God is teaching me a lot about abiding lately. today He did it again, but it started with love and He has been teaching me about love as well. these past weeks i feel like i have been learning about love... how to love well. and as i read john 15 about abiding, it not only talks about abiding in the vine, but in verse 9 it says to "abide in my love". when we abide in Christ we are abiding in His love.
my brother in law and family are in town and they took A for the day, which was such an unexpected blessing in which i took advantage of and got to do a lot of school work. i went to campus and conquered research on a paper i need to write. i got to campus early on purpose to attend chapel to hear the rest of the series from tuesday's chapel. i received a surprise present by a couple that led praise, it was amazing. it was during that praise i was reminded of love and abiding. the couple sang this song about love... it touched me. i wish it was a common song, but it was something the wife had wrote. it was just a song filled with truth that i needed to hear. the words of the song took me back to john 15 verse 9, "as the father has loved me, so have i loved you. abide in my love." then in verse 12 it says, "this is my commandment, that you love one another as i have loved you." powerful... so as i sat there praising with my brothers and sisters this song... i teared up... i have been longing to love better in every situation, in every circumstance, every person... surrendering control and ask that the Lord will provide me the ability to love... and that comes by abiding in Him. as i prayed, i felt this great release... i can't do this on my own... it's exhausting whenever we try to do things on our own... but with Christ i can do all things.
Lord you are the source of all things... and i cannot do anything without abiding in you and being connected to you... would you continue to grow me and help me to abide in you... deeper, fuller and richer?
i just want to finish with the famous verses on love....
if i speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, i am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. and if i have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if i have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, i am nothing. if i give away all i burned, but have not love, i gain nothing.
love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. it does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
love never ends...
- 1 corinthians 13:1-8a-
**today i got to have a discussion with a man in my class who just got married 5 years after his wife passed away... it was such a healing time for me to have this discussion with him - he really knew and understood where i was coming from... and the words that are in bold are some things he taught me about being in the situation that i am in. what a blessing that the Lord places these people in my life.**
