God is Love

        I cannot tell you how often we hear that God is Love but what I am finding is that a lot of professed Christians really do not know what these words truly mean. I was listening to the news today and heard a report about a guy running for political office, Richard Mourdock, who declared that if  a woman gets pregnant as a result of a rape, that God meant for it to happen.  The other statement that I hear often is that God hates gay people or God does not love gay people.   PLEASE STOP IT!  These statements have nothing to do with THE LOVE OF GOD.  God's love is profound.  It is beyond measure and comprehension.  I will try to explain.  John 3:16 KJV -  For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him, should not perish,but have everlasting life. This explains it all and it is real simple. God loves the world!  The Bible does not say God loves the world of perfect people, the world of straight people, the world once you get your act together, the world of sober people, the world of Christians, the world of nice people, or the world of rich people.  God loved the people of  the world just as they were and as they are now. It is only Satan who leads people to believe the mess that other people try to throw on the wall of God and make it stick.  God is very simple in terms of love. He is not the author of anything that is confusing. God is truly about loving ALL people just as they are.  His grace allows us to be able to go to Him with all of our mess and imperfections and He loves us just the same.  God does not even require you to change in any way to come to Him.  It is only through the study of His word  and a desire to follow His words that we will evolve and change.
       Do not confuse the works of Satan with the acts of God.  There is evil in this world.  Spiritual warfare is a reality.  There has always been and will always be battles between good and evil.  What happens in our lives is not different than what happened in the life of Job.  Always remember how and why evil came in to Job's life.  Job 1:1 KJV of the Bible states, There was a man in the land of UZ, whose name was Job; and that man was perfect and upright, and one that feared God, and eschewed evil.  In other words, Job was a good and decent man who shunned evil. Job1:6-12 makes it very clear that Satan is the author of the evil that happens in our lives.  It states, Now there was a day when the sons of God come to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan came also among them. And the Lord said unto Satan, Whence comest thou? Then Satan answered the Lord, and said, From going to and fro in the earth and from  walking up and down it. And the Lord said unto Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God , and escheweth evil?  The Satan answered the Lord, and said, Doth Job fear God for nought?  Hast not thou made a hedge about him, and about his house, and about all that he hath on every side? thou hast blessed the work of his hand, an his substance is increased in the land.  But put forth thine hand now, and touch all that he hath, and he will curse thee to thy face.  And the Lord said unto Satan, Behold, all that he hath is in thy power; only upon himself put not forth thine hand.  So Satan went forth from the presence of the Lord.  It is very clear that God allowed SATAN's power to rule  in Job's life.  God did not cause any evil.  Just as in Job's life, Satan causes the ills and evils that exist in our lives. God does not create evil.  Job completely understood the power of God and that no matter what happened in his life, he  knew God loved him and was NOT the cause of his grief and despair.
     A woman being raped is not an act of God.  It is the evil of Satan.  Judging a man and casting a sentence on his or her  life is an act of evil.  God gave each one of us FREE WILL and this was not by accident.  God want each of  us to choose HIM freely. It must be of our own will that we invite Him into our lives. He wants us just as we are...sins, imperfections and all.  We must understand how Satan works in the world  and how he blinds us to Gods love, grace and mercy.  As Christians, we must lead people to Christ with understanding, forgiveness, kindness and love.  We must be aware of the pitfalls and traps that Satan places before us.  If we let God's love for us become the type of love that we have for others, grace and mercy will always guide us toward  the right answers in this life.

Huffingtonpost - Richard Mourdock

Richard Mourdock's rape remarks

Mature Love

This is MATURE LOVE!

No matter your political preference what resonates is the love that this couple share for one another.  I actually cried when I saw this embrace.  Real or imagined via this picture, this is the type of love that we all dream of having.
I am a little older now and what I once considered ideal love, I have found not to be so  ideal.  I have an older  sister and have posed the question to her, "What is really important for you to have in a man at age 60?" What I do know is that my thoughts have changed over the years. Let me see if I can recap by age.
Twenties:  College educated, good looking and a job. I can remember that a good looking man with a job was a catch.  In my twenties, I was thinking about starting  to have children  so great genes were important because God forbid  that I would have an ugly baby and a job meant that we could pull together to buy the things that we wanted and could have a social life.  Basically we both are broke.
Thirties: College educated, ok looking and a career. Hey, baby making was done.  Genes weren't as important.  A career meant that we could start empire building and acquire bigger and better things. Meaningful conversations  and family became more important.
Forties: Where I am now, Smart, financially savvy, and healthy.  Big difference now.  This is where maturity starts to kick-in.  I know now that a degree does not make a person.  I have learned that there are many millionaires that are successful without a college degree. Having someone who is intelligent is far better than just looking for someone with a college degree.  Finances are important.  It is more prudent that a person knows how to effectively manage money and is able to plan for retirement.  I know a lot of financially corrupt  and bankrupt millionaires who lost fortunes and will have to be on a job while on their death beds. Having someone who is healthy and in shape is more important than just being good looking. When you are thinking about traveling and enjoying a retirement, it will be a bummer not to be able to enjoy life because of health issues.  Being healthy also means that a fulfilling sex  life is possible.  Any forty year old woman will tell you that she is in her sexual prime and sex is important.  At forty all of the sexual hang-ups seem to disappear.
I believe that mature love  begins when we are in our forties.  Life experiences have taught us what is important.  We have learned that we cannot fight every battle.  We are self assure and we understand who we are and have determined our core values.  Pure and mature love is possible.  Our old love has grown or new love is found.  I am not sure what the Fifties will bring but I know that I want what I feel when I look at the picture above of Obamas.

Here are two links to books that have helped me to mature:

His Needs Her Needs

5 Love Languages