Posts with the tag “love”

We have all heard 1 Corinthians 13:4-8. Likely, we’ve heard it in sermons, or quoted by a friend, or read on a coffee mug your grandma has from Cracker Barrel. “Love is patient, love is kind. It does ...  Read More

Gracious and kind Abba. Psalm 116 is a really beautiful Psalm, and a picture of the relationship God the Father wants to have with us. I would encourage you to read the entire Psalm, but Verses 5-7 re...  Read More

“Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.” - Matthew 5:7 If I’m being honest, I don’t know how many times I’ve read the beatitudes over and over again without even stopping to think abou...  Read More

This past weekend I attended my best friend’s wedding, and although I am not normally an emotional guy, I spent much of the ceremony crying my eyes out! I cried because of how much I love Jonathan and...  Read More

“‘Just as I swore in the time of Noah that I would never again let a flood cover the Earth, so now I swear that I will never again be angry and punish you. For the mountains may move and the hills dis...  Read More

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.  For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in ...  Read More

"So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him." - 1 John 4:16 NIV“And so we know and rely on the lo...  Read More

“Return to me, for I have redeemed you.” – Isaiah 44:22About this time last year, I became friends with the sweetest couple from Bangladesh. Now fast forward to this past weekend. I was hanging out wi...  Read More

“If you had known me, you would have known my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him.”Philip said to him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us.” Jesus said to him, “H...  Read More

What is love? Is it a feeling? Words? Actions? Does it vary from person to person or is there a universal definition of how to love? These are some things that are love to me, this list is by no means...  Read More

I don’t doubt that God speaks. I don’t doubt that God speaks to me. I doubt that He speaks kindly. Ultimately, I doubt that He speaks in love. As a practice, I want to go through 1 Corinthians 13:4-7....  Read More

My Papa died from heart failure this time last year. His death was painful, leaving an empty void in our lives: the absence of a husband for Grammy, a father for my mom, and a spiritual role model for...  Read More

I don’t know about you, but whenever I hear Jesus described as “perfect,” I feel some kind of yucky feelings arise in me. It makes my failure feel closer. It makes me want to quit trying and it makes ...  Read More

One of the most groundbreaking talks that I heard at Wesley happened during my third year as a student. I listened to Blake Wiggins give a talk on honor. When I tell you this talk wrecked me, it destr...  Read More

“This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it; ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” - Matthew 22:38-40 Have you ever...  Read More

“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself. All th...  Read More

“Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and fir...  Read More

I can remember the conversation almost like it happened yesterday.  “God is our Father, right?” “Yes,” my youth pastor answered after a Sunday morning service, a little hurried. “He’s also our Friend,...  Read More

The bite in the air this past week filled me with dread. My favorite season is coming to a close, and fall has officially made its arrival.I realize I am not in good company in my displeasure about th...  Read More

Every Tuesday morning, Wesley’s staff gathers to pray over what we feel like God is doing in the ministry, the campus, and the world at large. At our first 7:30 Prayer in August, the first one we’d ha...  Read More

This week, we are harkening back to our past. The blogs this week have been written by past directors who are a part of Wesley’s rich history partnering with God.  Even now, we have opportunity to ste...  Read More

I have been really into World War II documentaries recently. I think I find some comfort in the perspective it brings. What is war but pure division on display? What pain are people capable of endurin...  Read More

Fear has gripped the lives of many. It destroys, it quenches, it blames, it persecutes. It causes panic that is unholy. It casts dreams, cares, desires, and holy hopes to the grave. The dead remain th...  Read More

You know that deep feeling of being seen and loved when a friend knows exactly what is wrong before you even have to explain anything to them? It's like they can read your mind and know exactly what y...  Read More

What is family?Family looks different for each of us. Some of us are blessed with wonderful, close-knit families, while others cannot depend on a shared bloodline to make a relationship. There is a wo...  Read More

When quarantine started in March, I was determined that I would be more in love with Jesus at the end of quarantine than I was at the beginning. Each morning, I would decide ways to spend my time that...  Read More

"The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding." - Proverbs 9:10To even touch on an understanding of the nature of God is to fall at his feet completel...  Read More

“Whoever loves discipline loves knowledge, but he who hates reproof is stupid.” - Proverbs 12:1  ESV  “To learn the truth you must long to be teachable, or you can despise correction and remain ignora...  Read More

"Lord, you know everything there is to know about me.You perceive every movement of my heart and soul,and you understand my every thought before it even enters my mind. You are so intimately aware of ...  Read More

“If I give all my possessions to feed the poor, and if I surrender my body to be burned, but do not have love, it profits me nothing,” -1 Corinthians 13:3One of my good friends brought up this verse j...  Read More

Learning to love God is simultaneously the easiest and hardest journey that we choose to embark on when we begin following with God. Loving God is easy, because he first loved us. We see his love mark...  Read More

You know how they say marriage is like a magnifying glass for our selfishness and sin issues? Well, step aside holy matrimony, quarantine may have just taken your place. Many of us have never experien...  Read More

Working in ministry, I hear this word weekly, if not daily. It’s a word filled with big dreams and a lot of hope, but do we understand the implications of what we ask for when we ask the Lord for rest...  Read More

“Now Mary stood outside the tomb crying. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb and saw two angels in white, seated where Jesus’ body had been, one at the head and the other at the foot. The...  Read More

“The angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay.” - Ma...  Read More

Before spring break, the thing God was teaching me the most was about friendship, both with Jesus and the people around me. Not sending me out to make more friends or build more community, but really ...  Read More

“Help me let you go; Help me give up control of the God I’ve made you when my fear has contained you*” Fear is a tricky thing. It can consume you. Shake you. It can keep you from good things and send ...  Read More

There is a book that I have been reading called The Supernatural Ways of Royalty by Kris Vallotton and Bill Johnson. As I was praying about which direction to take this blog in, I thought this next bi...  Read More

Sin can feel like a strong word. It is weighty, for sure. However, I think sometimes I misinterpret the actual meaning of sin and what it does to the simplicity of us getting to love the spirit of God...  Read More

Shame is not of God.This post is all about shame—what it is, where it’s from, and what we do with it. But I want to start off with that huge fact. Shame is not, nor will it ever be, from God.Now that ...  Read More