Real Love

Agape love gives freely, even when rejected. In his book, The Bait of Satan (page 14), John Bevere tells us: ‘Without God we can only love with a selfish love, one that cannot be given if it is not received and returned. However, agape loves regardless of the response.’

By loving others, I am in the act of loving God. By not loving others, I am keeping my love from God. My love for Him filters through the people I love; it makes its way to Him through them. (Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me. Matthew 25:40 KJV)

“But I’m not gaining their love – or even their affection.”

“They don’t see or appreciate my love, they’re using me.”

“It was easier to love them when I held hope that love would be returned or that their heart could be softened.”

“I don’t want to love them anymore. I’m tired.”

It doesn’t matter – keep loving them. Never give up on love. Love is more powerful than we can imagine, even when we don’t see its impact. A lot goes on in life that we never see with our eyes.

Luke 10:3 “Go! I am sending you out like lambs among wolves.” We don’t expect wolves to love lambs (except perhaps how they taste).

There’s a fine line between loving and becoming a doormat. When we have to say ‘no’ to someone it doesn’t mean we stop loving them, sometimes it shows a greater love. Enabling someone to continue in their sin isn’t love. But loving them, regardless of their sin, is loving the way God loves.

True love is unconditional. When those we love most offend us, the hurt is beyond measure. When we allow that offense to stifle our love and snuff it out, we lose.

Pray. Repent. Start over, falling in love with God all over again through the freedom gained by laying it all out before God’s throne. He understands. He promises He’ll forgive us, again, freeing us to love His way.

Control

Beginning again but we’ll try

something new

We should have started this way before.

In our hearts we know more than our minds can imagine

That’s why we attempt this once more.

In our hearts is a voice that says,

“Listen to Me.”

But our mind says, “I know what I’ll do!”

We start out again to arrange

things our way

In the end it’ll look misconstrued.

Everyone who will turn

and will give us the time

Can easily see what we’ve done

Perhaps not out loud,

but they’ll laugh when they see

For we’re right where

we’d thought we’d begun.

“Try again,” we’ll feel prompted

and sigh and sit down

And we’ll try it a new way today.

Once again in our hearts

that ol’ tugging we’ll feel

As God prompts us to do things His Way.

But our head tells us differently,

“Try it like this!”

And our heart tries so hard to chime in.

But it knows deep inside

that this way will not work

And we’re doomed to repeat it again.

So the struggle is getting our mind to obey

What we know in our hearts we should do.

For our mind says to do things

the way of our past

And our heart says,

“Let’s try out the new!”

In the past we were sinners

so lost in our way

But then Jesus came into our heart.

But we’re trapped in the ways that our minds used to think

Forgetting we get a new start.

So first we must stop and just listen to God

And determine what He has to say,

If we take time to pray about all that we do

We will hear when He tells us His Way.

The instructions He gives us may not

sound quite right

But that’s where our faith must come in.

If instead we turn back and search out

our own way

That’s not only dumb, it is sin!

So to add to the problems of doing our task

Planning out the right path we should take,

We drag in a bag that we can’t even see,

The conscience convictions we make.

Now the planning gets harder

and harder each time

And the grip of our sin just gets tighter,

If our minds would just stop

and try listening to God

We would find that the burden gets lighter.

But our mind is accustomed

to being in charge

And our hearts have to fight tooth and nail.

For our heart knows a joy it is dying to share

But our minds dig up fears that we’ll fail.

So we struggle with words like,

“Renewing our mind,”

And it tears us apart at the soul.

But the secret is simple,

our hearts know it well

~Give up and give Jesus control!

~Helen Williams! c 2002



She Says - He Says

If I say, ‘I can’t do anything right’ - He tells me, ‘I can do all things through Christ which strengthens me.’ (Philippians 4:13)

If I say, ‘I’ll never get the things I need’ – He tells me, ‘My God shall supply all my needs according to His riches in glory.’ (Philippians 4:18)

If I say, ‘I’m losing my mind!’ - He tells me, ‘I have the mind of Christ.’ (1 Corinthians 2:16)

If I say, ‘I feel so sick’ – He tells me, ‘Praise the Lord…Who heals all your diseases.’ (Psalm 103:2-3)

If I say, ‘Nobody cares about me’ – He tells me, ‘Cast your cares on Me, for I care for you.’ (1 Peter 5:7)

If I say, ‘The devil made me do it!’ – He tells me, ‘Submit yourself to God, resist Satan and he shall flee from you.’ (James 4:7)

If I say, ‘I’m such a scaredy cat, I’m afraid of everything’ – He tells me, ‘Do not be afraid, for I am with you.’ (Isaiah 41:10) In the King James Version we read: fear not, 63 times…

If I say, ‘I’m dying here!’ or ‘This is killing me!’ – He tells me, ‘I will not die, I will live and declare the works of the Lord!’ (Psalm 118:17)

If I say, ‘I feel so alone’ – He tells me, ‘I shall never leave you, nor forsake you.’ (Joshua 1:5)

If I say, ‘God won’t heal (help, deliver) me’ – He tells me, ‘I will, be made clean.’ (Matthew 8:2-3; Mark 1:40-41; Luke 5:12-13)

There is scripture to counter every lie we hear, every lie we tell. If you don’t know how to find what you’re looking for – ask for help. Some Bibles conveniently have a list in the back of scriptures for times of need. For example, when you’re sick or lonely or depressed… The Word of God is true, but will not impact your life for the better until you believe it.

