Uncovering the Love of Jesus

Preparing your heart for Easter today on Building Relationships with Dr. Gary Chapman when member who got number number Jesus is welcome to build Dr. Gary Chapman on bestseller "The 5 Love Languages" they authorize you to join their card elevate what God, the death and resurrection are featured resource today.

The land devotional titled uncovering.

Find out more at our website. I love languages.

About you but there is a sense the weeks leading up to Easter so they can go by the whole Lord. Contemplation about what actually celebrating is different for you there new church in your life. Brokers I think not only from our church, but a lot of churches we don't give a lot of the building to Easter and preparing our hearts and reflecting on the resurrection and the implications of the resurrection. So I'm really excited about this conversation. I think that you are obviously liturgical churches might much of this non-liturgical churches don't like us much, but I think we all need to be thinking more about it because, listen. The resurrection is the main thing is falsehood. If he was not risen is no hope know so yeah excited about our conversation Bill how to make the most of these next three weeks. Let me reintroduce our guest. Actually, the choo-choo grew up as a missionary kid in Romania. She's a writer and speaker with a number of books including her Advent devotional unwrapping the names of Jesus. We've talked about that here before her Lent devotional is our featured resources, titled uncovering the love of Jesus, go to five love languages.com/reader, welcome back to Building Relationships. Thank you so much for having you back. I'm excited to be here talk about the topic of land to me what why do you think it's important for us to consider this, crop observing Lance Tatian of Easter sneaking up on me and have ever felt that way like I'm prepared to celebrate Jesus's death and resurrection, and in college that when I stumbled on it, but over the past few years.

I just come to appreciate the season of slowing down and remembering and reflecting on Jesus's death to sacrifice his sufferings on our behalf.

Scripture says over hundred 50 times.

Remember remember remember what he's done. Remember that your death invites us into the season of reflecting on our own human frailty. It gives us space to grieve what is broken in the world is not an opportunity to practice fasting and sacrificial giving and prayer in a way of entering into the season of preparing our hearts to celebrate Jesus in the past two years of observing Lance both myself and with my family has become such a beautiful celebration and in the calendar year. So even though I didn't grow up with it.

I am just so grateful for the season that we have, to prepare our hearts to celebrate Jesus resurrection observed that a lot of the younger evangelicals millennial's have become more interested in traditions and rituals. What do you think this is true really surprised me to, I noticed that when I went to college and I'm a millennial just for the record, and a lot of my friends were doing this Lenten fasting I had never heard of it, but they were giving up sugar wire Facebook are at the bachelor religious random things and I guess were doing so I thought I'd give up sugar for the duration of Lent. But what we can come back to that story about when I noticed especially in my generation is a desire to connect back to the older ancient rituals of the church and I for one, am so grateful for the Reformation and for a return to God's word has that which guides us strong biblical doctrine that I think millennial's we want to embrace some of the traditions that have been lost throwing the baby out with the bathwater. If you well in this desire to focus on Christ alone and on Scripture alone. I think we blossom in the beauty of these rituals and traditions that enrich our spiritual lives. I speak out so it advance Lance there there churches maybe from evangelical backgrounds that haven't ever observed these liturgical church traditions and their starting to become interested. I think because of this millennial generation, saying something more I want to get my feet under me. I want some grounding returning to his practices that are thousands of years old, like Lent, started with the early church.

We have records from early 100s recording the season of 40 days of fasting and preparing before Easter or something beautiful and joining with believers throughout the millennia, and preparing our hearts.

You know, one of things that I think is happening here the same thing goes on in my heart, with all the hymns of the church.

