#no greater love

[angelart67]

Amen Father God... 🙏💜😇🙏

John 15:13 NLT There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.

[illuminaryart]

No Greater Love. 16x20 watercolor and ink. Each "I love you" was written by a native speaker or student of that language. Afrikaans, American Sign Language, Arabic, Bijabo, Burmese, Czech,  Danish, Dutch,  English, Faroese, Fijian, Finnish, French, German, Greek (koine), Greek (modern), Gujarati, Hawaiian, Hebrew, Hindi, Icelandic, Ilakano, Indonesian,  Italian, Japanese, Kinyarwanda, Korean, Kreyal, Kriol, Latin, Latvian,  Lingala, Luganda, Malay,  Malay, Mandarin,  Melpa, Mongolian, Nakui, Nepali, Papua New Guinean Pidgin (three versions), Polish, Portuguese, Romanian,  Runyankore, Russian, Samoan,  Sesotho, Slovak,  Sorimi, Spanish, Swahili, Swedish, Tagalog, Tamil,  Tedim, Thai, Tohono O’odham, Tongan, Turkish, Urdu, Vietnamese, Xhosa, Yoruba, Zulu.

[haveyouseenthismovie-poll]

[grits-galraisedinthesouth]

No Greater Love 👑

Music is a beautiful way to memorize the true meaning of Easter. We even sang No Greater Love year round on my post-Christian Ivy League campus. It still makes me weep. This is a popular "gospel" song in the black community. Here's a recording of a college gospel choir who knocks it out of the park! 😭

King George & Queen Elizabeth annually communicated the simple, uncomplicated meaning of the Christmas story. King Charles could use better Christian councilors.

Small children can quote the Apostle John's most famous words. I can even respect what could have been the atheistic or agnostic musings of a young & angry Steve Jobs: "God sent His son on a suicide mission, but we forgive him because He gave us trees."|| dying with cancer Steve: "Sometimes I believe in God, sometimes I don't. I think it's 50-50 maybe. But ever since I've had cancer, I've been thinking about it more. And I find myself believing a bit more. I kind of – maybe it's cause I want to believe in an afterlife. That when you die, it doesn't just all disappear. The wisdom you've accumulated. Somehow it lives on."

It's important to read John's entire letter because the holy scriptures were never intended to be divided up by man-made chapter & verse.

My personal reflection on John's Gospel (3:16)

Human beings are sinners in need of a Savior

Despite our sinful nature, God the Father still loved us and this beautiful world He created

For my redemption, God sacrificed the most valuable thing He had to offer---His sinless son Yeshua "Jesus"

Jesus' death, burial, and resurrection conquered death

Anyone who trusts in and believes His Words, is forgiven (as far as the east is from the west/sea of forgetfulness) and will live forever with Him

From @walkswithmyfather @heartsings77 and other Tumblr blogs:

Thank YOU🎶🎵

God Is 🎶🎵

[lightfromthelighthouse]

Good Morning!☀

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. John 3:16

This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you. Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. John 15:12-13

Down through the years, the cross has been a symbol of comfort and hope. It is also a constant reminder of God the Father and God the Son's love for us. God the Father loved us enough to give us his son. God the Son loved us enough to give up his life for us and go through all that he went through leading up to the cross.

If you are still not sure of God's love for us take a look at this:

But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 5:8

While we are prone to look at the cross with sadness and at times of sorrow, it should more often provoke thoughts of the great love God has for us. No greater love has been or can be demonstrated than this!

[janslocum]

[randomrichards]

THE HUMAN CONDITION 1: NO GREATER LOVE

A good man’s morals

At odds leading prison camp

That rewards the cruel

[tom4jc]

April 18, 2025 Verse Of The Day

[feed-me-romance]

Feed Me Romance's Origin Story

This past Christmas, I was giddy with delight when I was gifted a grocery bag full of romance novels. We're talking full on 1980's mass-market paperback novels with Fabio on the cover and slightly suggestive titles. GIDDY, I tell you.