While Talking to Myself...

Since I know the Truth, why do I sometimes continue to walk in lies? I suppose it has to do with laziness. Old bad habits require breaking. Just because I learn that exercise is good for me doesn’t mean I’ll automatically get out of bed every morning and throw myself into a workout routine. Just because I learn that consuming ice cream is not good for keeping my weight down doesn’t mean I’ll stop picking up that Snickers ice cream cone from the freezer section at the store before checking out – and eating it quickly before it melts.

So too with learning the truths of God; learning God’s Word isn’t the same as applying it to my life. I need to confront my old attitudes and correct them, making them line up with what God says.

When God says He loves me, I can’t just flippantly dismiss that with a ‘whatever’ rolling of the eyes, avoiding how I feel about it. I need to confront how uncomfortable it makes me when I’m feeling particularly unlovable, instead of allowing my thoughts to wander to something else. Avoiding the issue behind my discomfort forces me to live yet another day in denial of the truths that can set me free.

What am I not willing to look at? My mind – the final frontier?

John Bevere says: "What you do NOT confront - will NOT change." So if it’s change we’re seeking, confrontation is eminent. But we don’t have to fear that confrontation. Jesus will be right there with us every step of the way. We need to uncover and confront the lies we’ve believed. When we find those lies – we need to discover truths to replace them. Those truths are in God’s Word.

If I pout at the mirror and [even subconsciously] say, I’m ugly – God’s Word tells me I’m made in His image! (God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. Genesis 1:27 NIV)

If I wallow in guilt and shame – God’s Word says ‘If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.’ (1 John 1:9 NIV)

More examples next time…..

Music to My Ears

I know some of you’ve been waiting to read about the incredible thing that happened Wednesday morning.

Because of who I am – not because of anything I do…..

I woke up twice. I’m not sure what woke me up, but I heard God singing to me. The first time, He used the voice of the Andy Gibbs as He sang, 'I just wanna be your everything…. Open up the heaven in your heart and let Me be, the things you are to me and not some puppet on a string….'

The second time (at which point I just stayed awake) I heard the soothing sounds of Bread, singing: 'I would give everything I own, give up my life, my heart, my home. I would give everything I own, just to have you back again.' Laying there thinking about the words, I thought about how He did just that. Jesus left His home in heaven – to make His home in my heart. He gave up His life to redeem mine. He gives me access to everything He owns…. He even shares His glory with me by living in me and through me.

I don’t know how many of you are lucky enough to have God sing to you – I know He sings over all of you – but some of us aren’t very good listeners. Just sayin’…

One day I was driving down the road, a bit depressed and bummed about something or other. I turned on the radio and God belted out through my speakers as He sang, ‘Pretty woman…..’ Yes, He thinks I’m pretty. His words, not mine. You know that made my day!

Anyways…. What I’m doing at the moment doesn’t even come into play – sleeping, driving – God Himself sings over me, and to me, while I’m simply being – me. He loves me!

He’s singing over you all the time. Watch and listen. See what song He has for you today!

And oh yea - the peacock? Still just being a peacock!

 

The LORD your God is with you, the Mighty Warrior who saves. He will take great delight in you; in his love he will no longer rebuke you, but will rejoice over you with singing.” Zephaniah 3:17 NIV

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tA6L8-lxaA8&feature=related

Along the Way

Life isn’t about getting to heaven. Jesus already provided for that….. Though this may be our destination – life is about the journey we travel while we get there.

So what am I doing as I journey?

Again, last night I heard the phrase, or something like it, don’t worry about doing – focus on being!

Being? How do I ‘be’ without doing? Isn’t what I am while I’m ‘being’ because of what I’m doing?

No.

But if I’m not doing – I’m LAZY! And we all know what the Bible says about laziness. (If you don’t – laziness is not a good thing.) And of course, faith without works is like a screen door on a submarine. (I wish that was an original thought I came up with on my own, but it’s from an old song.)

So yes, doing is important. But we run into trouble when doing becomes more important than being – and when we allow what we’re doing to determine who we are and worse, our worth.

Something really incredible happened this morning, but you’ll have to wait for my next blog post to hear about it…. I’m running out of words for today. (Yes, I already have it written, so you won’t have to wait long!)

But I want to leave you with these thoughts for today:

*Life is not about getting to heaven. Think on that for a few minutes – even share your thoughts with me if you’d like.

*Who are you today? Put aside what you’re doing and ask yourself: who am I being today?

The white peacock – he’s just being himself……