When walking down a path in the dark of the night,  we search for light so that we might see the path before us so as to avoid the pitfalls and the dangers which surround us.  The same is true of the soul.  Without light to guide us, we easily become lost to the point of despair.  We stumble along the path and we may easily fall.  Just as darkness is the absence of light in the world, evil is the absence of righteousness.  Where can we find light for our soul to journey along the path of life?  Just as in the beginning, "3 And God said, Let there be light: and there was light." Genesis 1; He commands light to shine into the hearts of man, so they might see out of darkness to grasp the truth of the Gospel. 

2 Corinthians 4:

5 For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord; and ourselves your servants for Jesus’ sake.

6 For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

In the midst of darkness we are drawn toward the light.  Though that light might appear dim at first, we search for it and are drawn toward it.  Christ is the light of the world, the only hope to dispel evil with His own righteousness.  He paid the price for our sins so that we might have a relationship with pure righteousness, found only in God.  Yet, some prefer to remain in darkness where they desire to believe that of their own self they can create their own light.  But, alas, how can darkness produce light without an outward source of light entering in to dispel the darkness?  Can a candle produce light were it not lite?

Carrying around an unlit candle will never produce the light that we need to see in the darkness.  Carrying around all the knowledge which we might gain in this world can never produce the light we need to see in this world, unless we see the "the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ" as our only means to light the candle of our life.  Believing in Jesus Christ is our only means of salvation and our only means of shedding the light of God which is filled with hope, joy, and love into our empty darkened hearts. We have a choice here.  We can either believe in Jesus Christ or we can reject Him.  Our condemnation is our own choice when we reject the only means of atonement which God at such a great price provided. 

John 3: 18 He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.

19 And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.

20 For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved.

Through our eyes we read, we watch TV, we see the beauty around us, and we see the evil as well.  Christians and unbelievers both choose what knowledge is entering our hearts by choosing what we look upon and what we seek.  That is why Christ said,

Luke 11:  34 The light of the body is the eye: therefore when thine eye is single, thy whole body also is full of light; but when thine eye is evil, thy body also is full of darkness.35 Take heed therefore that the light which is in thee be not darkness.36 If thy whole body therefore be full of light, having no part dark, the whole shall be full of light, as when the bright shining of a candle doth give thee light.

Do you want light to shine upon your path that you might see the world around you clearly?  Are the eyes of your heart focused only upon the Word which is Jesus Christ?  Do you seek and savor Him above all else?  Can you for a moment turn off the TV and the secular books to feed upon the word of God?  Is He your greatest treasure?  Then, choose Him, and every step of your life will become clear.  It is only then that the radiance of His light will reflect around you as you emptied of self become a mirror reflecting that light out into a world of darkness.  Let me share with you this quote from Jonathan Edwards. 

“Men have a great deal of pleasure in human knowledge, in studies of natural things; but this is nothing to that joy which arises from divine light shining into the soul. This spiritual light is the dawning of the light of glory in the heart. There is nothing so powerful as this to support persons in affliction, and to give the mind peace and brightness in this stormy and dark world. This knowledge will wean from the world, and raise the inclination to heavenly things. It will turn the heart to God as the fountain of good, and to choose him for the only portion. This light, and this only, will bring the soul to a saving close with Christ. It conforms the heart to the gospel, mortifies its enmity and opposition against the scheme of salvation therein revealed: it causes the heart to embrace the joyful tidings, and entirely to adhere to, and acquiesce in the revelation of Christ as our Savior.” 
― Jonathan Edwards

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6aEhXBEUnZU

Are you broken today?  Lying in a bed of sorrow?  Is it due to the afflictions that surround you?  Or is it from the sin within you? Do you wonder if God really loves you?  Or are you afraid that He has turned His back on you?  My prayer is that these four songs comfort your broken heart and help restore in you God’s Joy, God’s Hope, and the truth of the fact that God’s love for you. 

Psalm 34:

17 The righteous cry, and the Lord heareth, and delivereth them out of all their troubles.

18 The Lord is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit.

19 Many are the afflictions of the righteous: but the Lord delivereth him out of them all.

A Broken and Contrite Heart

By Effie Darlene Barba

My broken heart I bring you Lord

Contrite from my defeat

I long to feel  Your love restored

I fall before your feet

I felt the warmth that mercy brings

Your love my sin did hide

You paid the price, as angels sing

“By faith, you’re justified”

And clothed now in your righteousness

Of which I ne’er deserved

My all I give, how could I less

No part of me reserved

I long to see Your face today

To seek You with my heart

Your Glory lights my darkened way

That I shall ne’er depart.

