There is a couple of things about today’s blog that is somewhat unusual. It may not be obvious to you, the reader and therefore I am going to highlight it for you.
The pictures I am using here is not from my usual source. Mostly I use Pixabay since they have a wide variety of great pictures. It is for free, yet they make it easy to donate and/or give credit to the photographer. But not this time.
The photographer is my son, Simon (10) with his Samsung Galaxy Note 4. Being the youngest in the family, he is the third user of this phone that was released in 2014. However, it is his first phone and he is making good use of it. He is following his mom’s example who often photographs this from up close and then uses it on her Facebook page ‘Marianne Louw Consulting’. Most of the pics you find there was also taken by her. Here are some examples.
I am very proud of Simon and decided to use his photos in my next blog to encourage him. The second unusual thing about this blog is that it took me unusually long to decide on a topic and start writing. None of the half-written pieces in the pipeline felt good enough. Normally I am just so convinced of what I have to say, that there is an urgency to getting it done. I realise that the better I write, the better you will understand the point I am making, and I try my best. But it is more important to get it out there than to get it perfect.
However, I wanted this to be a particularly good blog because it is not just that I am proud of my son. It is that I want him to be proud of me and this collaboration is my opportunity to impress him.
All relationships are like this. It is a two-way street. Always!
We love because God loved us first. (1Jn 4:19 GW)
Everything God has ever done (and will do) he did to get you to love him with all your heart and soul and strength.
I want your constant love, not your animal sacrifices. I would rather have my people know me than burn offerings to me. (Hos 6:6 GNB)
The purpose of every hurt and every disappointment you have ever experienced was to get you to close your heart to his love. Every attack by the enemy was an attempt to harden your heart in such a way that you would be unable to love him.
Relationships are a two-way street! And it would be absolutely tragic if the joy of loving and being loved by God were to be absent from your life. In an article for the St Augustine Record, Dr Lindsay Terry describes Laurie Klein’s experience when she wrote the now-famous song ‘I love you, Lord’.
It was a dark and stressful time in her life, and she had nothing to bring in worship to God. She prayed this prayer: “Lord, ‘If you want to hear me sing, would you give me something that you would like to hear?’”
The words “I love you Lord, and I lift my voice to worship You” came effortlessly and over the years thousands upon thousands have sung it. Here is the whole song.
I love you Lord
And I lift my voice
To worship You
Oh, my soul, rejoice!
Take joy my King
In what You hear
Let it be a sweet, sweet sound
In Your ear
And I lift my voice
(And I lift my voice)
To worship You
(To worship You)
Oh, my soul, rejoice!
(Oh, my soul)
A story is often told of a fairly senior man married for many years but forced by his wife to go marriage counselling. Arms folded angrily he listens to her telling the counsellor that he never tells her that he loves her. Exasperated he interrupts, saying, ‘I told you I loved you when I proposed. If anything changes, I will tell you.’
Relationships are a two-way street. God loves you. I encourage you to actively return his love. This song has filled many of the moments I have spent with God over the years. It is amazing the flow that opens up when we speak or sing these words. You should try it!
He would love to hear you say, ‘I love you!‘ And since he is saying it all the time…
Image by OpenClipart-Vectors from Pixabay
Previously posted here