Simplicity

God is love.

Such a simple verse out of 1 John, but those 3 words hold so much meaning. I'm not sure I can even begin to explain the emotion/feeling that passes over me when I say those words. I've been praying that my life would reflect Him and seeking Him for what He would have for me to do for Him as if there was some road I was suppose to turn on or door I'm suppose to walk thru. Sunday marked the beginning of a new set of classes at church. Our worship pastor thought it'd be good for us to attend them for additional disciplining. The topic was Bible study. I love how God works. Lately, everything He's put on my heart is confirmed by something going on at church. I've really had a burden to pray, followed up with some Bible reading.

During elementary school into middle school, Pizza Hut was my hero. They used to have this program where you set a goal of how many books you would read in a month and then if you met it, you'd get a free pizza. A nice little incentive. I'd burn thru books in a day and even avoid going to sleep because I wanted to finish them. Unfortunately either Pizza Hut stopped doing this and/or they didn't offer it for high schoolers. So my love and drive for reading some what came to a screeching halt.

Reading the Bible has always been something I've known I should do. I've always been intrigued how pastors would etch their sermons around multiple verses in such a profound way, but I never took the time to do my own study. Thank God for His grace and mercy. Somehow everything is changing. These words in this amazing book called the Bible really do have life in them and they can and do apply to my life. To take what I've had drilled into my brain all my life and apply it to what is happening now. Amazing.

This morning I was making the exchange from the washer to the dryer and I was praying for a dear friend of mine that God's spirit would be over his family and love would fill their home. All of a sudden a song that we used to sing in Sunday school came into my head. "His banner of me, is love... 1 John 4:7&8". I was like I need to read 1 John 4. Here it was all along. What God is beckoning my heart to do. Love.

"Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us."

It reads that God is love and those who do not love God do not know Him. Which means they do not know love. Seriously just hit me over the head. What an empty feeling this must be. To not know true love... to not know God. Wow. Makes me wonder where I've had my heart. God's also been speaking to me about getting my focus off myself. I led a song at church on Sunday and it repeats a line, "It's not for us(me), it's all for You". It's so true. We aren't here for to make millions or just for fun. We were placed where we are to show/share/live His love. So if I want to exude Jesus as I expressed a few days ago, then all I have to do, is love. So simple, yet so profound. Love.