Groanings Too Deep For Words

My friend Larry died yesterday.

It was sudden and unexpected. If you are reading this, stop now and pray for Larry's wife and family.

I never know what to say when I get the news that someone I know has died. Usually, anything I say will only make things awkward.

I have known Larry for a good many years. We didn't get to spend time together as often as I would have liked, but the time that we did spend together was wonderful. Larry was one of those rare people that gave you the feeling that you had always known him, even if you had just met.

My wife met him for the first time a few years ago when he and his wife came for dinner at our house. She instantly loved him.

It is sometimes an overwhelming feeling when searching for the words to speak to the families of those who have passed when words are far too clumsy a thing to express the cries of the heart. I can pray for them, but there too, words are not enough.

The Apostle Paul offers some comforting words in his letter to the believers in Rome.
"Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words." (Romans 8:26)

Larry Oden was a dearly loved brother in Christ and a great man.

Love Or Lies

I once said to God, "I love you."

Seems like a perfectly reasonable thing to say to God. I mean, He is our Father, after all. The only problem is that God doesn't view "I love you." as casually as we often do. (Isaiah 29:13)

Jesus answered me before I ever said it. He answered me before I ever existed.
He said that if I loved Him, I would do what He says. (John 14:15)

He gave a commandment to us before He left. He said that we should love each other so that the whole world would know who we are. (John 13:34-35)

I've been learning a hard lesson. I've been learning that love is not a feeling. Love is a choice. It is an act of will. We are emotional creatures with a fallen nature. We often cannot control how we feel about certain things or toward individuals. A choice, a conscious effort, has to be made to love someone.

It is very difficult in our current circumstances to love certain people who make it difficult to love them. There are people who will go out of their way to embarrass others in front of people in order to make themselves look smart or witty. Then there are those who think they know everything. We all know people like these.

When I say "...our current circumstances..." I mean our state of mind. We must guard our minds continuously. We must don the helmet of salvation and hold high the shield of faith. (Genesis 4:7, Galatians 5:17)

We are at war. People often talk about spiritual warfare as if it is a metaphor for some of life's challenges. Make no mistake...it is real. The way wars are won is by taking away the enemy's will to fight. Don't let that happen to you. Stay on guard. Trust in the strength of the Holy Spirit to help you love that person.

There is a lesson that I learned from reading about an incident involving the Apostle Paul and his friend Barnabas and Barnabas' cousin John Mark.
In a nut shell, Paul and Barnabas had a falling out over John Mark.
(Acts 13:13, Acts 15:37-39)

Paul, it seems, didn't care for John Mark. But there is a really neat progression through Paul's letters. He got over it, and made the decision to love John Mark anyway. (Colossians 4:10, 2 Timothy 4:11)

Be careful about the condition of your heart before you say "I love you." to God. John warns us about doing that. (1 John 2:9, 1 John 4:20) This is the lesson I've been learning.

Father, help me to obey you. Help me to love others with a pure heart so that I can tell you that I love you.