Love | Laurie Coombs

Archive for the ‘Love’ Category

Love Comes First

Posted on: May 2nd, 2013 by Laurie Coombs 10 Comments

it's about jesus, great commandment, great commission, matthew 28:19-20, Matthew 28:19, Matthew 28:20, mission, our mission, whats your mission, cart before the horse, love is first, only one, social media, facebook, twitter, pinterest, tribe, platform, author platform, audience, building a platform, platform numbers, self promotion, build a platform, followers, blog, building a blog, book, writing a book, publishing, publishing today, who do i publish, how many people reached, visitors to blog, what's lost is love, love lost, love one another, minister, minister to one another, jesus followers, following jesus, perspective, 1 corinthians 1:12-14, 1 Corinthians 1:12, 1 corinthians 1:13, 1 Corinthians 1:14, 1 corinthians 1:17, mark 1:17, follow me, jesus follow me, jesus at center, my center, your calling, how do you find your calling, finding your calling, without love, without love impact, lost the love, grace, mercy, paradym shIt's not about me, it's about jesus, it's not about my story, it's about loving God and loving people, loving god, loving people, love god, love people, all motivated by love, motive love, love, Jesus, God, Christ, Christianity, forgive, forgiveness testimony, inspirational forgiveness story, christian forgiveness, calling, call, God's call, call on your life, laurie coombs, laurie, coombs, lauriecoombs.org, testimony, forgiveness testimony, story, murder, murderer, forgiving murder, forgiving the unforgivable,

I received a letter from Anthony (the man who murdered my dad) a couple weeks ago. In it, he said, “I also know you feel as I do, if only one person read [our testimony] and came to Jesus because of it, because of our pain, tears, repentance, and forgiveness, all of it was worth it.” Anthony is right. And He got me thinking. If our story saves one––only one––I do believe my efforts to share what God has done is all worth it. Yet, I also believe Jesus called me to share this story with many. In fact, I believe I’m called to write a book about it. What It Takes to Publish Today When writing a book, you hear a lot about the need to build a “platform” or establish a “tribe” of followers who engage with you both on your blog and on social media (Twitter, Facebook,…

I Don’t Need Help! or Learning to Receive

Posted on: April 11th, 2013 by Laurie Coombs

proverbs 27:17, I want to quit, burn out, burnout, why do we get burnt out, burnt out, exhausted, receive, receiving, i don't receive well, i'm the helper, i don't need help, learning to receive, I help others, people rely on me, lies, lies we believe, weakness, a sign of weakness, needing others, interdependent, interdependency, God's design, we need each other, Bible, Jesus, Christ, Christian, forgive, forgiveness, christian forgiveness testimony, dependent, dependent upon God, Father, God the father, life, approval, instruction, wisdom, blessing, grace, mercy, forgiveness of sins, the gift of the holy spirit, holy spirit, power through jesus, why did jesus die, communion with God, communion with one another, one another, build up the body, building up one another, John 13:35, disciples, love one another, serve one another, hospitality, fellowship, bear one another's burdens, burden, church, church of christ, body of christ, 1 Thessalonians 5:11, blessing, bless, allow others to bless you, be a blessing,

Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another. – Proverbs 27:17 A couple months ago, I found myself sitting at a small table in Starbucks. Across from me sat my leadership coach. “I don’t think I can do this any more,” I told her. “I’m burnt out. I’m doing too much, and honestly, I don’t think I’m doing anybody any good at this point.” I came to this meeting to quit. I had been leading a small group of women from my church in a weekly meeting for over two years. But at this point, I was exhausted. I didn’t feel I could do it any longer. After I explained the situation, she said, “Honestly, I don’t think you know how to receive very well.” Yes, I do. I thought, perplexed. “You’ve done a great job of making yourself a commodity,” she continued, “but you don’t allow others to pour into you.” Ouch. I…

How Jesus is the Fulfillment of God’s Love

Posted on: April 1st, 2013 by Laurie Coombs 2 Comments

John 3:36, God is a God of new beginnings, new beginnings, new, I am new, what does it mean to be born again, do over, mulligan, we are loved, love, loved, loves, God loves you, does god love me, Margaret feinberg, 40 day bible reading challenge, bible reading, bible reading plan, god's truths, truth, what is truth, what is true, soul, Jesus, God, Father, god the father, god the son, reading the bible, why should i read the bible, what's the bible about whats the bible about, story of the bible, redeem, redemption, redeemed, faithful, god is faithful, heart, sally lloyd jones, jesus storybook bible, god's story, why easter, what's the meaning behind easter, rebel, rebellion, sin, i will be your god, you will be my people, bible love affair, jesus died, why did jesus die, what's the point of jesus dying, god provided a way, life, death, resurrection, hopelessness, depression, why live, what's the point of life, what is the meaning of life, follow me, show the way, calvary, cross, nailed to the cross, new beginnings, free gift of salvation, salvation, saved, why do i need jesus, why do i need to be saved, receive Christ, mercy, grace, love, hope, peace, take hold of God's promises.

