LOVE

O Love that wilt not let me go,
I rest my weary soul in thee;
I give thee back the life I owe,
That in thine ocean depths its flow
May richer, fuller be.

O Light that followest all my way,
I yield my flickering torch to thee;
My heart restores its borrowed ray,
That in thy sunshine’s blaze its day
May brighter, fairer be.

O Joy that seekest me through pain,
I cannot close my heart to thee;
I trace the rainbow through the rain,
And feel the promise is not vain,
That morn shall tearless be.

O Cross that liftest up my head,
I dare not ask to fly from thee;
I lay in dust life’s glory dead,
And from the ground there blossoms red
Life that shall endless be.
(click here to listen)

This is one of my favorite songs. The author George Matheson wrote it in 5 minutes and felt divinely inspired as the words just fell onto the page.  To me, this song sums up the message of Jesus, the Gospel: His Love will not let us go. There is nothing we can do to avoid God's love. No matter what we have done or how little we may deserve it. We cannot escape it.

LOVE...
God is Love.
We cannot escape His Love.
His Love compels us (2 Corinthians 5:14).
Whoever doesn't Love doesn't know God (1 John 4:8).
We are able to Love because He Loved us (John 4:19).
And He came to save us because of Love (John 3:16).

One of the most humbling passages to me is in 1 Corinthians. It says if I could speak all languages of the earth and of angels but did not love others, I would be like a noisy cymbal. If I have the gift of prophesy and can fathom mysteries and have all knowledge and faith that can move mountains but I do not have love, I am nothing. It says if I sell all my belongings but I haven't loved, then I gain nothing.

Love keeps no record of wrongs.
Love never loses faith.
Love endures through every circumstance.
Love rejoices when truth wins.
Love is patient and kind.
Love is not jealous, boastful, proud or rude.
Love always protects.
Love lasts forever.

LOVE...
This is really the only commandment we have to focus on. Jesus says the greatest commandment is to love God with all our heart, mind, soul and strength (Deuteronomy 6:5, Matthew 22:37). Then the second is that we are to love others as ourselves. There is no greater commandment above these (Mark 12:31).

Romans 8:38-39
For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.