Touched by an Angel

 My favorite television program for a number of years was the show "Touched by an Angel".  In the show, angels walked among us on earth, and would receive assignments to help one particular person or another.

When the angel would reveal him or herself to the human, they would always start with the same statement.  "God wants you to know that He loves you very much".

I have found myself thinking of that statement quite a bit over the last few days.  It is always a true statement for me.

I think about the power of that statement.  God wants me to know that He loves me very much.  With that love as my foundation, how can I despair?

This year has been incredibly difficult for so many people for so many reasons.  Many have lost loved ones, many have lost financial security, many have been isolated from friends and family.

Social media could be a very ugly and divisive place.  Much less sharing of family and friends and recipes, and much more hurtful memes and statements.

At times when the world seems full of fear and hate and pain, it can become very easy to succumb to despair.

Those are the times that it is most important to remember that God wants you to know that He loves you very much.

Rest in that great love.  Allow that love to fill you up.  Allow that love to comfort your sorrow.  Allow that love to quiet your fears.

It is not that God's great love for you will remove the hardship, or fear or the pain.  But it does mean that if you open yourself up to feeling that great love, you will find comfort.

As it says in the gospel of Matthew "For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light".

God wants you to know that He loves you very much.  He will ease your burdens when you open yourself up to that love.

What motivates people to be good and do good?

I have been thinking about this question quite a bit.  In my books, the characters are dedicated to doing good and being good, because they believe that doing good and being good feels good.

Many people do good because they fear the consequences of doing bad things.  That isn't a terrible motivator, but then what do those people do when no one is watching?

For religious people, God is always watching.  Some religions are very steeped in fear of the Lord.  The way I was raised in faith was heavily dependent on love.

When your life is grounded in the certainty that God loves you, there is an incredible peace and gratitude that becomes part of how you look at life.

The gratitude for that everlasting love of God finds expression in doing good for others.  This is the bedrock of the communities I have created in my books.

Communities where the tremendous love God has for us motivates people to manifest and share that love with their neighbors.

That kind of acknowledgement and sharing of God's love doesn't have to be the stuff of fiction.  We can all decide to manifest God's love by doing good for others as part of our daily lives.