SOFTER BLUES AND SWEETER GREENS- BY PASTOR GREG ELKAN

_“Heaven above is softer blue,_

_Earth around is sweeter green;_

_Something lives in every hue_

_Christless eyes have never seen:”_

When American R&B singer, Percy Sledge released _“When a Man Loves a Woman,”_ (a song about how love makes people think irrationally) in 1966, the song made #1 on both the “Billboard Hot 100” and “R&B singles” charts. When Michael Bolton released the same song, 25 years later in 1991, it also peaked at #1 on both the “Billboard Hot 100” chart and the “Billboard Adult Contemporary Singles” chart!

Clearly, the impact of romantic love on a person’s perception of reality is something that resonates with most people.

It's also scientifically verified that love chemically changes the function of our brains – oftentimes flooding it with neurotransmitters and hormones that produce the same effect as opioids and stimulants.

The salvation experience, too, should have the same perception-altering effect on you as a Believer. The knowledge that your name is now registered in the Book of Life (Rev 13:8), that your sins are eternally forgiven (Heb7:25), that you now have God as your Friend (Jas 2:23), that you are now with Jesus forever (Mat 28:20), that even if you die you will still rise again (Jn 6:54), etc. surely are truths that should effect your mind and outlook on life.

Admittedly, (and just like marriage romance 😭), the highs that we once felt when we first got saved sometimes taper out. But this is only as a result of us allowing the pressures of life to make us forget what so great salvation we have in our very hands. 

Beloved, as a Believer, you are literally the most enviable person on Earth; and the knowledge that you’re in a love relationship with the Creator of the Universe should affect how you see the world around you.

🎶 _“Birds with gladder songs overflow,_ 🕊️🕊️

_Flowers with deeper beauties shine,_ 🌼🌻

_Since I know, as now I know,_

_I am His, and He is mine.”_🎶

AMEN...

PASTOR GREG ELKAN