Creative Loving

How big is your circle of friends? The people you care for, the people you love? Differing between people it must be, do you know how big it should be? Well according to God, it should be 6371 km in diameter. And it's more like a sphere of friends actually...

Because guess what? God said to love everyone. The whole world! Even enemies, the stranger you see on the train, the neighbour everybody stays away from, the homeless man at the station. That's a daunting task isn't it! Whenever I get challenged to love like that, I give up without even trying. I say "too expensive" or "too time consuming" and after justifying myself, I forget all about it. But what's the point of being challenged if I don't do anything about it!

So, I came up with an idea...

You might remember some time ago I posted about how everyone had some creativity in them, even if it wasn't appreciated by others or by themselves. Well, one good way to use our gift of creativity would be in love. To do some Creative Loving. 

What I mean with creative love is not "How to say 'I Love You' in 100 creative ways", which is what the world might think of the term, but rather understanding that with whatever skills or resources we have (doesn't have to be money) we can love someone, in response to Jesus' love for us. 

So for me, I have decided to give more of my time and "status", as some might call it, away to love those in need. Practically, this would mean me stopping to talk with those who might be lonely, or collecting cans from neighbours for the homeless to eat.

Although creative loving makes it sound more fun, loving all the people in the world is a daunting and near impossible task. That doesn't mean we give up without trying. Start with small steps, remembering that your love is just a reflection of God's love for us. 

Long distance Phone Call

I just came off a long-distance phone call. From my mobile. For 20 minutes. And I had one last week too... You must think I am either super rich or I've got a really good phone plan. I am neither. Both calls were totally free. It's because I didn't really need to have a phone to talk to this person. He doesn't have a phone number, or a time when it goes onto voice mail, and you only hear his pre-recorded voice. No, he is able to listen to whatever we want to say, whenever we want, with us paying nothing, not even doing anything special...

By now you should know that I had two long conversations with God. It did feel like a phone call though, because I put my mobile to my ear, and talked into it the whole time. I just felt like it, and for me it was beneficial in concentrating, and letting everything out.

What did we talk about? Just life in general, really... The future, the past, work, school, relationships, friendships, enemies, emotions. Although I couldn't hear God's voice through the phone speaker, I knew he was listening. And it was one of the most satisfying conversations I ever had (Not just because the other side wouldn't interrupt at all, although that was quite special...). It was good because I knew that God was able to do something about what I said.

Most people will either say sorry, try and change the subject, or try to take your mind of the problem if you share anything bad that goes on in your life with them. Which is nice, because that is all they can do. But with God, he changes everything. Not that if you tell him you are getting bullied he will go down and smite the bully! But his love never ends. So when I told him I didn't know what was happening for my future, he comforted me in his hands, and reminded me that he truly was in control, so there was nothing to worry about.

I encourage you to also have a much needed long distance phone call with your heavenly father. The one who will be there no matter what, and love you. And as I love to think. Loved by God? That is the best thing in the world.

History through glasses

I have just completed reading through the Psalms, and as is inevitable, I have struck upon a favourite. Psalm 136. It is a song of praise, interestingly recounting most of the events of Israelites history. What I most like about it though is the fact that after each line comes the phrase "His [God's] love endures forever."

I should confess now that I love to study history. The events, the effects of that event, the people involved, the reasons involved, the legacies of that event. History is an endless flowchart, infinitely complicated, but still all connected by lines all heading the same direction. What I like most about history though, is that a tiny action can start a snowballing effect which leads to massive changes. A good example would be the Arab revolutions. The small group of protesters meeting in Tunisia would never had imagined such a big consequence from their actions!

History can also be very sad too. The wars with horrific stories of merciless killings, the news of devastating earthquakes and other natural disasters, the terror of continued oppression by the government. When we learn about such things we can often question God. "How can God let such things happen?" I think part of the answer is repeated throughout my favourite Psalm. As I mentioned before, every second line of the Psalm is "His [God's] love endures forever".

The title of this post is History through glasses because I often think we can look at every event in all sorts of different ways. We put on our critical glasses and start seeing all the flaws in people's plans, or wear our ethical glasses and get angry at all the wrongs being committed. Well, I think we should try and see History through the glasses of God's eternal love.

So, if we look at the events of World War 2 understanding God's eternal love, we see that, yes our world is broken. Yes, people do die unnecessary deaths. But we know that God's love never dies, so we know he will come to make a new heaven and earth with no more pain, no more wars, no more suffering. It gives us the strength to cope all the bad things in this life, knowing that we have something to look forward to.

History is the story of this world. But this world is not the end. So by God's love being eternal, we know that it will last forever, even when this world does fade away, he will still be there.

Just Keep Knocking!

Recently I heard of a girl who pressed paused in her walk with Jesus. She didn't deny him, but neither did she follow him, she just chose not to think about him for awhile. Her one reason for doing so was that she felt that Jesus wasn't doing enough in her life. She had waited for the holy spirit which she knew was promised to her, but after the initial "spiritual high" it felt that there was nothing there anymore. She thought Jesus had left her, so she chose to let go of him.

I always feel sad when I hear of people falling away or pressing pause on Christianity. Even though I have had a fair share of times when I thought "Why don't I just drop it all?", when I compare the world's values with Jesus' values, I see where real love comes from. What most makes my heart die a little is how the world can smother someone's senses, how it can entice so much their mind is clouded with a blinding haze, while God is trying to break through, blow the mist away to reveal the open sky of his unending love.

Coming back to my first paragraph, I initially heard of this girl's story in a talk at church, and my first thought was to ignore it and let all the "half-Christians" accept the challenge that he was giving. But God nudged me to look at her in terms of myself. It occurred to me that in the next five years, I could easily become like her. You could too. Slowly trying to take parts of my life away from God, until he has nothing. How can he mould his perfect creation if the clay runs away? Blaming God that he isn't changing me, when it is just because I won't let him.