I'm all for worship songs and sing a new song write new songs, but there's something that happens when you sing to him my notebook. My mother and father saying of my grandfather, Greg, you know, there's a connection that you get of over the centuries of these things that I think a lot of younger people and even in my age I don't want to lose that connection with those who've gone before. I think there is a connection that you're talking about, and especially family and in our day and age there is this anything goes mentality. Write your truth can be your truth and I can have my truth and lustrous not contradict each other and in this space of relativism think there's something so beautiful in grounding and say no, this is just my truth. This is just something that I made up I believe this is something that people have clung to for 2000 years and it is true because it is God's truth that were standing on your right Christ that connection with our grandparents and great-grandparents and all the way back. That's why you have millennial's turn to that the creeds and beginning to recite. This creates an and pulling in some of these ancient traditions. I just think it been such a richness to our spiritual lives.

The purpose of your book is to really encourage Christians to prepare emotionally or spiritually for Easter Sunday before we celebrate the resurrection. What is this preparation important. It is important, and it's also a challenge. Any think they're both part of which is where we are in history when we live in such a fast-paced world with smart phone in her hands and the Internet in our pockets. It's a nonstop, go, go, go, and it's so easy to get to holy week to get the Palm Sunday and then Good Friday and feel like I know intellectually I know this is an important season, but it's like my heart has not caught up with my mind.

I'm not prepared in my heart and my spirit to fully enter into the celebration. He can't truly celebrate resurrection Sunday without first passing through the valley of death, that is Good Friday and we can't rush. We need as humans we need us to enter into this season of mindfully, consciously, intentionally reflecting on who Jesus is, how she would love to ask why Philippians 2 says that he let go of the glories of heaven and took on the form of a servant, and became obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross so you might be able to do that in just one week. If you start Palm Sunday and just spend those few days leading up to you. Easter Sunday preparing your heart such beauty and richness I keep coming back to that word in taking this period of Lent, which is 40-ish days to truly pause and ponder who Jesus says how he left us, and how that love, let him not just to the cross that led him to become victorious over death and his resurrection.

Those rows were believers were so yes yes yes that's what we want to be okay but sometimes we you said we don't like dog to do it and we don't have ideas on how do emotionally, spiritually, spiritually, this is a move toward the wonderful resurrection. Go walk with us through Lent. What is the history all that you mentioned earlier but watch the history of lit was behind it and what happens each week. Historical records reveal that the church has been observing the period of fasting in preparation preceding resurrection Sunday vents the times of the apostles, actually.

But it wasn't formalized as a universal practice until the first Council of Nicaea in 325 so believers would get together and because because baptism is one of the symbols that we have in our Christian life that symbolizes our own death to sin and our resurrection with Jesus Christ.

Oftentimes churches in the early part of 200 300s would organize baptisms to take place on Easter Sunday. So, these believers would go through a time of learning about Jesus and preparing for their baptism, as well as repenting because they were coming out of cultures that were steeped in idolatry and different gods in the still older believers would take them alongside and teach them the way of Jesus and that sometimes would last anywhere from just the 40 days to two years of what is called catechism, but 40 days was an intentional time that a believer in the person who was mentoring them went fast together create an intentional way to prepare them for this public symbol of death with Jesus Christ, and resurrection with him on Easter Sunday and then the Council of Nicaea formalized it as a practice that was encouraged for all churches and for all people who are in the church to go through this period of once again repenting of the sins that have accumulated in our lives, a time of fasting from the things that lure us from wholehearted devotion to Jesus time of prayer and devoting ourselves to not just remembering his death and resurrection of Elsa preparing ourselves as a bride of Christ for his second coming in the time of sacrificial giving. I'm focusing on the widows and orphans and the poor among us sacrificing our own luxuries on the half of those who do not have, because Jesus says when you when you give in to get to one of the least of these, you do it me this really is kind of resetting our hearts are attention our values, our goals and focusing our hearts on the eternal things of God. But over time, some people have turned this Lenten period into an obligation rather than an invitation and it became rigorous and you know we as humans have this checklist mentality. Write down what I have to do to be right with you and if you tell me I need to fast for 40 days and that's real deal becomes his transactional activity between us and God is if we can manipulate him until a few hundred years ago there were people who rebelled against God, and said no we do not earn our salvation and kind of like we said earlier, just set aside everything that would hint at this workspace salvation. So now we find ourselves in the year 2021 were recording this a few hundred years later, it could have grappling for week souls feel like they need a time of preparation and so I think that's why were finding this millennial generation saying yes, let's return to this ancient practice. So practically speaking, Lent is 40-ish days. On Sundays have always been considered by the church, a day of celebration because that is the day that Jesus resurrected, and so on. Sundays are not included in the counting of the 40 days because people would not fast on the day they wanted to celebrate instead that works out to roughly a 44, 45 days actually and those are the three spiritual disciplines they mentioned fasting prepare and giving sacrificial giving their part of this through each of the weeks different emphasis. Traditionally that's what surprised me as I was researching Lent because I didn't grow up observing this and adamant does have like a different theme each week of the four weeks leading up to Christmas links doesn't really there are these three spiritual disciplines that can have ground that the focus and kind of what we do during Lent, but I haven't found there to be seen for the weeks of Lent you mentioned nor experienced personal injury were in college.

