Love Too Good To Be True - But It Is!

"Keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life."

Jude:21

 

I've been reflecting on this verse lately.  How do we keep ourselves in the love of God?

 

The Greek word used for "keep" here means to guard (from loss or injury), by keeping the eye on; to hold fast, watch; retain; maintain.

 

Let's look at this from a different direction - how do we "fall out" of the love of God?

By "falling into" unbelief, doubt and fear!

(And let me be clear here - I'm not saying these things cause God not to love us; they cause us to turn away from Him!)

 

I think so many of us have a really hard time truly believing that God loves us!

No matter how many times we read in the Word of His love, it just doesn't seem to penetrate the deep recesses of our hearts.  We feel so unlovable; we know our faults, our thoughts, our attitudes and we can't understand how anyone could love us through all we are.

 

BUT......I think at this point, the question needs to change -

Do you believe the Bible?  Do you believe it is the inspired Word of God?

 

2 Timothy 3:16 & 17 says, "All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness; that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works."

 

God's Word doesn't change based on our feelings on any given day.  God's Word is God's Word and is true and real whether we believe it or not!!

 

I recently read this quote:

 

"His love for us is not decreased by the sin in us."

 

We are not loved because we are lovable.

We are loved because God's very nature is love.

He cannot go against His nature.

He will never stop loving!

 

So, I believe, the first thing we need to do to "keep ourselves in the love of God" is to actively believe in His love even when we don't feel it - or maybe, especially when we don't feel it!!

 

We "keep ourselves" in His love by meditating on His love, reading the Scriptures that declare His love.  We "keep ourselves" in His love by obeying His commands so that our hearts are clean and pure before Him and there is "no ground" for the devil's accusations.  We "keep ourselves" in His love simply by believing He loves us!

Can you imagine having a relationship with someone, he tells you he loves you, wants to commit his life to you through marriage, has children with you and yet every day you act like he doesn't love you.  You don't believe what he tells you every single day and shows you by his continual acts and demonstrations of love.  Can you imagine how frustrated he would feel?  Turn the tables; what if you had to reassure someone constantly that you loved them?  What if, no matter what you did, they just couldn't or wouldn't believe your love was real?  Wouldn't you be frustrated?

What joy, God loves us through that kind of frustration because His love is unconditional!  He is relentless in His pursuit of us because His love never fails!

 

So then, we "keep ourselves" in His love by refusing to believe the lies even our own hearts will tell us.  We refuse to believe His love is conditional or that it has an end.

 

Listen to this -

 

"Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?  shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?  As it is written, For they sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.  Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.  For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, not powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord."

Romans 8:35-39

 

Can it be any clearer?  NOTHING can separate us from the love of God!!

 

How this changes everything in us - to believe in this kind of love!

My heart is assured that He is for me always; His love is unchanging.

 

"God is always good and I am always loved."

 

To know that you are loved and to live and walk in the reality of that love changes you and changes you deeply.

 

If you do nothing else, believe in God's love for you today.  Steep yourself in Scripture that talks about His love; meditate on it, breathe it in and let God love you.

 

Let Him love you

and love Him right back!!

 

A Random Act of Kindness

Last week I had a doctor's appointment.  As I was driving to the doctor's, the low-fuel light came on in my car.  I am a little paranoid about this, so when I was leaving the doctor's, I decided to stop at the SELF-SERVE gas station on the corner instead of driving the 3 more miles to my regular gas station.  I went into the store to pay my money, but no one was at the register.  I waited patiently and in about a minute, a man came down the aisle and apologized for not immediately helping me.

"$30 on pump 2, please," I said.

 

"OK, would you like help with that?"

 

"Excuse me?"

 

"Would you like help with that?"

 

"Uhmmmmmm, well, I wouldn't refuse!"

Did you see the bold print on the words in the opening paragraph - SELF-SERVE?

I was astounded!!

The gentleman actually came out and pumped the gas for me!!

 

I can't even begin to tell you how this simple act of kindness blessed me and blessed the rest of my day!!  What joy lit up my heart!

 

Lest you think I got a little "carried away" by what may seem to you as a "small act", let me tell you about my history. For those of you who don't know, I never pumped gas a day in my life until my husband died. He always did it for me. When he was first ill and in the hospital, this was a very big deal for me. I didn't know how to pump the gas, but I had no choice - the car was on empty and it needed to be filled. One late, very cold February night, I was on the way home from the hospital. I saw an open gas station ahead and decided it was probably a good idea to stop in and "get it done." I went inside the store and asked the service clerk if he could please help me as I had never done this before. The man was extremely rude to me, hollered at me and made me feel like the dumbest broad around. He did come out and help me, but complained the entire time. By the time I left the station, I was near tears!

