It only takes a spark
To get a fire going
And soon all those around
Can warm up to its glowing
That’s how it is with God’s love
Once you’ve experienced it
You spread your love to everyone
You want to pass it on
What a wondrous time is spring
When all the trees are budding
The birds begin to sing,
The flowers start their blooming
That’s how it is with God’s love
Once you’ve experienced it
You want to sing, it’s fresh like spring
You want to pass it on
I wish for you my friend,
This happiness that I’ve found
You can come join in,
It matters not where you’re bound
I’ll shout it from the mountain tops
I want the world to know
The joy of friends has come to me
I want to pass it on
Composed by Kurt Kaiser ~ Sung by Evie Tournquist (Karlsson)
* ~ ♥ ~ ✞ ~ ♥ ~ *
As I start this new year of 2015, I must force myself to take a few moments to review what my past year has been, and to reflect on what I want in my new year. It’s very easy for me to just keep running from December 31, 2014 right into January 1, 2015 without even thinking about it.
This past year I have grown more in love with Jesus. There have been good times when the flame of His love has burned brightly for all to see. And then there were the tough times when it seemed to be only a spark hidden in the ashes. It could only be seen when I looked closely and stirred the ashes around. In the hardest of times…in the darkest of moments…I’ve known deep in my heart that He was still with me and my family and my friends. I just needed to stir the ashes to find the spark and get the fire going again.
That’s how it is with God’s love. His love is always with us through all that we go through. It may seem that our circumstances (ashes) have suffocated it but, thank God, that is impossible. Nothing can separate us from the love of God.
Can anything ever separate us from Christ’s love?
Does it mean He no longer loves us if we have trouble or calamity,
or are persecuted, or hungry, or destitute, or in danger, or threatened with death?
(As the Scriptures say, “For Your sake we are killed every day;
we are being slaughtered like sheep.”)
No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, Who loved us.
And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love.
Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons,
neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—
not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love.
No power in the sky above or in the earth below—
indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God
that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Romans 8:35-39 NLT
In this new year with this wonderful promise, I pray that the light of God’s love will shine through me and that the warmth from the flame of His love will touch the hearts of others. I want to pass on ‘this happiness that I’ve found’ in Christ to those around me—friend and stranger alike. Is this your desire and prayer for 2015?
With great love, I pray this over my grandchildren…and now I pray this over each of you:
…I pray to our Father, the Creator of everything in heaven and on earth. I pray that from His glorious, unlimited resources He will empower you with inner strength through His Spirit. Then Christ will make His home in your hearts as you trust in Him. Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong. And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep His love is. May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God. Now all glory to God, Who is able, through His mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think. Glory to Him in the Church and in Christ Jesus through all generations forever and ever! Amen.
Ephesians 3:14-21 NLT
