Wednesday, February 8th, 2006
Friendship – Edition #3
So… today, I am tired. My son kept me and my wife up to the ends of the Earth last night. Crying and screaming… and my poor wife took the brunt of it, because she wakes up at the drop of the hat and for me, a hurricane thrown on my bed by God himself wouldn’t stir me. I can sleep rather hard. So… as a friend, I helped out my wife by getting up and being patient with my son in his disarray. And that was really good for me to do so, to serve my wife and son at 2:30 in the morning. I have good friends… I wish for the relationships to be deeper, but that will come with time. Several calls over the span of this week has really encouraged me. I am grateful for that.
1st John 4:7-21
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.
We know that we live in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit. And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in him and he in God. And so we know and rely on the love God has for us.
God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him. In this way, love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment, because in this world we are like him. There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.
We love because he first loved us. If anyone says, "I love God," yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen. And he has given us this command: Whoever loves God must also love his brother.
Since God so loved me, I also ought to love you. Seems simple enough… but it is so much harder than that. Love starts to become complex… something more than it really is… Love is like taking care of each other and each others needs. But life can catch up to us, the little worries that wear us down.
Song of Solomon 2:14-15
My dove in the clefts of the rock, in the hiding places on the mountainside, show me your face, let me hear your voice; for your voice is sweet, and your face is lovely. Catch for us the foxes, the little foxes that ruin the vineyards, our vineyards that are in bloom.
The foxes come in and ruin the friendships. The foxes named “Time” and “Too Busy” step in a ruin the vineyard that was built. As friendships come into bloom, the longing sun in the sky beats down on it over time, the plants wilt and die. It doesn’t have to be this way… but for so many times, it is. Distance over the years dwindles what was grown… it’s like not having a quiet time for days, weeks, months, and even years… the little foxes have grown and now own the vineyard, what’s left of the rubbish… If God is my Father, friend, and owner… wouldn’t I have some communication with him? Would I let weeks, months, years separate the bliss of the childhood he has given me? And turn that around to a friend – would I let a friend separate over time and let the little nothings get in the way of what was built? Well… the answer has been yes. At least that is what my actions have said. A change is in the air, the wind is blowing with intensity as I take steps to change the lifestyle and rebuild the walls of my friendships. I need to protect and nurture my friendships. I need to catch the foxes and serve them up for dinner for my friends. Johnny Out.
Friendship – Edition #3
So… today, I am tired. My son kept me and my wife up to the ends of the Earth last night. Crying and screaming… and my poor wife took the brunt of it, because she wakes up at the drop of the hat and for me, a hurricane thrown on my bed by God himself wouldn’t stir me. I can sleep rather hard. So… as a friend, I helped out my wife by getting up and being patient with my son in his disarray. And that was really good for me to do so, to serve my wife and son at 2:30 in the morning. I have good friends… I wish for the relationships to be deeper, but that will come with time. Several calls over the span of this week has really encouraged me. I am grateful for that.
1st John 4:7-21
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.
We know that we live in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit. And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in him and he in God. And so we know and rely on the love God has for us.
God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him. In this way, love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment, because in this world we are like him. There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.
We love because he first loved us. If anyone says, "I love God," yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen. And he has given us this command: Whoever loves God must also love his brother.
Since God so loved me, I also ought to love you. Seems simple enough… but it is so much harder than that. Love starts to become complex… something more than it really is… Love is like taking care of each other and each others needs. But life can catch up to us, the little worries that wear us down.
Song of Solomon 2:14-15
My dove in the clefts of the rock, in the hiding places on the mountainside, show me your face, let me hear your voice; for your voice is sweet, and your face is lovely. Catch for us the foxes, the little foxes that ruin the vineyards, our vineyards that are in bloom.
The foxes come in and ruin the friendships. The foxes named “Time” and “Too Busy” step in a ruin the vineyard that was built. As friendships come into bloom, the longing sun in the sky beats down on it over time, the plants wilt and die. It doesn’t have to be this way… but for so many times, it is. Distance over the years dwindles what was grown… it’s like not having a quiet time for days, weeks, months, and even years… the little foxes have grown and now own the vineyard, what’s left of the rubbish… If God is my Father, friend, and owner… wouldn’t I have some communication with him? Would I let weeks, months, years separate the bliss of the childhood he has given me? And turn that around to a friend – would I let a friend separate over time and let the little nothings get in the way of what was built? Well… the answer has been yes. At least that is what my actions have said. A change is in the air, the wind is blowing with intensity as I take steps to change the lifestyle and rebuild the walls of my friendships. I need to protect and nurture my friendships. I need to catch the foxes and serve them up for dinner for my friends. Johnny Out.
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