So, this act of kindness that involved pumping gas was a very big deal to me!!

I reflected on this kindness most of the day - how much it meant to me - and how much better our world would be if we would all practice these simple acts of kindness every day.  And if it touched me so much, a random act of kindness probably touches others in the same way.

To think that I could actually do something to produce that same kind of feeling in someone else!!  Wow!  Who knows the deep place we may touch in another by our "small" act of kindness??

We go through our days so caught up in our own stuff, we often forget about others. 

It's all about ME! 

We forget or we don't take the time to practice those "random acts of kindness" and this small act, which was no small act to me, served to remind me that I need to be more mindful to practice kindness myself on a regular basis.

I have been given so much in this life and have been blessed beyond measure by the Lord; how can I not give back what's been given to me? 

 

I am blessed;

I can be a blessing! 

I can be the gift!

 

"God calls me to do thanks.  To give the thanks away. That Thanks-giving might literally become thanks-living.  That our lives become the very blessings we have received."  (Ann Voskamp, One Thousand Gifts)

 

Just as that act of kindness brought joy to my heart, I could be the joy given to another heart!

"Lord," I prayed, "please help me on a daily basis to be mindful of those I could bless by simple acts of kindness.  Open my eyes, Lord, to the opportunities around me all the time to show your love and kindness to others."

As Christians, we need to be different.  We need to be the hands and feet of Jesus in this world.  We need to live a life in service to others.  But our service is unto the Lord, not to man.

"And whatsoever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not to men;"

Colossians 3:23

"The work we do is only our love for Jesus in action," writes Mother Teresa.  "If we pray the work...if we do it to Jesus, if we do it for Jesus, if we do it with Jesus....that's what makes us content."

Today I can bless others.

Today I can be the blessing.

I can be the gift.

 

Love! Love! Love!

Today, the actual day I am writing this, is February 1st, the beginning of what I consider the "month of love."

I love the month of February for several reasons:

it means winter is that much closer to ending
it's the month of my birthday

it's the month of Valentine's Day

 it's the month of hearts

and every one knows how much I love hearts!!

 

 

and it's the perfect month to express the love of Christ to others!

 

"For this is the message that you heard from the beginning, that we should love one another."

1 John 3:11

 

"...let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth."

1 John 3:18

 

When we think of Valentine's Day, obviously our first thoughts are of romantic love, the love between a man and a woman.  We think of couples, romance, candlelight dinners, flowers, chocolates, hearts, chocolate hearts, a romantic date, even sexy lingerie. 

This is the world's concept of love. 

Romantic love, within God's plan, is right and good.

 

But Scripture speaks to us of a greater love, a deeper love.  It speaks of the love of a Father who spared not His own Son to draw us onto Himself.

 

"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in him should not perish, but have everlasting life."

John 3:16

 

"Greather love has no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends."

John 15:13

  

Love, true Biblical love, as expressed by our Father, was born in His heart.  His love is pure, unconditional, uncondemning, always forgiving and not based on the whim of the human heart.  God's love is inclusive - leaves no one out regardless of marital status!

I still send Valentine cards!! Mostly, I send them to single women that I know who do not have that romantic love in their lives. I use the celebration of this day to express God's love to the hearts of those who may feel "left out" of the couples celebration that Valentine's Day is.

 

I Corinthians 13:4-8b says:

 

"Love is patient, love is kind.  It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.  It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.  Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.  It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.  Love never fails."

 

I fall so short of this definition of love.  I am not always patient.  I am not always kind.  I do get angry.  I don't always trust.  My love fails.  My love can be conditional.  My love has limits that I am not proud of. 

 

But God's love extended to me...extended to you....is perfect and never fails!

 

Oh, how thankful I am for the love of God!

 

"God is always good and I am always loved."

 

Share God's love with others during this "month of love."

 

 

A Blessing or A Lesson?

"We met for a reason, either you're a blessing or a lesson."

Frank Ocean

 

In 1975, the following poem appeared in the December issue of New Wine magazine.  It was written by Sylvia R. Evans.  A friend typed it out for me and I have carried it in my Bible ever since.

 

Drink Offering

 

Yes, Lord,

I said

That I would be

As wine poured forth

Upon Thine

Altar.

