Love Is...Not What You Think

   In light of Valentine's Day, I thought I post a few Bible verses about Biblical love and Christ's love for us.

   1 John 4:7-21
(7)Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God.
(8)He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.
(9)In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him.
(10)Herin is love, not that we loved God, but that he loves us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.
(11)Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought to also love one another.
(12)No man hath seen God at any time. If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and his love is perfected in us.
(13)Hereby we know that we dwell in him, and he in us, because he hath given us his Spirit.
(14)And we have seen and do testify that the Father sent the Son to be the Savior of the world.
(15)Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and he in God.
(16)And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him.
(17)Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgement: because as he is, so are we in this world.
(18)There is no fear in love; but perfect casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not perfect in love.
(19)We love him because he first loved us.
(20)If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen?
(21)And this commandment have we from him, that he who loveth God love his brother also.

Obviously, the word love is used frequently in this chapter.
We learned that love is...of God, perfect, fearless and unconditional.

In 1 Corinthians 13, we see that love, or charity, is long-suffering, kind and self-less. It is not boastful or envious.

Mark 12:31 says "...love thy neigbor as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these."

Luke 6:27 says "But I say unto you which hear, Love your enemies, do good to them which hate you."

Biblical love is very different than the world's definition of love, which is self-satisfying, conditional, often impatient and flawed. Biblical love is just the opposite and is best exemplified by Christ's death on the cross to cover our sins.

Go Pack Go!

           

   This year's Superbowl game was great!...Or so I heard. After a long day of spending time with friends, eating birthday cake and talking in foreign accents, I didn't make it home in time to watch the entire game. I flipped on the tv just in time to catch the last 30 seconds of the game. The Packers won!!! GO PACK GO!! I was bouncing around with excitement, happy that my team of choice had won, when I heard something that suprised me.
A reporter was interviewing the Packers wide reciever, Greg Jennings. "How does this feel?" She asked him as confetti fell all around, "How does this moment feel after all that the team has been through?"
He looked at her and replied, "Glory to God. All the glory goes to God."
I was a bit shocked and pretty pleased to hear someone who's team had just won the Superbowl giving glory to God as opposed to spouting off about how hard the team had worked and how they deserved this. My mom looked over at me.
"Do you think God cares about football?" She asked.
I thought for a moment and said "I think that He probably cares about anything that we give glory to Him in."

1 Peter 4:11
"If any man speak, let him speak as the oracles of God; if any man minister, let him do it as of the ability which God giveth: that God in all things may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom be praise and dominion, forever and ever..."

Waking Up To Snowmageddon

   Three days ago, I woke up to one of the biggest blizzards that I've ever witnessed. It snowed...and snowed...and snowed. All day long. And then, just as all the snow was wrapping up, it snowed some more!
  The only thing that has motivated me to leave my cozy house this week is the need to go to dance classes. In the past week, I've come to find that dancers are similar to the employees of the United States Postal Service. "Neither snow, nor rain, nor heat, nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds." Nothing, not even Snowmaggedon, can keep us from doing our duty.
   Some people like snow. Their hearts leap for joy when the weather man announces "99.9999% chance of snow". They can't wait to bundle up and dash outside to roll around in the snow, making impressions of angels. I used to be one of the people. Then, I realized something. Snow is COLD! Now, I'm quite content to just sit inside with my feet wrapped in warm fuzzy socks, sipping hot tea, and watching my neighbors scoop the snow off of their driveways.
   In the end, despite all of the trouble that snow causes; wind chills of -12 degrees and plummeting, stuck cars, my poor father being trapped at work because the highway's closed down and slippery sidewalks that cause you to fall on your behind, I find that I still think that snow is a beautiful thing. It's sparkly, peaceful, and causes the earth to fall into the dormant state that it needs to be in for a short time in order for it to rest and replenish so that we might have a lovely, green spring. It covers the brown winter ground with pure white. It's a subtle, or not so subtle in the case of this particular storm, reminder of how Christ has covered our sins and made us beautiful, pure, and new.

And So It Begins...

I've been thinking and praying about starting a blog for quite some time. I've also been putting off the idea...for quite some time. However, there's a massive blizzard going on outside and I've nothing better to do than to dive in and start writing!
The time for procrastinating has officially ended.

The name of this blog is just a representation of how I am saved by Jesus Christ and covered by His blood. It could also have something to do with my red hair in a round about, metaphorical sort of way.

I'm not entirely sure what this blog is going to become. I suppose that it will just be me: what's going on in my life, thoughts, insights, random tidbits and some of what God is showing me as I grow in Him.

Let's get this party started!