A Study on Love: Part XXXVI

Today, I am only going to have two workouts. Yesterday, I did accomplish three workouts. I have that feeling of "I lost weight" from yesterday's efforts. I Hope the scale will agree on Saturday. Today, I am going to do an hour of cardio in the morning and in the afternoon, I will do the workout below.
Luke 19:41-44

As he approached Jerusalem and saw the city, he wept over it and said, "If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace—but now it is hidden from your eyes. The days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment against you and encircle you and hem you in on every side. They will dash you to the ground, you and the children within your walls. They will not leave one stone on another, because you did not recognize the time of God's coming to you."

-How about this? Jesus wept over seeing Jerusalem. Why? Why cry over looking at a city? I believe Jesus was crying over the lost. He wanted to badly for them to repent. And here he is, going into the city to celebrate the Passover, knowing good and well that he would die because of them. And still he cries. Like I said yesterday, crying isn't a sign of weekness as it is a sign of love. I also believe that Jesus was sad for what would become of this city. I think it was really a mixture of emotions, all of them being led by love. I'll admit, I have cried over others who would not come to Jesus. It is a complex, yet so simple an emotion. When was the last time you wept because of the lost?

Really, that is a tough question. Weeping or crying just isn't something guys do. Jesus did it a good deal. And I believe he did it way more than the Bible tells us. I believe that Jesus overflowed with love to the point of tears and that I need to be more like that. I have to admit, I am not anywhere near in touch with my feelings and emotions like Jesus was. Prayerfully, I will get there someday. I would like it to be sooner than later. Johnny Out.

A Study on Love: Part XXXV

Jeremiah 31:3-6
The LORD appeared to us in the past, saying: "I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with loving-kindness. I will build you up again and you will be rebuilt, O Virgin Israel. Again you will take up your tambourines and go out to dance with the joyful. Again you will plant vineyards on the hills of Samaria; the farmers will plant them and enjoy their fruit. There will be a day when watchmen cry out on the hills of Ephraim, 'Come, let us go up to Zion, to the LORD our God.' "

-I think I forget this. God loves me with an everlasting love. Do I live a life they is expressive of God loving me with everlasting love? I would have to say, "no." What would that look like, anyway? What does an everlasting love look like? Does is express joy? I would say so. It would also express a relaxed appeal. What I mean is that I wouldn't walk around like some stressed out jerk.

2nd Kings 22:8-13

Hilkiah the high priest said to Shaphan the secretary, "I have found the Book of the Law in the temple of the LORD." He gave it to Shaphan, who read it. Then Shaphan the secretary went to the king and reported to him: "Your officials have paid out the money that was in the temple of the LORD and have entrusted it to the workers and supervisors at the temple." Then Shaphan the secretary informed the king, "Hilkiah the priest has given me a book." And Shaphan read from it in the presence of the king.

When the king heard the words of the Book of the Law, he tore his robes. He gave these orders to Hilkiah the priest, Ahikam son of Shaphan, Acbor son of Micaiah, Shaphan the secretary and Asaiah the king's attendant: "Go and inquire of the LORD for me and for the people and for all Judah about what is written in this book that has been found. Great is the LORD's anger that burns against us because our fathers have not obeyed the words of this book; they have not acted in accordance with all that is written there concerning us."

-I do I react when I read the Bible? What I mean to say is this: do I look for areas where I can change... and if I read something, do I respond humbly or do I have some pride in this or that area? I think it is a bit of both worlds here. I could always improve in humility. Seriously. But I don't think I have read the Bible and cried all that much.

Crying is underrated. Crying is a great way to show love for someone. Josiah cried when they found the Bible. Jesus wept with a woman before he raised her son from the dead. Paul wept. Peter wept. Where are all the soft hearts? Where have they all gone?

Johnny Out.

Today's Workout

I am at a desperate moment right now in my life. I have done what I believe to be everything that I can do loose weight... and haven't. Outside of getting a personal trainer (which I can not afford right now), I really do not know what to do. So this week, I am not going to pull any punches. I am going to loose weight. It will happen. I do not know that come to Saturday's weigh in if I will loose 10 or more pounds, but I want to be able to say that I did everything I could to get there. This is my workout today. I already did over 30 minutes in the gym this morning and I will go back to the gym tonight. I am also going to do this workout. We'll see what happens.

A Study on Love: Part XXXIV

Ruth 1:6-18

When Naomi heard in Moab that the LORD had come to the aid of his people by providing food for them, she and her daughters-in-law prepared to return home from there. With her two daughters-in-law she left the place where she had been living and set out on the road that would take them back to the land of Judah.

Then Naomi said to her two daughters-in-law, "Go back, each of you, to your mother's home. May the LORD show you kindness, as you have shown kindness to your dead and to me. May the LORD grant that each of you will find rest in the home of another husband."

Then she kissed them good-by and they wept aloud and said to her, "We will go back with you to your people."