But I did not

anticipate

That pouring forth

Would be complete -

The emptying

Of the full cup.

 

Upon Thine altar -

What a place

For dregs to flow

And uncrushed grapes

To show so clearly

In the liquid life

I gave Thee there.

 

No effort that I made

Could gather up

The total life outpoured

And put it back into the cup.

You saw it, Lord

In all its imperfection,

Though I turned to run

From priests and

Sanctifiers.

 

I did not know

Their ministry of

Crushing grapes

Mistakenly

Poured out

Upon Your altar

Would crush me, too.

But they are Thine,

With task divine,

And Thine

is my NEW WINE.

 

My friend gave me this poem at a particularly difficult time in my life.  I had given my heart wholeheartedly to God and told Him to do what He needed to do to change me, to mold me into His image.  I had told Him I wanted to walk through the "narrow gate" and learn to "die to myself" so I could be used by Him in His purposes for my life.

 

I was too immature to understand what I was really asking of the Lord, but He knew what my heart truly needed and wanted and He began the strong work of sanctification in me.  Never did I realize God would use those I considered my closest friends.

 

God does send people into our lives to either be a blessing or a lesson and we need to embrace both when they come.  The greatest lessons we will learn is when we "rub up against one another."  That is the time God shows us what's truly and deepest in our hearts. 

"Iron sharpens iron; so a man sharpens the countenance of his friend."
Proverbs 27:17

And isn't this what we pray for?  For God to change our hearts.  These times come hard; we feel betrayed; we feel deeply hurt; and we even feel that God has forsaken us.  BUT, the work He does is deep and ever lasting.  The deliverance God wants to do comes with a cost.  And we need to be prepared to pay it.

 

I've learned over the years that when I am in a relational struggle with someone, I need to ask the Lord -

"Lord, what are you wanting to show me here?  What's in my heart that you are touching on right now?  Reveal it to me, Lord and do your best work." 

God is using the person (or people) that we struggle with as Sanctifiers in our lives.  He has a perfect plan and He uses all to fulfill those plans and for His glory!

 

When we bow to the Lord and cooperate and refuse to see the person as the problem, God can do mighty things in us.  But if we rail against the person, we, in effect, rail against the Lord and He can't accomplish in us what He desires.  And rest assured, you will go around that mountain again!!

 

I've also learned the hard way that God is not "for" me and "against" the other person, when I have a problem.  He is also not "against" me and "for" them.  No, in these situations, God is for God - to work in each heart to accomplish His will.

 

Our hearts need only to cooperate with His will and let him perform the "surgery" necessary and we will see the great and mighty things of the Lord accomplished right in our own heart!!

 

Is there someone in your life right now that is becoming a lesson?  Cooperate with God and you will see that person become the blessing!!

 

I am truly thankful for all God has done in my heart and for those He used in the process.  God taught me a lot in and through them.  That said, I am thankful I learned the first time around because I certainly don't want to circle that mountain again!!  :)

 

 

 

 



He Notices Me!

Do you ever feel very small and insignificant.  In the big scheme of things, do you often wonder if you really matter?

Sometimes, I feel that way.  I'm just a grain of sand on a whole beach full of sand, how could anyone ever "notice me?"

 

But Scripture tells us that God not only sees us, but that "the very hairs of your head are all numbered."   (Matthew 10:30) 

 

Can you imagine that?

Have you ever tried counting the hairs on your head?

 

Last month, I had a couple things happen to me that really caused me to see that not only does God notice me, but He cares for me and is always watching over me.

 

When the weather here in Vermont first starting turning cold, sometime in November, I felt like I wasn't getting much heat out of my car, but I really didn't give it a lot of thought.  Then I had to take a trip an hour and a half away and I noticed that it took a long time for my car to warm up, but when it finally did, the heat was so intense, it was about to drive me out of the car!  As the weather turned colder, I realized I was indeed not getting any heat.  I called my regular mechanic who told me I would have to take the car to the dealer.   Not knowing how much that would cost, I figured I would just wait until after Christmas.  A couple days later I happened to mention to a friend of mine that I didn't have any heat in my car.  She, in turn, mentioned it to her husband and he asked me about it the next time I saw him.  He checked my car and found that my radiator was almost empty.  He filled it and wonder of wonders, I had heat, wonderful heat!

But not only that, what could have happened to my car had this not been done would have cost me lots of heartache, inconvenience and money!!

