God invites us to love Him with the gift of tears
and reach out to love others with His revolutionary love!
The Gift of Tears:
LOVING GOD
Tears of BLESSING:
The Gift of Tears
Psalm 126:5-6
God encourages us to experience tears as a blessing, not a burden, and to thank Him for our tears. He invites us to be honest with Him about our pain and our struggles, to stand firm in our suffering, and to accept His healing. When we trust Him, He gives us His perspective on the gift of our tearful times so we can see the beauty He is creating.
Tears of JOY:
Joy In All Weather
Psalm 16:8-11
How do we grow closer to God whatever the weather in our souls? In sunny times He reminds us that full joy is found only in Him. When clouds of boredom, busyness or worry engulf us, he invites us to let Him dispel those clouds. When problems rain down on us, He calls us into thankfulness. And when storms overwhelm us, He offers to turn our bitterness into praise. No matter the weather, God invites us into His presence to find fullness of joy.
Tears of WHOLENESS:
Loved By God
Luke 15:11-31
At times we wonder if God really loves us in spite of our failures. God’s original plan was for us to be whole, but sin ruined the plan and brought brokenness. Our solution is to try to protect ourselves by building walls and hiding or attacking, but God’s solution is to restore our wholeness through Jesus Christ. God invites us to come to Him, receive His love, and rest in his arms. As we trust in Him, He fills our lives with His love that overflows to others.
Tears of TRUST:
Trusting God When It’s Hard
Proverbs 3:5-6
How do we trust God when life is hard and we don’t understand what He is doing? What can we do with our questions and fears? God invites us to trust Him with our lives, our burdens, our fears, and our confusion. As we learn to trust Him, He gives us His peace that is beyond human understanding. He shows us that He walks with us even when the path seems dark. Step by step He lights our way.
Tears of PEACE:
What To Do About Worry
Matthew 6:25-34
Worry steals our peace, but God invites us to trust Him with our worries. We can trust Him and not worry because He cares for us, He cares for our loved ones, He cares for our finances and work, and He cares for our future. God offers us this equation as a cure for worry: Prayer + Praise = Peace. The antidote to worry is worship!
The Gift of Tears:
CHANGED BY GOD
Tears of CHANGE:
From Suffering to Hope
Romans 5:3-5
God invites us to see His goodness in our hard times. Whatever we are struggling with, He offers to show us the beauty of suffering, which produces perseverance, which produces character, which produces hope. And that hope doesn’t put us to shame because of His amazing, all-encompassing love.
Tears of PERSEVERANCE:
Persevering Under Pressure
Hebrews 12:1-3
Some days we feel weary. We struggle to keep running because we feel overwhelmed with stress or uncertainty. No matter what is happening in our life, God urges us to keep running the race marked out for us without losing heart. Hebrews 12:1-3 offers encouragement and challenge for how to persevere under pressure by getting rid of hindrances, by not quitting, and by keeping our eyes on Jesus.
Tears of CHARACTER:
How’s Your Heart?
Mark 4:1-20
God invites us to examine the soil of our hearts to see where there is hardness, where we are shriveling in despair, where we are distracted, and where we are abundantly receptive, growing, and fruitful. He urges us to prepare for a season of great refreshing and growth ahead. He is doing a new thing among us, making dry places vibrant with life and growth.
Tears of HOPE: Groaning with Hope
Romans 8:18-27
Do you ever groan with a sense of hope? Creation groans as it longs with hope for freedom from corruption. We groan as we wait with hope for the joy of heaven. The Holy Spirit groans as he prays for us when we don’t know what to say but still hold on to hope. God invites us to focus our hope on Him and on the joy of heaven, where we will never groan again!
The Love Revolution:
REVOLUTIONARY LOVE
The Love Revolution
Micah 6:8
God calls us to a Love Revolution characterized by justice, kindness, and humility. Justice does what is right and advocates for what is right to be done to others, with no corruption. Kindness shows genuine mercy and compassion even to those who don’t deserve it. Walking humbly with God means faithfully serving Him and others. Instead of attacking or canceling people who hold to ideas that are different to ours, we bless them with God’s revolutionary love.
Living in Love
Romans 12:9-21
God invites us to live in love with kindness, humility and justice (Micah 6:8). He calls us to love with kindness by being kindly devoted, zealous, and generous. He calls us to love with humility by humbly blessing others, feeling with others, and living with others. And He calls us to love with justice by justly doing right, living at peace, and not taking revenge. When we love God and love others in these ways, we will bring a revolution of love that will transform society for His glory!
If Not “Eye for Eye,” Then What?
Matthew 5:38-42
God calls us to a love revolution that embraces not only justice, but also kindness and humility. Justice says, “An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. Give others what they deserve. Love your neighbour and hate your enemy.” But Jesus invites us to love our enemies by choosing kindness and humility when we are hurt, when we are taken from, when we are forced, and when we are used. This kind of revolutionary love overcomes evil with good.
The Heart of the Father
I Thessalonians 2:1-12
Our Heavenly Father loves us more deeply than any earthly father ever could. He desires that we receive and radiate His heart of love. In 1 Thessalonians 2, we learn to love others with transparency and integrity like a humble young child, with a caring heart and hands like a nursing mother, and with exhorting words like an encouraging father. With God’s heart, we can love others with His deep love and draw them to Him.