 

Psalm 51: Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy lovingkindness: according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions.

2 Wash me throughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin.

3 For I acknowledge my transgressions: and my sin is ever before me.

4 Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight: that thou mightest be justified when thou speakest, and be clear when thou judgest.

5 Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me.

6 Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward parts: and in the hidden part thou shalt make me to know wisdom.

7 Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.

8 Make me to hear joy and gladness; that the bones which thou hast broken may rejoice.

9 Hide thy face from my sins, and blot out all mine iniquities.

10 Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.

11 Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy holy spirit from me.

12 Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free spirit.

13 Then will I teach transgressors thy ways; and sinners shall be converted unto thee.

14 Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God, thou God of my salvation: and my tongue shall sing aloud of thy righteousness.

15 O Lord, open thou my lips; and my mouth shall shew forth thy praise.

16 For thou desirest not sacrifice; else would I give it: thou delightest not in burnt offering.

17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1CSVqHcdhXQ

So, how do we conclude this series on love with all it’s mysteries?  There is no other emotion that we humans possess or are capable of that can create such splendorous joy.  No other emotion can make you feel so alive, so filled with hope, energized by that love to be and do more than you could ever do on your own.  Being in love makes one feel so invincible and so joyous that the joy overflows on all those around you.  Still, for that same reason; no other emotion can cause greater sorrow or pain as we share the pain and suffering of another because of our love for them.  No other emotion requires us to die to our selfish desires more than love as it demands us to see another as more important than ourselves.  When one has lost the object of that love there is no other emotion that can rip your heart out; leaving you in such utter despair, lost within a whirlwind of pain and sorrow. There is no other emotion that we find ourselves lost without, dark within a sea of loneliness.   What a mysterious emotion.  Still, what an incredible gift of our creator to have given us this as He made us in His image (body, soul, and spirit) because he wanted someone to share the overflowing joy that Father, Son, and Holy Spirit had already enjoyed.  So, what was Paul conclusion to this chapter?

1 Corinthians 13: (AMP) 12 For now we are looking in a mirror that gives only a dim (blurred) reflection [of reality as [e]in a riddle or enigma], but then [when perfection comes] we shall see in reality and face to face! Now I know in part (imperfectly), but then I shall know and understand[f]fully and clearly, even in the same manner as I have been [g]fully and clearly known and understood [[h]by God].

13 And so faith, hope, love abide [faith—conviction and belief respecting man’s relation to God and divine things; hope—joyful and confident expectation of eternal salvation; love—true affection for God and man, growing out of God’s love for and in us], these three; but the greatest of these is love.

I searched for love most of my life.  How gracious was God that He gave me Pedro Barba, Jr.  Still, the entire marriage I spent striving to gain the love of this man; hoping, working at times–just to hear those words "I Love You."  My own feelings of "not being good enough for anyone to really love me" and Pete’s "fear of being hurt if he were to say he loved me"  clouded the sky so the light of truth could not be seen by either; until the day before he died and for the first time as he told me how much he loved me, I understood and then, he was gone.   Most of my Christian life, I believed God’s Grace had reached down to save me; but there was no way that God could really love me.  I worked very hard to gain God’s love; yet, I seemed to always fail.  The harder I tried, the greater I failed; until one day with a Broken and Contrite heart, I cried, "Why God, must you always break my heart?  His reply, "Oh, child do you not see that it is you breaking mine because you cannot see how much I love you" Only then did I begin to understand all of it.  I had wanted a companion here; yet, I had never realized that my greatest love of all was Jesus Christ.  So, as Paul whatever, I know of love now is dim compared to what I will know one day; and, whatever joys love has brought to me here on earth, they are dim compared to what I will know in the presence of perfect love. My final advice to all of you whatever state of love you are in, you need to learn of Perfect Love (God) in order to truly know how to receive and to give love.  For those who have found your earthly soul mate chosen by God–cherish them and ask God to teach you how to love them as He does.  For those of who are widowed, cherish the good memories and rest in the loving arms of your heavenly Father.  For those of you who are alone and wondering if God has anyone special for you?  Don’t worry, relax in the precious loving arms of God; perhaps, He wants to teach you of His precious love so that you are prepared to really love the one he sends or better yet; perhaps as He looks upon your faith and love of Him, He has chosen not to share you with another.  Understand, that is a very privileged place to be and God will supply all your needs.  His presence will be ever more sweeter and joyous, because He will fill you with His Love, His Joy, and His Hope.  I have awoken at times with a sweet song playing in my head and the sense of arms surrounding me and remembered Zephaniah 3:"17 The Lord thy God in the midst of thee is mighty; he will save, he will rejoice over thee with joy; he will rest in his love, he will joy over thee with singing."  So let me ask you a question, When was the last time you looked into the face of Christ through the eyes of your heart and said, "I love you"?  Dennis Jernigan wrote a love song to Jesus that I hope you listen to.  I, daresay, this is my life song.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UuiaoVyKXnM

