It Really Is All About Love Part 1

By Eliza Joy Capps  

We have heard it a million times to the point that it has almost become cliche.  We say that it’s all about love and yet we still act as if a relationship with Jesus is about what we do and don’t do and as a result, the Church (capital C) is mostly either bored or burnt out.

“I never knew you.”  It is this simple phrase that God has used to pierce my heart again and again these past few weeks.  Jesus says it twice in the gospels.  The first time, He says it to those who claimed to prophesy in His name, to those who cast out demons in His name, and to those who performed signs and wonders in His name (Matthew 7).  He then says it again to those who claimed to eat and drink in His presence (Luke 13).  And His response is basically the same, “I never knew you;  Depart from me, you who practice lawlessness.”

I was caught off guard by the audacity of Jesus in His responses and my heart was stirred to want to be one who He knows.  The Bible says that God knows the number of hairs on our head so how could Jesus say, “I never knew you”.  There must be something going on under the surface.  It has to be all about love.  We know the passage, “Love is patient.  Love is kind…”  Yet the verses before it say that we can have faith to move a mountain and we can give everything away to the poor and we can even give our own bodies up unto death, and yet if we have not love, we are nothing.

Oh Lord, how then can we love You?  How high of a standard have You set for us?  I want to be one who really knows You and who doesn’t just know about You.  I want to be one who really loves You and who doesn’t just talk about loving You.  But how can we know You and love You if You don’t draw us to Yourself, first?  So my prayer is that You would reveal the depths of Your love for me today, that I would know Your love that passes understanding.

Part 2 

Hear, Learn, Follow

 

 

“Moses summoned all Israel and said: “Hear, O Israel, the decrees and laws I declare in your hearing today.  Learn them and be sure to follow them”Deuteronomy 5:1 (NIV)

Before we begin, I must confess that the concept for today’s post came from the notes in my study bible.  The notes broke down this passage into three important parts—Hearing, Learning, and Following God’s commands. 

We have already looked at the first and greatest commandment we have been given as Christians.  When asked which is the most important commandment, Jesus replies, “The most important one, is this:  ‘Hear O Israel, the Lord our God is one.  Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.” (Mark 12:29)

One of the main reasons for this blog is Jesus tells us that above all else, we are commanded to love the Lord wholeheartedly.   Of all the things Jesus could have said, His answer is simply, “Love my Father with everything you have—heart, soul, mind, and strength.”

Today’s verse can easily be applied to following this command:   

Hear—What is the commandment?  What are we called to??

Learn—Why is this important?  Why does Jesus command us to love the Lord wholeheartedly?   What is that supposed to look like?  How do we apply this to our lives?  What else does Jesus say about loving Him?

Follow—Walk it out.  Each day, willingly choose to walk in His commandments and say Lord, above all else, I long to love you with all of my heart, soul, mind, and strength!

Lord, thank you for who You are.  Thank you that You provide us guidance in how to follow and obey You.  Lord, you are so incredible—my heart can’t even begin to comprehend how wonderful You are.  Lord, I pray that I will have a heart that listens to You, learns more about You, and daily follows after You.  With all that I am, I long to love You!    

Inclined To Fear Him

 

“Oh, that their hearts would be inclined to fear me and keep all my commands always, so that it might go well with them and their children forever!”

Deuteronomy 5:29 (NIV)

I love this passage, because it is so expressive–once again we see an exclamation point–can’t you just picture the Lord speaking to Moses saying, “Oh, that their hearts would be inclined to fear me!” 

In Deuteronomy 5, Moses is reminding the Israelites of the covenant God made with them.  He reviews the ten commandments and how they responded–with fear, obedience, awe, and respect.  They were too afraid to get too close to God because they thought they would be consumed by the fire so they told Moses to, “Go near and listen to all that the Lord our God says.  Then tell us whatever the Lord our God tells you.  We will listen and obey.” (verse 27)

 In hearing their response the Lord replies, “Everything they said was good.  Oh, that their hearts would be inclined to fear me and keep all my commands always, so that it might go well with them and their children forever!”

