Love has been made something it was never intended to be.  It has been made immediate.  It has become selfish.  I has become jealous.  It has become loud and proud.  It has become disrespectful.  It has become full of itself.  Love has become temperamental.  Love has become a score keeper.  Love has become dishonest.  Love has left us afraid, suspicious, discouraged, and failed.

Happy Valentine's Day!!!

Wait a minute!  That description above is not love.  That is hate, lust, evil, and human depravity.  Love is something else.  God is love!  God's love is unconditional and perfect.  And what does perfect love look like?  Like this:
Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.  Love never fails. -1Corinthians 13:4-8a

We need to know this love better!  The love that honors the marriage covenant when the spouse has been without mental faculties due to Alzheimer's.  The kind of love that shows up with a sonic drink after hearing of their lover's bad day.  The kind of love that doesn't wrap itself up in your neighbor's good fortune. The kind of love that doesn't allow your own good news to become more important than other's unfortunate circumstance.  The love that asks it's spouse for forgiveness and it is accepted.  The love that makes you return and offer apologies following the tongue lashing you gave the  day before.  The kind of love that allows for others to shine in you place.  The kind of love that calms the angry.  The kind of love that cannot remember the attack of another.  The kind of love that strays from evil to only dwell in good.  The kind of love that makes a father protect his daughter's dignity, trusts his son's plea of innocence, and the kind of love that makes a mother never give up on their child.  This kind of love is from God and will not fail, even when we do.Happy Day of Love, perfect Love!

We have a collection of these coffee mugs that have scripture and a words of encouragement on them.  Any time that I choose to drink from them I am purposeful about which mug I choose.  Sometimes I choose based on the mood I'm in at the moment and sometimes what I want from the day.  

Today I chose "Rejoice!"  It has he scripture from 1 Thessalonians 5:16 which simply says, "Rejoice always,".  Today is my birthday and so I chose this mug so that I would choose to rejoice all day.  Sometimes birthdays aren't joyous occasions.  But today, no matter what, I will choose to rejoice always and for God's glory not my own.

God has done some amazing things in my life.  He has given me an incredibly loving and beautiful family.  He has given me a call to ministry where I am able to get paid to spread the news of Christ.  He allowed for me to finish a Masters of Divinity.  We have a wonderful little home and everything we could  possibly need.  I have some really special friends in my life.  I have great parents, in-laws, and fellow Christian followers.  None of this, though, compares to rejoicing in the fact that God thought enough of his entire creation to redeem it, by sending His son as a savior and sending his Holy Spirit to the people as a ongoing presence that guides and counsels.  There is much to rejoice about today!  God continues to bless me and my life with things of this earth and eternal promises.

Today, if only for a second, no matter what is going on in your day or life, stop and rejoice!

Scripture:  John 3

 1 Now there was a Pharisee, a man named Nicodemus who was a member of the Jewish ruling council. 2 He came to Jesus at night and said, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the signs you are doing if God were not with him.” 3 Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.” 4 “How can someone be born when they are old?” Nicodemus asked. “Surely they cannot enter a second time into their mother’s womb to be born!” 5 Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit. 6 Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spiritgives birth to spirit.
 

Quick Word:  

When I was in 8th grade my level of cool went up a few notches.  I transitioned from glasses to contacts and my braces came off.  I had my hair spiked and found that I could strut when I walked.  I was on the football team, dated a cheerleader and was still inducted into the National Junior Honor Society.  I had the look, the brains, the muscle and the reputation.  Of course had you seen my yearbook picture the year or two before this would not have been the case.  Some how I had renewed my image. I was a new person and because of that I reached a new respect among my peers and of course the ladies.  This of course would be short-lived, because as soon as I entered my freshman year in high school all my true dork came back out.  There is something about being new.  Jesus is making that same distinction to Nicodemus in John 3 (above).  People who are truly from God are not who they once were.  They have been reborn, renewed, regenerated.  They didn’t become a baby again, but rather became a new creation.  What earthly mothers produce is pure and miraculous.  They bring a new creature, a life form to this world.  What our heavenly mother (Holy Spirit) produces is pure and miraculous.  She produces a new form of the old.  She not only creates something new, but also takes what was once just flesh and brings it to a divine standard.  When we are baptized into the water we come up with a divinity we did not have when we were dry.  There is nothing magical or special about the water, the person who dunks you, or the words spoken over you.  The great God Almighty does something truly unique every time someone is baptized.  He clothes that person with a personal purity and communal Spirit that brings them instantly into a family of divine vision.  Baptism makes you a blood relative through the Holy Spirit to those who have followed Christ before you, now, and to come.  Only the Holy Spirit can act in such a purposeful way.  Only the Son can through death and resurrected life bring salvation to the sinful self.  Only God can creatively engineer a watery grave to bring about holy redemption.  “For God so loved the world that he have his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”

Discussion:

1.     Describe your baptism or one you’ve seen?

2.     How were you different after your baptism?

3.     What gives you new life every day?

4.     How do you continue to be reborn?

5.     How can you this week glorify God through Divine actions?


©Michael Mercer, 2011

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Herb is my wife's uncle.  This wordle above represents his words at the graveside which I found extremely profound and appropriate.  And with his permission I have also given his text below:
“Worry”

By Herb

Mothers are supposed to worry

We depend on their worry

We may belittle their concern

We say, “Mom!”

What happens when they are not here to worry

Who will worry in their place

There is nothing like a mother’s worry for us

They consider all of the details of our lives

Our past, present and future

Our grades, will we pass

Will we graduate

What then?

Will we get a job

Will we keep the job

How about a promotion

Mom! Stop worrying, we say

But do we mean it

It is their way of showing they care

The worry is genuine, from the heart.

A mother’s worry…

Mrs. Bivins worried about all of her kids

She had enough worry to cover the grandkids

Yes, she even worried about the great grandkids

It was not true worry like in fear

It was a loving kind of worry

This is what mothers do

This is what grandmothers do

This is what great grandmothers do

This is what mothers-in-law do

We will miss your loving worry for each of us, Mrs. B

Who will worry for us now

Who will care for the details of our lives like you did

What is that I hear

A small voice worrying

Yes, your love lives on

Your worry lives on in our hearts

In our memories

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I used the words that I spoke at Leah's grandmother's funeral service to create a unique wordle.