Beauty In The Storm

FAVORED1 — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 20:18:32 +0000

Friday, February 12, 2010

And JESUS answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The LORD our GOD is one LORD: And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength: this is the first commandment. And the second is like, namely this, You shall love your neighbor as yourself. There is none other commandment greater than these.

[Mark 12:29-31]

Beauty In The Storm

Good Afternoon Beloved!

Happy Friday!

… Well… most of us have been on a little unscheduled vacation here in the Washington Metro region. Those two snow storms back to back showed us who was boss. We have long been viewed as ‘wimps’ by our northern kinfolk, in terms of how we deal with inclement weather. This was an extremely uncommon occurrence for us. We’ve had no experience in dealing with anything of this magnitude. Overall, I believe we are doing well under the circumstances. I always try to find the silver lining under a situation. In this case, it is the many ‘love’ stories and random acts of heroism and kindness that have been displayed. In my neighborhood, some beautiful soul shoveled a pathway all the way to the corner (a BIG deal when the snow is up to your hips). Whole neighborhoods have gotten together and dug themselves out. People have demonstrated… love. Well, this Sunday is Valentine’s Day. It has many supposed origins. The one I like best is this one:

There are varying opinions as to the origin of Valentine’s Day. Some experts state that it originated from St. Valentine, a Roman who was martyred for refusing to give up Christianity. He died on February 14, 269 A.D., the same day that had been devoted to love lotteries. Legend also says that St. Valentine left a farewell note for the jailer’s daughter, who had become his friend, and signed it “From Your Valentine”. Other aspects of the story say that Saint Valentine served as a priest at the temple during the reign of Emperor Claudius. Claudius then had Valentine jailed for defying him. In 496 A.D. Pope Gelasius set aside February 14 to honour St. Valentine… Under the rule of Emperor Claudius II Rome was involved in many bloody and unpopular campaigns. Claudius the Cruel was having a difficult time getting soldiers to join his military leagues. He believed that the reason was that roman men did not want to leave their loves or families. As a result, Claudius cancelled all marriages and engagements in Rome. The good Saint Valentine was a priest at Rome in the days of Claudius II. He and Saint Marius aided the Christian martyrs and secretly married couples, and for this kind deed Saint Valentine was apprehended and dragged before the Prefect of Rome, who condemned him to be beaten to death with clubs and to have his head cut off….

What a story! In all of the stories, the common denominator is that this was a good man, unjustly persecuted for a noble cause… Valentine’s Day makes PDA’s really cool (public displays of affection). It gives us a good excuse to tell those we love how we feel about them. Not just your mate, but your family, friends and acquaintances. Shoot ‘em a note and show ‘em your love Jesus said that we as children of God, would be known by our love. “Perfect love casts out all fear” (1 John 4:18). Love is mult-functional.. The Bible says ~

If I could speak all the languages of earth and of angels, but didn’t love others, I would only be a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. If I had the gift of prophecy, and if I understood all of GOD’s secret plans and possessed all knowledge, and if I had such faith that I could move mountains, but didn’t love others, I would be nothing. If I gave everything I have to the poor and even sacrificed my body, I could boast about it; but if I didn’t love others, I would have gained nothing. Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance. Prophecy and speaking in unknown languages and special knowledge will become useless. But love will last forever! Now our knowledge is partial and incomplete, and even the gift of prophecy reveals only part of the whole picture! But when full understanding comes, these partial things will become useless. When I was a child, I spoke and thought and reasoned as a child. But when I grew up, I put away childish things. Now we see things imperfectly as in a cloudy mirror, but then we will see everything with perfect clarity. All that I know now is partial and incomplete, but then I will know everything completely, just as GOD now knows me completely. Three things will last forever—faith, hope, and love—and the greatest of these is love.

[1 Corinthians 13:1-13]

Love Is the Greatest!

HAVE A HAPPY VALENTINE’S DAY!!!

I Love U! … but God Loves U More!

Y Stress? … U Blessed!

Have A Fabulous Day and a Wonderful Weekend…

Regina

“Love”, Kirk Franklin and God’s Property

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DfsrqvRsqvc

“First Love”, Kirk Franklin

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6TWQ3uwOSVw

“I Really Love You”, Fred Hammond