Tag: God’s Love

  • Come As You Are

    A Father’s Day Invitation from Your Heavenly Father

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    Come As You Are

    On this Father’s Day in the United States, there is a Father who longs to see you just as you are.

    Not the polished version.

    Not the version that tries to impress others.

    Not the version hidden behind titles, accomplishments, or appearances.

    Just you.

    The real you.

    Your Heavenly Father is not asking for perfection. He is asking for your presence.

    Like the prodigal son in the Gospel, many of us have wandered. Some have wandered far from God. Others sit faithfully in church each week while carrying wounds, fears, regrets, and disappointments deep within their hearts.

    Yet the Father’s invitation remains the same:

    “Come home.”

    The Father Who Waits

    In the parable of the prodigal son, the father never stopped loving his child.

    He watched.

    He waited.

    He hoped.

    And when he saw his son returning from a distance, he did not condemn him. He did not lecture him. He did not shame him.

    Instead, he ran to him.

    He embraced him.

    He welcomed him home.

    That is how God feels about each one of us.

    Many people spend their lives searching for love, acceptance, and belonging. Yet our Heavenly Father has already prepared all of these things for us. His heart longs for us to receive the love He freely offers.

    Let God Love You

    Sometimes the hardest thing to do is simply accept that we are loved.

    We know our mistakes.

    We remember our failures.

    We see our weaknesses.

    But God sees something more.

    He sees the son He created.

    He sees the daughter He formed.

    He sees a beloved child made in His image.

    When we come before Him in humility, He lifts us up. When we surrender our burdens, He carries them. When we acknowledge our need for Him, He fills us with His grace.

    The Father does not merely tolerate you.

    He delights in you.

    The Feast Is Waiting

    The father in the Gospel did not merely welcome his son home.

    He prepared a feast.

    That feast symbolizes the joy of life with God and the fellowship of His family.

    At God’s table there is room for everyone.

    There is peace for the troubled.

    There is hope for the discouraged.

    There is healing for the wounded.

    There is joy for the weary.

    There is love beyond anything this world can offer.

    God desires that we share this feast with our brothers and sisters, encouraging one another and growing together in faith.

    Love Poured Out on the Cross

    The greatest proof of the Father’s love was revealed on Calvary.

    Jesus Christ stretched out His arms upon the Cross and poured out His life for us.

    Every drop of His Precious Blood proclaimed the same message:

    “You are loved.”

    The Cross is not a symbol of defeat.

    It is the greatest victory of love the world has ever known.

    God did not wait for us to become perfect before loving us.

    He loved us first.

    He loves us now.

    And He will love us forever.

    A Peace Beyond Understanding

    Today, your Heavenly Father invites you to stop running.

    Stop hiding.

    Stop pretending.

    Come as you are.

    Bring your hopes.

    Bring your fears.

    Bring your sins.

    Bring your wounds.

    Bring your entire heart.

    Allow Him to embrace you with His mercy and fill you with a peace beyond understanding.

    Surrender yourself to His loving care.

    Become the child of God He created you to be.

    For you were made for more than this world can offer.

    You were created for eternal life, eternal joy, and eternal communion with the Father who loves you beyond measure.

    And His invitation remains open today:

    Come home. Come as you are.

    “See what love the Father has bestowed on us that we may be called the children of God.” — 1 John 3:1

    Happy Father’s Day, and may God the Father bless you abundantly with His love, peace, and joy. 🙏

    and may you accept it and embrace it. Make Your Father in Heaven very happy as you come to and truly accept His Eternal, Pease, and Joy. Live with Passion. Live for God today. He is truly living for you.

    Thank you for reading this blog. Please share it with others.

    Rick Herring
    thmjmj@gmail.com

  • A Weekly Dose of Hope, Faith, and Encouragement.

    Join The Good News Newsletter and receive inspiring stories, positive solutions, community updates, and opportunities to make a difference delivered directly to your inbox.

    In a world filled with negative headlines, division, and uncertainty, it can sometimes feel difficult to find stories that inspire, encourage, and uplift.

    That is why we created The Good News Newsletter.

    Each edition is designed to bring you positive stories, practical ideas, and inspiring content that reminds us that good people are still doing good things every day.

    What You’ll Receive

    ✓ Inspiring stories of faith, kindness, and service

    ✓ Encouraging articles about strengthening families and communities

    ✓ Ideas for helping small businesses and rural communities thrive

    ✓ Practical opportunities to create positive change in the lives of others

    ✓ Updates from our blog and special resources not shared elsewhere

    ✓ Occasional recommendations and opportunities that align with our mission of helping people grow and succeed

    Our Mission

    We believe that strong families, thriving small businesses, healthy rural communities, and people helping one another can change the world.

