Love Is A Verb

I have been enjoying another series of the Gilmore Girls this evening. 

 

At one point, Lorelai and her daughter (who is at University), have been communicating via email.  Lorelai complains that Rory has been writing really brief emails and hasn't been including enough information:

 

She says,

"You're not even using verbs.  That's not a relationship.  Relationships need verbs."

 

Relationships need verbs.

 

As Newton Faulkner sang,

 

         "Love, love is a verb

         Love is a doing word."

 

 

Love should be something active.  Love is more than just words. 

 

It is easy to tell someone you love them, so much harder to show them.  Loving someone in actions takes effort.  It requires time and energy and compromise.  It is so much easier to simply say you love someone.

 

But God didn't just say He loved us.  He showed us His love.  He sent His Son to die for us to show us His love.  The cross is a display of His powerful, passionate love.

 

John urges this in his first letter:

"Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth."

 

[1 John 3:18 NIV]

 

It's easy to say you love someone.  But love is a verb.

 

Running On Empty

I've been feeling run down now for weeks. 

 

I keep tip-toeing to the edge of a full-blown cold/flu/throat infection combo and then, at the last minute, I step back from the brink.

 

Still, whilst I haven't actually succumbed to the bugs, I am exhausted.  I wake up and I feel tired.  I go to bed and I feel tired.  I feel as though I am running on empty.

 

But God doesn't tire.  He is constant and faithful.  And what's more, if we turn to Him and trust in Him, we will not grow tired either.  We will find new strength.

 

 

        "The Lord is the everlasting God,
        the Creator of the ends of the earth.
        He will not grow tired or weary,
        and his understanding no one can fathom.
        He gives strength to the weary
        and increases the power of the weak.
        Even youths grow tired and weary,
        and young men stumble and fall;
        but those who hope in the Lord
        will renew their strength.
        They will soar on wings like eagles;
        they will run and not grow weary,
        they will walk and not be faint."

 

        [Isaiah 40:28-31 NIV]

 

 

When we are running on empty, when we are weak, when we are tired, God will always restore us and lift us up again.

 

 

 

 

Fully Restored

Today I have bought myself yet another shampoo and conditioner that claims to restore my nearly-dead hair.

 

My hair isn't in dreadful condition, but the ends are in a shocking state.  They are split and flyaway and fuzzy.  Today's wind/rain combo left me feeling and looking like Bertha Mason.

 

I'm not sure how much it will help my hair, but I am a sucker for a new product.

 

I am always on the lookout for the next thing that will restore and revitalise my hair, rather than acknowledging that the thing that would help my hair the most would be to stop dyeing it so much or straightening it so regularly.  If I looked after it better, I wouldn't need to spend so much time or money trying to restore it.

 

But rather than fix the real problem, I spend my time and money trying to alleviate the symptoms of the problem.

 

I think in a spiritual way I often chase after different things to 'restore' me too.  Rather than dealing with the 'root' issues (no pun intended), I will chase after things which will make me feel better in the short-term: things that will make me feel confident and secure and happy.

 

Instead, I need to return to God, who promises to fully restore me.

 

I love these Old Testament promises -

 

"The Lord says, “I will give you back what you lost."

 

[Joel 2:25 NLT]

 

and         

 

          "This very day I’m declaring a double bonus—
          everything you lost returned twice-over!"

 

[Zechariah 9:12 MSG]

 

Rather than just dealing with the superficial symptoms of my problems - both hair and spirit-related - I need to go back to their roots and deal with the real causes.  And I need to ask God to come and fully restore me.

 

 

 

Worth Dying For

I read this yesterday and am still reeling;

"Scripture does not call us to change. Scripture calls us to die."

Wow.

On the uncomfortable-scale, this rates pretty highly. You can't really go in for half measures here. You can't be just a little bit dead.

It's all or nothing.

But why?

Why must we die? Why not just alter ourselves little by little? It doesn't need to be that drastic, does it?

Well, yes.

If we want to enter into the fullness of life that God promises us, we need to stop living our own 'full' lives. We need to acknowledge that we cannot be full or complete in our own strength or by our own efforts. We can only find this fullness in God.

And what's more, this 'new' life from God will be beyond anything we can imagine right now.