Toshiba prefers to experience what you expected was it like yes as I mentioned, I didn't go for that. I went to college in my freshman year. So many of my friends were getting something up for Lent and I was familiar with the practice that just because I've heard other denominations deal. At night we had a crying hot but it was kind of pure pressure at that point because so many people were asking me what he giving up for Lent and I felt like I had to give them an answer. So I caved in and I gave up sugar and I'm not quite sure what I expected. I think maybe I thought it would just give it a renewed spiritual vigor, or maybe a deeper understanding of God but by Easter. I didn't experience any of that. I lost 5 pounds, because I wasn't eating all my favorite, but those pounds quickly came back after Easter and I hadn't really experienced when it is expected was really disappointed.

It wasn't until a few years ago and we talked about this with my book fool. When I started studying what Scripture has to say about fasting and about food and and turning our hearts from the things that we run to for comfort and turning instead to God with mourning and weeping and repentance that I discovered the meaning of fasting is not just giving something up, as if that magically is going to make us grow spiritually. Actually, what I found is it's so tempting when we fast to replace it with something else were not intentional about focusing our hearts on God's word and prayer and seeking him.

So instead of sugar.

It's easy to turn to Netflix or social media or online shopping or why wait whenever we leave a void void will be filled by something else for the purpose of fasting during Lent isn't just to try to flex our spiritual willpower muscles or try to prove to God how dedicated we are to him truly the purpose of fasting is to remove something good.

Good gift from God and to say that I want you more.

You are the giver so I turned my heart from this, I went to CQ instead and that's why I think it's so important that we intentionally included the spiritual disciplines of prayer and reading Scripture and giving sacrificially because we need to fill that void with Jesus and learning about him as read as you talk about that. I think that's one of the reasons or problems with some evangelicals have with this whole flick of liturgical thing used and maybe it's me projecting but it feels like a works righteousness. You know it feels like I will make God happy with me and I would do this or that of the other thing I keep coming back to, but it's it's his grace. It's what Jesus accomplished for me it's not what I do for him.

But what you're saying is you accentuate your dependence on God. In this season by taking away something good so that you see even more how much it is healed but.you doing good is it, what you say yeah exactly and any other spiritual discipline. I mean we can do it wrongly or badly or politically right like I can pray in a manipulative way but that doesn't mean I stop crying right. It means that I asked God to correct me and teach me the right way to pray. We can fast wrongly doesn't mean we stop fasting and if anything fasting more than any other spiritual discipline has taught me just might the findings on God because I feel I feel in my fasting times when I need to run to the sugar when he said I wouldn't and those times are so critical because I can either turn inward and shame and hide myself from God, and allow that defeats to drive me further away from him or I can allow that to remind me that I am human and I am desperate for him and that failure to really act as a symbol of the failures in my life.

