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Love and Loneliness

May 3, 2012 by Fritz

Funny how literary works and old sayings get stuck in the back of the mind and we accept wrong ideas without thinking!

James Weldon Johnson (1871-1938)


Benjamin Franklin said, “God helps those who help themselves”, and over the years most think that is in the Bible. John Wesley, the founder of Methodism says, “Cleanliness is next to godliness”, and we think that’s somewhere in the Bible, too.

James Weldon Johnson (1871-1938) wrote a poem in 1922 called, “The Creation”,

AND God stepped out on space,
And He looked around and said,
“I’m lonely—
I’ll make me a world.”

And it filters down that God was somehow lonely — creating us to keep him company.

While it is a great poem (I presented it in high school drama) it is not very accurate. God was NOT lonely, did not create us from a sense of need, and has never depended on us for anything.

Why is that important? Because there is a difference between Love and Loneliness.

Loneliness focuses on self whereas Love is selfless. Ever known someone who “loved” you because they were lonely? How about someone who really loved you (regardless of what it did for them)? Notice a difference, did you?

God created through selfless love even though he knew it would cost him what was most dear (Rev. 3:8). He gave his eternal Son because he Loved (John 3:16) though most would reject (John 1:11). And throughout eternity he shall demonstrate that selfless love by pouring grace and blessing on those who enter the “secret place”1 (Ephesians 2:7)

No, God is complete within himself needing nothing but decided to share that love with the universe so they could enjoy it, too.

— fritz

1 See “A Secret Place” — April 22, 2012

Posted in Benjamin Franklin, Creation, Explanations, God's Character, God's Favor, James Weldon Johnson, John Wesley, Quotes | Tagged , , , | Leave a Comment »

Changing Perspectives

May 2, 2012 by Fritz

John Ortberg

“The growth of the disciples looked something like this: First they had faith in Jesus; then they began to have the faith of Jesus. Their mental maps began to look like Jesus’ mental map. — John Ortberg1

John goes on to say that the deepest conviction of the followers of Christ is boiled down to one sentence,

… his disciples realized that Jesus is the Savior of the world—that he really is the revelation of God himself—and therefore they trusted him with their eternal destinies as well. Elton Trueblood wrote these words, and I think they are profoundly true: “The deepest conviction of the Christian is that Christ was not wrong.”

That’s really what it comes down to, experiencing Christ in living enough to decide to believe him, to take up the faith he had.

Related Post: “Mr Monk’s Gospel Lesson” – May 14, 2010

1 Ortberg, John (2008-09-02). Faith and Doubt (Kindle Locations 715-719). Zondervan. Kindle Edition.

Posted in Discipleship, Faith, John Ortberg, Maturity, Quotes | Leave a Comment »

Waiting, Not Killing Time

May 1, 2012 by Fritz

“They that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength” — Isaiah 40:30b

Many Bible verses tell us to Wait on God but they don’t mean killing time. The word used, here, for “wait” is first found in Genesis,

“And God said, Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together in one place…” — Genesis 1:9

So the term means to pull together into one place or, figuratively, one focus.

We, also, see the same word in Job,

“…as an hireling looketh for the reward of his work, so am I…” — Job 7:2

The word includes actively, expectantly, looking for something — a reward in this case.

No, waiting on God isn’t killing time, it’s focused attentiveness with an expectation of blessing. It may involve time because, after all, God’s on his own schedule — but his schedule is right and the results are worth the wait.

God “will help us at the right time.” — Hebrews 4:16b (GW)

— fritz
Related Post: Lesson from a Trapeze Artist – April 18, 2012

Posted in Explanations, Waiting, Watching | Tagged , , , | Leave a Comment »

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