Embrace God’s Love !!!

Hello everyone… It’s so nice to have you back!  To experience the abundant life. as spoken of by Jesus in John 10:10, one must live life and love it!  These words are not as simple as they appear. Within each word are Godly principles, truths and promises that if followed hold the key to an enriched and fulfilling life. Today our topic is LOVE…specifically God’s love for us... His agape (ah-gop-pay) love. Agape love is the ultimate expression of God's loyalty, purity and mercy extended to mankind. It is the highest form of love  and is universal, unconditional transcending any circumstance.  We will explore our love for God, self and each other in later weeks, as they all are part of the first key LOVE.

  For me, I grew up as a believer, singing songs such as “Yes Jesus Loves Me” - Jesus loves me this I know…for the Bible tells me so.  I learned the scripture John 3:16 and was taught that God loved me because I was His child.  But I really didn’t begin to understand the depth of God’s love until adulthood… until I became a parent.  You see, as a child, I felt love from my parents, grandparents, brothers, cousins, aunties, and uncles.  But unfortunately, when it came to one of my older siblings, I didn’t feel loved at all.  I was physically and emotionally abused for several years and this left me hurt, broken and confused. Then, when I was 13, my mom died suddenly and this made me doubt God’s love even more.

      But as a new parent, one experiences love like never before…and for me, I discovered that I had the capacity to love deeply… unconditionally… selflessly.  This gave me a clearer understanding of the love my Heavenly Father had for me.  I came to realize that the magnitude of His love was far greater than any sin, mistake, fault or shortcoming that I might have. 1 John 4:16 states "God is love.  Whoever lives in love lives in God. and God in them." Reflect upon and hold on to this truth ( and others found in the link below)

  https://christianpf.com/bible-verses-about-gods-love/

when things get rough, when you begin to  put yourself down, and when you feel unworthy.  GOD’S love for us is unshakable, immovable and strong.  He sacrificed His beloved son Jesus, so that we would be saved from our sins.  When you know you are loved, you feel better about yourself and your  

                                    situation.  Embrace God’s love today for a brighter tomorrow!!!

                                                                         Until next time....

   Remember the 

 

PROMISE AND THE POWER OF

      GOD's LOVE FOR YOU !!!!                                          

TRIPLE L CLUB: 

 Living Life & Loving It

                                         

 Please leave a comment.  

      Next Post Tues 3/26/19       

Too Precious To Take For Granted!!!

LIFE

       Last year for me was like no other.  I brought in the New Year (2018) with the excitement of welcoming my 5^th grandchild into the world.  Plans were already in place to travel to Europe and spend a few days with the new parents and the precious newborn.  However, on the day of my departure, my new bundle of joy still had not come.  As it turned out, he was waiting for his Nannie before making his grand entrance!  Not more than 2 hours after my arrival, his mother and entourage headed to the hospital for the delivery.  She had been in labor all day and didn’t realize it.  Within 5 hours, she gave birth to a healthy baby and I served as a labor coach who witnessed his delivery!!! What a blessing…totally unexpected… but a memory I will always cherish.  Conversely, when my first grandchild was born, almost seventeen years earlier, I knew in advance that I would witness the birth.  However, after waiting in the hospital for a couple of hours under the chilly air conditioning, I left to get a jacket, and by the time I returned, the baby had been born. 

        I’m so thankful to have been blessed with  5 wonderful grandchildren and this part of my life is so rewarding…being a grandparent is one of the greatest experiences one could ever have.  The time spent with my newest grandchild quickly came to an end and I arrived back at BWI around 4am.  About an hour later, I was on the road headed home, happy to have beaten the morning rush hour.  I turned on some music and made a call a friend to let them know I had arrived safely.  That is when I noticed flames shooting up from the hood of my car…all this while I was driving about 60mph on 83!!!!  I immediately went into survival mode, pulled over to the shoulder, removed my seatbelt while grabbing my purse.  When I went to unlock the door, nothing happened…the locks didn’t work.  I tried again and again to no avail.  I kicked the windows on the front, driver and passenger sides several times.  That’s when smoke began to fill the car.  Honestly, I thought it was the end.  I yelled out JESUS and took a deep breath.  In my mind, I wanted my last words to be of Him.  One last time I tried the lock switch…definitely in panic mode, I kicked the door then tried the handle one last time and to my relief, the door popped opened. PRAISE GOD !!!!