And so it brings to mind all the other ways that I continue to sin that I continue to run away from God instead of seeking him, and I think when we enter into lens and fasting. With that perspective of Lord, teach me. I want to learn through this experience Holy Spirit guide me.

Show me where my running away from you, and when I fail make me quick to run back to you and repentance and to ask ask you to to cleanse me of everything, not just this failure and fasting that my pride might anger the ways that I judge the people who are closest to me the ways that I turned my phone when I am bored or angry or upset instead of turning to you. Fasting really I think brings up those sins in our hearts that it's easy for us to hide or for us to not look on and I think that is where we enter into this partnership with the Holy Spirit and we ask him to reveal to us are hidden sins and in the way it really is remembering Jesus is testing in the wilderness. That's why it's 40 days is to recall his testing and his testing was based on the Israelites wandering 40 years and God tested them and they failed. Time after time and Jesus entered into that same wilderness testing symbolically to be the only one who perfectly resist sin.

And so there's so much hope as we enter into this same wilderness testing of lands we fail in your eyes are fixed on Jesus and his love and how he perfectly accomplished what we cannot shrewdly do you think Gord Chris mentioned earlier before I could show me the goals should work slaying soldiers works to please God. You think that is the motivating misconception people have about live or are there other misconceptions, I think that's one of the primary ones eyes that were somehow trying to earn God's favor for being honest with ourselves we did not detail. I mean, maybe it's not lens but maybe we think if I do my daily devotions every day and I somehow secure God's favor. I go to church every week and that's can make on pleased with me. I mean we have our own rituals that we go through and anything me saying we ascribe elevation power to-Jesus Christ is an ideal, and we often talk about that so I can II want to invite people to maybe set aside these conceptions on and to truly enter into an open heart. Maybe even just start with the prayer and say Lord something you're calling me to which you help me understand how can I better prepare my hearts to celebrate you.

How can I open my heart to your searching might search me new me.

Is there any hidden sin in my life. Help me to repent and turn to you that might not be a 40 day Lenten fast it might be something else. I just encourage listeners whatever it is have that conversation with God and asked him to show you how does he want to draw you closer to his heart go think your book would help.

The visual who is thinking with this program so you remember there's something here that would be meaningful to you.

This will be a meaningful experience. Think your book would be a helpful guideline to build and I'm assuming that would be a part of the reason you wrote way so I didn't mind, but uncovering the love of Jesus really came out of the desire to say Lord, how can we focus our hearts on you during the season. I mean, I found especially in recent years are seeing a lot of Advent devotionals coming out helping us focus on our hearts on Jesus during the Christmas season but I didn't really find anything for that season coming up before Easter and I really wanted to immerse myself in the Gospels and the life of Jesus, not just in the holy week seven days leading up to Easter Sunday and not just those last few chapters, which talk about the last hours of his life on for several beautiful chapters.

They wanted to take this time these 40 days leading up to Easter to really walk with Jesus in the Gospels to slow down and enter these narratives of how he interacted with people and how he talked with them as I spent over a year just in the Gospels slowing down.

Looking at verse by verse train myself in these people's sandals speak with, what would it have been like to be the woman had been bleeding for years and years and years and to touch the Jesus Road and to feel power coming through me and healing me in that heart stopping moment when he turns around and says who touched me. That woman was expecting condemnation. She was expecting to be judged and mocked and perhaps punished Jesus's laugh all his love when he looks at her and says daughter not only are healed but your sins are filling peace. So many beautiful moments like that. Three. Feel Jesus's love. My heart for the season of Lent as we take things out that we would replace them with God's word and as we focus and meditate on Jesus love that leverages overflow out of our hearts into the lives of others as well. Actually the last time you were with us. We're talking about your Advent devotional you gave a a text number and some ideas. Some activities like are you doing that with this one as well is absolutely him so got you… Because over the past few years as I've been sharing about my own journey with lands I've heard from so many readers who said really want to help my children and my family understand that Easter is not about the Easter Bunny and is not about the candy is not about all these other things I want them to know is about Jesus but just don't know how. And so I put together a Lenten family activity guide is over 30 activities that will help you creatively enter the season of fasting.

