Extraordinary Love

By Al Mozingo

This book will take you from the basic levels of love, friendship, appreciation, charity, to higher levels of love, to extraordinary love; agape love; unconditional love.

This book provides insight, subject meditations, inspirations, affirmations, lessons, and devotions on love. This book helps overcoming hate, anger, fear, and

• Language: English
• Publisher: ALM Enterprises
• Release date: Jul 21, 2022
• ISBN: 9781958518083

Al Mozingo

Mr. Mozingo has written several books. Including "Extraordinary Love", "Extraordinary Faith", and "Extraordinary Hope." Sharing his experiences with God and his relationship of peace and harmony. Uniting prayers with others, helping them express their emotions and feelings. Reaching thousands that have found words they want to say to their God. 50+ years he presented to thousands of classes, seminars, workshops, and retreats. He has published more than 350 articles and taught at several conferences. He has been chaplain, youth minister, and Director of Christian Initiation classes. His insights are real, to the point, and valuable. Mr. Mozingo resides in Southern California with his wife of more than forty years.

Book preview

Preface

This long -awaited book was conceptualized years ago; it is the outcome and continuation of thought from two smaller booklets I wrote. I self- published these other two small books about love a couple of years back: A Little Book about Love and Love One Another. I gave them out to family members and friends and used them at a number of retreats. I estimate I have given about one thousand of these out.

This book, entitled Extraordinary Love is focused on God and on his love for us, as well as our love for him. In addition, there is a focus on Jesus, the Son of God, and his love for us. ˆis book shares selected lessons from a spiritual, religious viewpoint about God and his love. It may be considered a book about how Christians are to live out the principles taught by Christ himself. It attempts to open each of us to the spiritual realms of God’s grace, thus guiding us to understanding and actually enabling us to live out the virtues as taught by Jesus Christ.

This book draws one into a journey toward knowing God. It assists in prioritizing one’s life as we learn to experience God’s love and happiness. It is a book that can provide one with insight, meditations, inspiration, affirmations, lessons, and devotions on love. The book can also be used as a daily devotional guide.

—Al Mozingo

In the Beginning

This book will lead you from the fall of mankind through sin and fear to the beginning of love, the realization that we have to strive to be better, and finally journey to a maturing love. We will call this type of love agape, extraordinary love. Each one of the following chapters will lead you on a journey to Jesus, the Holy Spirit, and finally to God. To obtain the highest level of love, agape love, extraordinary love, God’s love, unconditional love, is the desire of anyone in their journey. This journey is not an actual walk to somewhere but a spiritual walk with the Holy Spirit, leading and guiding you to everlasting life with the Father. As Jesus guides us through his example on earth, we are further guided by something within, God himself, through the Holy Spirit in our very heart. So pre-pare yourself to obtain a grace that will remake you into a more loving and caring individual.

A Story about the Fall

God, the maker of heaven and earth, with his will and the fullness of love, created angels and man. He desired their love, so he gave them free will, enabling them to choose to return his love. Even though all he created was perfect and £awless, his creatures were not perfect with their choices. Because of their imperfect choices, eternal harmony was upset.

Logic and reason were overturned by emotions. Both the angels and mankind thought they knew more than God. With their jealousy, envy, and pride, they had a propensity to make the wrong choices. It was inevitable that this would occur, for with choice comes the possibility of imperfection. Some angels and some people will make the right choice and love God with all their heart, mind, and strength, and some will not. Those who love do so according to his plan.

The angels and people who love God have hope. This hope, we believe, will bring us to desiring perfect harmony according to God’s plan. We will end our existence, ourlives being transformed into a new existence as we begin our new life with God in heaven forever. As it was in the beginning, it will become in the end. We will live our eternal existence with God in heaven, with perfection, with love. The will of God will prevail.

This journey begins with the realization about the fall; after the fall, Adam and Eve were in fear. Their eyes were opened to right and wrong. They were no longer pure and untarnished. They had indeed fallen from grace and were fearful of God.

Fear

As we have seen, Adam and Eve had fear within; but what about you? What do you fear? Do you fear being alone? Death? ˆe unknown? Do you fear the lack of love with someone special? What does fear do for you? Does fear cause you to worry or get angry at times? God’s Word tells us there is no fear in God. As we allow the Holy Spirit to dwell within our hearts, he helps us to eliminate our fears. ˆe Holy Spirit replaces it with love.

Love can overcome fear!

Keep your thoughts grounded not in fear, but in love. Guard your thoughts, forcing yourself, by your actions, to be a loving and caring person. Show by your actions that you care, you forgive, and you love. By showing kindness, forgiveness, and compassion, we show our love for one another.

What can our fears do for us? ˆink about it… Fear causes us to feel bad. Fear is a symptom of loss. Fear is an appeal for help. So who do we turn to? O Lord, to whom can we turn? We turn to God! ˆe Holy Spirit, deep in the recesses of our hearts, prompts us to return to God.

Pray to God to eliminate your fears and to give you a loving heart. We can then receive the Father’s peace, understanding, and forgiveness. All joy, happiness, and love shall be fulfilled in God our Father when we ask God to infuse us with love, with the Holy Spirit, through Christ our Lord.

With this wish, this desire, and this request, we can receive the love we long for.

So the journey continues with the realization that our thoughts have to be guarded. We need to strive to a pure mind to become more. We need to take our thoughts and strive to a higher level of goodness, allowing the Holy Spirit to help us with mercy and grace to become pure and blameless. The best ways of showing this are throygh our thoughts, the way we think, and also what we do and say.

Words

As we move from thoughts to words and finally behavior, the following is brought to my mind. A friend was talk-ing to me the other day about the use of words. She indi-cated how words could be detrimental to someone. She said, "Can you imagine if someone was told as a child that they were stupid?" We discussed it briefly and talked about how encouraging words would help someone. Therefore, I believe each of us should be careful with the words we use. We should show people our love with our words.

I decided to conduct a short search of the Bible to determine what the Bible says about words. Below are a few lines that tell us about the words we use:

"You can be sure that on the Judgment Day every-one will have to give account of every useless (care-less) word he has ever spoken.

Your words will be used to judge you—to declare you either innocent or guilty" (Matthew 12: 36-37).

Your life must be controlled by love (Ephesians 5:2a).

…Avoid stupid arguments… (Titus 3:9a).

Keep away from profane and foolish discussions (2 Timothy 2:16a).

…An unhealthy desire to argue and quarrel about words, and this brings on jealousy, disputes, insults, evil suspicions, and constant arguments… (1 Timothy 6:4b).

Keep away from foolish and ignorant arguments; you know they end up in quarrels (2 Timothy 2:23).

People will be…insulting…unkind, merciless, slanderers, they will hate good…they will hold to the outward form of our religion, but reject its real power… (2 Timothy 3:2-5).

Tell them not to speak evil of anyone, but to be peaceful and friendly, and always to show a gentle attitude toward everyone (Titus 3:2).

…Whoever says that he belongs to the Lord must turn away from wrongdoings (2 Timothy 2:19b).

…Those who believed in God be careful to devote themselves to good works; these are excellent and beneficial to others (Titus3.8b).

(New American Bible)

Remember to exhibit love through KFC—kindness, for-giveness, and compassion.

Getting Closer to God

Do you believe there is a God? Most people will say, Of course I do. Okay, if you believe there’s a God, what is your relationship with him? Are you spending time getting to know him? Do you try to get closer to him? It has been said we will only be as close to God as we choose to be. How close to God do you choose