I posted a picture of my gift onto the socials, and I was immediately flooded with all kinds of friends talking about the first time they got their hands on a romance novel. Almost every person talked about their grandma, which warmed my heart.

My sweet Grandma Lorraine was the first one to introduce me to romance novels. Lorraine loved herself a Danielle Steel novel. She'd re-check the same ones out of the library and read them over and over again, waiting for a new one to be released every six months or so. I always tried to suggest other book or authors, but Lorraine resisted. "I like the steamy parts!" she once confided in me. The first Danielle Steel I got my hands on was No Greater Love, which was catnip to eleven year old girls, because it was about the Titanic. This was well before Jack and Rose, but the Titanic has always belonged to middle and high school girls for some elusive reason.

No Greater Love was my gateway novel. In between Stephen King novels (it was the 90's. No one cared enough to police children's reading), I'd pick up Star or Daddy, or Kaleidoscope. The fact I can still remember the names of these books, but can't remember when my kid needs to go to the dentist should tell you something. I loved these books because the women were always stunningly beautiful, men couldn't stop staring at them, and despite a brief and predictable hardship, these women usually went on to live happily ever after. To a skinny kid with big glasses and pants that never fit right, I couldn't wait to become a woman men couldn't stop staring at. Spoiler: it never happened. But that's okay, I've survived being the snarky girl men can't stop laughing with.

But that's why we read these books! When 50 Shades of Grey first came out, I was a tired mom and wife, grinding in an unfulfilling job that required me to visit at least one jail or state correctional facility a week. I hated my life. I escaped into 50 Shades dreaming about how amazing it would be to have a man take care of all my life decisions: everything from my clothes to my car to my career. A man like Christian Grey sounded like an absolute dream. Now, at forty-three if I were to meet a man like Christian, I'd take out a TRO. Bitch, leave me alone and let me live my life!! But sometimes those books hit us at the right time and provide just the right level of fantasy. It's all about the fantasy and the escape.

Several months have gone by, and the bag of books has a layer of dust on it. Last night I plucked the first book out of the bag, and I'm reading it. This will be the place I review these ridiculous books (as well as some contemporary favorites), and create a community for romance readers (closet or not). So hit the follow button, and stay tuned for some cheesy escape.

[shadowsof-thenight]

Book recommendations: Week 13

Book 13

No greater love by Danielle Steel

This book follows twenty year old Edwina Winfield who must persevere despite debilitating heartbreak. After losing her parents and fiancé during the tragic sinking of the Titanic, she is suddenly responsible for her five younger siblings. 

Edwina is determined to remain unmarried as she becomes the closest thing to a parent these kids will know. She’s fiercely protective and works hard to offer them a life they deserve. Therefore she decides to run the family newspaper, until one of her brothers can take over. 

Unfortunately, Titanic wasn’t the last of the heartbreak she and her siblings must overcome and Edwina must come to term with all the loss, while still supporting and protecting her siblings. 

When I first read this story it captured my heart. The world can be a scary place, but Edwina showed such strength and perseverance. She had to grow up overnight, learn a profession and be a mother to kids she didn’t birth. She was faced with heartbreak at every turn, while she was still learning to deal with pain of the past. 

Danielle Steel knows how to write emotional and romantic stories. I liked how she showed the different ways to grieve. All siblings were effect differently and none of it was demonised, even if some were self-destructive and outright dangerous. Through it all Edwina works to keep the family together. 

[metal-junk]

i like ur funny words, magic man

the idea that probably one of the most dangerous people in faerûn can become good after falling for a pathetic wizard is fucking hilarious to me. also i am an avid defender of gale and i want to make VERY CLEAR he isn’t supposed to be mansplaining bhaal to a bhaalspawn here, that’s just the only info i could actually write a significant amount of. i’m the one mansplaining here not gale i love gale

[ambrosiagourmet]

This is just a smaller observation that will hopefully someday be part of a larger analysis on Kabru's view of Laios & how Laios impacts him...

