I have been thinking a lot recently about the Bible in a “can’t see the forest for the trees” sort of way. I have been reading and conversing and praying, seeking to better appreciate and frame the bigger picture of the biblical story. In a 20,000-foot conversation about the Bible, a friend told me about something Pastor Rich Villodas shared on ABC’s Good Morning America in 2022.
Villodas was being interviewed about his newly released book, Good and Beautiful and Kind: Becoming Whole in a Fractured World (Waterbrook, 2022). At the close of the interview, the host invited him to offer a final word of wisdom and encouragement to the GMA TV audience of August 2022 (Remember what life felt like to you then?).
Villodas simply shared four phrases. He pointed out that these phrases or “words” are repeated throughout the Bible; God speaks them to his people over and again in Scripture. Villodas tweeted,
“These are the 4 words I emphasized in
yesterday’s interview on Good Morning America…
I love you.
I am with you.
Don’t be afraid.
You can come home.”
These phrases capture so much of God’s loving heart and character revealed from Genesis to Revelation. There are limitations to this, I don’t want to be reductionistic with the Bible, but these four thread themselves through the biblical storyline as central themes.
I love you. I am with you. Don’t be afraid. You can come home.
I have not been able to shake them since I heard them a month ago. The Spirit continues to bring these phrases front and center in my mind and heart and in my blessing of others.
How do you see these words expressed throughout the biblical story? Which of these four phrases is particularly important to you currently? What does this phrase or theme draw out of you by way of your thoughts or feelings? Are you hearing the Lord speak it to you amidst your everyday life with all that is on your plate and stirring in your heart? Who are you walking with that needs to hear the Lord speak these words into their life?
Blessings on the journey friend…
To see Pastor Rich Villodas 51-second response on Good Morning America click here.
