Scott's N-Cites

Do the 2

Every day is so full of experiences that it’s hard to take it all in and reflect on it to learn from it. I like blogging because it helps me to at least spend a little bit of time reflecting and learning.
One thing that is on my mind is the simplicity of the message of Jesus and how cool it is that he boiled things down to the bare minimum for us: Love God and love each other.
I do love God and am learning just how much He loves me. Tonight, with the church that meets in our house, Beth brought a CD and we listened to Matt Redman’s “The Father’s Song.” It was beautiful to hear the words that God is “singing heaven’s melody,” “a great symphony”, over us. Tonight, “us” included Guyani, a dear woman from Sri Lanka, and Christy, a sister for whom we have been praying and whom God is healing. It was wonderful to worship with them.
God’s Spirit led us to read and discuss 1 Kings 19, where Elijah experiences the presence of God at a low-point in his life. He believes the lie that he is alone, and God lovingly shows him the truth that he is one of many faithful servants. God has reminded me of His presence through a lot of people this week including Kim, my parents, my friends Randy Connie from MI, Tony from Youngstown and Dan from Brunswick, and the amazing Christ-followers who gather here every week. I am overwhelmed with so many people whose love for God shows up vividly in their love for people.
Through Christ, my love for people is growing, too. At least I love most people most of the time.  Seriously, the less I focus on myself and my needs, the greater capacity I have to genuinely care about others. With God’s miraculous and abundant provision for us, my love for and attention to other people is growing. Yet, I also recognize how much my life is still all about me. Fortunately, some progress is being made.
A few experiences in the last week that I’ve really enjoyed include last Sunday’s radio show with my friend Doug, worshiping with a really neat congregation at Weston Sonlight Assembly of God, and visiting with my friend Dennis who is out of town most of the time. I’ve enjoyed late night talks with my amazing wife, and an eventful day of sailing on Lake Erie with my friend Tim yesterday, (The oil ran out of the engine on his sailboat – too long to write about here but it was a memorable day.) getting a new listing and a new buyer client this week – and getting to pray with them.
Today’s N-Cite: As my brother Steve says, “Do the 2” – Love God. Love people. Everything else will take care of itself.

posted by Scott @ 9:44 PM