Prayer Requests and Gratitudes

Sunday, April 24, 2016

Hardships Attract Love

~~~ Fifth Sunday of Easter ~~~
~~~ Acts of the Apostles 14:21-27 ~~~ Psalm 145 ~~~
~~~ Revelation 21:1-5A ~~~ John 13:31-33A, 34-35 ~~~

I give you a new commandment: 
love one another.
As I have loved you, 
so you also should love one another.

Jesus left us with this single important
 commandment to love.
We just cannot seem to keep his one request.

Every time we try
 we close off parts of our heart.
Each time we try to love we let 
our emotions take charge.
Too often we make excuses for who we love...
and who we do not love.
Yes, we make decisions about who not to love.
We may even be someone who is 
not loved by someone.

To love one another as Jesus commanded
 is not about feelings.
Jesus is compassionate...just...all loving.

God gave Moses the ten commandments 
written on stone tablets.
Jesus gives one commandment so profound
it over shadowed the previous ten.

If we could love as Jesus wants us to love
the other commandments would be so much easier to keep.


“It is necessary for us to undergo many hardships
to enter the kingdom of God.”

There are many types of hardships we could discuss.
Let's consider the hardships connected with love.

It is a hardship to have your love rejected.
It is a hardship to have your love ignored.

It is a hardship to have your love minimized...ridiculed.
It is a hardship to discover your love has been betrayed.

Our personal hardships just might be prepping
 us to be completely overwhelmed 
by the love Jesus has for us.

No matter how much we try to love
the pure love of 
the kingdom of heaven
is boundless.

Every day we must ask Jesus 
to teach us how to keep his commandment of Love.
How do we learn to love better?

The more we practice loving without judging
 the better we will be prepared to enter 
the kingdom of heaven.

When we love 
then even our hardships will be less painful.

Hardships can attract more and more
 love if we let them.
Be Blessed in Love every day.
~~~Peace~~~

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