To Be Loved
By Richelle Joe
Life really is simple....we are here to love and to be loved. We were created for relationships, first with God and then with each other, and the basis of those relationships is LOVE...
Unconditional, unwavering love in action...decisive love that sustains beyond both ridicule and rejection...love that heals, builds, molds...pure love that goes the distance...
We travel through life whispering this most controversial of four-letter words with only a modicum of comprehension of what it genuinely means to LOVE and TO BE LOVED. Distracted by time and testing and outright deceived by mass media, we settle, believing that “this must be it.”
Oh, but there is more!
Much more than our limited minds can conceive! It is by accepting and experiencing that “much more” that our spirits are set free to love without restraint.
Do you really know how deep, how high, how long and how wide is the love of God? (Ephesians 3:16-19)
Can you see His tenderness in a bright bed of blooming tulips?
Do you know His delight as He dances above your shoulder as a marvelous Monarch butterfly?
Yes, that is LOVE! Alluring and romantic -- able to extend a soft invitation because the hard work has already been done. No doubt He has gone the distance...slain the dragon...rescued us in our most vulnerable of moments. (John 3:16)
And yes...you were worth it...amazingly we all were. Certainly this is the hardest revelation to accept. How can God love, without pause, a liar, a murderer, an alcoholic, a prostitute...? Simply ask Jacob, Moses, Noah, Rahab...all broken and marred, but loved by God just the same.
So, are you FREE TO BE LOVED by God? If not, you will never be free to love another!
><> November 30, 2011
Mine
By Richelle Joe
You think
that I’ve forgotten you,
but it’s you who’ve chosen not to remember
Erased My image from your mind
like the New Year erases December
Gave yourself a new name
and new attitude
based on an empty, vein resolution
Not knowing that the new motto you quote
is no more than spiritual pollution
But if you could peer through the dense smokescreen
of superstition
You would return
to a once known place of peace -
of your own volition
I won’t force myself upon you,
but I’ll issue these reminders
That I was with you,
and you with Me
before the world gave you its blinders
I mean we were one!
I knew your name
well before you knew the land
Saw your life’s beginning
before your father ever thought to take your mother’s hand
You’ve been Mine
since before the sands of time
made their way to the hour glass
Well before man’s masters realized
My shadow on their sundial meant half-past
You’ve been in the castle of My heart
well before the first king’s reign
And you’ve been under my protection
even when life’s lessons
have caused you pain
You were Mine
when you went looking for love
and only found the same ole heartache
And you were Mine
when that bright idea of yours
turned into the world’s biggest mistake
You were Mine
at the top of your game
and when the coach sat you on the bench
And you’ll be Mine
when your life’s as sweet as a rose
or when it lets off an awful stench
You are Mine
without Valentines,
chocolates
or special flowers
And you’ll be Mine
when moments turn to minutes
and minutes turn into hours
You are Mine,
and I write the time card
so time stands still
and waits for Me
And I’ll wait for you
to return to Me
and be Mine for eternity
© J. Richelle Joe 2011
><> June 24, 2011
To Say The Least
By Richelle Joe
So, you say you’ve never been in love
Watch me take you there
I can sweep even the unsweepable
Like a magic carpet flying through the air
MY LOVE IS DEEP
From the core of my heart
It is eternal – loving to the end
And from the very start
I know you turned, ran
And shied away
It made no difference that you rejected my touch
My feelings – they never sway
I call you daughter
Unique child of mine
I formed your face, your smile, your hands
Painstakingly drew each line
So don’t think, when darts approach,
That my feelings for you have ceased
Because, it’s true, beloved…
I love you MOST to say the LEAST
From the beginning, God’s greatest desire has been to be in relationship with every one of His creations. Each of us is special to Him because He made us to be so. Religion is great for man; it establishes rules and routine. But God wants an intimate connection with each of us more than anything else. We are most important to Him – as His chosen people.
Not what we do – our abilities or lack thereof.
Not our outward appearance – He just made all of that so that we could experience variety.
The people He created us to be are people close to His heart. We may attempt to elude His touch but he will not be denied. Like a persistent lover God chases us to even distant places and woos us with a love as sweet as honey. A faithful Father, he never quits on His creation – we make mistakes and seemingly walk alone but nowhere on earth or in Heaven are we too far to be touched by His hand.
You may feel like you have nothing and no one in your life, and in the natural this may be true. Still, the One who really matters – the One responsible for your creation – is in hot pursuit…of you.
><> April 4, 2011
Sending Purple Tulips
By Richelle Joe
As unique as a snowflake. As heartwarming as a distant rainbow. Such is the love of God. Originality is His hallmark, so when God created each of us, He personally shaped our hearts, discarding the mold each time. Literally, no one can love you like God!
It is no coincidence that sunrises with their sheer beauty captivate men and women all over the globe. To catch a glimpse of one, we make great preparation and sacrifice - losing sleep and desperately seeking just the right spot from which to view. We are left speechless; awestruck by the myriad colors and the messages they speak to our hearts.
And why this response? To gaze upon a sunrise is to see the radiance of God. His magnificence manifests itself in this glorious sight. How thoughtful of God! Daily He tickles our hearts with His beauty simply to say “Hello...I love you!”
Not only through sunrises are these words spoken. God releases His love to us in numerous ways. A 70 degree day in February. A breathtaking performance of Alvin Ailey’s Revelations. The comfort of a good book. The smells, tastes sights and sounds that bring waves of chills over our bodies. They are all designed to communicate God’s love to us - if we notice.
I LOVE tulips. In fact, I prefer them over any other flower, including the cliché red rose. Something about their form and beauty brings a curious smile to my face. I have no idea when this love affair began, but I can recount numerous times when God has overwhelmed me with His love, simply by causing me to literally stumble over a bed of tulips. Walking The Magnificent Mile in Chicago, I have come across scores of tulips, as if God just wanted to send me a reminder of His love in the most unlikely place.
But we must STOP AND SMELL THE ROSES...or in my case, the tulips. The growth of our relationship with God depends on our paying attention to His wooing. God has said “I have loved you with an everlasting love” (Jeremiah 31:3). He has always loved us. But have we always loved Him? No need to answer.
Jesus plainly taught that all of the commandments can be condensed to one word: LOVE. We are to love God with all that is in us and love others as we love ourselves. The only way to live out this command is to embrace the affection of God released to us daily. He is waiting in the sunrise or in a delivered bouquet of purple tulips for us to return to Him - our First Love.
><> March 2, 2011