    The Good News Newsletter exists to shine a light on those efforts and encourage people to become part of the solution.

    Why Subscribe?

    Because every day there is enough bad news.

    You deserve a place where you can find:

    • Hope instead of discouragement
    • Solutions instead of complaints
    • Inspiration instead of negativity
    • Opportunities instead of obstacles

    Join Us Today

    Enter your best email address below and become part of a growing community dedicated to:

    Creating Opportunities. Strengthening Communities. Changing Lives.

    The newsletter is completely free, and you may unsubscribe at any time.

    We look forward to sharing some good news with you.

    Rick Herring

    Publisher, The Good News Newsletter

  • The Two Commandments That Change Everything

    Learning to Love God, Your Neighbor, and Yourself

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    In the time of Jesus, religious life for the Jewish people was shaped not only by the Ten Commandments but by 613 laws—guidelines meant to help people avoid breaking God’s covenant. These laws were intended as protection, a hedge around holiness.

    But over time, many became so focused on the rules that they lost sight of the deeper purpose behind them—the heart of the Torah, the spirit of mercy, and the living message of God.

    Then came Jesus, with the genius of divine simplicity.

    When asked which commandment was greatest, Jesus distilled all the law and the prophets into two breathtaking truths:

    “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.”
    This is the greatest and first commandment.
    And a second is like it:
    “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
    — Gospel of Matthew

    With these words, Jesus did not abolish the law—He fulfilled it.

    Everything hangs on love.

    The Forgotten Part of the Commandment

    Many Christians emphasize loving God.

    Many strive to love neighbor.

    But too often we neglect the third element hidden in plain sight:

    Love your neighbor as yourself.

    What if one of the deepest crises in the Church today is not simply a failure to love others—but a failure to receive and live from God’s love for ourselves?

    For until we learn to love ourselves as God desires, our love for others can become distorted.

    It can become anxious instead of peaceful.

    Performative instead of genuine.

    Driven by approval instead of grace.

    Holy Self-Love Is Not Selfishness

    There is a difference between pride and holy self-love.

    Pride says, I am the center.

    Holy self-love says, I am beloved.

    Pride inflates the ego.

    Holy self-love receives identity from God.

    To love ourselves rightly is not vanity. It is humility—the humility to agree with God about our worth.

    We are created in the image of God.

    Redeemed in Christ.

    Indwelt by the Holy Spirit.

    How can we despise what God treasures?

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    When We Love Ourselves in God

    When we begin to love ourselves as children of God, something changes.

    We become less interested in what others think about us
    and more interested in what God thinks.

    We stop doing good in order to be noticed.

    We stop serving to be praised.

    We stop performing for acceptance.

    Because we know we are already accepted.

    Already loved.

    Already enough in Christ.

    And from that freedom, love flows outward.

    Freely.

    Joyfully.

    Without calculation.

    Without fear.

    Love Changes How We See Others

    When we receive God’s love for ourselves, we begin seeing others differently.

    Not as rivals.

    Not as threats.

    Not as problems to manage.

    But as neighbors to cherish.

    Even enemies to forgive.

    Even strangers to welcome.

    This is the revolution Jesus announced.

    Not a religion of rule-keeping.

    A kingdom of love.

    The kind of love that washes feet.

    Feeds crowds.

    Touches lepers.

    Carries crosses.

    Rises from tombs.

    The Measure of Spiritual Maturity

    Perhaps spiritual maturity is simpler than we imagine.

    It is learning, day by day:

    To love God more completely.

    To love ourselves more truthfully.

    To love others more generously.

    This is the whole Gospel in practice.

    As Saint Augustine famously said:

    “Love, and do what you will.”

    Because where love governs the heart, the law has already been fulfilled.

    A Prayer

    Lord, teach us to love You
    with all our heart, soul, and mind.

    Teach us to receive the love
    You already have for us.

    Heal the places where we reject ourselves.

    Free us from living for human approval.

    And teach us to love our neighbor
    as ourselves—

    with the very love
    with which You love us.

    Amen.


    Final Reflection

    Jesus reduced 613 laws to two commandments.

    Not because holiness became smaller—

    but because love is greater.

    And perhaps the Church today needs to recover this forgotten truth:

    To love your neighbor well,

    you must learn to receive God’s love for yourself.

    And that may be where healing begins.

    Thank you for reading this article. Please share with others,

    Rick Herring
    thmjmj@gmail.com