Lauren Sparks

The Sparks Notes

Love is in the Air

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Posted by Lauren Sparks on August 11, 2015 at 3:35 PM Delete 
Last week, I had the opportunity to hang out with my adorable grandkids.  Yes, as young as I look – I do have grandchildren.  Two of them.  And two fosters at the moment!  So it’s a crazy and fun time to get to be with these 4 kids all age 3 and under.  While riding in the car, Chayton (the 3 year old) sponateously shouted from the back seat, “Lolly (yeah, I couldn’t bear to be called anything that sounds like GRANDMA at 38 years old when he was born), you’re my favorite.”  My heart got warm and gooey.  Yes, it melted.  And even though he said the same thing to his sweet mama 30 seconds later, you still couldn’t wipe the smile off of my face.  It feels good to be loved.  And the fact that Chayton loves his mama doesn’t take away from his love for me.  Sometimes we just need to hear “I love you,” or “you’re my favorite”.  Did you know the all-powerful God of the universe adores you?  He created you, He loves you, and He wills what is best for you.  So for those times when you need to hear those three precious little words, consult these passages from God’s Word – and let Him wrap His arms around you.

But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.  Romans 5:8

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.  John 3:16

The Lord is slow to anger, abounding in love and forgiving sin and rebellion.  Numbers 14:18a

Know therefore that the Lord your God is God; he is the faithful God, keeping his covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love him and keep his commands.  Deuteronomy 7:9

How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God!  And that is what we are!  The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him.  1 John 3:1

Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever.  1 Chronicles 16:34

The Lord loves righteousness and justice; the earth is full of his unfailing love.  Psalm 33:5

We love because he first loved us.  1 John 5:19

Your love, O Lord, reaches to the heavens, your faithfulness to the skies.  Psalm 36:5

May the Lord direct your hearts into God’s love and Christ’s perseverance.  2 Thessalonians 3:5

Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God.  Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God.  Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.  This is how God showed his love among us.  He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him.  This is love:  not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.  1 John 4:7-10

Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her  Ephesians 5:25

He sends from heaven and saves me, rebuking those who hotly pursue me; God sends his love and his faithfulness.  Psalm 57:3

And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.  Romans 5:5

Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.  Ephesians 5:1-2

You are forgiving and good, O Lord, abounding in love to all who call to you…For great is your love toward me; you have delivered me from the depths of the grave.  Psalm 86:5,13

Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail.  Lamentations 3:22

The Lord your God is with you, he is mighty to save.  He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing.  Zephaniah 3:17

As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you.  Now remain in my love. (Jesus’ words) John 15:9

No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.  For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.  Romans 8:37-39

For he chose us in him before the creation of teh world to be holy and blameless in his sight.  In love he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will  Ephesians 1:4-5

But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, make us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions – it is by grace you have been saved.  Ephesians 2:4-5

One Day Closer

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Posted by Lauren Sparks on August 1, 2015 at 11:55 AM Delete 
So, if you are reading this, you probably know from social media that I am rather out of commission at the moment.  If you are tired of hearing me complain (and rightly so), please tune out for a minute while I catch others up.  I had ACL reconstruction and 2 meniscus repairs and have been ordered to stay off of it for 4 weeks.  We are inching toward the 3 week mark and cabin fever is rampant.  I can’t drive or walk witihout crutches, so I am mostly relegated to the couch.  I have some amazing friends and family that have taken me to physical therapy, church and other short outings.  Without them, I think I would loose my mind.  My sweet husband has been so patient and thoughtful through this.  Ladies, if you want to know how much your role in the family is valued, incapacitate yourself.  You will quickly hear how much you are needed when your significant other is forced to pick up your slack.  My husband is a man of order and he likes our home to run smoothly.  It is exhausting for him to work all day and come home and have to tend to meals and laundry and me.  He is doing a great job.  But those moments when he gets tired of doing EVERYTHING, I gently remind him – “We are one day closer”.  And in those moments when I get sick to DEATH of doing NOTHING, he gently whispers back to me – “It’s not forever.  We are one day closer.”

In many ways, my current situation is a metaphor for the relationship between life on earth and eternity in heaven.  Compared to the riches that are heaven, this earth is a pit.  I don’t think we will fully understand how much this is true until we leave this world.  We work very hard to make ourselves comfortable here.  Air conditioning, electronics, cars and fast food are all meant to make our stay easy.  And yet, with all our modern technology, that’s still not the case.  Psalm 115:16 says, “The highest heavens belong to the Lord, but the earth he has given to mankind.”  And we have mucked it up.  Although I believe God allows us to see glimpses of his kingdom here,  it is largely filled with greed, lust, murder and malicious intent.  The prophet Isaiah even warned us in chapter 2 verse 22 to, “Stop trusting in mere humans, who have but a breath in their nostils.  Why hold them in esteem?”  Everyone and every thing in this world will eventually disappoint you and let you down.  The proof is in the evening news.  Simply turn on the TV or log on your computer and see the darkness of humanity.  The headlines scream of hatred, racism, murder and every conceivable kind of immorality.  I say this, not to bring down the room, but to make sure you know that what you see is not necessarily what you get.  For those of us who believe in Jesus Christ, “having been justified by his grace, we become heirs having the hope of eternal life.”  (Titus 3:7)  There is a heaven that Jesus referred to as Paradise.  Look up what the Bible says about heaven for yourself.  Here is a teaser – there will be no mourning, or sickness or death.  We will leave all those things behind.  Can you even imagine?  So my advice to you (and I’m preaching to myself too), would be to enjoy the moments here when you get to be with family and friends.  Find contentment in following after Christ and fulfilling your calling.  But in those moments when the brokenness around us seems to be too much, just remember that “We are one day closer.”

“Praise be to the God and Father or our Lord Jesus Christ!  In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade.  This inheritance is kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God’s poweir unti lthe coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time.  In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials.  These have come so that the proven genuiness of your faith – of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire – may result in praise, glory, an honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.”  1 Peter 1:3-7


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