{"id":19453,"date":"2014-05-04T06:45:03","date_gmt":"2014-05-04T10:45:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/?p=19453"},"modified":"2014-05-04T06:52:17","modified_gmt":"2014-05-04T10:52:17","slug":"acts-love","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/2014\/05\/04\/acts-love\/","title":{"rendered":"Acts Of Love"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"http:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/psalmshymnsspiritualsongskjv.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-16629\" src=\"http:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/psalmshymnsspiritualsongskjv.jpg\" alt=\"psalmshymnsspiritualsongskjv\" width=\"341\" height=\"200\" srcset=\"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/psalmshymnsspiritualsongskjv.jpg 341w, https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/psalmshymnsspiritualsongskjv-300x175.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 341px) 100vw, 341px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #800080;\"><em style=\"color: #000000;\">S<\/em>itting at the stoplight<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #800080;\">He can&#8217;t be bothered by the heart-cry<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #800080;\">Written on the cardboard in her hand<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #800080;\">But when she looks him in the eye<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #800080;\">His heart is broken open wide<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #800080;\">And he feels the hand of God reach out through him<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #800080;\">As Heaven touches earth<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><span style=\"color: #800080;\"><em>Oh &#8211; we bring the Kingdom come<\/em><\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #800080;\"><em>Oh &#8211; with every act of love<\/em><\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #800080;\"><em>Jesus, help us carry You<\/em><\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #800080;\"><em>Alive in us, Your light shines through<\/em><\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #800080;\"><em>With every act of love<\/em><\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #800080;\"><em>We bring the Kingdom come<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #800080;\">There&#8217;s silence at the table<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #800080;\">He wants to talk but he&#8217;s not able<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #800080;\">For all the shame that&#8217;s locked him deep inside<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #800080;\">But her words are the medicine<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #800080;\">When she says they can begin again<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #800080;\">And forgiveness will set him free tonight<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #800080;\">As Heaven touches earth<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #800080;\">God put a million, million doors in the world<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #800080;\">For His love to walk through<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #800080;\">One of those doors is you<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #800080;\">I said, God put a million, million doors in the world<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #800080;\">For His love to walk through<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #800080;\">One of those doors is you<\/span><\/p>\n<h4 style=\"color: #444444; text-align: center;\">~ \u00a0Sing this song with me as our prayer and worship today. \u00a0~<\/h4>\n<p><center><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/3q7xnR9E3go?rel=0\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/center><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">Written by Singer\/Songwriter Jason Gray along with Jason Ingram<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"color: #800080;\">* ~ \u2665 ~ \u271e ~ \u2665 ~ *<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Over on our <em><strong>Seeking Him<\/strong> <\/em>devotional blog, we are just finishing up nine weeks of studying the Beatitudes. \u00a0Y\u2019know, the portion of the Sermon on the Mount where Jesus taught the blessing of having certain \u2018heart attitudes\u2019 i.e., being meek, having humility, mourning, etc. \u00a0This past week, our focus was on Matthew 5:10.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness&#8217; sake for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.<\/p>\n<p>It almost seems that, in this beautiful song, Jason Gray could be offering up a suggestion for an addition to the Beatitudes. \u00a0\u201cBlessed are those who do <span style=\"color: #800080;\"><em>acts of love<\/em><\/span>&#8230;for theirs is the Kingdom of heaven.\u201d \u00a0Living our lives with a heart to carry out acts of love definitely puts us in the category of those who are \u2018blessed!\u2019<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">Let all that you do be done in love.<br \/>\n1 Corinthians 16:14<\/p>\n<p>This verse follows along after the great \u2018LOVE\u2019 chapter in 1st Corinthians. \u00a0No words minced here: \u00a0\u2018Let <span style=\"color: #800080;\"><strong><em>a-l-l.<\/em> <\/strong><\/span>that you do&#8230;.\u2019 \u00a0Not some things, not a random act, not one good deed per day\u2014but all that you do. \u00a0Whew! \u00a0Really?!? \u00a0When Paul penned this (inspired by the Holy Spirit&#8230;2 Peter 1:21), he wrote <strong>all<\/strong> and <strong>all<\/strong> was the directive. \u00a0And we CAN do this! \u00a0Here\u2019s how&#8230;.