"Love is of God." 1 John 4:7

Some people believe that true love can occur the moment a man and woman lay eyes on each other. But "love at first sight" is a physical and emotional impossibility because you cannot love someone you don't even know. You have simply been drawn to the package in which they live.

A lifelong emotional attachment is much more than a romantic feeling. It is more than a sexual attraction or the thrill of the chase or a desire to get married. Such feelings usually indicate infatuation and tend to be temporary and rather selfish in nature. A person may say, "I can't believe what is happening to me. This is the most fantastic thing I've ever experienced! I must be in love." Notice that those who make these statements are not talking about the other person - they're excited about their own gratification. Such individuals haven't fallen in love with someone else; they've fallen in love with love.

Genuine love is not something one "falls" into, as though he or she was tumbling into a ditch. One cannot love an unknown object, regardless of how beautiful or handsome it is. Only when a person begins to develop a deep appreciation and admiration for another - an intense awareness of his or her needs, strength, and character - has one begun to experience true love. From there, it should grow for a lifetime.
Just between us…

Do you remember thinking that you were in love as a teenager, only to have that feeling fade over time?
What did you think and feel when we first met?
How did God show you that I should be your marriage partner?

Dear Heavenly Father, thank You for the wonderful gift of love. Grant us your blessings, Father - more than we can even imagine right now! Amen.

by Greg Laurie

A true story was reported about a couple visiting a jewelry store. As the jeweler showed them various cross necklaces, the woman commented, "I like these, but do you have any without this little man on them?"

That's what so many people want today: a cross without Jesus. They want a cross without any offense. . .one that will look cool with their outfits. But if we could travel back in time and see the cross in its original context, we would realize that it was a bloody and vile symbol. It would have been the worst picture imaginable to see someone hanging on a cross.

The Romans chose crucifixion because it was meant to be a slow, torturous way to die. It was designed not only to kill someone, but to utterly humiliate them as they died. Crucifixions outside Roman cities served as warnings to anyone who would dare oppose the rule of Rome.

If there was any other way, do you think that God would have allowed His Son to suffer like this? If there had been any other way we could have been forgiven, then God surely would have found it. If living a good moral life would get us to heaven, then Jesus never would have died for us. But He did, because there was and is no other way. He had to pay the price for our sin. At the cross, Jesus purchased the salvation of the world.

Listen to the apostle Paul's description of the divine transaction that took place in those terrible moments when Jesus suffered for our sins: "God made you alive with Christ. He forgave all our sins. He canceled the record that contained the charges against us. He took it and destroyed it by nailing it to Christ's cross. In this way, God disarmed the evil rulers and authorities. He shamed them publicly by his victory over them on the cross of Christ" (Colossians 2:13–15 NLT).

If you were ever tempted to doubt God's love for you, even for a moment, then take a long, hard look at the cross. Nails did not hold Jesus to that cross. His love did.

"For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God" (1 Corinthians 1:18 NKJV).

by Kelly Balarie

I always wanted to be someone.
I wanted to do things.
I wanted to pursue life.

I thought, tomorrow, I will live as God wants me to live. I knew if I wanted to be someone tomorrow, I had to do something today. Yet that was the hard part.

No matter what I did, I couldn't seem to follow through.

I studied to become a realtor and never got myself to the test.
I planned ways to bring chef dinner parties to people's home, but I never got it off the ground.
I had goals of starting my own marketing agency, but I never made it happen.

Tomorrow. It's the day we always have to hang our dreams on. It's the day filled with hope, possibility and longing. Yet it's often the greatest hindrance to where we want to go.

Tomorrow held me back and I kind of hated it for that reason. I lived in a perpetual dream cycle of tomorrows. I became the aimless girl who roamed from idea to idea - hoping one would stick.

I felt misguided.
Angry at myself.
Frustrated by my lack of follow through.

Until one day, God spoke a different story into my life - a different calling.

As I listened, put pen to paper and spoke his words of life, I could sense a powerful seed growing. Something was starting to take bloom!

I could feel the uprising of something big.
I could sense new life in my lifeless walk.
I could sense a new arrangement of purpose taking shape.

When these sensations came over me, I remembered that aimless girl. I remembered how she felt. And, sadness washed over me. I longed to rewind back to yesterday to tell her a couple things: hold fast to following God and trusting him, don't get down today and believe in tomorrow!

Why? Because:

Sometimes we actually aren't in hesitation mode,
we are in God's preparation mode.

What we wait for today,
develops our character for tomorrow.

He has to plant the seeds of his love within us,
before we are ready to plant them around us.

It's always about his seeds arising,
verses ours attained through striving.

God faithfully watered my soul that thirsted to serve him, to love him and to bring Him glory. I am so thankful he took the time to water. It has been his greatest gift to me. I have grown and I have prepared, so I may go.

In days to come Jacob will take root, Israel will bud and blossom and fill all the world with fruit. Is. 27:6

Now I see what he arranged within me, isn't to satisfy me, but it's to satisfy others. He has developed dreams that extend far beyond my hopes and wishes, although they do completely satisfy them.

The truth is, God is always in the process of planting and blooming. There are parts of us that are ready to bloom, parts ready for water and parts ready for seeding. But, one thing we can trust is that he is always at work - and it's not just for our good, it's for our great!

The Lord will fulfill his purpose for me; your steadfast love, O Lord, endures forever. Do not forsake the work of your hands. Ps. 138:8

Source: Christianity.com Daily Update

Kelly, a fun-loving, active and spunky mom of two rambunctious toddlers, spends her days pushing swings, changing diapers and pursuing the Lord with all her heart. Called a "Cheerleader of Faith", Kelly's greatest desire is to help women live passionately, purposefully and unencumbered for the Lord.