Maybe some creative ways to pray to give to people in need some fun activities for children, young and old to picture and kind of enter into the gospel story so listeners can get that Lenten family activity guide by texting the word love 233777 right so again you text the word love 33777 Asher reader will send you the Lenten family activity guide again text love 233-7770 shrewdly mentioned earlier, the writing this devotional uncovering the love of Jesus that you spent a whole year really studying walking through the life of Jesus again and his personal interactions with people. What surprised me most about Jesus. Love is you did the journey to be honest I entered NC with us.

The study of the Gospels with a thesis and I turn to first Corinthians 13, which is known as the love chapter, and a lot of times it's right at weddings and my thesis was if God is love and if Jesus is the representation of God, the very image of God as John one tells us that it would make sense that Jesus embodied each of these characteristics of love love is patient, love is kind and doesn't hold crutches. It doesn't seek its own good, doesn't reject anyone. It honors those who are dishonored, it loves the least of these. All these things that were told in first Corinthians 13 and I was reading through that chapter at the beginning of this this study. This some stories immediately came to mind. I can see how Jesus patient I can see how he's kind some of the other characteristics of love really pause and say did Jesus embodied not sure that it was entering into the Gospels with curiosity to see if God is love and Jesus is the embodiment of God in human flesh on earth I want to know how did he live this way because I also want to live this way and I was surprised that not only did each of these characteristics of love show up in the Gospels, in Jesus's life, but I was surprised by the intimacy of his love toward people who came up to him and and not only toward the three disciples. In his most intimate group, not just the 12 disciples, but perfect strangers.

And honestly he's and there's this building of tension as we start in the beginning with the wedding at Canada and the way that he loved that bride and groom by providing wine at their feast protecting them from shame in his honor shame culture building from bats all the way to the very last scenes in the garden of God's enemy, and loving to just as he came up to kiss him on the cheek symbol of friendship and trust and love. Judas turned around into betrayal. And yet Jesus loved Jesus even in that moment, the way he loved that high priest servants by healing his year. This was the enemy that had come to arrest Jesus and yet that is the last recorded healing miracle in the Gospels as Jesus heals his enemies here I fish so many moments that are poignant when we slow down and consider the great great love of God in Jesus, to be honest are not reflected on the reality of what you just remember Jesus here, but that was his last miracle.

It was going to reasonably is profiled so we talk about the sacrificial love, which obviously wasn't judicious for some practical ways that we can that we practice such love.

I think you're gonna love this because you actually on my mind as I was pondering this. This part of the but and this invitation into Lance because it's so easy when we think about okay what should I give up for Lent. Is it easy to think about things or activities right and we talked about sugar and social media. Or maybe there's a certain pleasure that you take in life and you give that up for Lent. As I was reflecting on the season of Lent and in the historical purpose of it as well as at the same time studying the love of Jesus in the Gospels, I realized that sacrificial love is the heart of Lent because Easter is the story of Jesus's love poured out for us and so it's not so much giving something up for our own on spiritual growth as much as it is entering into Jesus's sacrificial love toward others. I mean, it's so much easier to give up fancy coffee that is to love a family member who wounded you in childhood.

It's easier to cut a check to your favorite charity than it is to sacrifice your own time and energy, but it is Jesus's great love that flows toward us and fills us and flows through our lives into the lives of others that really reflects the sacrificial love and it's not a way of earning the response of gratefulness and gratitude. So my invitation to those who read this devotional listeners who are considering entering the season of Lent is that we would love one another.