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">And whatever you do [no matter what it is] in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus and in [dependence upon] His Person, giving praise to God the Father through Him.<br \/>\nColossians 3:17 AMP<\/p>\n<p>(Thank You, Lord!) \u00a0It is not in our own strength but in dependance on Christ Who dwells in us. \u00a0Just as our Lord truly did<strong> all<\/strong> in love, so can we! \u00a0We have the mind of Christ, remember?<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">But we have the mind of Christ (the Messiah) and do hold the thoughts of His heart.<br \/>\n1 Corinthians 2:16<\/p>\n<p>And so, we determine and choose to live as Jesus did. As Laura reminded us the other day, \u201cWWJD\u2014What Would Jesus Do?\u201d \u00a0We are His hands and feet in this world. \u00a0No longer does the Savior walk this earth reaching out to and ministering to all those around Him. \u00a0Just as Jesus was the physical, living proof of His Father&#8230;we can, too! \u00a0Remember, Jesus encouraged His disciples that they would be known as His by their love (John 13:35)! \u00a0Us, too!!!<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">No one has ever seen God;<br \/>\nbut if we love one another,<br \/>\nGod lives in us and His love is made complete in us.<br \/>\n1 John 4:12<\/p>\n<p>And so we should be living our lives with<span style=\"color: #800080;\"><em><strong>\u00a0acts of love<\/strong><\/em><\/span>\u00a0as the standard, the norm, the given&#8230;truly, our hearts\u2019 desire. We have been enabled&#8230;we can do this!<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">Put on then, as God&#8217;s chosen ones, holy and beloved,<br \/>\ncompassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience,<br \/>\nbearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other;<br \/>\nas the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive.<br \/>\nAnd above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.<br \/>\nColossians 3:12-14 ESV<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue<br \/>\nbut with actions and in truth.<br \/>\n1 John 3:16-18<\/p>\n<p>An <span style=\"color: #800080;\"><em><strong>act of love<\/strong><\/em><\/span> can look like oh-so-many different things&#8230;<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>to a relative living cross-country, it could be a photo montage of your kiddos latest antics&#8230;<\/li>\n<li>to the elderly widower who around the corner, it could an invitation to have supper with your family&#8230;<\/li>\n<li>to the crossing guard who is there every morning and every afternoon to guide the kids across the busy city street, it could be a cup of hot coffee&#8230;<\/li>\n<li>to another mom sitting watching tee-ball practice, it could be a listening ear&#8230;<\/li>\n<li>to your super-tired hubby who has worked extra late for the third-night-in-a-row, it could be some freshly baked cookies and a shoulder rub&#8230;<\/li>\n<li>to the friend anticipating another round of chemo, it could be the promise of going and sitting with them during that time&#8230;.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>You get the picture. It is not in the bigness nor the smallness of the act&#8230;it is being Jesus\u2019 hands and feet. \u00a0It is loving with His love!<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">\u201cGod put a million doors in the world<br \/>\nFor His love to walk through<br \/>\nOne of those doors is you\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">Jesus our Messiah was THE Door (John 10)&#8230;the Way, the only Way, to the Father.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">May we, as He was, be a door for others to walk through to reach God\u2019s love.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Sitting at the stoplight He can&#8217;t be bothered by the heart-cry Written on the cardboard in her hand But when she looks him in the eye His heart is broken open wide And he feels the hand of God reach out through him As Heaven touches earth Oh &#8211; we bring the Kingdom come Oh [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":20,"featured_media":16629,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[4937],"tags":[5750,2448,6238,6235,6240,235,6237,6239,1287,425,2831,6236,6234,4932],"class_list":["post-19453","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-psalms-hymns-and-spiritual-songs","tag-1-corinthians-216","tag-1-john-316-18","tag-1-john-412","tag-acts-of-love","tag-being-jesus-hands-and-feet","tag-coleen-hayden","tag-colossians-312-14","tag-colossians-317","tag-gch","tag-girlfriends-coffee-hour","tag-jason-gray","tag-jason-ingram","tag-loving-with-jesus-love","tag-psalms-hymns-spiritual-songs","entry"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/psalmshymnsspiritualsongskjv.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p39pHp-53L","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19453","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/20"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19453"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19453\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19460,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19453\/revisions\/19460"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16629"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19453"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19453"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19453"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}