LOVE

"Love edifies" (1 Cor. 8:1). It is easy for me to try to help people by sharing insights from God's word. But I think it's so much more helpful to listen, empathize, share from a heart of love in a way that the other person can relate to.

I wanted to add to the thoughts that I just posted: there is a time to weep, when things are dark. But the Lord is with us at those times, to comfort us: "Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me" (Psalm 23:4).

LOSS

"The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me, because the Lord has anointed Me....to console those who mourn in Zion, to give them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness" (Isaiah 61:1,3 NKJV). If we experience loss, the Lord will give us joy. The circumstances may not change, but He Himself is the source of our joy (Philippians 4:4).

Prayer

Sometimes I'm desperate to get prayer answered, and I start to wonder if I'm praying the right way. But Romans 8:26-27 tells us that though we don't know how to pray, the Spirit intercedes for us according to God's will. So there's no need to worry about composing a good prayer, because the Lord prays for us! GOD REACHING OUT It's so good to know that God is always lovingly pursuing us. All we have to do is look up into the sky, and we see His glory (Ps. 19:1-4). We can be sure that just as He knows the number of stars and has named them all (Psalm 147:4), so He knows every detail about us, because He cares. And He wants to hang out with us. He's always knocking on our door (Rev. 3:20), so open the door and enjoy some sweet fellowship with the one who loves you the most! GOD'S GLORY The ultimate goal of everything is for God to be glorified. How then is He not egotistical and selfish? The Bible assures us that He isn't. Look into howthe Lord is glorified. He shares His glory with us (Col. 1:27)! He is glorified through us.Ephesians 1:10-12 shows us more about God's ultimate goal: everybody will be one in and with Christ, and by this He will be glorified. No, God is not conceited. Because the more He gets exalted, the more we get exalted right along with Him. And He throws in infinite blessing with the package. Sounds great to me!