and especially our God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, who created and sustains the Universe and all that is in it including you and me?

Two quick answers. Firstly, the very fact that we ask about love and joy and pain and trouble tells us that we recognise that there is a standard of right and wrong, of justice and injustice, that life has value and meaning and that we are all here for a purpose.

Some would argue that the Universe and all that is in it came out of nothing for no reason, that it was an accident and all that has happened since, the formation of the stars, galaxies, planets and life are all a vast series of accidents, and meaningless.

When we ask "is there a God?" or "does God exist?" Or even, "is God?" We are also asking "are our universal human values foolish and worthless?" And "is there a definitive 'right' and 'wrong'? Is there a plumbline, a standard or measure?" And this question inevitably leads to "who, where, why or what is that standard setter, who created and holds the plumbline?"

There is no place for purpose or value or cruelty or disaster or injustice in a dog-eat-dog survival-of-the-fittest world of accidental and meaningless existence; that would be illogical, irrational.

Don't we all recognise that life is precious, not meaningless and worthless? That each one of us has value, and it is right that we should all be able to have hope? When we are sick or injured, even very badly, why do we strive so hard to stay alive?

So I say, "yes, God is, He is a caring God who not only created everything in general, He also created with a plan so detailed that it includes you and me, and our lives from minute to minute and day to day".

"Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? Yet not one of them is forgotten by God.  Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Don't be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows" (Luke 12:6-7, Jesus' words).

Secondly, we can know God in His Son, Jesus, who became human "and dwelt among us" (John 1:14). No serious scholar of ancient history doubts that Jesus did live when the Bible says, there were a great many who heard His teaching and saw the miracles He performed, and more than 500 who saw Him after He rose from the dead after being crucified.

But more than that, we can know Jesus in person, and through Him, also know our Heavenly Father and Holy Spirit. Our God is three Persons, and by Holy Spirit we can, and do, know them in our spirit. The spiritual world is real. Indeed it is greater than the physical. God already was, then the Universe was created on His breath as He spoke. But one day it "will vanish like smoke, the earth will wear out like a garment" (Isaiah 51:6), later there will be "a new heaven and a new earth" (Revelation 21:1). Our spirits will continue on, in intimate relationship with God, regardless of what happens in the physical! We are "fearfully and wonderfully made" (Psalm 139:14).

Jesus brought the Gospel message to humanity. By fully believing in Jesus and repenting of our sins, (our rebellion, disobedience and wickedness), we can be redeemed from our sinners' destiny, bought back, saved eternally; we become “born again”, “a new creation” and a full child of Father God, just as Jesus is His Son (John 3:7, John 3:16, 2 Corinthians 5:17).

"But you know that he appeared so that he might take away our sins. And in him is no sin" (1 John 3:5).

"Beyond all question, the mystery from which true godliness springs is great: He appeared in the flesh, was vindicated by the Spirit, was seen by angels, was preached among the nations, was believed on in the world, was taken up in glory" (1 Timothy 3:16).

Planet Earth exists in just the right place in the Universe to be oxygen rich, warm and watery and safe for us. It appears that, statistically, it is most unlikely there is another planet with so many perfect qualities.

Life is here on our planet. Apart from the Bible, I see still no coherent or reasonable explanation for the existence of life, or where it came from, or how .. But when we think about life we see beauty, variety, symbiosis and synchronicity, sufficiency, family and love .. and much more .. somehow in our inner being we know that it all has meaning.

Beauty: As I write this I am by the sea, the sun is shining across the bay, school children and their teachers and helper-parents are walking happily on the beach, back to their camp with pockets full of seashells. Beautiful! If all the world and life were meaningless this would not fill my heart with joy as it does. Logic says "could not". Praise our Creator God!

Variety: When I was growing up our family had typical New Zealand food which was much like English food and it was great! Now in Australia Trish and I have three or four nationality's food each week. I have invented several dishes which our family enjoy, "Dad's Pesto" is a favourite and is based on Italian. Such variety! God doesn't make two snow flakes alike, let alone two people .. we are each unique, there will never be another quite like you or me! 

