For those who are in need of love...

Long before he laid down earth’s foundations, 

he had us in mind, 

had settled on us as the focus of his love, 

to be made whole and holy 

         by his love.  

Long, long ago 

he decided to adopt us into his family through Jesus Christ. 

                       Ephesians 1:4

The Bible tells us two great truths:  

1) We were made for a different place 

2) We will get there. 

Honest. How can we be sure? 

The capacity for love and joy,  and empathy and hurt  in the human heart tells us that 

there is a "more". 

The more is not made by the hands of man. 

The more cannot be touched but is can be felt in an embrace. 

The more cannot be smelled but it can be detected in the spring rain. 

The more cannot be heard but is screams with joy at healing and a weeping at pain. 

The more, my friends is Love. 

And Love is a noun, not a verb. 

His name is Jesus. 

Jesus is the more and he took all the less upon himself. 

My daughter says that he gave up all his presents for us. 

In so doing, be brings us to the "there" which is infinitely better than the here. 

The here may lots of things from the there...joy, peace, love...but it still has the here mixed in. 

The wonder is that when we are filled with Love, Christ, the noun, we do not just experience the new place and the more, but we begin to live in it. 

  

Jesus said these things. 

Then, raising his eyes in prayer, he said:

Father, it’s time.
 

Display the bright splendor of your Son
So the Son in turn may show your bright splendor.
 

You put him in charge of everything human
So he might give real and eternal life to all in his charge.
 

And this is the real and eternal life:
That they know you,
The one and only true God,
And Jesus Christ, whom you sent.

The adoption papers have been signed. Sealed. Delivered.