Watch the video above and take time to absorb.  

A good friend of mine shared this with me. I have viewed it numerous times and there is so much God has in it for me.  

~How did God speak to your heart as you listened and observed?

~How will you live your day differently because of what touched you?

~What would it take to let gratefulness and blessings flow through you?  

My prayer for you is that “everyone whom you will meet on this day will be blessed by you.  Just by your eyes… by your smile…by your touch… just by your presence.  Let the gratefulness overflow into blessing all around you and then it will really be a good day.”

“Do you love each other?” Conclusion

As I continued to understand the types of love in the scriptures, storge love was another to understand…. 

Storge (storgē), also called familial love, is the Greek word for natural affection—such as the love of a parent toward a child, "cherishing one's kindred, especially parents or children". In social psychology, storge is the form of love between friends. Storge may be used as a general term to describe the love between exceptional friends, and the desire for them to care compassionately for one another.

God’s love letter to us directs us in Romans 12 toward this loving kindness to each other. 

^9-10Love from the center of who you are; don't fake it. Run for dear life from evil; hold on for dear life to good. Be good friends who love deeply; practice playing second fiddle. The Message

⁹ Don’t just pretend to love others. Really love them. Hate what is wrong. Hold tightly to what is good. ¹⁰ Love each other with genuine affection,^[e] and take delight in honoring each other. NLT

⁹ Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. ¹⁰ Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves. NIV

Life is all about relationship (s) with God and others. To have meaningful and beautiful ones it requires something of us. Looking at the human condition the types of love, agape, phileo or storge, can be a struggle or even something that one could refuse to do.  This scripture clearly states how to love each other.  As you read them where in your life does this type of love take place? If you do have this type of love with others, consider journaling your thankfulness in a letter to God.

If it is not taking place considering these scriptures. What would it take to embrace what God is asking of you in them? What would you need to surrender in order to live this out?

Do you love me? Part 2

A clearer picture of phileo love….

Phileo: to have a special interest in someone or something, frequently with focus on close association; have affection for, like, consider someone a friend.

As I read on about this type of love the text suggested it would probably be helpful if phileo were never translated “love” in the New Testament, because it refers to a strong liking or a strong friendship. Of course, we see how phileo gets translated “love,” because in modern culture we say we “love” things that we strongly like: “I love ice cream,” “I love my car,” “I love the way your hair looks,” etc. The word phileo implies a strong emotional connection, and thus is used of the “love,” or deep friendship, between friends. 

The next part of the explanation was insightful to me as it shared that you can agape your enemies, but you cannot phileo them.  For me, I knew that God calls us to love our enemies and because I desire to do as He asks, this was very helpful as I think through "loving my enemies."
A bit further I read this: Why did Jesus use agape and Peter use phileo? Jesus was asking Peter if he loved him with the love of God, a love that may require sacrifice. Jesus twice asked Peter, “Do you agapeme? [That is, are you willing to do things for my sake that you do not want to do?]” Peter, on the other hand, still felt the sting of having denied Jesus, and was hopeful that their friendship was intact. Did Jesus hold Peter’s denial against him? Would he still treat Peter as a close associate and companion? Peter was not sure where he stood with Jesus, so he was trying to let Jesus know that he was still a true friend, and had phileo love for Jesus.

The third time Jesus spoke to Peter, he came to Peter’s level and asked if Peter were indeed a true friend (phileo), which grieved Peter. Nevertheless, it was important, because Jesus knew what Peter did not know—that Jesus would ascend into heaven, and Peter and the others would be left to carry out his work on earth, which would require that they all be his good friends and do his will even when it meant hardship.

As I process through this information, I can understand the depth of Jesus is asking Peter the question and at the same time I can relate to Peter in the midst of his denial.  Would Jesus reciprocate the deep friendship that had before he had denied him?

Concerning Jesus' and Peter's relationship, as I take a step back and look at the whole picture this is what I see…Jesus is on the shore cooking breakfast for Peter and the others, he tells them what to do to catch the fish and begins a profound conversation with Peter. Jesus what a Savior!!  For me, this is a clear picture that Jesus still loved Peter and wanted a relationship with him, i.e. his loving GRACE.

Not too long ago I began thinking more about living in grace.  God has given me the realization that moment by moment I live in His grace.  I am ever so thankful.

What relationships do you have that are phileo love?  How do you relate to Peter in this passage? If you look intently at this amazing gift of grace that we live in, what stirs in your heart?

“Do you love me?” Part 1

When I was a child and even into my adulthood I thought I knew what love was.  I had attached many worldly ideas, explanations and examples to it.  As I have experienced life and come to an intimate relationship with God, He has opened my eyes to His love that is quite different than what I thought.

Recently John 21:15-17 came to mind as I was thinking about love.  A good friend of mine had recently referred to this scripture sharing what the original language says.  Since he knows how to read Greek, I tune in closely when he says, “In the original language…” I also did a Google search which mirrored what he had previously shared with me.

In this scripture Jesus asks Peter three times if he loves him.  The first two times in the original language Jesus asks Peter if he agape loves him.  Peter responds with, “Yes Lord, you know that I phileo love you.” As I read on about agape love, this is what it said: The Greek word that refers to the love of God, one of the kinds of love we are to have for people, is agape.Agape is the very nature of God, for God is love (1 John 4:7-12, 16b). The big key to understanding agape is to realize that it can be known from the action it prompts. In fact, we sometimes speak of the “action model” of agape love. People today are accustomed to thinking of love as a feeling, but that is not necessarily the case with agape love. Agape is love because of what it does, not because of how it feels. (ref:truthortradition.com).

For the action it prompts….Agape is love because of what it does….

Reading further: Jesus was asking Peter if he loved him with the love of God, a love that may require sacrifice. These statements stirred me and immediately I began to have a conversation with God about my love for Him. I began looking at my life and places of sacrifice as well as places that I resist sacrifice. Then I thought of Peter recognizing just days before he had not sacrificed his own self when he denied Christ. This moves me to a clearer understanding of why Peter would not tell Jesus he agape loved him.  For me, part of what I see is that he recognized and was admitting that he hadn’t and didn’t want to say that he could/would.   It was a place of humility and honesty as he stood with the risen Christ~ his dear friend and savior.  

When you read for the action it prompts and agape is love because of what it does….what or who comes to mind? What does your love for God look like? 

New beginnings!  Although I do not gravitate to “New Year’s resolutions”, I am so glad that our great and awesome God is a God of new beginnings.  As you move into this New Year, what do you desire in your love relationship with Him?

As you can see, there is a new look to the website! The song of the week is in a new place so it should not take as long to load.  There are new links too , so check them out! Thanks so much to three people that could make this happen.  They are each gifted in beautifully unique ways! Thank you Joe, Kevin and Michelle for sharing your talents:)