God isn’t looking for hearts that obey and respect Him out of duty, obligation, or because it is required of us;  He is looking for hearts that willingly long to revere, obey, and love His name and His commandments.  He desires hearts that are inclined, because of our love for Him, to revere His holy name.  The more we seek to love Him, the more we continue to know Him; and as we grow in our knowledge and understanding of the Lord, our desire to regard His name above all else will surely follow.

Lord, you are my God!  You are so powerful–holy is your name in all the earth.  God, I pray that I will have a heart dedicated to falling in love with You.  Lord, I long to know you more.  As I continue to learn more of who you are, I pray that I will develop a heart that is inclined to fear You.  Lord, there is nothing more important to me than You!

  "¡Ojalá su *corazón esté siempre dispuesto a temerme y a cumplir todos mis mandamientos, para que a ellos y a sus hijos siempre les vaya bien!"

Father, Glorify Your Name!

 

 

“Now my heart is troubled and what shall I say? “Father, save me from this hour”?  No, it was for this very reason I came to this hour.  Father, glorify your name!”John 12:27 (NIV)

In case you didn’t know, I love exclamation points.  I think it gives a little more power and punch to whatever is being said, which is why I love that today’s verse doesn’t just say “Father, glorify your name.” Rather, it says, “Father, glorify your name!”
The exclamation brings about a cry and desperate prayer, and denotes excitement and passion.  Jesus is beginning to explain why he must die, and just like we saw on Wednesday, we see that his heart his troubled.  Even though he is the Son of God, he still has the human emotions.  He knows what he must do, but the human component of his heart still questions it.  We see his honesty.
Despite feeling overwhelmed and troubled, Jesus’ love and obedience for his Father outweighs his fear, anxiety, and sadness.  He knows why he has come and what He must do—Father, glorify your name!
In our lifetime, we will not experience the same burden of taking on the sin of the world, but we have still each been called to a distinct purpose.  We each have specific ways to bring glory to the Father.  At times we may want to fight it, or question what the Lord is doing, but just like Jesus, we must choose to rise into our purpose and enthusiastically exclaim, Father, glorify your name!
Lord, “here I am, I desire to do your will, your law is within my heart” (Psalm 40:8)  Lord, with all that I am, I desire to love you.  Out of my love for you, I pray that obedience will overflow from my heart; I pray that I will regard your glory above my own; and I pray that nothing will get in the way—fear, anxiety, suffering, stubbornness—of seeking your perfect plan. 

For His Glory

 

“My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I, too am working…I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does. For the Father loves the Son and shows him all he does… By myself I can do nothing…I seek not to please myself but him who sent me”
John 5:17,19-20,30 (NIV)

In the Christian faith, the Father and the Son go hand in hand. As a Christian, you can’t believe in one and not the other. No one comes to the Father except through Jesus (John 14:6). While on earth, Jesus sought to willingly and obediently accomplish the Father’s purposes. He didn’t come to seek his own glorification, or to accomplish his own agenda, but he came to serve and please his heavenly Father. None of the works he accomplished on earth could have been possible without his Father.

Ephesians 2:10 says “We are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” We don’t receive our salvation through works—it is through grace we have been saved. Rather, we are His creation, the work of His hand, and we have been called to good works.

We have been called into the family of God—we are His children. As His children, He is so worthy of our love, our obedience, and our desire to accomplish the works that He has prepared for us to do. By ourselves, we can do nothing, but with God, all things are possible. We should not be seeking after our own glory, but the glory of our heavenly Father. He alone is worthy!

Lord, thank you for sending your Son to walk the earth. When I look at the love and obedience Jesus had for you, I am even more encouraged to run after you. I pray that I will put my selfish desires aside, and seek to fully desire your will and your glory. I want to follow you, I want to accomplish your purposes, and I want to love you with all of my heart.

