Reflections For April 19

We have been given the power to live exceptional lives through God’s love and can bring God into others’ lives. God delivers peace and strength. We are called to take time to acknowledge every benefit we have been given from God. One of our songs on Palm Sunday was “All my hope is his love. Him alone my heart adores.” It is interesting when I am sitting in a church service and tears come to my eyes because the music and/or message is so powerful. It touched my heart. This is when God is sending his love, so we are prepared for the next week. We can share his love. The disciples didn’t fully understand God until Jesus rose from the dead. Paul’s rereading of the Old Testament revealed God’s love and the meaning of Jesus’ actions. Don’t make God fit in our lives. We need to see who God is and who Jesus was. Jesus showed up and delivered the message that he forgives our sins. We have been given the power of God to live exceptional lives. In the Assurance of Pardon for Tuesday's Morning with the Master, we had the words: “People of God, we are fortunate that the scripture recalls all the ways our ancestors failed to follow God, because we get to see the depth of God’s forgiveness and love. The same forgiveness and love are offered to us through Jesus Christ. In Christ’s name, our sins are forgiven.” I want to follow up on a statistic Geoff shared on Palm Sunday about the word love in song titles. Love has been the most frequent word in tens of thousands of song titles. Sixty-seven percent of songs were about love. Between 2003 and 2007, there was a high point of hate in songs and a low point of love. More recently, only 30% have love been mentioned. That is an interesting statistic to ponder about lives today versus a few years ago. Know that God does love you, and we can share it with others! Reflections from Deborah Kelly. Share your reflections with deborah@rbcommunity.org and let me know your thoughts.