Amplified Bible (AMP)

Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation

“To love at all is to be vulnerable. Love anything and your heart will be wrung and possibly broken. If you want to make sure of keeping it intact you must give it to no one, not even an animal. Wrap it carefully round with hobbies and little luxuries; avoid all entanglements. Lock it up safe in the casket or coffin of your selfishness. But in that casket, safe, dark, motionless, airless, it will change. It will not be broken; it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable.  The alternative to tragedy, or at least to the risk of tragedy, is damnation.  The only place outside Heaven where you can be perfectly safe from all the dangers and perturbations of love is Hell."  C. S. Lewis from "The Four Loves"

This remains a mystery how the very thing that can bring us such great joy can also be the very thing that brings us such great sorrow at times.  By nature we are filled with so much need love, needing to be loved.  From the time we are born we need to feel the love of our mother’s arms to feed, to protect, and to feel secure; that need to feel loved continues throughout our life.  Beyond that we are filled with the desire to give love; yet, so often that gift love requires such sacrifice and pain.  To love someone or something, we become vulnerable to feeling their pain whenever they are hurt, we become vulnerable to the pain of loss when they leave us either in death or because they walk away, and we become vulnerable to feeling our heart rip into a thousand pieces feeling absolute despair.  Our knowledge and our understanding of this seems to be so fragmented and so limited.  How was it that perfect love which is God cried as He looked over Jerusalem, weeping at their loss and rejection of the only means of their receiving His Love?  How was it that perfect love should stand at the grave of Lazarus and weep because no one understood that He (Christ) was standing there with the greatest gift of all; yet, no one had the faith to understand He came to restore life eternal in His presence where no more sorrow would occur?  How was it that Perfect Love would have to suffer torture, death on a cross, and for a moment in time be ripped into pieces as the Father and Holy Spirit turned away unable to look upon the sin of mankind which He willingly took upon Himself to pay their penalty that Justice and Righteousness might be fulfilled?  How finite are our minds that we cannot comprehend the truth, that to truly love means we must die to ourselves  and our desires that we might receive the fullness of God’s Love into our hearts; and only then, be able to overflow that Love to another!! In that death, pain and sorrow; we then can experience the fullness of Joy that comes from the Love of God which fills our hearts and the Joy of truly loving another (though finite and imperfect) until one day we stand before Christ and so deeply in Love with Him, fall before His feet overjoyed by His presence.  Perhaps that is why Paul, in this great letter concerning love continues as follows.

1 Corinthians 13: (amp) 9 For our knowledge is fragmentary (incomplete and imperfect), and our prophecy (our teaching) is fragmentary (incomplete and imperfect).

10 But when the complete and perfect (total) comes, the incomplete and imperfect will vanish away (become antiquated, void, and superseded).

11 When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child; now that I have become a man, I am done with childish ways and have put them aside.

When it comes to the matter of the mystery of love, I am still that child learning from her Heavenly Father.  One day, I will understand; when I stand before Him.  I do not understand why God would have loved me so much and still loves me so; yet, I am still being taught by Him.  The pains, sorrows, and joys that are mine because of love here on earth are but a training process to help me to understand one day the full depth of His Perfect Love which He so desires to give to me.  I am certain that my inability to fully comprehend His Love and to Love Him as I should may at times cause Him to weep.  My moments of doubt at times cause Him great sorrow; yet, He patiently waits and gently continues to teach me–because He loves me that much.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lrkJWB1XhbY

 

Amplified Bible (AMP)

Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation

Yesterday, we began this series on love.  Now let’s look at some of the attributes described by the apostle Paul concerning what genuine, true love looks like and check our own love-o-meters. 

1 Corinthians 13: (AMP)4 Love endures long and is patient and kind; love never is envious nor boils over with jealousy, is not boastful or vainglorious, does not display itself haughtily.

How are you doing so far?  Are you willing to endure long–even in those seasons when your mate or loved one becomes critical, distant, and stops meeting your needs?  Or what if some accident or illness left them completely unable to meet any of your needs and required you to sacrifice everything to provide their care; how long would love endure and remain patient and kind?  And even if you went about the steps of their care or the outward appearance of forgiveness for the critical mate; how long would it be continued out of genuine love for the other instead of a motivation of self-pitying and self-exalting (for one’s tremendous capacity to love) at the same time? These are tough questions that I still must ask myself everyday as I care for Mom?  Do I ever find myself grumbling because she has made one more demand of me and that seems impossible with my schedule?  What about "never boils over with jealousy?"  How often have I even thought, "I wish for one day that someone would take care of me and provide for me like I do mom."  Ok, I just admitted my failure and even more so if you continue on to "not boastful, vainglorious, nor display itself haughtily"  How are you doing on this love meter? Well, we are not done with this evaluation as next Paul continues with the next verse.