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 No doubt about it. We are loved. Truly loved, despite all our shortcomings. The Feinberg Challenge Over the last 40 days of Lent, leading up to Easter, I joined Margaret Feinberg (along with thousands of other Christ followers), in her 40-Day Bible Reading Challenge. Together we read through the Bible. Yep. The whole thing. Honestly, it was crazy, but it was amazing at the same time! Beginning in Genesis and ending with Revelation, we read an average of 30 chapters a day (though I’m a day behind, so I’ll be finishing up today). When first presented with all this craziness, I was intrigued, but I didn’t think I could do it. After all, I have children who need their mommy and a husband who needs his wife, but God…

A New Creation: The Old Has Passed Away

Posted on: March 3rd, 2013 by Laurie Coombs

2 Corinthians 5:17, testimony, Christian testimonies, testimonies, Christian, how to become a christian, how do i become a christian, proof of grace, evidences of god's grace, love your enemy, loving your enemy, how do i love my enemy, how do you love your enemy, forgiveness, correspondence with my dad's murderer, murder, the man who murdered my dad, murdered, victim, writing, i am different now. you are different now, is it possible to change, is change possible, a new creation, i am a new creation, thankful for grace, new creation, the old has passed away, the new has come, live by the spirit, the holy spirit, God, Jesus, Christ, empowers us, what does the holy spirit do, the spirit of God, new nature, love, forgive, forgiveness, forgave, how do you forgive, how do i forgive, forgiving the unforgivable, evangelism, evangelize, mission, missionary, how to be a missionary, how to be missional, this is how I want to live,

While at a holiday party a few months ago, I ran into an old friend I hadn’t seen in quite some time. We were roommates in college (while Travis and I were dating) and were living together at the time of my dad’s death. He knew me pretty well back then, but after graduating from college, we saw each other only occasionally and lost touch. I sat down next to him at the party, and before I knew it, he asked me about my writing. “I heard you’re writing,” he said. “What do you write about?” The last time I talked with him, I wasn’t even a Christian yet (nor is he a Christian now). I knew my answer would not be what he’d expect. I told him how I became a Christian. How I was given the proof and grace I needed to believe in Jesus. And how Jesus…

Joy in the Presence of God

Posted on: February 21st, 2013 by Laurie Coombs

Isaiah 43:4, God wants a relationship with you, what does a relationship with God look like, what is a relationship with God, what is a relationship with Jesus look like, what is a relationship with jesus, Christianity, Matthew 22, Matthew 22:36-37, Matthew 22:36, Matthew 22:37, Matthew commentary, Matthew 22:37 commentary, Bible commentary, joy in the presence of god, in the presence of god, god, jesus, christ, christian, joy, peace, love, experiencing joy, finding peace, experiencing peace, mother daughter, mother daughter relationship, precious moments, moments, touching moments, connecting with God, god wants you, god wants your heart, chosen by god, no need to perform, perfection, performance, you don't need to be perfect, perfectionism, struggling with being perfect, struggle with perfectionism, who god is, god's character, the character of god, relationship with jesus, relationship with god, what god wants from us, you shall love god, love god, loving god, you shall love the lord, you shall love the lord your god, with all your heart mind soul, in the presence of god, the presence of god, coming to jesus, coming to god, come to jesus, come to god, sin, sin breaks god's heart, why is sin so bad, why is sin bad, sin bad, why does god care if we sin, father in heaven, father, heavenly father, joyful, joyfully, relationship, god wants our hearts

…you are precious in my eyes, and honored, and I love you… – Isaiah 43:4 Yesterday, I took my younger daughter, Avery, to school. She goes to Kindergarten in the afternoon. Ella, my older daughter (who’s in first grade), has recess at the time I drop Avery off. After taking Avery to school, I got in my car and began to drive home along the street bordering the school’s playground. Whenever I drive by during recess, I scan the playground for Ella. Sometimes I find her playing with her friends, sometimes I don’t. But yesterday, as I drove slowly, I saw her sitting right on the other side of the fence, playing in the dirt with a friend. I rolled my passenger window down. “Ella!” I shouted. She looked, popped up from where she sat, and began running along the fence, joy upon her face, trying to keep up with my car. There were cars behind me, so I couldn’t…

Will You Press Through to Get Into the Presence of God?

Posted on: December 20th, 2012 by Laurie Coombs 2 Comments

a very real help, blood, Christ, Christian, Jesus, God, discharge of blood, jesus will help you, how to find peace, peace, finding peace, finding healing, reach to Jesus, pressing through the crowd, you need help, how to find help, i need help, who can help me, hope finding hope, looking for help, who can help me, if only, jesus is the answer, healed, who touched me jesus, power has gone out form me, jesus is the answer, we fail to see jesus is the answer, jesus is the answer, we need jesus, edge of garment, faith, following jesus, fringe of garment, edge of garment, heal, healing, help, peace, presence of god, come to jesus, coming to jesus, as you come to him, what does coming to jesus mean, what does coming to jesus look like, press through, unclean, woman, woman with discharge of blood

There is an account found in three out of the four gospels. It is the story of a woman who endured a discharge of blood for twelve years. One thing we must understand is that a condition such as this rendered the woman “unclean.” She would have been a lonely woman, devoid of touch or much companionship at all. Come with me for a moment and imagine…. You are this woman. You cannot touch others, and others cannot touch you. You’re outcasted. Desperate, you spend all your financial resources going to doctors. One after another. But they’re no help. Instead of seeing improvement, you only worsen. Can you relate to this woman in any way? Quite possibly, in some area of your life, you need help. You seek help––help that promises a solution to your problem––only to find yourself right where you began, or perhaps even behind a step or…