All Out of Love

I'm all out of love, I'm so lost without you
I know you were right believing for so long
I'm all out of love, what am I without you
I can't be too late to say that I was so wrong
All Out of Love, Air Supply, 1980

My husband and I recently watched the movie, "Fireproof." (Yes, I know we're about 2 years behind the rest of you). In the story line of the movie, Caleb (the male lead) discovers that he can't truly love his wife, without Jesus in his life. His father tells him, "You can't love her, because you can't give her what you don't have." His father goes on to say, "Jesus changed my life, and that's when I truly began to love...."

Sometimes it's hard to love people. And the time when I find people the most unlovable is usually when I'm so grumpy that I am pretty unlovable myself! My "love tank" gets empty. I find that I'm all out of love. And when that happens I know why. It's because I'm not filling myself with Jesus.

Without Jesus I can't love. "I'm so lost without you." At some point we're all going to have to account for our lives to Jesus. What we've done or haven't done, and how we've shown love. When your time comes, don't be the one saying, "I can't be too late to say that I was so wrong." Commit your life and your love to Jesus. And then you won't be all out of love.

Radar Love, Misheard Lyric version

On Monday I posted about the song Radar Love. That was a favorite of mine back in the day, although I must admit that now I couldn't sit through the whole song. Good grief those instrumentals are long! Anyway!

I was listening to a contemporary Christian song not too long ago and singing along. The second verse says, "Radar love is not a man." (or so I thought). Well, hmmm. Must be some kind of reference to that song Radar Love, right? And you can't get Radar Love from a man, only from God. Radar love is from God. Yup, that must be it, right?

Okay, so sometime later I realize the lyric ACTUALLY says, "GREATER love has not a man." OH! DUH! Anyway, the song is I've Always Loved You by Third Day and it is one of my favorite contemporary Christian songs. When I hear it I imagine God singing it to me and it refreshes my soul.

So radar love or not, God is always there, always available and always loving you! So, what is the funniest misheard lyric you've ever sung?


My misheard lyric can be heard at 1:20 in the video below. Come on, don't you hear Radar Love???

Doing it

Nike, the famous athletic apparel company, coined the phrase “Just do it.” But life isn't that easy. Paul, the apostle, was more on target when he said, “I do not do the good thing I want to do, but I do the wrong thing that I do not want to do.”(Romans 7:19) We fail to do what we know we should.

Just as Nike would have you believe you can’t “Just do it” without their shoes, the Bible truthfully states that we can’t do it without Jesus.

To read more, visit me at Titus 2 in Action, where I am a featured contributor:

Radar Love

When she gets lonely and the longing gets too much
She sends a cable coming in from above
We don't need no phone at all
We've got a thing that's called radar love
We've got a wave in the air, radar love
Radar Love, Golden Earring, 1973

When I get lonely, I often head to the telephone. Maybe I'll call or text a friend. Perhaps I'll log into facebook to see what everyone else is up to. Maybe I'll click on the TV. Maybe I'll eat something.

Often when I'm lonely, I suspect my soul is longing for some time with God. To sit and commune with God through Bible reading and prayer restores my soul. God is always available 24 hours a day! Even when my friends are not. And I don't have to have a phone. We don't need no phone at all. We've got a thing that's called radar love. We've got a wave in the air, radar love. Well, maybe it's not radar, but whatever the wave in the air may be, I always have a direct connection to God.

So remember, when you get lonely, send your cable to above, to God, who's always there listening to you, with "radar love! "

Christmas is about Presents....

"What did you get for Christmas?" No doubt, that question has been asked alot this week as the kids headed back to school after Christmas break. Let's face it, Christmas is about the presents, right?

No doubt, the Combs family loves gift giving! My youngest daughter got a new scooter and lots of Barbie stuff. The older daughter got an ipod and clothes. My husband got lots of new clothes, and books, while I got jewelry and books. We sponsored a young man through social services and bought his Christmas gifts. We sent gifts to children through our church mission. We love presents!

But the truth is, many folks think Christmas is JUST about the presents. And that isn't true. Christmas is about Jesus. We do love to give gifts. But the gifts are to draw our attention to the gift of eternal life we received through Jesus coming to earth as a baby on the first Christmas, growing up, dieing on the cross, taking our sins with him, rising up from the dead and conquering death for us all.

Presents are what the wise men brought to young Jesus to honor him. Gifts are not a bad thing. But when you think Christmas is only about the presents you get confused. Christmas is about Jesus, and the fact that he came to earth, and gave us His presence. And through the Holy Spirit we can always have His presence with us. Christmas really is about presence!

Fame

Remember my name, (Fame).
I'm gonna live forever,
I'm gonna learn how to fly, (High).
Fame, Irene Cara, 1980

Immortality, and not the Spiritual kind. People long to be remembered, noticed, important. Fame. It's the stuff reality show contestants long for. Don't we all want at least be noticed? We may not long for fame in the true sense of the word, but we at least want people to remember our name.

For me, its the hope to see my name in print. I want to write. And while I love writing, I long for my writing to be noticed. Remember my name! (fame!) To be acknowledged as good enough to appear in print makes my writing worthwhile. But what if nobody reads?

Let's just say my blog stats are not off the charts. I don't go visiting other blogs as I resolved to spend less time on the computer at the end of 2010. So of course, my readership dropped. I don't have a book or column (Fame!) to bring people over to read.

At times I question whether to keep writing. Yet, every time I do, God sends me a little nudge to keep going. So I keep writing, even if I'm unsure of who's reading. Because I write for the Lord.

I love him. And because I love and trust in him...I'm gonna make it to heaven.
Light up the sky like a flame, (Fame). I'm gonna live forever. Because I remember HIS name!

We Need a Little Christmas

For I've grown a little leaner,Grown a little colder,
Grown a little sadder,Grown a little older.
We Need a Little Christmas, Mame Musical, 1966

The new year is fast approaching. How do you feel about it? Once the Christmas decorations are taken down, and the cold, short days of winter occur, it can cause feelings of the winter blahs, blues or even sadness.

We lament that through the holidays we haven't grown a little leaner, as the song lyric suggests, but the opposite! But we have grown a little colder, grown a little sadder, grown a little older. What can we do to fight discouragement?

We need a little a Christmas, right this very minute! No I don't mean pull the tree back out of the attic, or hang your stockings. No, I mean the reason for the season, Jesus. We need a little Christmas, we need Jesus.

Listening to praise music, reading scripture and prayer can all improve your spirits. While troubles don't go away just from following God, we are promised a "peace that passes human understanding." A peace, that in the midst of turmoil, God is still there. He still loves us, and we have the assurance of eternal life in Him, where there will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.

If you are struggling, seek Jesus first. If that doesn't help, talk to a trusted friend, counselor or pastor. Get help!

We need a little Christmas...and a lot of Jesus...now!

Wishing you a blessed new year-