Love–as Christ expressed love–is two faceted. Part of love comes from the heart (mind) in the form of devotion, desire, longing, concern, empathy , etc. Another part of love is action–self-sacrifice, working for sanctification, nourishing, honoring, etc.

Love is both motive and vehicle for faith and obedience.

For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known. So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.

God is the head of Christ, and Christ is the head of the church.

It’s easy to see authority as restrictive. In fact, aren’t rules simply to prevent you from doing things, and thus, anti-freedom? Quite the contrary.

If you want to attain true freedom, you must give your own way up and follow the way of Christ. Even on earth, Jesus was all-powerful. He was capable of doing anything he wanted–but was perfectly limited by the Father’s will. Every move that Jesus made on earth was scripted by a sovereign God. And yet, He is the freest man that ever lived.

Sin is bondage, slavery. Christ died that we (believers) will be free–because we died with Him, and are raised with Him, and Paul says that we are hidden in Christ with God.

So love and freedom are intermixed–setting aside your own desires to consider the desires of others first, that is to love, brings freedom.

Simply, Christ’s love for us is our freedom.

Happy ascension day!

I had an odd dream one night–I was in bed dying, and time was frozen. Enough breath was left for a few words–what should they be? All the things to say, and what a conundrum. What would be my last words? At some point (whether asleep or awake, it doesn’t matter), I settled on one great truth: God is. Eccentric, yes. Morbid, not really–but it got me thinking.

God identifies himself as “I AM who I AM”, and establishes his character as self-existent. All things draw their beginning and their substance from Him. The Trinitarian union has no beginning, no end, no extent, and no lack. God IS.

All our hope, all our needs, all our purpose is bent on God’s nature. His love gives us hope, His glory gives us purpose, in His sovereignty He fulfills our needs; and His name, which He placed on us who are in Christ by the indwelling of the spirit, our identity. Everything that we are flows from Him.

How trivial our problems seem in light of His greatness! How foolish our tempting pleasures in light of His eternity. Heavenly Father, give us your prospective.