High, Long, Deep, and Wide...

Even when you feel lonely, God is with you. Even if you feel unloved, God loves you. God's love is simply amazing. I know I blogged about love the other day, but I just wanted to talk about it again... I wish everyone knew and felt God's love...

A well-known bible verse is John 3:16:

For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, so that

whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.

Now, I don't know who's reading this, but think about it... As a parent, whether you are one or will be in the future, would you give up YOUR son or daughter. God loves us that much. He gave up his Son so that, by believing that Jesus died on the cross and rose again, as well as by having a relationship with God, we can live with Christ forever in Heaven. I can't even imagine giving up my child for the rest of this world to live forever... That's just how much God loves you. He loves you enough to give up his ONLY child so that you may live forever.

In my last blog, I referenced Ephesians 3:18:

May you have the power to understand 

how wide, how long, how high, and how deep God's love is.

 God's love for us spans farther than we will ever know... It is there for us no matter what mistakes we make or how badly we have messed up.... God loves us more than anything in this world. There's so many people in this world and God loves each and everyone of us the same - so greatly. God's love is wider than the span of anyone's arms. He's holding us tightly. He's never letting go. We are always in His arms, no matter the situation. God's love lasts longer than our lives, longer than any other love anyone could give us. God's love never ends. God's love for us will be there when we feel nobody else loves us. God's love is high. We can't see tomorrow, but God can. That's just how high God's love for us is. He can see our future, He knows everything that's going to happen to us. And He is going to be there for us no matter what, through each and every decision we make. God will never ever stop loving us. And finally, God's love is deep. So deep that it can heal the deepest hurts and scars on your heart. So deep that it can feel that pain with you. But God wants you to turn to Him. He wants you to see that He loves you no matter what.

1 John 1:9 says if we confess, He is faithful. My youth pastor taught us that his first week with us back in November of 2011. And that is something that will stay with me forever, even though my youth pastor has gone on to a different church. God knows we make mistakes. God knows we mess up. He saw that first in Adam and Eve when they disobeyed Him by eating fruit from the tree which He told them not to eat from. God already knows that we are going to sin, that we are going to mess up, that we may stray off the path He wants us to go down. But if we pray and confess our mistakes, our sins, our wrongdoings, and truly repent and turn away from those things, God gives us a clean slate. Those mistakes, wrongdoings, sins - they're all gone. They're washed away because Jesus shed his blood for us. Jesus came to this Earth and gave his life so that we can be with God forever in Heaven. 

Accept God into your life. Even if you are a Christian, rededicate your life to Him. God wants you to feel His love so badly. He can only work in your life if you let Him. Pray. Ask Christ into your life. You won't regret it.

All We Need is Love...God's Love

This worship service is for YOU. Take it as slowly as you would like. I want to give you the opportunity to worship during the week. This "worship service" is for you to glorify God. It's not for me. Feel free to send me prayer requests via e-mail or Twitter to include in these weekly posts, so that whoever reads this may keep those requests in their prayers.

I'm glad that you have made the choice to join me today in praising our mighty Savior! Let's jump right in with Here I Am to Worship!

Dear God, thank you for getting us through this past week. Thank you for keeping us safe and giving us the ability to reach people all across the world. Be with us as we worship you today. Let us feel your love. Here we are to worship, here we are saying "YOU are my God." Let our lives reflect that of Jesus' here on Earth. Let our love be an outpouring of Yours, because Your love never fails. Amen.

Now, last week I asked for prayer requests, and I got none (this is where I would post them!). However, I have a few request of my own:

My uncle is currently in the hospital with pneumonia. He has smoked for most

of his life and has lung issues. He also has had stomach issues. For the

past year or so he has lived with my grandmother. He

has been in and out of the hospital within

that time period as well. He has been on oxygen, and still smokes. Last

week, they also discovered that he has a hernia. The end is drawing

near as his lungs grow weaker and weaker. Please pray that the Lord does His will

among all this.

Now, take this time to pray. Talk to God. Listen to Him. Let Him know your wants, your needs, your feelings. Thank Him for what He has done for you and given you.





(This next one doesn't have lyrics...I couldn't find one that does....

You'll get the hang of it if you want to sing along...Or just listen!)

God's love is marvelous. Wonderful. He sacrified His Son for us, so that we may have enternal life. How amazing. Jesus came into our world and experienced all that we have and will. God gave up His son's life because He loves us so much. God knows we aren't perfect, but He loves us anyways. His love never fails. No matter what situation we get ourselves in, no matter how far off the path we stray. God's love will never end.

Now, last week we started our series on the Fruits of the Spirit, and we talked about how Christ wants us to represents those fruits. He doesn't want us to be hard-shelled nuts that won't open up about their faith. This week, we are talking about the first Fruit -- LOVE. God wants us to love others as He loves us. His love will overflow our hearts, allowing us to love others.

In the Greek language, there are many words that mean "love." Agape is used to represent God's love for us. We must have this love for others. You may ask, "how do I know I love others in this way?" Let's take a look at the definition of love in 1 Corinthians:

In each of our relationships, we must show love for the other person in this way. This love is not only necessary between a couple, but friends and family members must show this love to each other as well. To show our love to others, we must be patient, we must not delight in evil, we must not be easily angered. We must open up our hearts to the lost and lonely. They may be hard to love, but they need our love the most. Through our love, they will learn the love of Christ.

2 John 1:6 (above) says that God commands us to love one another. That means, if we say we hate someone, we are disobeying God. If we ignore that homeless person on the side of the street asking for help, we are disobeying God. God wants us to show His love to others. If we treat others poorly, God's love is not reflected in us as it should be. God wants our love to grow so big that it will chase people down and overtake them, just like God's love has done to us.



The verse above, Ephesians 3:18, is one of my favorites. My previous youth pastor did a message for us on this verse, and it has stuck with me ever since. God's love is so amazing, so overpowering. His love so deep that it can heal even your deepest pain. His love is so high it can see tomorrow although we cannot. His love is so long that it lasts longer than an other relationship you will ever have. Even when things are falling apart, that is the one relationship that will never fail. We must show this love to others. Our love will never match the love God has for humanity, but it must reflect it. Our love should make other people want to feel the love of Christ.

Yes, it is difficult to certain people. I've been there. We all have. But, having a love like Jesus, like God, means growing to love everyone. You don't have to like someone's actions to show them love. Jesus did not like the things many people around him were doing...but do you think that stopped him from loving them? Remember, sin an action done by a real live person. There is a saying, "hate the sin, not the sinner." We all sin, and if we hated everyone who sinned, there wouldn't be a single person on Earth that we would be able to love. We all sin, and Jesus still loves us. We must show that love and grace to others. Sometimes, we need to look beyond the act and at the person.

God loves us so that we know how to love others. God pours His love into our hearts so that we have love to give others. God's love for us is unconditional. Our love for others, although difficult, must be unconditional as well. We must be full of grace, just like Christ. This week, let God's love fill your heart, and as it does, let it overflow and let that love be spread to others.

Pray with me. Abba, Daddy... Thank you for loving me. Thank you for your neverending forgiveness and mercy. Help me to show that same love to others. I know it won't be easy, but guide me. Show me the way. I love you. Amen.

Our final song today is "My Soul Magnifies the Lord." Let your life, your soul, be a reflection of God, of His love.

If you have any prayer requests or other suggestions, feel free to let me know! Also, follow this blog for update notifications!