God’s Killer Love - Encouragement Café - September 3, 2014

God’s Killer Love

Café Menu for Wednesday, September 3, 2014

Today’s Special is: What Love Really Means

Carefully prepared just for you by your friend, Luann Prater

Main Ingredient:

This is how we know that we live in Him and He in us: He has given us of His Spirit. And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent His Son to be the Savior of the world. If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in them and they in God. And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them.

1 John 4:13-16 NIV

Entrée:

Tim Sanders, an executive at Yahoo, wrote Love Is The Killer App. It basically teaches the value of relationships in the workplace. You can have the latest app on your smartphone but it won't knit you to another person's heart.

Some in the business world 'get it' - makes me wonder why it's so difficult for us in the church to grasp the concept.

Steve Noble, radio host of Called2Action, was a guest on the Encouragement Café radio show in 2011. We discussed the importance of walking side by side on this road of life so when one stumbles, the other lifts them up. Unfortunately that isn't always the case.

Maybe because we're too busy.

Maybe because we're too self-absorbed.

Maybe because we just don't realize how drastically our life would change if we dared to care.

I was once a killer of relationships, wearing a protective coating guaranteed to make my heart impermeable. This shield was erected after multiple wounds branded by acquaintances. If scars came from those who barely knew me, there was no way I would risk having a close friend.

Then I met Jesus. Funny how He changes your view. I remember Beth and Lisa seeking me out in the gym to say, "Hi, I don't think we've met. Are you new here?"

Guard, guard, put up your guard Luann, my heart impulsively screamed. And yet, this time it was different. There was a genuine smile and warm arm around my shoulder that seemed to seep through my barrier.

They reached out to a total stranger and took a chance on me. I saw something unique in them… Jesus shining through their kindness. The imprint of that moment pressed a new indention into my heart and also my armor. It took time for me to trust them, but they gladly gave me the time I needed.

Time. It's a precious commodity. Yet in today's economy I wonder, is there is anything more valuable?

Take Out:

What would our world look like if today, each one of us made a decision to let our guard down?

Take a risk with me.

Let’s attach our God goggles and discern who needs a fresh dose of God's Killer Love. Will you ask God to help you see someone who needs your encouragement? People are born again every day and they need to feel the warm arm around their shoulder. The journey ahead will be difficult and they will need true friends they can lean on when they get discouraged, they need guidance, and they just need to feel loved.

Dessert:

Father, thank You for the gift of friends You place in lives for us to have relationships with. You send others to help us on our journeys and You know exactly how to break down our erected walls around our hearts. You know what we need to hear from others and Your love fills them to overflowing so we can feel Your love through them. We thank You for Your Killer Love. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

© 2014 by Luann Prater. All rights reserved.

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