Tag Archives: love of God

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Love Endures All Things


Rio Jimenoa in Jarabacoa, the Dominican Republic.

Rio Jimenoa in Jarabacoa, the Dominican Republic.

“’God is asking you to go through some dark places for love of Him. But though you may seem to stumble much and even at times to fall, yet you are doing all He asks of you when you continue to say “Thy will be done,” even though you have to force yourself to say it. He is without question calling on you to suffer somewhat for Him, and I suppose it is ever the case with us all that we think we could endure so much more easily everything except that which He wants us to endure.” (Hughson, Shirley Carter. The Spiritual Letters of Shirley Carter Hughson. West Park, NY: Holy Cross Press, 1953, p. 3.)

Endurance involves an unchanging circumstance of some sort that I would not have chosen or do not enjoy. I don’t use the word “endure” about pleasant or welcome things. In the hard places, my love for Jesus has an opportunity to be tested. It’s easy to love when things go according to “my will be done,” but when they go against my wishes, I can say, “Jesus, I love you more than I love my preferences. I love you more than I love getting my way. Your kingdom really is better than mine. Enable me to wait for the fruit of your kingdom in this situation in which I find myself.”

What are the endurance places in your life these days? How might this be the unexpectedly perfect place to express your love for Jesus?

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About Prayer: Less is More


A view from the Journey in the Dominican Republic last month.

A view from the Journey in the Dominican Republic last month.

Matthew 6:7-8 NIV, “And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.

I’ve prayed with followers of Jesus in many traditions. When it comes to us Evangelicals, we are the wordy ones. In this text, Jesus says that it is pagans who don’t know the Father who ramble on endlessly, assuming that the more words said, the better the prayer and the more likely God will hear and answer.

Why so many words? Might it be that we have forgotten that our loving Father already knows what we need before we ask? Do we really believe we need to inform Him of something He does not yet know? How would our prayers become simpler if we really believed that He both knew and cared about what we need (even if we’re still waiting for His response)?

So, when I pray, I might do well to begin with no words at first, but a simple remembering of God’s presence with me, in Spirit and with favor. He wants my good. I can remember that. I don’t need to inform Him. I don’t need to convince Him. I don’t need to cajole Him. I just need to ask.

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Concentrate on Love


A wild baby goat in Petra, Jordan

“I have known the satisfaction of unrestrained action, and the joy of the contemplative life in the dazzling peace of the desert, and I repeat again St. Augustine’s words: ‘Love and do as you will.’ Don’t worry about what you ought to do. Worry about loving. Don’t interrogate heaven repeatedly and uselessly saying, “What course of action should I pursue?” Concentrate on loving instead.

And by loving you will find out what is for you. Loving, you will listen to the Voice. Loving, you will find peace.” (Carretto, Carlo. Letters from the Desert. Trans. Rose Mary Hancock. Maryknoll: Orbis Books, 1972, p. 24-25.)

This is a good word for me. In my 20s and 30s, “unrestrained action” would have been an accurate description of me. As I’ve moved into my 40s and now 50s, though “the joy of the contemplative life in the dazzling peace of the desert” isn’t a precise description of my life, it certainly sounds close. I have lived increasingly as a contemplative in action over the last twenty years or so.

What I find especially helpful in Caretto’s words here is that my focus should not be so much on my “to do” list, but on loving God and loving others well. I can concentrate on loving. Unfortunately, my functional motto is sometimes, “Figure out what to do, and assume love will take care of itself.” But instead of assuming love, I’m invited to make love my primary intention.

For Reflection:

  • What would it look like if you made loving God and loving people your main job today? What would you do differently? How would you live differently?
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Morning Prayer: Lavishly Loved by the Father


Passage: 1 John 3:1-10

First reading

1 John 3:1a NIV, “See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!”

I am one of God’s lavishly loved sons. That really is who I am. It’s my primary identity. Every other identity defined by role, achievement, performance or another’s opinion is secondary at best. And the Father does not love me a little or just some. He loves me greatly and lavishly. I must let that love soak into my thoughts, feelings, assumptions, expectations and beliefs.

Second reading

1 John 3:9 NIV, “No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God’s seed remains in them; they cannot go on sinning, because they have been born of God.”

Feelings. I feel fearful that if I have sinned since claiming to be born of God, and sometimes in rather dramatic fashion, then how can I be called one of God’s children? I read “continue to sin” as, obviously, continual. While I have continued to sin in my 33 years as a Christian, in another way, I have continually repented and turned from my sin countless times as well. I have not wanted to stay in my sin when I have fallen, but have wanted to return, express grief and intend a different way. Perhaps in this way I have not been one who just “goes on sinning” without any twinge of conscience or concern. This thought brings me a sense of relief. I do desire to remain in Him and never distance or disconnect from Him.

Third reading

1 John 3:2-3 ESV, “Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is. And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure.”

Invitation. I am drawn to this “purifies himself” invitation. That it is given means that it is possible. Otherwise, it is a cruel word. I want to be pure like You, Father. I want to have a mind, a heart, a will, a body that is free from taint, mixture, deception. I welcome the guiding and empowering of Your Spirit in this intention. Apart from You, it is impossible for me to be pure. But I want to have a vision of You in Your beautiful purity that enables me to be pure myself. Amen.