Variety is everywhere, different people groups look and sound different, eat differently and celebrate differently. But, largely, we all have very similar value systems and we all form up into families regardless of our nationality, ethnicity, religion or location. I believe God made us like this. We are "in the image and likeness" of God (Genesis 1:26) who is the first family (Genesis 1:1-2), we were created to enjoy the bounty the earth produces (Genesis 1:29, Acts 11:5-9). And to be in relationship with our Maker (1 John 3:1).

And the flowers! The sunsets! The singing! The laughter!

Synchronicity and Symbiosis: There are many thousands of different kinds of animal and bird, sea creature, reptile, insect, lichen, bacteria and virus, and millions of species of all these kinds. Yet they all continue to exist and co-exist, season after season and have done for thousands of years. There is no fossil record, (or any other kind of record), of any more complex creature developing (evolving) from a less complex one .. so where did these millions of species come from? How is it that the synchronicity and symbiosis in the world enables every life form to live and feed and have babies, yet not to so dominate that all other life is extinguished (eaten) as would ultimately be inevitable under the "survival of the fittest" model? We co-exist rather than battle it out to the finish; just check out the life around an African water hole! 

Some creatures travel across continents and oceans between their breeding grounds and their summer feeding grounds. Nobody knows how they navigate or how the next generation knows where and when to travel, but their species still survives, and many flourish, regardless the changes we see in the world.

Besides, prominent educators (like Mark Hauser) conclude that there is a quantum gap between human intelligence and that of any other species, far beyond any evolution understanding .. we could not have evolved - the intelligence gap is too great. This leads to the conclusion that it is a Designer and Maker who created and now sustains everything. Synchronicity and Symbiosis; thank you Jesus! 

Sufficiency: We see the horrible situations caused by wars, natural disasters and international, national and business leaders' greed and mismanagement, yet surprisingly almost all the millions of species and billions of people have water every day, enough to eat and some shelter, and loved ones and family. Many of the most intransigent atheists admit that there must be a benign intelligence behind all this.

Family: What can I say? Ants, lions, whales and people of every nationality and culture live in families, always have and always will. It is natural, and I believe, designed in by our lovely God, from the beginning. Father, Son and Holy Spirit are eternal, and eternally the first family. Many studies show that the greatest blessing a child can receive is to grow up in a family with a mother and a father. And I have learned, and find much agreement, that the greatest gift a father can give his children is to love their mother ..

Love: Babies and children who do not receive love grow into broken people without empathy or compassion. Apart from such tragedies, love is everywhere, even in the hearts and homes of the most avid atheist. Yet it is nowhere in science. "God is love" (1 John 4:16), love is a great gift from Him to us.

More: My spirit assures me that the spiritual world is real and that its order is assured by an intelligent, creative and benign being who loves and is compassionate. How can I know this? All I can tell you is that my "knower" knows. This is not scientific and I do not know if these thoughts are supported by psychology. Nevertheless, I know.

A long time ago Trish and I knew a Catholic priest who liked to understand things and be able to explain them. He sometimes found shortcomings with the English language and would use his own words. He said we all have a "knower", meaning that something inside us just "knows" some things even though they are hard to explain .. and we are ultimately proved right! He also used to say that we all could recognise when things were in "balance" (meaning that they were no longer void or in chaos). I believe that he was onto some rich truths and have often spoken these words, and my hearers have understood completely what I was saying! Praise Jesus for our hidden depths (Psalm 139:13-17).

There is so much that we know that science has no coherent or believable explanation for, has no accounting for. "Accounting" is an exact craft, if you have something, you can include it, otherwise you must not include it. Many "scientific" statements include things which have never been proven, they have hypotheses, informed guesses, but not empirical evidence, therefore they do not have them. Or they include previously proposed "proofs" which were thoroughly refuted, some, decades ago. Many high school and university texts are littered with such un-truths.