Jesus says this in his last hours with disciples in John 13. He says love one another as I have loved you. You also must love one another and this is how everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another so simply wait. We can't say that we love Jesus but not actively above our family members or neighbors or coworkers are even our enemies. Those who are in the other side politically of us, those who are on the other side of the border.

Those who looked different from us.

Jesus says when he washes his disciples feet. Now that your Lord and teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another's feet. That's hard right, but we can't escape God's call to love one another in the season of Lent. So my encouragement is for people again to turn to the Lord and in prayer asked who are you calling me to live is there someone in my life that needs to experience your love through me and as I reflected on this while I was writing the book. Okay, that was such an uncomfortable prayer because I immediately knew who God was calling me to live in. This was a person who had hurt me on perhaps not intentionally but there was a package there and I knew I knew was calling me to love this person and I sat down and he started praying and he said Lord I cannot do this in my own power base that is the kind of situation where were just polar opposites of each other. If this person walks into the room. It's hard for me to make eye contact then and I'm thinking how how I love this person when he realized, was brought again my own brokenness and insufficiency and inadequacies to God. I asked him which you fill me up with your I know that I can't muster up enough love for this person as I'm studying Jesus and his love in the Gospels we just who are you into my life so that it flows in me and threw me for this person and he actually sat down with a copy of "The 5 Love Languages" and I thought what practical ways for each of the love languages that I can show this person live.

So one day I brought him coffee just because in one day. Instead of turning away in the room. I gave him a hug. It was hard. It was so hard to do. It was an act of obedience. Another day I wrote a thank you note to thank this person for the things that they have to for me and my family it was. I didn't feel like I was asking God what you teach me to love my poignant live in me and through me and what was surprising was that as we approached Easter. These acts of obedience thought my hearts and I began feeling for this person and we came to Resurrection Sunday and it was one of the most glorious experiences because it felt like love had been reborn in my hearts as we entered into holy week and Good Friday and Jesus's death and burial. There is a sense of my mate crunch against person is being an Easter Sunday comes and love for this person is being resurrected and that is nothing short of a miracle that is the heart of Lent, the sacrificial love not just giving something up so that we would lose weight or that we would save money or that we would earn God's favor, but rather being buried with him and being resurrected by the Holy Spirit's power into lives where we live. This is the hearts of following Jesus's powerful sure their listeners are hearing what you just their own heart goes already brought somebody to them that hurt them deeply in the past there thinking O Lord. But I like like answer you said to God are clear. Luckily the Scripture say the love of God is poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit works when we asked for the good was the power to do just that. That's powerful close router let let's talk a bit about the children and how to help children experience the realities we been talking about and celebrating plant. Maybe one of you done with your own children so this is maybe one of my favorite parts of the bike is that each week at the beginning of the week there's that family celebration guy as I mentioned Sundays are meant to be celebratory even during Lent and that the devotions are set up very easy to follow for those who feel like I can't do devotions with my kids. These are very simple and yet they provide structure to your time together around God's word and each week someone asks why did Jesus die and each week we reflect on a different reason for his death. Jesus died to bring us into a right relationship with God. Jesus died in order to defeat death and and bring us to resurrection life with him. Jesus died to disarm the powers of sin and death and the devil. We these are truths that we want our children to learn and to know that without unintentional way of teaching it, then it can just be easy for one year to blend into another until they leave our homes and we realize they truly know Jesus and why he died for them and why it's such a beautiful beautiful picture of God's love. That's one thing at the beginning of each week.

There these family celebration guides and then there five devotions that walks readers through different ways that Jesus love was poured out for the people that he interacted with the end of each week. I these family activities practical, hands on ways to learn about Jesus.

Also some creative ways like a said about fasting, so maybe during the duration of Lent as a family. You invite everyone to join you in getting up. Maybe it's your favorite drinks.