Not My Will, But Your Will

 

“Abba, Father,” he said, “everything is possible for you.  Take this cup from me.  Yet not what I will, but what you will.”
Mark 14:36 (NIV)

Towards the end of Jesus’ time on earth, Jesus, knowing what was about to happen, takes His disciples to the garden of Gethsemane to pray.  Leaving His friends behind to keep watch, He wants to pray to the Father because, “his soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death” (v 34)

Mark 14:36 provides a glimpse of the Father/Son relationship and the love relationship that Jesus had with His Father.  In this verse, we see:

•    Jesus cry out to His Father, acknowledging that God is the head and Jesus in His son.

•    Jesus declaring the power of the Lord by proclaiming, “everything is possible for you.”

•    Jesus pour out His heart and show his sorrow and suffering—Jesus knows what is about to happen—He is going to be betrayed by a friend that He trusted, and handed over to be crucified and bear the sin of the world.  His cup represents the burden that he bears—separation from God while He takes on the sin of the world to save us.

 •   Despite His raw emotions and suffering, knowing that God is His Father, and everything is possible through him, Jesus surrenders to the Lord’s perfect plan and says, even though it’s hard, even though I’m overwhelmed, “Not what I will, but what you will.”

One of the true ways we demonstrate our love for the Lord is through obedience.  Trusting in God’s plan even when it’s hard, overwhelming, hurtful, or doesn’t make sense.  Jesus knew that He was sent to earth to carry out His Father’s will, but I imagine at some point He must have thought, “Are you really sure I have to die for this?  Can’t we find another way?”  Yet, He loved His Father and knew why He had come—His Father was counting on Him, and the world needed Him—even though it was hard, He had to surrender to the Lord’s will and trust that the best was yet to come.

No matter what God is calling us into or out of, rest assured that God is always our Father, all thing are always possible through Him, we are always free to pour out our hearts to Him, and even though it’s hard, choosing to submit to God’s will and obey His plan will always bring about true fulfillment in Him.

Lord, I love you!  As I move through life, I pray that my cry will always be, “Not my will, but your will be done!”  Just like You are perfect, Your ways are perfect, loving, and just—teach me how to walk in you ways.  Lord, I long to delight in you.  I long to shower You with an obedient heart.  May I always trust and know that You are God, all things are possible, and You have a perfect plan for me.  May I willingly and joyfully submit and obey to Your plans.        

Learning To Trust His Plan

By Sallie Reeves
 

The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; His mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; GREAT is Your faithfulness. “The Lord is my portion,” says my soul, “therefore I will hope in Him.” The Lord is good to those who wait for Him, to the soul who seeks Him.

Lamentations 3:22-25

Over the past few months, I have been reading a wonderful book by Paula Rinehart called Better Than My Dreams. It has made me think about the expectations that I have been holding onto for my life. I realized that I have been living a life of expectation. I have turned simple hopes into expectations and demands. I have been trying to control my life. We have all wondered at times, “Lord, why are you not fulfilling the desires of my heart?”  

I have been praying for God to fulfill my agenda and have been upset with God when my inflated hopes have not come to fruition. But those hopes were my plan, not necessarily His plan. At times I have been so disappointed that I failed to open my eyes to see that God does have a plan for me but it requires me to put my life into His hands and fall into trusting Him everyday. 

He is the way, the truth, and the life. ( John 14:6) His love is new every morning. It is alive and powerful. He has labeled us as Christ owned forever and He will not lose faith in us. The Lord has a hold on our hearts and He will not let go. He loves us despite our faults. We can rest calmly in the palm of the Lord’s hand, trusting that His love is more than enough.

Lord, I have not trusted you or your plan for my life. I have been living a life of expectation. Awaken my spirit to the joy that you breath into my life and help me to see that your plans for my life are better than I can imagine. The challenges and obstacles that I face are part of your beautiful plan. May I feel your warm embrace and find complete satisfaction in your love. Great is your faithfulness!

First Things First

 

 

“Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed.”
Mark 2:35 (NIV)

We’ve all heard the popular phrase, “What would Jesus do?”  Admittedly, by the end of the “WWJD craze” I was a little over it, BUT it will always be great question to ask ourselves.  

