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Greater
Than a Woman’s Love
By Janice LaQuiere
It's
hard not to associate February with love. We are inundated with
visual images of hearts, chocolates, and flowers from the middle of
January until Valentine's Day, February 14th.
One
of the most beautiful love passages in scripture is not from Song of
Solomon, but from 2 Samuel 1:26. David is mourning the death of his
dear friend Jonathan, and he cries out "Thy love to me was
wonderful, passing the love of women."
What
does it mean to love someone with a love that surpasses the love of
a woman? And more importantly, how can I love that way? In the
relationship with Jonathan and David, Jonathan continually proves
his sacrifice and devotion to David. Jonathan, a prince, willingly
puts his life on the line for a shepherd and the usurper to his
crown. Jonathan worked continually for David's best interests.
Their souls were knit together, they were one in spirit because they
both sought the same thing—the desire to see God's will
accomplished, and concern for each other's welfare. Because their
love was rooted in God they were able to overcome the feelings of
jealousy, envy, strife, division, and the pressures around them.
As
Christians we likewise are able to love with a glorious love that
surpasses the love of women. Jesus, in John 13:34, commands us
"…Love one another as I have loved you…" It’s only because
of the Holy Spirit in us that we can love each other with the same
depth as Jesus, who willingly sacrificed His life for us.
God is love, and if we don't know Him we will never have the
strength to love each other.
My
prayer is that you can give to those around you the true gift of
love, which 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 so practically spells out for us.
And that we put aside our selfishness to love each
other, not with a human love, the love of women, but with the love
of God.
"And
now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these
is love."
1 Sam 18:3, 1 Sam 20:17, 2 Sam
1:26, Col 2:2, John 13:34, 1 Cor. 13, 1 John 4:16, 2 Peter 1:7
Chocolate
Timeline
- 1200 A.D. - According to ancient records the
Aztecs required deliveries of cocoa from conquered tribes.
- 1502 - Columbus discovers Cocoa beans when he
had an encounter with a trading canoe believed to be from
Chontal-Maya speaking Putun. "For their provisions they had
such roots and grains as are eaten in Hispanila, and a sort of
wine made out of maize which resembled English beer; and man of
those almonds which in New Spain are used for money. They seemed
to hold these almonds at a great price; for when they were
brought on board ship together with their goods, I observed that
when any of these almonds fell, they all stopped to pick it up,
as if an eye had fallen."
- 1519 - Hernando Cortez does not particularly
like the taste of cocoa. However, he very interested in its
value and as a form of payment. During this time the name
becomes Chocolatl from the Mayan word for chocolate and the
Aztec word for water.
- 1544 - The first documented Chocolate enters
Spain when Dominican friars bring a delegation of Mayans to meet
Philip.
- 1579 - English buccaneers thinking cocoa beans
were sheep droppings burn a shipload full.
- 1585 - The first commercial shipment of beans.
- 1609 - The first book devoted entirely to
chocolate. It was titled "Libro en el cual se trata del
chocolate" and appeared in Mexico.
- 1615 - Cocoa was introduced into France by the
marriage of Louis XIII and Anne of Austria. A chocolate factory
was opened in Bayonne, France.
- 1753 - The cacao tree was given the technical
name Theobroma cacao, meaning 'food of the gods' by the
Swedish naturalist and chocolate enthusiast Carolus Linnaeus
- 1875 - In
Switzerland, milk chocolate was developed in 1875 by Henry
Nestle and Daniel Peter. Today, milk chocolate is preferred by
80% of the world's population.
From www.completechocolate.com
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When
every thing we receive from Him is received and prized as a
fruit and pledge of His covenant-love, then His
bounties…awaken us to fresh exercises of gratitude, and
furnish us with fresh motives of cheerful obedience every
hour.
~ John Newton~
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Inside:
Devotional
Chocolate
timeline
Janice's Fudge
The Small Print
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