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Knowing the Love of God


On Valentine’s Day, I thought it would be fitting to share a few words on the deep abiding love of God for us. Few have spoken to me of His love more profoundly than Brennan Manning. Here are a few excerpts I’ve collected over the years:

“When we get waylaid from our walk with God by busyness, depression, family problems, or worse, God does not abandon us. Nor, if we walk the way of trust, do we abandon God. When we wander off the path, that trust pulls us back; and we do not flinch, hesitate, or worry about being unwelcome in the Father’s arms. No matter where we are on the journey, we have a quiet confidence that our trust in God’s love gives God immense pleasure.” (Brennan Manning. Ruthless Trust. San Francisco: HarperSanFrancisco, 2000, p. 19.)

“…the heart of it is this: to make the Lord and his immense love for you constitutive of your personal worth. Define yourself radically as one beloved by God. God’s love for you and his choice of you constitute your worth. Accept that, and let it become the most important thing in your life.” (p. 49, quoting John Eagen. A Traveler Toward the Dawn. Chicago: Loyola University Press, 1990, Brennan Manning. Abba’s Child. Colorado Springs: NavPress, 1994, pp. 150-51.)

“In a moment of naked honesty, ask yourself, ‘Do I wholeheartedly trust that God likes me?’ (Not loves me, because theologically God can’t do otherwise.) ‘And do I trust that God likes me, not after I clean up my act and eliminate every trace of sin, selfishness, dishonesty, and degraded love; not after I develop a disciplined prayer life and spend ten years in Calcutta with Mother Teresa’s missionaries; but in this moment, right now, right here, with all my faults and weaknesses?’ If you answer without hesitation, ‘Oh yes, God does like me; in fact, he’s very fond of me,’ you’re living in the wisdom of accepted tenderness.” (Brennan Manning. The Wisdom of Tenderness. San Francisco: HarperSanFrancisco, 2002, p. 17.)

“…the splendor of a human heart which trusts that it is loved gives God more pleasure than Westminster Cathedral, the Sistine Chapel, Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, Van Gogh’s Sunflowers, the sight of ten thousand butterflies in flight, or the scent of a million orchids in bloom.” (Brennan Manning. Ruthless Trust. San Francisco: HarperSanFrancisco, 2000, p. 2.)

(A repost from February 2010)

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Knowing the Love of God


On Mother’s Day, I thought it would be fitting to share a few words on the deep abiding love of God for us. Few have spoken to me of His love more profoundly than Brennan Manning. Here are a few excerpts I’ve collected over the years:

“When we get waylaid from our walk with God by busyness, depression, family problems, or worse, God does not abandon us. Nor, if we walk the way of trust, do we abandon God. When we wander off the path, that trust pulls us back; and we do not flinch, hesitate, or worry about being unwelcome in the Father’s arms. No matter where we are on the journey, we have a quiet confidence that our trust in God’s love gives God immense pleasure.” (Brennan Manning. Ruthless Trust. San Francisco: HarperSanFrancisco, 2000, p. 19.)

“…the heart of it is this: to make the Lord and his immense love for you constitutive of your personal worth. Define yourself radically as one beloved by God. God’s love for you and his choice of you constitute your worth. Accept that, and let it become the most important thing in your life.” (p. 49, quoting John Eagen. A Traveler Toward the Dawn. Chicago: Loyola University Press, 1990, Brennan Manning. Abba’s Child. Colorado Springs: NavPress, 1994, pp. 150-51.)

“In a moment of naked honesty, ask yourself, ‘Do I wholeheartedly trust that God likes me?’ (Not loves me, because theologically God can’t do otherwise.) ‘And do I trust that God likes me, not after I clean up my act and eliminate every trace of sin, selfishness, dishonesty, and degraded love; not after I develop a disciplined prayer life and spend ten years in Calcutta with Mother Teresa’s missionaries; but in this moment, right now, right here, with all my faults and weaknesses?’ If you answer without hesitation, ‘Oh yes, God does like me; in fact, he’s very fond of me,’ you’re living in the wisdom of accepted tenderness.” (Brennan Manning. The Wisdom of Tenderness. San Francisco: HarperSanFrancisco, 2002, p. 17.)

“…the splendor of a human heart which trusts that it is loved gives God more pleasure than Westminster Cathedral, the Sistine Chapel, Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, Van Gogh’s Sunflowers, the sight of ten thousand butterflies in flight, or the scent of a million orchids in bloom.” (Brennan Manning. Ruthless Trust. San Francisco: HarperSanFrancisco, 2000, p. 2.)

(Repost from February 2010)

Buy a copy of one of these Brennan Manning books on Amazon:

Ruthless Trust: The Ragamuffin’s Path to God

Abba’s Child: The Cry of the Heart for Intimate Belonging

The Wisdom of Tenderness: What Happens When God’s Fierce Mercy Transforms Our Lives

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A Prayer for God’s People


(A repost from May 2010)

I had a wonderful time preaching the three services (9am, 11am and 6pm) at Ventura Vineyard yesterday. I have renewed respect for my friends who preach multiple services every week!

