What's Up With Love?

Do you ever question the hype about LOVE? Why does everyone make this "love thing" such an important part of life? Where does the whole love topic come from and why has it swept over everyone of us? People will often times spend their whole life trying to find someone to love and just as much trying spent trying to be loved. It's like the song, "Whats Love Got To Do With It?" Why do we all crave to be loved? Why has it been installed in us to want to feel the excitement, embrace, passion, care, hopefulness and sincerity that love has to offer? 

There are plenty of accrunams you can create for the word love: 

L - Learning
O - Observing
V - Validating
E - Experiencing

L - Listening
O - Openness
V - Vision
E - Empathy 

Although we can create catchy phrases for the meaning of love and what it was designed for, nothing says it better then the Bible. Cheesy? Hardly! The Bible gives such an amazing understand of why we all long for love! There are several verses that describe how God loves as well as people demonstrating love in the many different stories you read in Scripture. I thought that 1 John 4:7-21 helps explain who installed the desire in us to love and what authentic love looks like.

God’s Love and Ours

⁷ Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. ⁸ Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. ⁹ This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. ¹⁰ This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. ¹¹ Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. ¹² No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.


¹³ This is how we know that we live in him and he in us: He has given us of his Spirit. ¹⁴ And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. ¹⁵ If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in them and they in God. ¹⁶ And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them. ¹⁷ This is how love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment: In this world we are like Jesus.¹⁸ There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.
  
¹⁹ We love because he first loved us. ²⁰ Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar. For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen. ²¹ And he has given us this command: Anyone who loves God must also love their brother and sister. 

Reading these scriptures is such an amazing reminded of how powerful and loving our God is. I need to remember to thank Him daily for His sacrifice of His Son Jesus Christ. I'm blessed and overwhelmed with how Great and Passion my God loves me. & YOU!

I give everything to You Lord

Urban Lovin'

Let me give you a little background to this blog post. I work in downtown Phoenix and every afternoon at 12:00 I go on a walk! I started to see all the cool artwork and buildings that surrounded my office. So I made a point to take my phone with me to take a picture each day of something that inspires me or catches my eye. Then I decided I could dedicate a whole blog post to my journey around downtown. 30 minutes of time away from a computer screen can really do wonders for someone who operates creatively. I love the different textures, colors, mediums and works of art. Nothing better than soaking up some street work. I hope you can find some inspiration in the pieces I have taken pictures of.

Bring Life.
Bring Hope.
Bring Passion.

I give everything to you Lord

& this is just fact:

I give everything to You Lord 

Background

In the past several months I have been changing the way I few things and few my position in life in comparison to God. It was only till I heard this song entitled "Background," by Lecrae, that I really felt like I knew exactly where I should be living my life. In the background of who God is. I've been challenged recently to rethink certain areas of my life and truly consider where God can utilize me best. The changes are not an easy "Yes" or "No" answer. They require sacrifice on my part, and potentially giving up something I have worked so hard for. I know God is worth me sacrificing everything that I am, so I find comfort in that. I posted the Lecrae video & I am so glad this song exists because it has really helped me in my thought process.

I am ready to play the background to His good work, and merely step in His footsteps. I follow and serve a perfect leader, a helpful and considerate Father & the only Savior.

I give everything over to You Lord

Right Brain

Looking at this brings so much clarity to why I have struggled so much with school but excelled in my art classes and dancing. I am a right brained girl and I'm proud of it! Really interesting to see how God designed our brain with separate sections and capabilities. Awesome work by an awesome God!

God Is...

God is the back to my bone.

His Word is the blood to my vessels.
His Vision is the beat to my heart.
His Grace is the movement to my motion.
His Church is the House to my home.
His Name is the perfect in my imperfection.
His SON is the free to my freedom.

His existence IS, WAS & forever will BE

I give everything over to You Lord

"Gone Going"

I was listening to my Ipod while at work this morning, and the song "Gone Going" by the Black Eyed Peas came on. As I was listening to the lyrics I noticed how interesting it was to hear famous artists sing about something that's real talk. Even The Blacked Eyed Peas my not know exactly what they are saying or the truth that's within their words, but here is the part that caught my attention:

"All that money that you got gonna be gone
That gear that you rock gonna be gone
The house up on the hill gonna be gone
That gold fronts on your grill gonna be gone
The ice on your wrist gonna be gone
That nice little Miss gonna be gone
That whip that you roll gonna be gone
And what's worst is your soul already gone"

These lyrics remind me of John 2:17 "The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever." Everything we have in this world is so temporary and if it isn't about our Fathers business it's going to be gone one day. Doing the will of God will never fail you, through the thick and the thin God should be the backbone to your life.

I also thought of the letters Paul wrote to the Ephesians:

Ephesians 4:19-24

"Having lost all sensitivity, they have given themselves over to sensuality so as to indulge in every kind of impurity, with a continual lust for more. You, however, did not come to know Christ that way. Surely you heard of him and were taught in him in accordance with the truth that is in Jesus. You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness."

I am believing for this generation to take off their old selves and put on their new life in Christ. You may be alive with breathe in your lungs, but until you have given your life to the God who saves you will never truly be living.

So how do we prevent the last line of the lyrics from happening?
{ "And what's wrong is your soul already gone" }

Matthew 10:28 say,

"And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell."

Setting your life on the Word of God and putting all your eggs in His basket will in turn remind the enemy that he has been defeated by a great and powerful God. The One True & Only! God has amazing plans for your life if you are diligent about seeking out His will. I am so blessed that I've been protected and given Grace for the areas in my life that I need it. Thank you Lord!

I give everything over to You Lord

Quotes & Small Notes

I give everything to You Lord

Site To The Seeing & Blind

This is part of a spoken word I have been working on:

The difference between seeing and having vision.

It’s not the actual act of seeing

That gives a blind man vision

May I purpose to you that it’s really based more on wisdom

Insight that gives site to see

Knowing Gods principles and learning how to bow our knees

If its vision that your wanting
An ophthalmic test wont cut it

Scripture offers you a vision
Clarity for your paths misdirection

I give everything over to You Lord