But I think it really interesting that Kabru surrenders something for Laios twice, and that these moments are inversions of each other.

The first time, Kabru gives up his life to maintain his control. He changes the course of the entire story with this action, and is willing to die to achieve that. Kabru is (supposedly) entrusting the future to Laios, but he is still very much the primary actor in the overall narrative. He is still the one choosing what the story should be.

The second time, however, Kabru gives up his control to keep hold of something personal and selfish (in the way of dungeon meshi selfishness - it is a good thing to keep this desire. It small piece of what makes him a living creature). He steps aside to let Laios choose the way forward. He surrenders narrative agency for personal agency... not changing the story, but changing himself.

[tom4jc]

May 29, 2023 Verse Of The Day

[casually-eat-my-soul]

Can someone please write a fic about that one scene where stiles grabs Derek’s face in magic bullet.

Where although he was out of it Derek could feel stiles fingers trail across his face. He could feel how softly and careful stiles was in that one moment. It had been the first touch from a human, from anyone, that did not cause Derek pain.

And when Derek wakes up he’s just obsessed with being touched by stiles again because he remembered how good it felt, how finally someone touched him and it didn’t hurt. Derek refused to wash his face for like three days after this because stiles had unknowingly scent marked him, and he couldn’t make himself get rid of the scent. How it made Derek feel like he wasn’t alone.

This action makes Derek’s wolf believe that stiles is pack, (stiles is the first pack Member!!) and he just keeps ending up in embarrassing situations trying to get stiles attention and his hands and him.

He probably just ends up blurting it out at stiles one day. Or maybe after killing Peter, he just get handle the weight of being alone, of killing the last member of his family, of being touched by Kate, of being hurt.

So he drags his body to stiles house and just gets on his knees and begs stiles to touch him, to make it stop hurting.

And stiles knows how hard it is to lose a family member so he does. He doesn’t think this will happen again, he just understands that Derek needs comfort. But Derek comes back over and over again and every time begs stiles to touch him. And stiles does, every time.

It becomes a comfort thing for the both of them, stiles running his fingers over the planes of Derek’s face. Derek gets to relax in the one place he’s safe, listening to stiles humming or muttering and the beat of his heart. It becomes a need, but soon stiles touching Derek isn’t enough, Derek wants to touch stiles. He wants to return the favour, he wants to scent mark stiles back. So everyone will know that stiles is claimed, that he is protected by an alpha who would kill for him. And he gets the chance to on the anniversary of stiles mother’s death.

Stiles is just so tired, his dad is working, will be all night. Scott is with Allison, and stiles doesn’t have the energy to beg him to pick him tonight. So he goes to Derek; Stiles isn’t really sure what this arrangement that he and Derek have but tonight he is the one who needs. He drives to the hale house and ends up sobbing by the time he gets there. He’s just sitting in the jeep in front of the hale house and he can’t move. And suddenly Derek is there.

Derek was already worried when he could hear the engine of the jeep pull up but when it turned off and all Derek could hear was stiles crying, he moved without thinking. He yanked the driver side door open and his heart broke. Stiles was sitting there trying to calm himself down, rubbing the tears from his face but nothing was working. So when stiles turned his head to him, eyes pleading and whining, Derek picked him up and carried him bridal style into the house. Derek just holds him for hours, memorizing the way stiles feels under his fingertips.

In the aftermath Stiles makes one joke about being a blushing bride (due to the blush on his face and being carried bridal style) and Derek is just hit with a vision of being married to stiles. Of being about to always be allowed to touch stiles and blue screens. Unfortunately Derek wolf takes this as expressed agreement that stiles is mated and married to them.

Derek buys rings the next day. Sure it takes him a few more years to propose but it’s the thought that counts. (Cocky Derek hale who flirts with stiles by calling him his pretty little wife, just to see stiles blush a pretty pink for him. But one day stiles responds that he doesn’t have a ring, so Derek just gives it to him.)