Unsurpassed Love 4th Sunday during Lent Read: 1 Corinthians 13:1-7 “Love is patient, love is kind… It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.” 1 Corinthians 4a, 7 (NIV)

My husband and I have just celebrated thirty years of marriage. The above verses were not the text for our wedding, but I do know that this is a favourite for many couples about to be married. This verse is filled with optimism for a future filled with love. It is a verse encouraging each person to live in this love knowing that only a love f illed with God and the Holy Spirit can get through all the tough times.

This sort of love always has the best intentions for the other person; it protects them from any hurts of body, mind and spirit; it trusts that the other person will be there through thick and thin; there are shared hopes and dreams; and that one person will never give up on the other. Such a marriage, for those who have been married for a while, seems almost ‘pie in the sky’, unrealistic and possibly naive, but those entering marriage don’t think so and look at their future with love, hopes and dreams. God wants us to have this sort of love not just as a married couple but also for all our relationships, whether it be between family members, parents, friends and church members. The love we have for each other needs to be filled with God’s love.

There will also be people that perhaps we do not like, but God calls us to love them. We need to love them with a servant heart, always putting their interests above our own and praying for their future. God has this love for each of us.

He is patient and kind when we say unkind things. He will protect us with His angels; we can always trust that God has our best interests at heart. We know that our future is secured and that is where we place our hope. God will never give up on us but comes back to us again and again with His forgiveness and love. For us as humans, this sort of love can seem impossible, but with God it surpasses all our understanding. Know that God’s love is unsurpassed!

Prayer: Lord God, thank you for your incredible love for me. I cannot understand this depth of love that gives His only Son to save me. Help me to pass this love on to those around me. Amen.

Hope Overflowing 22nd Day in Lent (Saturday) Read: Romans 15:13-21 “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” Romans 15:13 (NIV)

In 2010, our family took a thirteen-week holiday in an RV driving across the USA from Los Angeles to New York City and visited everywhere in between. Before we left Australia, I remember my husband asking the children to give him three things that they wanted to see and do while there. Disneyland was on the list, a dinosaur park in Colorado, The Grand Canyon, Greenfield Village in Michigan and Niagara Falls in New York/ Canada. (There were lots of other ideas and places!) We were also to visit Monument Valley in Arizona and Central Park in New York City as well as visiting family and friends in Iowa and Minnesota. It was to be a journey full of experiences and we went with the hopes of all that we were to see and do.

The plans were made, and we set off and so many of our dreams came true, but plans also had to change due to weather, building construction and closures. Snow stopped us seeing Yellowstone National Park and Old Faithful (on my list). But instead, we saw more of South Dakota and Bear Country. I am sure that you have also had times where you were so excited for the future with hope overflowing – having children, children’s weddings, grandchildren, retirement, a new job and f inishing school knowing that a new chapter is beginning.

These are the hopes and dreams that God wants us to have. I think that is the sort of joy and hope that Paul is talking about. It is a hope without boundaries where anything is possible. It is the joy we experience in the faithfulness of a loving God. This joy and hope we can also relate to during Lent. We know that our Saviour went through a horrific death for you and me, but that is not the end of the story.

Jesus rose again to give us a hope that overflows. It is in this that we can f ind joy for our future and the peace that God knows and cares for each of us. Our hope lies in the love of our Heavenly Father.

Prayer: Thank you, Lord God, for giving me a future filled with hope and your promises. You guide and direct me through each day, let me rest in your peace and the joy of a future with you. Amen.

Stories of the Past 21st Day in Lent (Friday) Read: Romans 15:1-6 “For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through the endurance taught in the Scriptures and the encouragement they provide we might have hope.” Romans 15:4 (NIV)

Another of my passions is family history. I have most of the family history books about my family from when they arrived in Australia. I would love to know more about the time they lived in Prussia and Germany – what they did, what family they had, and about their faith. But after my visit to the family towns in both Prussia and Germany last year, I realised that this past has been forgotten or destroyed.

So, I enjoy hearing stories from my mother and my grandmother when she was alive. I listen to stories of the faithfulness of my ancestors which have guided and directed myself and my family to our faith. Paul reminds us in Romans 15, that through the stories written in the Bible we also can be strengthened in our faith. The Bible stories of the past shape our lives and bring us to understanding the faithfulness of our Heavenly Father, the love of His Son and the guiding power of the Holy Spirit.

All this can help us when we are weak, when we need comfort and when faced with uncertainty. Learning about the faith of Abraham – having to wait until he was 100 before God gave Him his promised heir. Recognizing the continual repentance of King David who came asking for God’s forgiveness again and again; and he was blessed by God. Reading about the strength of Esther who stood up against the King for her people, and they were saved. Then we read in the New Testament of the strength of the apostles and disciples who went throughout the known world spreading the news about Jesus dying and rising.

God blessed them and the church grew. Sometimes we put aside the past and say we are living in the present. Remember the hope of our eternal future. Learn from our ancestors and God’s faithfulness to His people and grow your children and grandchildren’s faith so that they too may know the hope we have in a loving God. The past guides us into the present and gives hope for our future!

Prayer: My loving Father, you have given me your Word, the Bible, to teach me and my family about your love and faithfulness from the beginning of time. This gives me hope for my future. Thank you. Amen.