5 (AMP)It is not conceited (arrogant and inflated with pride); it is not rude (unmannerly) and does not act unbecomingly. Love (God’s love in us) does not insist on its own rights or its own way, for it is not self-seeking; it is not touchy or fretful or resentful; it takes no account of the evil done to it [it pays no attention to a suffered wrong].

Have you ever spoken a harsh word to your loved one?  Have you ever said, "But you don’t understand what they did or said?" How are you doing now with this love meter?

6 It does not rejoice at injustice and unrighteousness, but rejoices when right and truth prevail.

What if right and truth prevailing means you must accept that you are wrong? 

7 Love bears up under anything and everything that comes, is ever ready to believe the best of every person, its hopes are fadeless under all circumstances, and it endures everything [without weakening].

We are forever given opportunities to change our natural ability to love (which is lacking) into a love which is more resembling of perfect love which is only found in God.  Too often we try to explain away our inability to love perfectly as C. S. Lewis points this out in his book "The Four Loves"   " "If only I had been more fortunate in my children (that boy gets more like his father every day) I could have loved them perfectly." But every child is sometimes infuriating; most children are not infrequently odious. "If only my husband were more considerate, less lazy,” the wife says, to which her husband replies: “If only my wife had fewer moods and more sense, and were less extravagant…But in everyone, and of course ourselves, there is that which requires forbearance, tolerance, forgiveness."  Yet in each of these instances God is working in us to recognize our own inability to love perfectly, thus our need of Him to learn perfect love.

8 Love never fails [never fades out or becomes obsolete or comes to an end]. As for prophecy ([d]the gift of interpreting the divine will and purpose), it will be fulfilled and pass away; as for tongues, they will be destroyed and cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away [it will lose its value and be superseded by truth].

Created within our nature is a need to love and to be loved.  Yet, we are incapable within or very nature to love perfectly.  The only perfect love is that of God Himself.  So, is there any hope for us outside of God?  Are our natural need for love and inability to obtain on our own a means by which God draws us to Himself?  There remains a void within us that only God can fulfill.  Yet, we seek it with all our hearts.  We desire to give love; yet, are without Him incapable of achieving this.  In fact, the more I know of His love; the more I realize my own inadequacy of loving God as I should.  All Knowing God, did not have to create man, He needed nothing of us; yet, He did so that He might have a someone to share His Love with (share like one who shares with a pauper his food and his wealth).  Without free will we could never understand His Grace nor fully understand the depth of His Love.  A love that as pointed out by C. S. Lewis again in his book The Four Loves  "He creates the universe, already foreseeing — or should we say "seeing"? there are no tenses in God — the buzzing cloud of flies about the cross, the flayed back pressed against the uneven stake, the nails driven through the mesial nerves,the repeated incipient suffocation as the body droops, the repeated torture of back and arms as it is time after time, for breath’s sake, hitched up." Knowing the depth of depravity that would occur in man and the price that must be paid so that His relationship with man be restored in order that He give of His Overflowing Love to Us, He still created man.  I John 4: "8 God is love.9 In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him.10 Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins."

Our only hope of truly loving anyone is by the empowering work of Perfect Love-God.  We need first to learn of God’s love, seek to know His love, and with His help to lift us up learn to love Him better; then, the love of God will fill our hearts and overflow to those around us.  

Marriage gives us an opportunity to learn of this kind of love, to learn a little more of God’s love and to truly point out our own inability to love perfectly without the help of God’s love within us.  It should always point us even closer to God.  Two imperfect people learning to love, forgive, hope, and endure through everything; always seeing only the good in the other while at the same time helping them to see that good themselves, dying to self so that the beloved is Glorified, and always praying that God teach us more how to love while we seek Him first, knowing He is our only Hope. 

To this day, I can never thank God enough for all the lessons of love learned with my belated husband, Pedro Barba, Jr.  How often he forgave me for all my inadequacies and how much I learned of unconditional love as I forgave him his.  In the midst of that love between Pete and I, I learned so much of God’s love and one day I will see Pete and finally we will be perfected in love.  Still, that reunion will pale in comparison to seeing Love Himself (God).

 

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8mXAtFvnibc

 

Amplified Bible (AMP)

Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation