Love Of God

I was thinking alot after last night about the love of God. I heard John Piper speak on I John 4. I thought I would take the two key verses that stick out in that chapter and say what God impressed on my heart.
I John 4:7-8
"Beloved let us love one another, for love is from God, and everyone that loveth is born of God. 8. He that loveth not, knoweth not God, for God is love."
I know that most everyone has heard these verses. In fact you may have them memorized, but how often do we really think about what they are saying. Now what I'm about to say I can't totally take credit for because I am paraphrasing what John Piper said.
First it says we need to love eachother because love is from God. So God shows all of us love. In John 3:16 it says he loved us enough to send his son to die for us. So there is no question of his love. If we love then it says that is proof that we are born of God, or saved.
Then in the next verse it says the person that doesn't love is not saved. I know we all have people who we might sometimes hate, but what this means is that if you are saved hating should not be part of your lifestyle. We are human but should try our best not to hate, and can only do it with God's help. Then it says something interesting "God is love". That statement means alot but let me try and sum it up the way John Piper did. This is paraphrased. God shows love to us because he is love. It's a natural reaction. He shows love like how the sun gives warmth because it is warmth, and water makes us wet because it itself is wet. It's not the same way the mailman gives us a letter but the mailman himself is in no way related to the letter. He himself is not made of letters.
That is the love of God. God not only gives it but is in fact the embodiment of it. That is awesome!

Summer's end...

Okay so this summer has been crazy for me, but not only me my whole family. God has been working with all of us to get us to stop relying on ourselves so much and to more rely on him. Shortly before this summer my aunt finally stopped drinking. It was something we had been praying about for a long time. Then as summer started I got really sick with stomach issues. I spent about the first half of summer really sick almost all the time. I had to trust that God would heal me before my following year of school. Doctors tried alot and then finally gave me some heavy duty muscle relaxants which seemed to do the trick. My dad ran into a bunch of trouble at his job because he works slower on the parts he builds but makes the best parts by far. Well the high up bosses put someone faster who wasn't as good on the parts which in the long run may mean more parts (expensive parts) get scrapped. My mom was nervous about some routine yet major surgery she had. Then she had it and has been limited in what she can do since then and for the next few weeks. Then my middle sister had some friendship/relational problems. Then we were wondering why everyone but my youngest sister was getting tested and then it happened. The elementary school that my mom, middle sister and I all went to in elementary, and that my littlest sister was still attending and still had one more year before graduation, closed down. They just weren't getting enough students. It was a shock and we ended up having to register her in August for a new school. She is really nervous about it but we all realize we have to trust God...and I guess that's when God brings my favorite verse to mind again.
Jeremiah 29:11 "For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you, and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and future." God really does and although we can't see all the results we can see some, for example the school my littlest sister is going to is a little better and higher technology then her old school. So I mean I guess we can all say Romans 8:28 is true "And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him who have been called according to his purpose."