We know, dear brothers and sisters,
that God loves you and has
chosen you to be his own people.
For God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who
believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.
We
know the truth, and in fact we cling to what we know. It is something that we share with others and
believe in with all our heart, at least most of the time. Hang with me as I share some thoughts from
happenings of the last 7 days.
You’ve
got to know that my head and heart are still in high gear as our back2school event happened only a few
days ago. It was a huge win for all the
people involved as we were honored to serve lots of kids and their
families. Those people heard that there
is a God who loves them and who gives us hope to live in troubled times and all
the time. They heard that God loves people, and that is the
truth.
Last
Wednesday was a big day for my favorite chicken place. Chick-fil-A has great chicken and waffle
fries and even milk shakes. Their
commercials and advertising are funny and make you stop and take note. But that last Wednesday the world seemed to
stop and give their support to them.
There were people lined up at our local Chick-fil-A and at locations
everywhere, but there were also protectors.
Dan Cathy, the man who leads Chick-fil-A, made a public statement that
their business supports traditional marriage.
Listen up for a minute… I am glad that was said, but I want you to hear
my heart. I believe the truth is God loves people. He loves people who go to church and people
who don’t go to church. He loves people
who are married and people who are not married.
He loves people who believe in marriage and he loves people who
don’t. God loves people who are
heterosexual and those who are homosexual.
I did
not write this and share it with you to draw sides or to insight a riot, but I
wanted to let you know that the God we serve is “pro-people”. God
loves people. That is the naked
truth. We need to be honest about sin,
but we have to go out of our way to tell people that God is for them and loves
them no matter what. Far too often we
would rather throw stones or hold up protest signs than to give a hug and
listen to someone who is struggling. I
believe in people. Church, it is time
that we begin to show the world what we are for rather than shouting about what
we are against. If we are going to win
the world to Jesus, then we better do what Jesus did, and Jesus lived his life
to illustrate the truth that God loves
people.
The
last few days I have spent with my grandmother who is near death. This is not an easy time. Tuesday evening as we prepared for to leave
for the night she was agitated and began to say she wanted to go home. We have had some sweet conversation this week
about heaven and being ready to go there.
But in grandma’s frustration and through her anxiety I found myself
saying to her over and over that God knows, cares and has prepared her for this
because God loves people. That is the truth she needs to give her
peace. It is truth that our family needs
to lean on. It is the truth whether we
believe it or not.
I am
convinced that God’s love will take us further than we can even imagine. If we will be consumed by God’s love, we will
see lives changes, hearts melted and situations get easier. All it takes is believing the naked truth or
the raw truth or the truth that never changes … God loves people.
How
can we convince others of this truth?
I’m convinced that this truth is best seen when we love people like God
loves them, unconditionally.
And I am convinced that nothing can
ever separate us from God’s love.
Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today
nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from
God’s love.
Most important of all, continue to show
deep love for each other, for love covers a multitude of sins.
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