Tag Archives: Bible Verse of the Day

Receiving God’s Love

Posted on by yolandaberry
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gods-love

God loves those who love Him, and those who seek Him early ad diligently shall fine Him. (Proverbs 8:17)

For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, so that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life. (John 3:16)

He has loved me, as the Father has loved Him; and He instructs me to abide in His love. (John 15:9)

For the Father Himself loves me because I have loved Him and have believed that He came out from the Father. (John 16:27)

Hope never disappoints or deludes or shames me, for God’s love has been poured out in my heart through the Holy Spirit who has been given to me. (Romans 5:5)

I love God truly (with affectionate, reverence, prompt obedience, and grateful recognition of His blessing), I am known by God (recognized as worthy of His intimacy and love, and I am owned by Him.) (I Corth 8:3)

Let everything I do be done in love (true love to God and man as inspired by God’s love for me.) I Corth 16:14

The love of Christ controls and urges and impels me, because I am of the opinion and conviction that (if) One died for all, then all died; and He died for all, so that all those who live might live o longer to and for themselves, but to and for Him who died and was raised again for our sake. (2 Corth 5:14-15)

Christ through my faith dwells in my heart. I am rooted deep in love and founded securely on love, I have the power and strength to apprehend and grasp with all the saints (God’s devoted people, the experience of that love) what is the breadth and length and height and depth (of it) (I have come to know (practically, through experience for myself) the love of Christ, which far surpasses mere knowledge; I am filled (through my being) unto all the fullness of God (I have the riches measure of the divine Presence, and I have become a body wholly filled and flooded with God Himself.) Esph 3:17-19

My life lovingly expresses truth (in all things, speaking truly, dealing truly living truly.) Enfolded in love, I grow up in every way and all things into Him who is the Head, (even) Christ.

I walk in love as Christ loved me and gave Himself up for me, a slain offering and sacrifce to God a sweet fragrance. Eph 5:2

I carefully build myself up in this most holy faith by praying in the Holy Spirit, staying right at the cent of God’s love, keeping my arms open and outstretched, ready for the mercy of Jesus Christ. This is the unending life, the real life! (Jude 20:21)

The Unknown Road

Posted on by yolandaberry
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The End of the Road-2005 Copyright Yolanda Berry
Artwork by Yolanda Berry

On my way to church one day, I was determined to finally make it there on time. There’s a new road that has recently been constructed that connects to another street. I normally take a left turn at the light instead of continuing on the new road facing me straight ahead, but this morning I decided to travel the unknown road to find out where it would lead me.

As I traveled down the road, I felt a little anxiety hoping that I wouldn’t get lost so I could make it to church on time.  On the path I normally take, I would have to wait at the stoplight for long periods of time since it was not a heavily traveled street on Sundays. 

 Fortunately, I discovered that the road turned out to be a shortcut to a major parkway and in return took me closer to my destination than my old, traveled path. While I was driving, I immediately started thinking about the decisions made in life. Some people are so set in their ways or habits that they rarely take the road less traveled. They are either afraid of change or afraid of where it may lead. They never consider an alternate route. Unfortunately, they waste valuable time waiting at a red light or traveling farther than they have to go.  Sometimes risking the unknown maybe is the exact solution we need to lead us to our destination.  

A Cheese Danish Sunday

Posted on by yolandaberry
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For most of us, the first thing on our minds in the morning is breakfast.

 My alarm went off at 6:50 AM. My stomach was growling but I chose to hit the snooze button until 7:30 to get the last few precious minutes of sleep. I showered, got dressed in a hurry and prepared myself to greet church members, faculty, new members and visitors for this was my commitment to serving the Lord on every third Sunday of the month. I didn’t have time to eat so I quickly made a cup of tea, grabbed a bottle of water and stuffed a cheese Danish into a plastic baggie and headed for the door.

 I thought of the lack of eating a hearty breakfast. I imagined hot, buttered pancakes drizzled with syrup, scrambled eggs, sizzling bacon, a hot cup of hazelnut coffee and big tall glass of orange juice. As the cold air slapped me back into reality, I turned on the radio and carefully sipped hot tea while I waited for my car to heat up.

 As I waited for the red light to turn, I eyed the cheese danish. It was the perfect color— a beautiful golden brown with whipped, cream cheese filling sandwiched between the pastry. My mouth watered so I decided to take a bite. It was better than I imagined. The crust was soft and flaky and the cream cheese was soft and mildly sweet. Just the way I like it. It made my taste buds dance. The light turned green so I slid the danish back into the baggie and decided I would finish it once I got to the church parking lot.

 When I made the right turn, the cheese danish slid between the passenger car seat and the car door. As I went to clutch the bag, the danish fell out of the bag and under the seat between the car door. I was furious.  My tea was cold and I only took two bites of the flaky, soft crust.  I could hardly focus on driving and I just wanted to turn back around and go home and call it a day. Suddenly, a favorite Christian song came on the radio that calmed me down and ministered to my spirit. I started to praise God as I went on my way to church.

 Unfortunately, I was still rushing and felt a little frazzled entering the Walker Center lobby. I greeted the team leader at the Welcome Center. I was to meet a new volunteer in the Sanctuary. That is exactly where I didn’t want to greet today because I didn’t want to be around too many people. I was still hungry and a little cranky.

Once I met the other volunteer, he told me to relieve a lady working downstairs near the nursery. It was very cold because it was near the door.  In some way, I didn’t mind because it didn’t look like a busy area. I normally like to greet everyone upstairs at the entrance, but today was

different. I was hungry and cold, not a good combination in the morning. However once I started greeting people, my spirit began to change. I actually started to feel a sense of  joy enter my heart again. I smiled and welcomed everyone I met. It was awesome.

 Once I got to church, my pastor spoke about the importance of praise and worship. It was the perfect sermon I needed to hear. I felt my spirit come alive again. My spirit began to dance. I consumed the word of God and received spiritual nourishment that sustained me. I wasn’t even physically hungry anymore.  

 Just how we crave food in our daily lives, we should have the same craving for the Lord. Jesus should be the first meal of our day. Jesus is the bread of life. He is the sustainer of all things. “In him, is where we move and have our being.”  Our minds should be focused on Him as we start our day. He nourishes us with His truth, love, mercy and grace. He feeds us with the fruits of the spirit:

Love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. (Gal 5:22-23).