Who better to imitate than our Savior—the one who came to earth to die so that we could be feed, forgiven, and eternally saved?

In striving to love the Lord more, Jesus is the heart that I want to be imitating and the example that I want to be following.  I love Mark 2:35 because it sets a great example rising to meet God in the morning and Jesus’ priorities of first and foremost resting in the presence of the Lord.

Before meeting with his disciples to get the game plan for the day, before calling Mary to tell her about all how healed people and cast out many demons the night before, the first thing He did in the morning was to rise and meet with the Lord.  He prayed and rested in the presence of His father, and then he went out again to preach, heal, and drive out demons.

On Friday we looked at the “life tasks” that can get in the way of spending time with the Lord, but in addition to that, we can also get so caught up in doing ministry, or involving ourselves in various ministries, that in the process, we forget the importance of resting in the presence of the Lord.  We move from church, to small group, to Bible study, to leading another bible study, to tutoring, and then organizing the potluck dinner, followed by arranging all the flowers, etc. Throughout this, we’re also reading four different bible study books for our various groups, and before you know it, we’re doing all of these great things for the family of God, but we forget the importance of knowing and loving the Father of the family.  It’s easy to get caught up in the busyness of life and miss the underlying reason of why these things are even important.

Jesus didn’t let His work distract Him from rising to meet and spend time with His heavenly Father.  In addition to fellowshipping with his disciples, first and foremost, he fellowshipped with the Lord, and after He rested in the presence of the Lord, then he went about the work that the Father had called him to.  

Lord, even though my life may tell a different story, You are the most important thing to me.  I pray that my heart will slow down and rest in You.  God, I want to know You more.  Before I get caught up in anything else, I want to be still in your presence and know that You are the Lord.  Rather than following after works, tasks, and doing things for you, fabove all else, I want to love You and I want to know You more.

Meet Me In The Morning

 

“In the morning, O Lord, you hear my voice; in the morning I lay my requests before you and wait in expectation”
Psalm 5:3 (NIV)

Do you ever wake up in the morning and consider your options—you could sleep in ten, twenty, thirty minutes; immediately turn on the TV; read the paper; check your e-mail; workout; order that JCrew dress that just went on sale; wash, dry, and curl your hair for that extra pizzazz; or spend time in prayer and worship before the Lord—these are usually the thoughts that race through my mind when I wake up.

Many times I feel like I have all the time in the world, yet I still find a way to fill up my morning without involving the Lord. Other times, I’m so desperate for the Lord that even if it’s five minutes, I have to pray through scripture, just so I can get through the day. Often I think my need and willingness to fit the Lord into my life is based on my circumstances—when I feel in control and everything is going okay, I don’t need to start my days off with the Lord, but when I’m stressed, anxious, and lonely, being with the Lord is the only thing I want.

If the Lord is truly all my heart desires, He should be my first and only priority when I pop out of bed. Each day, He is so quick to rise and meet us. Each morning, He is ready to shower us with His unfailing love and restore our souls. Our job is to wake up and cry out to Him. It’s not something we need to be legalistic about, and obviously the Lord is quick to meet us at all times—day and night, but there is something fresh and renewing in beginning my mornings with Him.

My prayer is that we will have hearts that continually long for more of the Lord, as opposed to a circumstantial longing. That we will be women who cry out to the Lord first thing in the morning saying, “You are my God, early in the morning will I rise to meet you!”

Lord, I pray that I won’t have a heart that is distracted by all the other things around me—I just want you. I pray that in the morning, you will be my first priority. Sometimes it is so easy for me to lose sight of You and how important it is to rest in Your presence. Thank you that you are so quick to meet me in the morning. I pray that my heart will continually long for more of You.

Freshly Renewed

 

 

“Satisfy us in the morning with your unfailing love, that we may sing for joy and be glad all our days.” Psalm 90:14 (NIV)

Last night I cam home around 9:00 pm feeling washed up and worn out from being a sister, a friend, an employee, and a follower of Christ. I felt dried up with nothing to offer and wondered, “Lord, how can I move forward when I am feeling so dry and so exhausted?”