Your morning mocha or maybe it's that sweet tea or Dr Pepper that you have an afternoon but whatever it is that you turn to. Aside from water you give that up with the money that you save as a family put it into a jar and over the course of Lent. You pray Lord who can we bless this money that were saving. Maybe your sponsoring a child in writing to them and that becomes a way of pouring out live or maybe go to local soup kitchen and not only do you give that money that you saved up, you actually serve with your own hands and feet, bringing the love of Jesus to those people.

That's 1 Practical Way to maybe fast in a different way. I also have all kinds of crafts and hands-on activities, especially for younger children.

My kids are ages six, four, and one that I have a little little ones and sometimes it's hard to think how we talk about these big concepts and maybe some scary parts right. Jesus was crucified. He was beaten. It's hard sometimes to think how do I introduce my children to the reality of what Jesus did in a way that is age-appropriate for that and what I found really helpful is to actually journey through the Old Testament. I'm just hitting certain highlights and then talking about how Jesus fulfills so last year my children. I read the Passover story. The story of the plagues in Egypt and in that last plague how the angel of death would come and kill the firstborn of every family, but the families that would take only a perfect spotless lamb and kill that lamb and then put the blood of that lamb on their door posts. Those families would be protected and safe in the angel of death would pass over their homes and as we talked about that I had printed out on shapes of sheep and that we traced that sheep on just simple cardboard paper and as I was reading the story. I had them wound white yarn around these cardboard lamps so it was giving them something to do hands-on but also provide them a visual representation of this plan. We got to the end of the story I sent you know the Bible tells us that Jesus is the perfect spotless Lamb of God, and he was the one he was killed for and because of his blood. God's wrath and his anger and his punishment is over us and we are protected and we know that one day the Lamb of God's throne and he will reign forever because he came back to life and simple enough that my other times three-year-old and five-year-old could understand and also picture some of these realities. So the book is filled with activities like that are hands-on and not help children and teenagers and young adults all enter into the practice of Lent focusing on the great, great love of Jesus love logos.

Conversely, children experiencing and so real busy world. We said earlier, everybody's going going so what what was the solution of will have to offer to the busy, stressed-out Christian. If that you are not is the perfect place to enter into the season of Lent. Again, this is not an obligation is not something else to add to your to do list.

This is God's invitation to you to slow down as he said it beginning the program to remember when member who got remember how he loves you. Remember your own sinfulness and in the frailty of being human. Number Jesus's laugh and his staff and his resurrection in this remembrance doesn't have to take a long time. I think sometimes get intimidated because we think, I don't have time for this.

I would say just five minutes. If you set aside five minutes each day to read through these gospel stories and the ways that Jesus interacted with people and showed them live meditate on that story. Throughout the day when you're driving or folding laundry or I know you're walking the dog bring back to mind the stories and then ask God to change your heart soften your heart to pour his love in your life and through you, toward others. I think you'll be surprised that the more time you spend reflecting on the love of Jesus, the more time you want to spend with him and it will slow down your life to this rhythm and this cadence that is life-giving as we turn to Jesus and celebrate his life. Through this conversation is very stimulating the road whenever listeners think this book is going to help anyone who really would like to make the most of the Lenten season, so thanks for being with us today and thanks for the journey every year. Walking with Jesus in order to write this book.

So, my God use it.

That's my desire to touch the lives of a lot of other people about your heart. Thank you again for having me and spend my joy to be here with you and I will talk about the love of Jesus I mean, there's no better topic than that to find out more about that resource. We talked about the website. Five love languages.com again the title is uncovering the love of Jesus. What devotional written by Asher Rita Jude.

You see, I do see you is how you spell her last name again.

Five love languages.com and if you like the Lenten family activity. God just text the word love 337770033777 next week. Questions from our listeners, that's right.

It's our first week here dear Gary broadcast.

Don't miss the answers and hope in one week. I thanks today to our production team quick Janice Todd as well as dog radio Cleveland Building Relationships with Dr. Gary Chapman's doctrine of radio in association with the ministry and Bible. And thanks for the