Its fun to play with words and SUDOKU and Crosswords provide great pleasure

to thousands. Today I’m using an ACROSTIC and its based on the word

LOVE

L is for Life

O is for Opportunity

V is for Vision

E is for Eternity

Each of the 4 words and the one they  stem from are gifts of God

to each  of us which are ours without price and unearned.

LIFE

           Each  of us is a loved and unique human being, created by God in His image. He has a personal relationship

with  every believer ,  offering  us perfect mother and fatherhood  both to experience and to use as models. He has

 provided all we need to live in a world which is beautiful as well as practical and we have been given the senses to

 appreciate its beauty and minds to create new ideas. We have the potential to make the world the place it should be. 

 The life we have has a purpose unique to us personally. You may be called to be a visionary: my vocation is as a

 communicator while someone else creates beautiful things and helpful technologies.

What is more when we get up each day we begin with a clean slate as far as our past wrong doings are concerned.

The unique ability to be able to remember the past and prepare for the future means we can learn from our past

mistakes and change our plans in their light. What a wonderful state of being! ..... especially realising that  we have

 earned nothing but have had it as a gift. To add to this wonderful present of life we have been given a Saviour who

was prepared top die for us and who through his risen power lives within us every moment of our lives.

 .... A WONDERFUL LIFE

OPPORTUNITIES

           God has made us in such a way that we are free to live our own way. We have the chance to live by His rules

 and wishes or to choose to do our own thing. There is nothing to stop us denying Him, deliberately disobeying His

laws and making decisions which affect those around us adversely . So we can go about ignoring His command to

love one another.  Even the best and kindest father would find such waywardness   too much to  bear but God, not

only forgives us when we admit our guilt, but is on the look  out for a chance to meet us half way and welcome us back

home as,  “The Prodigal Son,” tells us.  Not only can we be welcomed back into God’s loving care but we are  set on

 the right road again and given a task in the great enterprise of changing the world for Him.  A human justice system

or a national dictator would come down on rule breakers with harsh punishments but God doesn’t. No! He not only

forgave those who killed  His Son He gave them a risen Saviour.

           The gift that  God has given us of being creative gives us great opportunities of finding new expressions of

faith, new  ideas of presenting the gospel and modern ways of leading people to Jesus and the richness of life with

 Him. At each stage of our life we have different ways of thinking and special abilities. At 20 one can’t offer advice

from experience or reflect on a situation through eyes that have been there before but at 70 its much easier.  God

speaks in many different ways and because he knows us so well the tasks He gives us are always appropriate  to our

age  and situation.

VISION

            Living one day at a time, as  some people are forced to do  for various reasons,  is a  hard and a miserable

way to live but even  they can dream of a better tomorrow.  We have God’s hope which is not a maybe/maybe not sort

 of hope but a hope backed by His promises in the future and our place in it. Because we have the records of Jesus’

 life, death and resurrection we can see what human life could be. Because  of the message of the gospel we can

 visualise what the world will be when  Jesus comes again. We can also see that we have a place in the bringing of

 that about. We can dream and imagine the most amazing things but it is only with God’s power to strengthen us that

we are able to change dreams into visions and give those who follow us the opportunity to accept  as present reality

 our visions and make their dreams become their visions.

ETERNITY      

           Having  only one life and never knowing when we will move to the life beyond often seems cruel.   We want to

 know what the future holds and often wish  to live for ever. God in His wisdom has not given us the day or the hour so

 we need to be ready  but are not waiting  in the condemned cell. This life is full of variety with good and difficult times

 but with daily opportunities to make a difference to the lives of our neighbours and bring nearer the time when the

gateway of death will be taken away and Jesus will be with us forever.  Paul is able to say, in the letter he wrote to the

Philippians chapter one, that he looked forward to death when he would come face to face with his Lord. However he

was prepared to stay  here among his people, even though in prison, to bring more people to know their Lord and

Saviour Jesus Christ. Earthly life takes on a new meaning when it becomes the ante-room to eternal life in which we

have the chance to prepare to meet Jesus face to face.

LOVE

So we have the acrostic LOVE . All the four gifts are given by this wonderful and creative God who loves us so much#

 he sent us his only Son Jesus. The greatest miracle of all is that he gives us everything without price and doesn’t

withdraw his love when we reject, ignore and betray Him .