Revolutionary Prayer
Matthew 6:5-15
Our prayers are often a quick list of things we want from God. But God invites us to join His Micah 6:8 Love Revolution through “The Lord’s Prayer.” Praying with a posture of humility, we simply stand, hold God’s hand, raise our arms in praise, and kneel in submission. Praying for provision through kindness, we open our hands to receive and give, and open our hearts to be forgiven and forgive. And praying for protection from injustice, we flee temptation and stand against the enemy. God wants to revolutionize our prayers and use us to change our world.
The Love Revolution:
REVOLUTIONARY CHARACTER
Who Am I to Judge?
Romans 2:1-11
God instructs us not to judge others but be humble, knowing that we ourselves do wrong things. He invites us to be kind to everyone. And He urges us never to turn away from Him, but to be faithful to Him and experience His glory, honour, and peace our whole lives.
The Power of the Tongue
Proverbs 12:17-19
Our tongues are powerful for good or for evil. God encourages us to use our tongues for truth-telling rather than lying, even though lying is often much easier. He also encourages us to use our tongues to bless others with restorative and constructive words instead of cursing them with cruel words either directly or behind their backs. God urges us to control our tongues and use them only for blessing.
A Valiant Woman
Proverbs 31:10-31
What does it mean to be a “valiant woman?” Proverbs 31 describes a woman who is valiant and valuable, faithful and loving, hardworking and creative, enterprising and generous, and strong and wise. And she is to be honored and praised. Rather than feeling discouraged by the impossible perfection of this valiant woman, we can take time to honour and praise a woman in our life who demonstrates at least some of these characteristics!
Dealing with Divisions
1 Corinthians 3:1-15
How do we prevent divisions and deal with current divisions in our churches and relationships? In 1 Corinthians 3 we find that to deal with divisions we need unity through faithfulness to Christ, unity through equality in Christ, and unity through lasting work for Christ. When unity is strengthened in these ways, divisions will dissipate and even disappear. God’s love unites us!
FHL Prayers: Praying with Faith, Hope, and Love
Matthew 7: 6-12
God invites us to pray with Faith, Hope, and Love (FHL). Praying with Faith means putting the pearls of our faith in God’s hands and not seeking answers in useless or dangerous places. Praying with Hope gives us wings so we believe God can and will answer when we ask, seek, and knock. Praying with Love means we are in a loving relationship with God and others. In answer to our FHL prayers, God will do impossible things by the power of His Spirit.
The Love Revolution:
REVOLUTIONARY OUTREACH
The Narrow Road
Matthew 7:13-14
Jesus invites everyone to leave the broad, easy road that leads to destruction and join Him on the narrow, difficult road that leads to life. Why don’t people choose the narrow road? Why do people leave the narrow road? And why do people stay on the narrow road even when it is more crushing and fraught with affliction? The narrow road is counter-cultural and in many ways counter-intuitive, but it is the path of deepest, richest blessing and joy.
Salvation FAQ’s
Romans 10:9-17
Can we be sure we’re saved? Can everyone be saved? Can we help people get saved? Romans 10:9-17 answers these frequently asked questions. When we wonder if we are saved or if we can lose our salvation, we remember that sure salvation is found in Jesus. When we wonder if God welcomes even the worst people and if people who don’t know Jesus will be saved, we remember that God welcomes everyone, but only through faith in Jesus. And when we wonder if we can help others come to faith in Jesus, we remember that we can go tell them the good news, and we can give and pray.
Courage for the Call
1 Samuel 3:1-21
God encourages us to walk in His courage even when life is difficult. Through Samuel’s example in 1 Samuel 3, we see that God gives us courage to face each situation we encounter: courage to listen to Him, courage to go where He sends us without avoidance or excuses, and courage to fearlessly speak whatever He gives us to say. As we courageously follow God, others, too, will choose to follow Him in courage and love.
How to Be Salty
Colossians 4:2-6
How can we live and share our faith in a “salty” way, so others will thirst to know and love God? We pray for open doors, rid our lives of sin, and spend time with God. We pray for boldness and clarity, choosing not to fear. We act wisely and practice what we preach. We seize opportunities and choose not to be complacent. We speak graciously, not “pouring out” too much. As we love God and love others in a “salty” way, others, too, will choose to love God and others.
Hope for Our City
Isaiah 62:1-12
In the brokenness of our city, God offers hope. He calls us to believe He has great things in store for our city. Because of our hope for what He will do, we are not silent to injustice, we receive a new name, we watch and pray, and we build up our city. He is raising us up to be a people of prayer and power to stand for Him and declare His holiness and justice, that the world may see and know that He is God, that He is good, and His ways are right and good. And they will walk in His love.
Who Cares? A Call to Love People in Need
Isaiah 58:6-12
God invites us to love Him with our hearts and with our obedience. He calls us to rise up from our knees before Him and kneel to serve the poor, the needy, and the distressed. As we kneel to serve them, we serve Him. One way we love people in need is through practical help. To do this we need to consider what help we can give, how we can help, and why we should help. We also love people in need through genuine acceptance, turning toward them in kindness and blessing them with loving words.
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“We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ.”
– 1 John 1:3
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Annette Ford, Author & Speaker 