        There was a couple in a car on the shoulder of the road behind me.  The man yelled for me to get away from my car and come into his.  As soon as  I got in the back seat, my car exploded!!! My angels explained that they had been following me for several miles.  They noticed flames coming from the bottom of the car and knew I was in trouble.  The warmth of the flames gave me an eerie feeling.  I was in shock. The brightness of the flames revealed agonized looks of bystanders who thought someone was in the car and surely expired from the explosion.  I was safe, I was in shock but most of all I was so thankful to GOD for sparing my life.  My grandson would get to know his grandmother after all and God had granted me more time on this earth.

That was January 2018 and towards the later months, I was diagnosed with lung cancer.  This was very shocking to me because I hadn’t really experienced any symptoms.  Everything happened so fast.  Between Election Day and Christmas:  I was diagnosed, tested and scanned more times than I can remember and then finally right before Christmas, I underwent a 6 hr surgery to remove part of my lung.  Again, God blessed me and allowed me to walk out of the hospital 2 days later. No chemo or radiation is needed thus far as my doctor thinks he caught it in time.  You see I have the Big G (GOD) to take care of the little c.  Over the past 3 months, I have had plenty of time to think about all of these events. 

     And one thing that is so abundantly clear, is that Life is So Very Precious… and there are no guarantees.  We should not take it for granted for except by God’s grace can it be taken away.        There’s no time for hatred, pettiness, unforgivness, strife, toxic people, or anything that can depleteor destroy the beauty and quality of the life God has given us.  No matter how you feel or what you are going through, your life is a gift…appreciate it.  Give your problems and troubles over to GOD…He can and will help you.  Forgive others and always be thankful for what you have.  Be mindful that no matter how bad you think things are, there is always someone worse off than you.  The more you focus on GOD and helping others, the smaller your problems will seem.

Until next time... Saturday 3/23 !!! Thanks for your time and input.  All comments are welcome!  Please spread the word.  I love you but GOD loves you best.  

Starting Off Right !!!!

We really appreciate your patience during our "downtime" over the past 3 weeks. I did not realize that I would not be able to enter posts or administer changes to the blog while I was out of the country.  And even though I had an assistant here in the US, there were still technical issues that had to be resolved.  Thank you for understanding and tolerating our growing pains.  With that said I would like to introduce the Triple L Club's new format and pray that there will be no more glitches, thus allowing for consistent posts and comments throughout the week.

During our intro posts, we reviewed the 3 Triple L components Living, Life & Loving It (Live, Life, Love). Each week (on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday) you will find a post on one of the Ls for the week.

                                                    LIVE                           

 Living is more than just waking up every morning.  I don't know about you, but some days that very act of getting started is harder than other days.  What keeps you going, or motivated to begin another day?  How do you set your agenda and maintain it throughout the day?  What catapults you to that place of living (for the day) instead of merely going through the motions?  One mistake I've made is not taking those first few minutes upon awakening and acknowledging the source of life...GOD.  Thanking Him for another day to live and experience life is something I should never be too busy to do.  Secondly, it is so important to take the time to remember that everything I face can wait a few minutes...that it is so important to start my day with an attitude of gratitude and reflection: a word of prayer, scripture and reflection (devotion).  No matter how packed the agenda is, this time with our Creator sets the tone for the entire day.   I didn't always do this, and sometimes even now I don't do everything right away.  But I make it a point, before my feet hit the floor, to wiggle my toes, move my limbs, and whisper a word of thanks to GOD for another day! And before get to work, usually during the ride, I commune with God. 

                     

            "All of that sounds good (those images above)…but HOW you might ask…it’s not as easy as it sounds".  As adults, our lives have become complicated with the responsibilities of managing our lives, parenting, maintaining relationships and jobs, and so many other things.  God knows and loves you.  He is here to help you and enrich your life. You are not in this alone!  Start each day with an open mind and a sincere heart, acknowledging Him and his importance to you.  It’s so easy to get caught up in the day to day hustle and bustle, but believe me, when you start your day with God, maneuvering becomes much easier. You accomplish more and better equipped to handle the unexpected. Even when things are rough, it’s good to know that the Creator of the universe has your back!  God honors your faith and trust in Him and appreciates your desire and effort in developing a true relationship with Him. Therefore, determine to start your day off right and give God some time...  START each day with GOD!
                                

He is.... Priscilla Shirer    (Video Link...Please Listen)

                                                    
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        Thanks for joining us.  Next post Thursday 3/21/19.  Please enhance the LLL community by adding a comment below.  Until next time...
                             Keep Living For God !!!