As I mentioned here yesterday, I preached from Paul’s prayer in Ephesians 3:14-21 on the theme of “Prayer as Relationship with God.”

Someone asked after the first service for a copy of my personal paraphrase of this prayer that I closed the service with. I told her I’d make it available here (Thanks for asking):

I humble myself before You, Father—Father of all fatherhood—and I ask that You would richly strengthen us with power through Your Spirit in the deepest places in us. Do this so that together we would know Christ at home in and among us. Rooted and foundationed in this place of unfailing love, enable us all to share together in the expansive width, the enduring length, the unreachable height, and the unfathomable depth of Christ’s own love for us. Open our hearts to know the love that what we can never fully know. As a result, may the life of God overflow our lives together in community. Do this and even more, God, in a way that surprises and even overwhelms us we pray, in Jesus’ name.

May God answer this prayer in my life and yours, in my community of faith and yours. Amen.

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Stated Priorities, Actual Priorities



Some steps in front of a home in Jarabacoa, Dominican Republic. Some mess, some life.

(An edited journal excerpt from December 13, 1990)

What are my actual priorities? I have said I want to be a person growing in my practical commitment love for Christ, His people, and the world He loves so much He died for it. Do these values actually guide me, or are there other unwritten, unspoken priorities that actually move me more?

As a Christian leader, for example, am I actually working on what it will mean to cultivate a people who love God, one another and the world around them more? What if that meant they needed to participate less in some of the meetings and events I plan? Would that expose a hidden priority to grow a personal empire? What moves me to the decisions, the plans and the goals I choose? I want a fruitful life and ministry. I don’t just want to be seen as successful by popular measures. I would like for my life and my work to build for God’s kingdom rather than for my own.

So lately, instead of merely prioritizing my schedule, I’ve been working to be a person who schedules my priorities. I’m seeking to plan for time to grow in and express my love for God, time to be with God’s people in a loving, serving way, and seeking to connect with those who have yet to be found by the One Who loves them most.

How many hundreds of ways have I learned to fritter away time in meaningless activity? Am I taking the relatively unimportant stuff in my life and then managing, organizing, and focusing my efforts only there? As a continually recovering perfectionist, do I do unimportant things with efficiency and so spend my time instead of investing it? As a person who has proclaimed a few simple, vital priorities in my life, I can learn not just to react to what life throws at me, or even just respond to requests that may be made, but grow to initiate activities at the nudge of God’s Spirit that are rich expressions of my priorities.

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Imperfect and Loved


“All in all, we suffer from the disease of perfectionism, which is the biggest obstacle to true perfection because it dries up the interior spirit, kills real faith, makes us concentrate on ourselves instead of Jesus, puts a “false Jesus” in our hearts instead of the real Jesus Who is a Savior. He is not waiting for us to become angels before He starts to love us. He loves us…not because we are good but because He is good…. Most of them believe this only in theory. They are obsessed with their own miserable little ‘perfection’ and ‘imperfection.’” (Thomas Merton. The School of Charity. Selected and edited by Brother Patrick Hart. New York: Farrar Strauss Giroux, 1990, p. 58.)

As a recovering perfectionist, I have tended only to see the upside of perfectionism in the past: “Look how much I get done and how well I do it!” The problem is that perfectionism, as I see more and more the imperfections around us (and especially in me) eventually paralyzes me since I realize the impossibility of achieving anything approaching true perfection with limited strength and wisdom.

I want to trust in life (and not just in theory) in the truth of Your love that is utterly detached from any sense of deserving or worthiness. You love me in my imperfection. He is not waiting for change to begin loving me. He loves me into the change He wants for me.

God doesn’t love imperfection–the without-God patterns of speech, attitude and behavior in our lives. He loves and has compassion on us because He knows our weakness and imperfection. Compassion only makes sense in the face of an object needing compassion. He doesn’t have compassion on stars or planets. He has compassion, He “feels with”, those that suffer and struggle–like us! Our imperfection, regardless of its cause, provokes and invites God’s compassion.

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Mother Teresa: Abandon to Jesus


(A repost from December 2009)

A while back, I read the Come Be My Light, the story of Mother Teresa’s life and spiritual journey. Many know that she spent most of the last decades of her life with little or no conscious sense of God’s presence, though remained a woman of deep and faithful prayer. Here are a couple of insights that helped me:

“‘When I see someone sad,’ she would say, ‘I always think, she is refusing something to Jesus.’’ It was in giving Jesus whatever He asked that she found her deepest and lasting joy; in giving Him joy she found her own joy.” (Mother Teresa. Come Be My Light. New York: Doubleday, 2007, p. 33.)

“She would again insist: ‘Don’t look for big things, just do small things with great love…. The smaller the thing, the greater must be our love.’” (p. 34.)

What little things is Jesus inviting you to do? Are you willing to do them with great love, rather than looking around for the dramatic thing you can do for Him?

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