“No one deserves love, but everyone needs love.”

A thought by John Townsend from his book, Loving People (p.31). Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition. (Click on the book title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.)

Yes, but we sure do want it, don’t we?

John says, “And the unkind, self-centered, destructive people in your life are so bereft of love that they often need a miracle to get them out of their mess. And that is what the good news of Christ is all about: ‘For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God.’(1 Peter 3:18) It is our very state of unrighteousness that moved God’s heart to reach out and love us in an unfathomable way.”

He then says, “This is important to understand in relationships. When you truly love someone in a mature way, you seek the person’s best, but you also seek the person, as much as that is possible. That is, love goes further than tolerating someone or having the ability to stand being in his or her presence. That certainly may be all you can do in a very difficult relationship, and that is good. But as you grow in your ability to become a loving person, you will find that you can, over time, ‘love the sinner and hate the sin,’ as the old preachers say. And the reason this is important is that unlovable people, like all people, need to be sought, not tolerated. Everybody needs to be sought after in love. God sought us out while we were shaking our fists at him, because he knew we needed this. That is how we are to be toward others.”

And that is so true, isn’t it?

Yes, yes!

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“God does big things with small deeds.”

A thought by Max Lucado (2011-05-02) from his book, Cure for the Common Life (p. 115). Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition. (Click on the title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.) I don’t know how you feel about what you are doing and how it can make a difference. You may feel that it is so small and not even worth the effort. Max says, “Begin. Just begin! What seems small to you might be huge to someone else. Just ask Bohn Fawkes. During World War II, he piloted a B-17. On one mission he sustained flak from Nazi antiaircraft guns. Even though his gas tanks were hit, the plane did not explode, and Fawkes was able to land the plane. “On the morning following the raid, Fawkes asked his crew chief for the German shell. He wanted to keep a souvenir of his incredible good fortune. The crew chief explained that not just one but eleven shells had been found in the gas tanks, none of which had exploded. “Technicians opened the missiles and found them void of explosive cha...

“There’s a big difference between building a castle and building a kingdom.”

A thought by Bob Goff from his book, Everybody, Always: Becoming Love in a World Full of Setbacks and Difficult People ( p. 41). Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition. (Click on the book title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.) Have you ever built a sand castle or maybe a Lego castle? Have you? Bob says, “We actually build castles all the time, out of our jobs and our families and the things we’ve purchased. Sometimes we even make them out of each other. Some of these castles are impressive too. Lots of people come to admire what we’ve built over the course of our lives and tell us what great castles we have. But Jesus told His friends we weren’t supposed to spend our lives building castles. He said He wanted us to build a kingdom, and there’s a big difference between building a castle and building a kingdom.” Bob goes on, “You see, castles have moats to keep creepy people out, but kingdoms have bridges to let everyone in. Castles have dungeons for people who ha...

"Lie 2: The more you worry about it, the better your odds of avoiding it."

A thought by Louie Giglio in his book, Winning the War on Worry (p. 5). Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition. (Click on the book title to go to Amazon to buy the book.) Here is another lie that the Enemy uses with us. And Louie says, "This is a tricky lie. Yes, we often have cause for concern and preparation. But the Enemy wants you to believe that if you worry or fret over a certain outcome long enough, you can keep something bad from happening." But this is so important to realize. He says, "The reality is worrying has never once prevented something negative from happening. Planning might. Prayer has. But worry never will." He continues, "The Enemy tells you that by worrying about a situation (or every situation) you can make your tomorrow better. Really, worry just robs you of today. Jesus implored us: 'I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body mor...

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