Every person is acquainted with love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control, and many more qualities. I can also think of hope, gratitude, empathy, sympathy, morality, loyalty, generosity, pathos, justice and compassion, (Jesus is famous for showing compassion). Outside of God's Word I cannot see any beginning or cause or value for any of these .. But we all know that they do exist and are very precious, and are familiar to every person and in every culture in the world.

People (and other creatures) bond and communicate in non-tangible ways. Trish and I have twins, Peter and Rebecca, our fifth and sixth children. Anyone who has twins in their family can tell many stories about their ability to communicate remotely and without words. Our family was inducted into a "twins study" so we got to hear lots of lovely "twin" stories.

Here is one I remember: One twin of an identical pair of girls went to live overseas. These twins were so alike that they did everything together: they wore the same clothes, played the same sports and music, studied the same subjects. One day, after they had been apart for some time, the overseas twin wrote to her sister and sent a picture from a magazine. The letter said that she had seen the hairstyle and cut out the picture, taken it to her hairdresser "last Thursday" and now had the new style and liked it very much. To all our amazement she received a reply from her twin saying that she had done the exact same thing on the exact same day!

A flock of birds or a school of fish will all change direction at the same time .. Amazing! Wonderful!

Praise Jesus for His unfathomable ways. We communicate without knowing how (Romans 11:33).

Pain, Horror And Disaster In The World

When people ask, "how can there be a loving, all-powerful God with all the trouble and pain in the world?" This is called a theodicy; ("theodicy" comes from "God" + "justice").

Answering this question is difficult, we are attempting to explain the coexistence of God and Evil. Thankfully there are answers, and I am satisfied with them. This is a very big subject and better minds than mine have been studying it for centuries. Here are some of my thoughts and conclusions.

When God created the Universe and Earth and humanity I believe that things were perfect. Adam and Eve were family, and in close, loving and obedient relationship with God. Their spiritual and social needs were met, the creation was being cared for and provided every material thing they needed. They knew love, were satisfied and they were safe.

"Adam and his wife were both naked, and they felt no shame" (Genesis 2:25).

Then these first humans sinned, they ate of the forbidden fruit even though they had been told, "You will surely die". The serpent was completely out of order when it spoke to Eve who, with Adam, had dominion over all the creation (Genesis 1:26) including the serpent. 

Adam and Eve knew that they were created in the "image and likeness" of God (Genesis 1:26), so they already were fully in possession of what the serpent was offering them; that they would "be like God" (Genesis 3:5). Even so, Eve did listen, and Adam and Eve ate the fruit. Sin, pain, trouble and death entered the world.

[God said] "And I will put enmity between you [serpent] and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel". To the woman he said, "I will make your pains in childbearing very severe; with painful labor you will give birth to children. Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you".  To Adam he said, "Because you listened to your wife and ate fruit from the tree about which I commanded you, 'You must not eat from it,' cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat food from it all the days of your life.  It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field.  By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return" (Genesis 3:15-19).

Not all snakes are poisonous, but we have a universal fear of snakes, right? Even many animals fear them. Scripture tells us why.

Childbirth was made difficult, even painful, (all parents know this to be true), and tragically, some families have broken and ill-formed babies. Babies and mothers die in childbirth and this deeply affects us all.

The Earth is cursed, hence earthquakes, floods, hurricanes, volcanoes, bushfires (many of which start from lightning and others by malicious people). They all cause pain and trouble.

These things come from sin. So do wars and rebellions, robbery and murder, even being mean to people and speeding in our car.

Adam and Eve chose to sin. People, us, we choose to sin. Sin is now in the world. Jesus defeated sin, and death, when He died on the Cross and then rose from the dead, but the complete application of His victory will not manifest until He comes again. Meanwhile He is with us, helping, and interceding for us, constantly (Matthew 28:20, Romans 8:34).

".. But [Christ] has appeared once for all at the culmination of the ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of himself" (Hebrews 9:26).

".. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil" (1 John 3:8).