What can we do? How can we continue to make sure God is present in our lives? Well, stealing from the man's sermon again, Jesus tells us exactly what we need to do.

"Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will opened to you." Matthew 7:7 NIV

We need to ask God into our lives. But this isn't a one off thing. As irregular humans we are, our heart often throws fits and kicks God out. So we ask God again to come back in. Ask and keep on asking, seek and keep on seeking, knock and keep on knocking!

Strive forward in asking and seeking God, maybe even everyday, because pausing on Jesus is not worth it. Giving up real love for some small thrills? Let God shine through, let him in, so he can let you out of the cage that sin has created.

Songs of "love"

I have begun to write many songs in my spare time. Many are bad, some are ok, and only one or two make it into my memory for future playing. I noticed though, that the lyrics aways lean to what the world puts in its lyrics. Love, money, "happiness" which is just selfishness in disguise. Trying to break free from that mould was harder than I thought, which showed me how much what I listen to does affect what I think about.

Many songs I hear on the radio I pass off as wrong, and that as a Christian I have something more to live than what they sing about. However, a part of me longs for what they have, although I know it won't last, my mind gets distracted so easily. What is more dangerous is the fact that it so often gets veiled with my "Christian" face. I tell myself that it is wrong, it is just a breath, meaningless. But it is only a guise. In fact, I know that it makes me "want" which quickly makes me "need" which leads me further and further away from the life I was meant to live.

One topic that is so often sung about is relationships. Love dominates as inspiration for songs. A quick read through of the songs on the radio shows however, that the love they talk about isn't based on God's love. It is self-centered, uncaring, abandoned too easily, and unforgiving. Most of all, it is replacing the love that every human needs. God's. It becomes a "need" to have a girlfriend/boyfriend because they have no one else to love them. Thinking over it now, the love on the radio is something nobody wants. It tears people apart instead of building them up, it takes instead of gives, it is a source of pain instead of a source of joy.

As I sat in front of my piano the first words that popped in my head were:

"Us together feels so right".

Can that "us" be me and God? Can we restore love to its pure form, from God? I really hope so, because without it, we are getting a shell of what we really should be getting. Who wants that? It's like a song without any melody. Add some real joy to the world. Love as God did.

If you were designing a God

"If you designed a perfect god, what would he be like?". That is the question I was thinking about throughout the week, and I came up with many versions of my "perfect god".

Seeing the tragedy in New Zealand, I would first make my god loving, and caring. I would not want my god to kill just for the fun of it, or abuse his power. I would make my god powerful too, so I knew that I had someone strong behind me in every battle I face.

My god would also have to be just. If he wasn't just, the world I live in would be chaotic! No rules, no safety, no comfort. He would have to be just for everyone's safety. He would also be involved in the world, not just making the world and leaving it to us, he would make sure everything was running smoothly.

Finally, my god would be eternal. He would live forever, so he could always be there for the world. He would care for the world, even if they reject him, and be like a father to the world, not a King. He would be merciful too, so he will never stop loving me, even if I did something terribly wrong. he would forgive it.

As I thought what my god would be like, I thought I made a good enough list of the characteristics that my god should have. However, looking back, some of those characteristics clash. How could my god be just, but also be merciful? What about being loving but also being powerful to my enemies?

As I poked holes through my "perfect god", two thoughts came into my head.

As a human, I could never think up a "perfect god". I don't know enough about life, I am clouded by my own selfishness, and I am too short sighted. I could never satisfy my need for god, by making up my own. I would never be able to rely on myself, even in my day to day life!

However, luckily for me and all of mankind, there is a God who is perfect in every way imaginable. He knows everything I need, even if I might not know! And cares for me in every way imaginable. He is indescribable. Some days, I am just so glad that I can give all my burdens into God's hands and he knows what to do with it.

So as you read this post, what would your own "perfect god" be like? Does the true God satisfy your criteria? Remember, the real God knows what you really need, even if you don't.

Respectful relationships

Today, in Health class we were discussing what a healthy relationship is made up of. I said that for a relationship to work, everyone involved should not be selfish, and think of the other person first. As soon as I said this, every kid in the room laughed, as though I was imagining things. They said that is just old fashioned, and a stupid thought. To me what was essential in a relationship, to others was something that didn't matter! Has the relationship rules changed in the last few years?

Meet Ab & Ba. They are flatmates and friends. Ab goes into emotional breakdown for a week, and Ba helps him out, as that is what he would've wanted Ab to do to him. Next month, Ba goes into an emotional breakdown. To return the favor, Ab helps him out. It might seem like a nice relationship, with both supporting each other, but looking deeply, there is only selfish motives. There is no love. This is kind of sad. Probably, their friendship will fall apart, as Ab or Ba ask or more help than they are giving.

I can't just point out what is a bad relationship, what about a good one. Well, to put it perfectly, we all should follow God's example, which Jesus tells us. He says "Love our neighbor". He doesn't state why, he doesn't give a reason, but just to love. Love is what is important in a relationship. Through love, it will grow, and become stronger. It will be what relationships were meant to be.

Meet the changed Ab and Ba. They now know that the way they were acting with each other was wrong, and that were being selfish. Now, they don't have a motive to help, they just do. They don't have a selfish heart, they think of their friend first. However, human relationships will never be perfect. Ab and Ba had differences. They thought different on politics, TV shows, who should do the dishes, and all other things. What matters, is that they both still thought of each other.

Just to wrap up, I hope you have love in your relationships now, and that you could keep thinking of others, and not yourself.

Thanks for reading this post. Please comment on any issues you think of, or just want me to talk about.

treebytheriver