 

This, to me, was a story of God noticing me, caring for me and sending someone to help me!!  I was so blessed by His care for me.

 

Not once, not twice, but three times during the Christmas holidays, I left the house with a candle burning - not on purpose, for sure - I just forgot to blow it out before I left.  One time I was gone almost 5 hours!!  I was absolutely overwhelmed at God's grace in taking care of me through my carelessness.  The devastation that could have happened I don't even want to think about.  Needless to say, I have not burned a candle since then.  I am not going to tempt God. 

 

 

But I am so grateful, more than words can say, of His care for me in both of these recent happenings.

 

These convince me that God is indeed "noticing me."

 

My name is engraved on the palms of His hand.

Isaiah 49:16

 

  My name is written in the Lamb's Book of Life.

Revelation 21:27

 

I am significant to Him.  He notices me!

He notices YOU, too!

 

 

What's Your Focus?

This sign hangs outside the door to my daughter's house -

 

You see, my daughter has 7 children, yes, you read that right - 7 children.  Their ages are - an almost 16-yr-old, 14 1/2, 13, an almost 12-yr-old, 10 1/2, and the twins are 8 1/2!!!  To say that her house is busy would be an understatement!!  They are really good kids, but based on sheer numbers alone, the house is pretty noisy at all times!!

 

When I took the picture of this sign, I thought to myself, there's a story in here somewhere.

 

When most people approach a home that is unfamiliar to them and they see a dog, they are a little apprehensive, not knowing what the dog is like.  But most people don't approach an unfamiliar home contemplating whether or not the children could be dangerous, right??!!

 

So, this sign is telling you that you don't have to worry about the dog (he's an Icelandic Sheep dog, by the way, and very friendly, wouldn't hurt a flea), but you'd better be cautious around the children!!!

 

 

I was thinking of this in terms of how we sometimes approach life, or a problem in life, like that.  We are very focused on a certain thing, never thinking that another thing should be the object of our focus.  We put our focus in the wrong place.  We worry about the wrong thing; we give all our time and energy to the wrong focus.

 

Example - a husband may be so focused on providing for his family, wanting to give them all they need and even some extras, that he ends up spending so much time and energy at work and has little left for his family.   He never sees that all they really need and want is his actual, physical presence with them!!

 

I remember when Phil was sick.  There was so much involved with his care when he came home from the hospital - I had to change his drainage bag, hook him up to the feeding tube and IV, give him shots, take his temperature, keep accurate records of all his stats, etc., so I was always on the move, doing "this and that" for him.  One day, as I was quickly passing by his chair on a mission, he gently grabbed my arm and said, "Look at me.  I love you, thank you for taking care of me.  Can I have a kiss?"  In that moment, I realized I was so focused on taking care of him, that I wasn't actually SEEing him.

 

Forget the tasks

Beware of what you're missing!!

 

Forget the future

Beware of what is here right now!!

 

We charge through life so focused on our "To Do" list, that we often don't even see the people we pass by every day, even and maybe especially, the members of our own family!!

  

 

Are you so afraid of what's going to happen tomorrow, that you don't see the missed opportunity of today?

 

My husband spent the last 5 years of his life worrying that he would be laid off from his job before he reached retirement age, and guess what, he didn't even live to reach retirement age!

 

Are you fearing you will be laid off from your job, when what you should be focusing on is doing your best in that job "as unto the Lord" and trusting Him with the rest.

  

"Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?  Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself.  Each day has enough trouble of its own."

Matthew 6:27, 34

 

Our focus needs to always be on the Lord.  Only He knows what the future holds.  Only He can take care of the cares of tomorrow.  Our focus needs to be in the here and now.

 

We need to be abiding in the Lord; constantly aware of His presence and His care for us.  Scripture also tells us that He cares for the sparrow, how much more will He take care of us!

 

"Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them.  Are you not much more valuable than they?"

Matthew 6:26

 

Our Father knows we need food and clothes and shelter, but He doesn't want us to lose perspective in our pursuit of these things.

 

"...your heavenly Father knows that you need them."

Matthew 6:32b

 

He tells us our focus shouldn't be on providing those things, instead -

 

"But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well."

Matthew 6:33

 

If you have time, read Matthew 6:25-34.  It points us to our true focus - the kingdom of God.  It speaks to us about TRUST - trusting Him for all those things we need in this life and yes, God often even blesses us with those things we desire as we seek to live for Him.