Immediately my heart went to Psalm 90:14 when the Psalmist prays for God to satisfy him in the morning with His unfailing love. I may not always love the mornings initially, but each morning is fresh, renewing, and brand new. Similar to the Lord’s love for us—the steadfast love of the Lord never ceases and His mercies are new every morning. Great is His faithfulness! (Lamentations 3:23)

No matter what yesterday brought, or how dried up you feel, each new day is a new opportunity to say “Lord, here I am! I want to rest in your unfailing love and in return I want to choose joy, praise your holy name, love you wholeheartedly, and love your children. Not out of obligation, but because you satisfy and renew me, and morning by morning, your mercies awaken my soul. Would you show me what you have for me today?”

Original Love

By Meg Pittman
 
Recently God has been repeatedly speaking to me about the order in which His love flows. He is the infinite source from which all love comes, and to whom we must always be connected. We must be filled with His love before being able to love.

In my women’s Bible study on Saturday, my leader shared about 3 essential types of relationships. At all times we should have a leader/mentor who is a teacher and authority in our lives as we grow, a Barnabas-type friend who is a spiritual encouragement, and a Timothy-type disciple on whom we pour out God’s love and teaching. We should constantly be receiving, sharing and giving. There is a necessary balance- it is pointless to receive without then giving, and it is impossible to give without first receiving.

I read another bit of truth this morning in Isaiah 50:4 that reinforces the idea of God as the origin of love and teaching:
The Sovereign Lord has given me an instructed tongue, to know the word that sustains the weary.
He wakens me morning by morning, wakens my ear to listen like one being taught.
We usually read this devotional in the morning, and it is just one way in which God is pouring out His love and truth on us each day. It is impossible to truly love or instruct others without first receiving from the Lord. We are empty, dry and foolish without the outpouring of His Spirit in our lives. But, just as Isaiah explains, the Lord wakens, inspires and instructs for a reason. The words and love that the Lord gives aren’t just for our personal benefit, they are to be used in much bigger ways.

Good morning, O Rad Teacher! Thank you for opening my ears to your Word and each day giving me a deeper understanding of your ways. Help me to remain in You, the source of all that is good and true. God I thank you for the relationships you have blessed me with, and I pray that you would use my life to pour out love on the leaders, friends and disciples in my life. Use me to share your Word, use me to encourage the weary, use me to bring others to you. I love you.infinite

More Than Enough

 

 

O God, you are my God,
earnestly I seek you;
my soul thirsts for you,
my body longs for you,
in a dry and weary land
where there is no water. I have seen you in the sanctuary
and beheld your power and your glory.
Because your love is better than life,
my lips will glorify you.
I will praise you as long as I live,
and in your name I will lift up my hands.
My soul will be satisfied as with the richest of foods;
with singing lips my mouth will praise you.
On my bed I remember you;
I think of you through the watches of the night.
Because you are my help,
I sing in the shadow of your wings.
My soul clings to you;
your right hand upholds me.
Psalm 63:1-8 (NIV)

God—you’re my God! I can’t get enough of you!
   I’ve worked up such hunger and thirst for God,
      traveling across dry and weary deserts.
Psalm 63:1-2 (The Message)

This is one of my favorite Psalms to pray through—I love the longing and thirst for God and how we see David so earnestly and desperately cry out for the Living God.  “God—you’re my God!  I can’t get enough of you!”  After seeing the power and the glory of the Lord, David declares, “Because your love is better than life, my lips will glorify you.”

Why should we hunger, thirst, and long for God?  Because He is powerful, He satisfies, He quenches our thirst, He helps us, and He sustains us.  When we’re really experiencing the fullness of the Lord, we come to see that nothing in our lives is as sweet as the love of the Lord.

