— To uplift, inform and challenge —

Fellow Soldier,

Of all the issues vying for the average person’s attention, there’s no greater or more common than  l-o-v-e.  Health, money, success, power, peace, security and the like, all contend for our hearts, but no human need screams louder than the imperative of being wanted and needed: to be loved.  So vital to life is love, fallen mankind will do most anything to gain it ... including the most hateful of acts.

For the ungodly to feel love-deprived is understandable but for a Christian, it’s oxymoronic.  For, God is love! One who is “in Christ” abides in love Himself.  There is no greater love than His and it can satisfy your need vastly beyond the highest hope.  He wants you and He loves you.  We pray the following will help make that truth a reality in your life.

You are Loved!

Know it, believe it,  live it and give it.

"I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord" (Rom 8:38,39 NIV).

During last evening’s visit by an attractive, single, mid and new-aged woman, we asked why she was going to relocate to a larger city.  Without hesitation she said, “I’m so lonely!  I’ve been dating for eight years and cannot find my soul-mate in this small town.”  Our hearts broke as we assured her that God has “Mr. Right” just waiting to meet her (we later prayed He would send her a Christian husband).

How about yourself?  Does the shortage of love stalk you like a hungry lion?  Are you lonely and wanting to feel needed and loved?  Whether you belong to Christ or not — the following offers hope.

Know it!

The word “know” derives from the Greek base “gno”, from which we also get “gnostic” and it speaks of a mental process.  Essentially it means to have a clear perception or understanding of a matter — sometimes called “head knowledge”.  I’m also reminded of the fact that, contrary to the old saying, “knowledge is power,” understanding of itself accomplishes little or nothing.  It’s the application of knowledge that produces results.  This concept is so important, I want to pursue it a bit further.

In Newark, NJ during an interview with Harold Dow, Executive Vice President of the Prudential Insurance Company, this very subject arose.  Commenting on it, he said: “I’ve got agents who know the insurance business inside and out; they’re like walking actuaries.  The problem is — they can’t sell for sour apples!”   In other words, they had the “gnosis” but when it came to getting an order, they couldn’t make the “closis” (poor attempt at a pun!).

Often, one of data’s slowest journeys is that 18 inches separating head and heart.  It can take a lifetime for head knowledge to finally register in one’s heart.  Until that occurs, it’s merely “head stuff.”  All of us know persons who have a wealth of knowledge, but fall short of productive living.  Some walk the entire length of their life’s path — scarcely leaving a footprint.  So it is with the awareness that God loves you.  If you do not know and live in that truth, you’ll miss out on the joy, comfort, security, confidence and wholeness it instills.

Believe it!

Believing picks up where knowing leaves off.  Whereas knowing is a passive cerebral fact, believing is a dynamic heart reality.  It’s accepting a fact or matter as being true; having confidence in it.  It means to trust in a thing, idea, concept or person ... to have faith.  One can “know” something but not necessarily believe it — whereas believing elevates it from the abstract to real and it motivates action.  Having faith in a fact brings it alive.  It’s like the spirit is to the body; without it, it’s passive, dead, even “stinketh.” However, a spirit-filled body can impact the world.  So it is with faith-filled knowledge.

To believe your car is going to start when you insert the key allows you to plan your itinerary with confidence.  To believe the bank is going to honor your checks permits you to buy things. Trusting your employer to regularly pay you, provides needed assurance to sign a mortgage, buy a car, etc.  All of these actions require more than a passive head knowledge.  They are dependent on trust, on faith; upon you believing on something else ... to the extent you’re able to commit to others.  Without that underlying trust, insecurity and uncertainty, even fear can take hold and flourish.  So it is with love.

Believing God loves you, compared to only knowing it, could be likened to a car with or without gas. When empty, it’s passive and idle.  But when fueled, it’ll take you anywhere.  So will God’s love, and love is vastly more powerful than even the fuel used to hurl rockets into space.

Live it!

You’ve no-doubt heard the trite line: “If you’re filled with joy ... perhaps you’d better notify your face.” When born-again, one receives the very spirit of love and is guaranteed God will never, ever withdraw it (1Jn 4:8,16; Ro 8:38, 39).  Undergirded with the assurance of God’s love, one can truly live in and through turmoil and chaos and not be shaken.  They can face loss, tragedy, sickness ... even death with confidence. In fact, it was love that enabled biblical martyrs to endure — Stephen being a prime example: While they were stoning him, Stephen prayed, "'Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.'  Then he fell on his knees and cried out, 'Lord, do not hold this sin against them.' When he had said this, he fell asleep" (Acts 7:59,60).

To live above circumstances is likely impossible ... in the natural.  But enfolded in God’s love and indwelt by His Spirit makes it do-able ... even a joy.  Yes ... Jesus being our example: "... who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross" (Heb 12:2b).  That’s the kind of “tract” the world needs and desires to see from Jesus’ followers.  It reads: "I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me" (Gal 2:20).

Give it!

When one knows God loves them and they truly believe it, they cannot help but live in its awesome reality.  Like God (as modeled by Jesus) we want to share that love.  "Silver and gold have I none; but such as I have give I thee" (Acts 3:6) said Peter to the lame man, which reminds of a piece I penned eons ago:

Love Gives

Love's a giver
and givers receive much.
Lovers give freely
and are an "easy touch."
Love is lavish
giving it's host away.
Hate is selfish
"getting" it's goal each day.

Givers are free
from the bondage of "get."
Takers are not
If they don't get they fret.
Givers love
and lovers always give.
Haters take
and takers never live.

Love Lines — Agape, Philio and Issues of The Heart
© 1994 by R. Henry, Hallelujah Living

Long before being born-again, I recall millionaire Paul Meyer of Waco, Texas say:  “I’ve been rich and I’ve been poor ... being rich is better.”  It really impressed me as I was racing down that road to material wealth.  But, praise God!  Along the way and when in great distress ... I met Jesus.  Oh, joy!  Oh, thrill! Wonder divine!!  He gave His love, and now it’s mine!

Many of our neighbors attended this year’s “Holiday Open House” and with but one exception, each was single.  We wanted to foster a sense of community and demonstrate the spirit of Christmas.  How?  By loving and giving.  September’s apple cache was made into gifts of applesauce and guests were encouraged to take freely from baskets of tomatoes, mangos, bananas, avocados and of course — the publication table.  Crucial was the atmosphere of love and acceptance which touched some lonely and love-starved hearts.

That’s how God showcased His love for us; He gave.  The very nature of love is expressed by giving; the gift, an outward expression of an intense emotion God calls “love”.  Typically, the greater the love, the more valuable the gift — epitomized by God’s gift of His Son to redeem our lives from sin’s death penalty.  "God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life" (Jn 3:16).

We too can so live and give, if we are certain of God’s love.  Dear one, God loves you more than your mother, brother — or even you do, and His cannot be lost or taken away; it’s eternal.  He truly loves you!

ABOUT US:  Founded in 1993, Hallelujah Living Ministries is a donation-based, non-denominational Christian outreach to uplift, inform and challenge followers of Jesus Christ.  For more information or a copy of our always-free print newsletter, please include a  postal mail address along with your comments and prayer requests. Thank you for visiting  This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

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