God knows that there is suffering. Like everything else He can make good come from it (Romans 8:28). My sufferings are small compared with those of many others, but they help me see God more clearly as a bright light and a source of love and hope, I empathise with others more deeply and I truly value what Jesus has given me in my salvation and in my life with Him. Good from pain.

"For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers,  nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord" (Romans 8:38-39). 

Is God Love?

I believe that God exists and loves us. He has an infinite number of ways of giving and showing His love.

I met a pilot who gave this testimony. He was co-pilot on a Lear Jet carrying mail. As they drew near to their intended destination they were told that the airport was too cloud-covered for landings, they were given an alternative airport. As they drew near to the second airport they received a similar warning and another alternative airport. So they changed direction again; time was passing and they had flown far, fuel was getting low. As they made contact with the third airport they were given the same message again. Their fuel was so low that they could fly nowhere else, my friend and his captain had no option but to attempt a landing with whatever navigational aids and visibility were available. Possibly they would crash but they knew to follow their years of training and flight experience. Praise Jesus; as they descended and entered the landing approach the clouds parted and they had enough visibility to land, only the runway was visible. Their fuel gauges had been showing empty for some minutes.

Months later in a different state, my friend recounted this adventure, a woman who was unknown to the pilot asked when this frightening event had occurred; he was able to tell her. "Well", she responded, "I was praying with a group on that afternoon, someone interrupted the meeting to say that Jesus had given her a picture of an airplane which was lost in the clouds up towards Canada somewhere, it was running out of fuel and bound to crash. She told us that the vision was not very likely to be true because the plane was a jet, but it was a small plane so could not be a jet - we all prayed anyway". The date and time-of-day were the same; Lear Jets are small airplanes with jet engines, the vision may have seemed contradictory, but was indeed accurate. God showed the women the trouble and heard their prayer. Jesus stretched the fuel to last the extra few minutes and made a hole in the clouds in just the right place and at just the right time. I have hugged that co-pilot; this is a true story! 

Praise the Lord, how He speaks to us and uses our prayers. Those atheists and agnostics cannot tell true stories like this .. I do so enjoy Christian testimonies, they point directly to God and His love.

Here is a new story of mine. It is late winter here and still quite cold. I like to lie in bed after I wake up, in the warm for a little longer. A few days ago all I had for this post was its title: "Is God Love?" I was awake, enjoying the cozy warmth and thinking about my day when Jesus interrupted. "Come on John", He said, "get up, I have something for you, get ready to type!" So I did, as fast as I could .. As soon as my laptop was running He started to speak, He gave me the first few paragraphs of this piece. He then told me to hurry along on another piece I was already writing, so that I could progress with this one. This may sound as though Jesus is bossy, but I know He loves me very much and would never be bossy to me, it's just His way of saying "follow me" (John 21:19) in a way that I will understand!

I wrote that yesterday .. then this morning Jesus said to me, "get up now, I have some typing for you, something you forgot to add yesterday". So I did get up and He carefully dictated what I had not thought of .. Grace and love in action. Thank you my loving Lord!

Love is everywhere. What would novelists, journalists, songwriters and scriptwriters have to write about if it were not? Our Bible, God's Word, is full of love. I am satisfied that only our lovely God in Heaven has a sound explanation for love, and He gives it to us in love.

God is love.

Praise Jesus.

Amen.

Favourite Scriptures

"The fruit of the [Holy] Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,  gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law" (Galatians 5:22-23).

"But when the kindness and love of God our Saviour appeared,  he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit,  whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Saviour,  so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life" (Titus 3:4-7).

"Lift up your eyes to the heavens, look at the earth beneath; the heavens will vanish like smoke, the earth will wear out like a garment and its inhabitants die like flies. But my salvation will last forever, my righteousness will never fail" (Isaiah 51:6).

"But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, where righteousness dwells" (2 Peter 3:13).

"The Amen, the Faithful and True Witness, the Head of God's creation, says these things .." (Revelation 3:14).

Amen.

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Praise Jesus.