God—you’re my God!  I can’t get enough of You!  It is in Your love when I am really living—Your love is better than life.  How my heart longs for You!  You are everything that I need, and I pray that my heart will earnestly and faithfully desire nothing else but to love You.   

 

 

“Deep calls to deep in the roar of your waterfalls; all your waves and breakers have swept over me.” 

Psalm 42:7 (NIV)

 

One summer I did summer staff at a Young Life camp for a month and throughout that month we sang a song that goes,

All who are thirsty, all who are weak;

Come to the fountain, dip your heart in the stream of life;

Let the pain and the sorrow be washed away

In the waves of his mercy

As deep cries out to deep

We sing come Lord Jesus come

If you’ve heard it, you know what a beautiful song it is, but for most of the month, I had no idea what “deep crying out to deep” meant.  I finally asked someone and they told me it was the depths of your heart crying out to the depths of the Lord’s heart.  Months later, I found this verse in Psalm 42, “Deep calls to deep in the roar of your waterfalls; all your waves and breakers have swept over me.”

From the depths of my heart, I deeply desire more of the Lord.  I want to be swept away by His living water and saturated by His all-consuming presence.  I long for the deepest place of my heart to connect with the deepest place of His heart. 
 

Lord, from the deepest part of my heart, I long for more of You.  I long to be swept away by Your presence.  I long to know the deepest parts of Your heart.  I want to cry out for more of you every day—may I never have enough of You.  You are all my heart longs for and adores. With all that I am, may I love and glorify You forever and ever.

Continued Longing

 

“My soul yearns for you in the night; in the morning my spirit longs for you.”
Isaiah 26:9 (NIV)

Today, my prayer is that Isaiah 26:9 will be the cry of my heart.  I want to be a woman who longs for the Lord from the minute I wake up in the morning to the minute my head hits the pillow at night; even when I’m sleeping, I want my heart to long for more of the Lord.  

Praise God that He is more than able to satisfy our longings and quench our thirst, but I don’t ever want to be someone who thinks that I have experienced enough.  There is so much of God to discover and I never want to stop longing for more of Him.

Sometimes it’s so easy for me to think, “Okay, I said my prayers this morning and I read a short Bible verse, I think I’ve done my part for the day.”  Rather than incorporating the Lord into ten minutes of our day, we ought to have hearts that continually long for more of the Him—morning, noon, and night.   We should never stop desiring more of Him, because there is so much of the Lord to know and discover.   

Psalm 146:18 says, “The Lord is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth.  He fulfills the desires of those who fear him; he hears their cry and saves them.  The Lord watches over all who love him”  

Lord, I deeply desire more of You. Thank you for the way that You satisfy my heart. I pray that you would show me what it looks like to continually long for You.  There is so much of you to love and I pray that my heart will never stop crying our for more of You.  Lord, with all that I am, I long to love You.

Thirsty

 

 

“As the deer pants for the streams of water, so my soul pants for you, O God.  My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.”
Psalm 42:1-2 (NIV)

Yesterday I was running through my neighborhood, which I can assure you does not happen very often, and I became so thirsty (probably due to my lack of running) and all I could do was think about a tall, cold glass of water. As I continued to run, I started running faster, because I knew that the faster I made it home, the faster I could drink some water and I wouldn’t be satisfied until I had something to drink.

In the middle of all of this, the lyrics to the worship song “As the Deer” came into my head, “As the deer panteth for the water, so my soul longeth after You; You alone are my heart’s desire and I long to worship Thee.”  At that point, I felt the Lord speak to my heart and say, “This is how you should long and thirst for me.”

 I want to be a woman who hungers, thirsts, and longs for more of God.  I want to stop at nothing until He is the only thing fully satisfying me.  He is all that I need, and He is more than willing and able to satisfy the longings of my heart.  Just like we can’t live without water, we can’t fully live a satisfied life without the Lord.  Today, may He be all we long for!

Lord, you alone are my heart’s desire and I long for more of you.  Lord, you are all I need.  I pray that I will be a woman who hungers and thirsts for more of you.  Only you can quench the longing of my heart.  Thank you for the way you satisfy the desires of my heart! 
 