I'm not sure why, but it's pretty easy to imagine God as some sort of cosmic killjoy and to imagine that His version of a 'new' life would be dull and boring and the exact opposite of what I would hope for.

But I am beginning to believe that maybe, just maybe, God's version of a full life might be better than my own.

"So don't you see that we don't owe this old do-it-yourself life one red cent. There's nothing in it for us, nothing at all. The best thing to do is give it a decent burial and get on with your new life. God's Spirit beckons. There are things to do and places to go! This resurrection life you received from God is not a timid, grave-tending life. It's adventurously expectant, greeting God with a childlike "What's next, Papa?" God's Spirit touches our spirits and confirms who we really are. We know who he is, and we know who we are: Father and children."

[Romans 8:12-16 MSG]

 

Now that's worth dying for.

Actions Speak Louder Than Words

I've always wondered why 'Nice' biscuits are called 'Nice'.

 

Apparently they were originally made in the French city of Nice, and were called 'Fait a Nice' biscuits.  However, this name was considered too long and so it was shortened to 'Nice'.

 

I think it would be really helpful if all food was labelled in the same way.  You would know before giving it a go whether or not it would be tasty.  Sprouts, for example, could be labelled 'inedible' and save us all a lot of time.

 

I sometimes think it would be helpful if situations or events in life, or jobs, or people had similar labels, too.  It would be clear whether or not to apply for a job or who to trust.  You could easily sort out the 'good' and the 'bad' in life.

 

But, unfortunately life doesn't come with labels. 

 

The Bible says that the only real way that we can tell what people are like is by looking at their actions.  Our actions are our labels. 

 

"Yes, just as you can identify a tree by its fruit, so you can identify people by their actions."

 

[Matthew 7:20 NLT] 

 

Our actions are the 'fruit' in our lives, the things by which we can be identified.  Our actions are the things that people will remember.  They will last longer in the minds of others than the things we say.

Actions speak louder than words. 

 

What are you saying?

 

 

 

The Importance Of Hemming

In my recent sewing endeavours, I have learnt the importance of hemming. 

 

In order to prevent fabric fraying and carefully stitched seams peeling away from each other, it is essential to ensure that the fabric is first hemmed. 

 

I have learnt this the hard way.

 

I have been thinking a lot about Psalm 139 today and one of my favourite verses in it which describes God is this -

 

"You hem me in—behind and before."

[Psalm 139:5 NIV]

 

I love the idea of God being both behind me and in front of me.  I am covered on all sides.  He is literally guarding my back and protecting me out front.  He is in my past and in my future.

 

Inescapable.

 

Rather than making me feel claustrophobic and trapped by this idea that God surrounds me, it makes me feel safe and secure.  I am surrounded on all sides by a God who loves me, protects me, defends me, cares for me, fights for me, is passionate about me, is kind and gentle towards me and who delights in me.

 

And so, like my now-hemmed sewing, I will not fray.  I won't come apart at the seams, because God surrounds me.

H

God hems me in.  Behind and before.

 

Heart of Worship

I have spent this evening working on writing worship songs with some friends.

 

We have had a brilliant evening playing around with words and melodies and meanings.  And we have produced something with which we are all really pleased.

 

At one point in the evening we were wrestling with an awkward line which didn't seem to fit, but which we didn't want to lose.

 

It felt as though we were struggling and trying too hard to make something fit, that it became a bit artificial.  It was no longer an outpouring of our hearts: our syllable-counting, make-it-rhyme, neat-and-tidy minds got in the way.

 

We played around with it for a bit and then just left it for a while and started just singing what was on our hearts. 

 

And in all of that, we refocused on what was important - on what we were singing and why we were singing it and, most importantly, to whom we were singing.

 

And as we sang, the line made sense.  It fitted.  Without forcing or coercion.  We realised what mattered more was what was on our hearts. 

 

Becasue our worship and praise to God should be a response from the heart

 

"For out of the overflow of his heart his mouth speaks."

 

[Luke 6:45 NIV]

 

As Matt Redman sang,

 

"I'm coming back to the heart of worship

And it's all about you

It's all about you, Jesus."

 

 

The heart of worship is the worship of our hearts.

 

It's all about Him.  And it's all for Him.