love

Weekly Devotional: Nothing More Hopeful than Love
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Weekly Devotional: Nothing More Hopeful than Love

13 Three things will last forever—faith, hope, and love—and the greatest of these is love.

1 Corinthians 13:13 (NLT)

I’ve come to realize something: need hope? then love.

I don’t think I have to go into an explanation of how and why love is the most powerful thing. But I do think sometimes we forget about the close correlation love has with hope. Hope can be a hard thing to keep. At times it feels like we are hanging on to it by a single thread. From a cliff. With one hand. And it’s raining, making our grip nearly impossible.

The one thing that gives us strength to keep hanging onto that precious thread is love. If you don’t seem to have enough of it, then give it out. More love=more hope. Think of love, and get hope.

 

 

 

Weekly Devotion-Tough Love
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Weekly Devotion-Tough Love

May the Lord lead your hearts into a full understanding and expression of the love of God and the patient endurance that comes from Christ.

-2 Thessalonians 3:5

I find it interesting that “the love of God” and “patient endurance” is together in the same scripture, both being encouraged and persuaded. I’ve been told by a very wise individual in my life that sometimes the love of God is putting us through challenges that ultimately make our character stronger, because our character is the most important thing to him.

This scripture is a prayer for us, that we would come to understand the patient endurance that God wants us to have, endurance that comes only from Christ. We need it, to overcome, to press on, to finish. It’s something we call “tough love.” Even God uses it, and it’s always for our best.

A Poem A Week #21
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A Poem A Week #21

What is the Wind?

What is the wind?
The formless breath of God
Or the whispers of my prayers
That I speak aloud
To the day?
Is it the voice of flowers
Singing a tune
For the bees on a spring day,
Or a song of longing
As they wait for winter’s grasp
To loosen and decay?
Is it the way the Earth touches
To feel what my skin and hair
Are like, the way it caresses
So as to know
How soft a human cheek is?
Is it the waves of the clouds
As they skim over the ocean
Of the sky, billowing,
Making the swoosh sound
That slides past my ear
As the wind passes by?
What is the wind?
What is this invisible strength
That pushes and hugs?
What is this mystery
That traverses the world
And yet stops to say hello
To me, in my little corner?
Is this love?

by Catherine Joy

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Today’s the day…if you loved someone

Photo May 17, 3 13 18 PM

We likely all have that one person in our lives. Perhaps they make you detour when you see them approach, or they make your blood pressure go up by the first word. It’s time to pretend to love them. And the more you do that, you’ll start to notice…hey, maybe their not so bad after all.

Today’s the day you’ve been waiting for. Now make a reason why.

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A Poem A Day #519

A Dream Cannot Live in an Un-Stricken World

A dream cannot live
In an un-stricken world.
You see, it’s the pain and the zest
That wake it up,
Make it a test.
A dream needs a substance,
A lifeform, tenacity.
A dream only lives wild,
Like cannon fire,
meek and beguiled.
It needs passion and fame,
The fire eater kind.
The kind that are brave,
With minds that bend
And sometimes concave.
A dream needs a story.
It requires good heart
And love, and fight.
A drop of good fortune,
A whole lot of bite.

By Catherine Joy

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A Poem A Day #514

Love Travels A Distance by Keith Garrett Poetry

A boy and his dog, love between two,

Each day he waits at the stroke of four.

Soon they will be separated by circumstance,

Strength and courage will be tested, a faithful friend….

You’ll have to read the rest at http://keithgarrettpoetry.com/2013/09/27/love-travels-a-distance/   ^_^

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A Poem A Day #509

I Wrote Today

I wrote today,
Only thirty minutes.
It was about silly things,
Trivial things,
Matters of the heart
And matters concerning doubt.
I wrote today
Because I was angry.
I wondered why
I could not write more,
Why it hurt so much
To put words to thoughts.
I wrote today
About why the world
Was as it is.
Couldn’t it be better?
Must the thing I love the most
Be the hardest to create?
How my heart ached.
I wrote today
To numb the pain,
Unaware that I only made more.
Words were pain;
Words were also delight.
While my heart burned inside,
It also soared.
So I wrote today,
Because it’s what I do best.
Though everything hurt,
I wrote anyway.

By Catherine Joy

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A Poem A Day #508

What do you say?

My brother took my hands
And said, “I want you to see
A wide open land, a horizon,
And many beautiful trees.
And Jesus is standing,
Waiting, on a low sloping hill.”
I could see it in my mind,
A sweet and breathless thrill.
“He only has eyes for you,”
He said. Jesus’ eyes are shining,
And there was a gentle breeze
Effortlessly combining
With the sensation of awe
That trilled in my chest.
The way Jesus looked at me,
It had to be the best.
“He holds something in his hand.
He is turning it to and fro.
Do you know what it is?”
Yes, I certainly did know.
“It’s a ring,” I said,
My eyes tightly closed.
“And what does that mean?” he asked.
I think Jesus just proposed.
“He wants me to be his bride.”
“And what do you say?”
That is when I cried.
My heart burned
With an unspeakable pain.
I could fee the tightly gripping hand;
I could feel the binding chain.
“I want to,” I said.
“I want to, but I can’t say yes.”
“That’s okay,” my brother said.
“He doesn’t love you any less.”
Jesus reached out his hand,
And I looked at with shame.
“It’s okay, my love,” he said.
“I still see you the same.
I will keep wooing you,
Every single day.
I will never leave you nor forsake you.
So what do you say?”

By Catherine Joy