But Naomi said, "Return home, my daughters. Why would you come with me? Am I going to have any more sons, who could become your husbands? Return home, my daughters; I am too old to have another husband. Even if I thought there was still hope for me—even if I had a husband tonight and then gave birth to sons— would you wait until they grew up? Would you remain unmarried for them? No, my daughters. It is more bitter for me than for you, because the LORD's hand has turned against me!"

At this they wept aloud again. Then Orpah kissed her mother-in-law good-by, but Ruth clung to her.

"Look," said Naomi, "your sister-in-law is going back to her people and her gods. Go back with her."

But Ruth replied, "Don't urge me to leave you or to turn back from you. Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God. Where you die I will die, and there I will be buried. May the LORD deal with me, be it ever so severely, if even death separates you and me." When Naomi realized that Ruth was determined to go with her, she stopped urging her.

-Is there any question of Ruth's love for Naomi? Ruth is a widow. She goes to Isreal and is a foreigner. And she is an orphan. Wow, that is a lot of stuff. Ruth still loved her mother-in-law. There wasn't any question of that.

And I believe the feeling was mutual. Naomi called Ruth her daughter. And as a parent, I know that isn't a title that is easily handed out and it isn't one that should be taken lightly. Calling someone a daughter or son is saying that you include them into your family. And family is always loved. Johnny Out.

A Study on Love: Part XXXIII

Genesis 29:14b-30
After Jacob had stayed with him for a whole month, Laban said to him, "Just because you are a relative of mine, should you work for me for nothing? Tell me what your wages should be."

Now Laban had two daughters; the name of the older was Leah, and the name of the younger was Rachel. Leah had weak eyes, but Rachel had a lovely figure and was beautiful. Jacob was in love with Rachel and said, "I'll work for you seven years in return for your younger daughter Rachel."

Laban said, "It's better that I give her to you than to some other man. Stay here with me." So Jacob served seven years to get Rachel, but they seemed like only a few days to him because of his love for her.

Then Jacob said to Laban, "Give me my wife. My time is completed, and I want to make love to her."

So Laban brought together all the people of the place and gave a feast. But when evening came, he took his daughter Leah and brought her to Jacob, and Jacob made love to her. And Laban gave his servant Zilpah to his daughter as her attendant.

When morning came, there was Leah! So Jacob said to Laban, "What is this you have done to me? I served you for Rachel, didn't I? Why have you deceived me?"

Laban replied, "It is not our custom here to give the younger daughter in marriage before the older one. Finish this daughter's bridal week; then we will give you the younger one also, in return for another seven years of work."

And Jacob did so. He finished the week with Leah, and then Laban gave him his daughter Rachel to be his wife. Laban gave his servant Bilhah to his daughter Rachel as her attendant. Jacob made love to Rachel also, and his love for Rachel was greater than his love for Leah. And he worked for Laban another seven years.

-This kind of goes against the study, but I think that it fits, in a sense. The passage does have the word love, but it also shows just how far love goes... Jacob works for this guy for fourteen years, just so he can be married to her. And I do not know if you are familiar with the story of Jacob (also known as Isreal), but his wives, whom are sisters, get jealous of each other, and this guy ends up sleeping with both Leah and Rachel, but also their attendants. And all four of them give him children. What a mess.

Seriously, though, I just want to focus on the whole fourteen years of work just to have the right to marry Rachel. He does get married to her seven years in, but he has to work fourteen. Granted, they lived longer in the Old Testament, but when Jacob came around, those lifespans were pretty much like they are today, no longer than 120 years old. And Jacob did live to be 120 years old, if I am not mistaken. So, 14 years out of 120 years, well that was 11.67% of his life just to earn her hand in marriage. That's mind-boggling. In today's time, roughly 50% of marriages end in divorce two years into the thing.

And another thing, people today get divorced quickly, saying they just didn't work well together. Did you know that people get married in today's world whom have never met each other? And they stay married for 50 plus years? You know why it works for them and not so much for secular America? It's a little word I call "commitment". They are committed to each other. They do not consider divorce, even in the roughest of times.

Some say Moses got divorced. The Bible doesn't say one way or another on if he did or not. But this I know:

Malachi 2:10-16

Do we not all have one Father? Did not one God create us? Why do we profane the covenant of our ancestors by being unfaithful to one another?

Judah has been unfaithful. A detestable thing has been committed in Israel and in Jerusalem: Judah has desecrated the sanctuary the LORD loves by marrying women who worship a foreign god. If anyone does this, whoever he may be, may the LORD remove him from the tents of Jacob—even though he brings an offering to the LORD Almighty.

Another thing you do: You flood the LORD's altar with tears. You weep and wail because he no longer looks with favor on your offerings or accepts them with pleasure from your hands. You ask, "Why?" It is because the LORD is the witness between you and the wife of your youth. You have been unfaithful to her, though she is your partner, the wife of your marriage covenant.

Has not the LORD made the two of you one? You belong to him in body and spirit. And why has he made you one? Because he was seeking godly offspring. So be on your guard, and do not be unfaithful to the wife of your youth.

"I hate divorce," says the LORD God of Israel, "and I hate it when people clothe themselves with injustice," says the LORD Almighty. So be on your guard, and do not be unfaithful.

'Nuff Said. Johnny Out.