 

 

My Day With the Lord

"So here's what I want you to do, God helping you.  Take your everyday, ordinary life - your sleeping, eating, going-to-work and walking-around life - and place it before God as an offering.  Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him.  Don't become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking.  Instead, fix your attention on God.  You'll be changed from the inside out.  Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it.  Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to it's level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, (and) develops well-formed maturity in you."

Romans 12:1,2 (The Message Bible)

I love this version of this Scripture.  It is so practical!

"God helping you....." 
We don't and can't do this on our own strength.  "In Him we live and move and have our being."  All that we do, from the time our eyes open in the morning until they close at night, God is helping us!

"Your everyday, ordinary life......"
How many of us want to do great things for God?
How many of us just want to live our everyday, ordinary lives for God?
Scripture says if we are faithful in little, God will trust us in much.  Are you faithful in the little, everyday, ordinary, hum-drum things of life?

Do you curse at the guy who cuts you off in traffic?
Are you the one who does the "cutting?"
Are you Christ-like at the check-out line of your local supermarket or department store?
Are you faithful when no-one is looking?
Are you as kind and thoughtful to the "little" people as you are to the "big" people?
These everyday, ordinary moments are what reveal our character and typically produce our greatest challenges.  I know they do for me!

Sometimes it's easier to do the "great" thing for God than it is to walk out the everyday, ordinary.  Life can be boring, hard, full of trials and drudgery; it's hard to feel "special" when we are walking through those times.

"Your sleeping, your eating, your going-to-work and walking-around life..."
Oh, oh, it's getting personal now.
Do you need God's presence during the time you are sleeping?  Do you have trouble sleeping?  Do you experience nightmares, night sweats, sleep apnea?  Do you need God to help you fall asleep and stay asleep?  Do you long to wake up refreshed, ready to meet the day?

Do you have problems in the "eating" part of your day?  Do you struggle with this?  I certainly have.  Do you need to eat more, eat less, eat healthier?

Are you a loyal and faithful employee?  Does your boss get the time from you that he is supposed to?  Do you "work as unto the Lord?"  Do you bad-mouth your boss or other employees?  Are you around the "water cooler" when you should be at your desk?

Are you sick of picking up one more sock, one more piece of dirty clothing?  Do you find it difficult  planning and fixing one more meal?  Are you weary of the day-in, day-out sameness of your day?
Do you plan your day without taking God's desires into consideration?  Do you ask God to order your steps?  Do you seek His direction?

"Place it before God as an offering..."
Give Him your day; place it all before Him.  Seek His input.  Seek His direction.  Are you open to God changing your plans for the day or do you just "plunge" right in to "get it done?"

"Embracing what God does for you..."
Do you recognize that EVERYTHING that happens to you during your day is ordered by the Lord?  Do you embrace the bad as well as the good?  Do you see God's hand in all?  Do you thank God for His presence through it all?

"Well-adjusted to your culture..."
Are you well-adjusted to the culture of this world or are you well-adjusted to the culture of God's world?  Are you right in among the unbelievers discussing American Idol or Survivor?  If you are, are you able to view them as God does and offer another perspective in a loving and gentle manner?

"Fix your attention on God...."
Let God transform and renew your mind.  Spend time in the word to saturate your mind, so your thinking will become God's thinking.  You will begin to see things with God's perspective and not the world's.

"Changed from the inside-out...."
Unfortunately, people recognize outward change quicker than inward.  But as God renews your mind, you will be transformed inwardly and it will begin to show.  As you walk daily offering your life to God and then responding obediently to Him, people will notice that there IS something different about you.  Most of all, God will know there is something different about you!

"Readily recognize...."
Are you in tune enough with God that you are able to readily recognize what He wants from you and when?  In any given situation that you are faced with, can you hear His voice?  Are your reactions responses to Him?

"Quickly respond...."
Do you quickly respond or do you have to think about it?

"God brings the best out of you...."
"It is God who works in you to will and to do of His good pleasure."  God will continue to draw out of you what He wants to make you Christ-like. He is continually developing His character in you, maturing you so you can be an accurate representation of Him to this lost and dying world.

"Develops well-formed maturity..."
Maturity that shows foresight and forethought, wisdom and character, virtue; experiential knowledge as well as head knowledge.

Wow, this Scripture is rich, full and extremely thought-provoking.  Let God examine your heart in light of this Scripture today.

Lord, I fall short in so many ways, in the little things, the drudgery of every day.  Help me see your hand in everything today.  Help me see you in the moment and give thanks for your presence precisely in that moment.  Thank you for your grace!