Abundant Life

 

 

“I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full” John 10:10 (NIV)

Exactly three months ago today, I sent an e-mail to a lot of you about our “love challenge”. Part of me can’t believe that we’ve made it this far, and a part of me can’t believe that we’re half way there.

Beyond six months, my prayer is that the foundation we’re building to love the Lord more each and every day, will have a lasting effect on our lives. I don’t know about you, but for me, without even trying, this prayer has become such an integral part of my daily prayer time. I continue to fall more in love with the Lord, but as I do, I see that I’m just scratching the surface—there is so much of God to love!

Jesus has come to give us fresh, abundant, full life in Him and as we grow to love Him more, we come to see more and more of His fullness. It’s like a dating relationship that just keeps getting better and better—there’s so much to discover and you never want it to end. The more you get to know the person, the deeper in love you fall…

In honor of our three-month anniversary, I thought it would be good to refocus with our original prayer:

Lord for six months, may I seek to learn what it means to love you. I want to love your word, your voice, your presence, your laws, your discipline, your power—I want to love and cherish every part of who you are. Lord, may I wait expectantly as you begin to transform my life by my willingness to wholeheartedly seek to love you with an unabandoned love.

Worthy Of The Calling

“I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received.  Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love.  Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace…Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice.  Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as Christ forgave you.”

Ephesians 4:1-3, 31-32 (NIV)

One thing that I really love about this passage is that it puts everything into context for me.  Sometimes I become so frustrated with lists of things that I’m not supposed to do—don’t gossip, don’t let the sun go down on your anger, don’t harbor unforgiveness; and while I acknowledge their importance, at times I feel so defeated and question why I even need to worry about this. 

Ephesians 4:1 is a great charge, “Live a life worthy of the calling you have received.”  This verse is such a great encouragement to me because I do fall short, I’m going to sin, and I will continue to struggle, particularly when it comes to unforgiveness, but this gives me something to strive for.  1 Peter 1:9 says, “But you are a chooses people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.

In Christ, we have received an incredible calling; we have been brought from darkness into light; we have been forgiven, saved, and freed from our sins; we belong to Him, and we are called to be His witnesses.  We have bigger things to focus on and strive for than to sit around and be angry with our brothers and sisters.  Rather than being crippled by my bitterness, anger, and unforgiveness, I long to be a woman who rises into the calling that I have received.  

  Lord, words can’t even begin to express how much I love you!  As much as I love you, I continue to pray for a heart that loves and forgives your children.  Thank you for the ways you are already transforming my heart.  I pray that I will live a life worthy of the calling that you have given me.  I pray that you will help me to bear with people in love, be kind and compassionate, and forgive freely in the same way that you have forgiven me.  Thank you for the incredible calling that I have in you!

The Planks In Our Eyes

“Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?  How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck our of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye?”
Matthew 7:3-4 (NIV)

I’ve never really liked this verse, because time and time again I find myself overwhelmingly convicted.  For me, it’s a difficult message to hear and something I’ve never really started to conquer.  I’m so quick in my heart to point out what others are doing wrong, but I can’t possibly have planks in my own eye, can I??  Why is it so much easier to point out other people’s faults, without first working through my own?

The more I learn and pray through unforgiveness, the more I see that I have such a long way to go, but as I continue to work through it, God is so faithful to come alongside me and shower me with His grace.  I love in James 4:6, right before yesterday’s verse he is talking about the struggle of quarreling and loving the world, and James says, “But he gives us more grace.”  Thank you Lord, for your grace!

Lord, I confess that I have a heart that is so quick to point out other people’s flaws, when I haven’t even begun to work through my own.  I confess that I struggle with letting go of people who I feel have wronged me, and resting fully in your arms.  I can’t do this without you and I thank you for the way you come alongside me.  Today, I pray Micah 6:8—I pray that I will be a woman who acts justly, loves mercy, and walks humbly with you, because I know this is what you require of me.