Meeting the opposition

Never let loyalty and kindness leave you! Tie them around your neck as a reminder. Write them deep within your heart. Then you will find favor with both God and people, and you will earn a good reputation. (Proverbs 3:3-4)

Loyalty and kindness are certainly not the things we see 'delivered' today in so many interactions with others, are they? We find a lot of backstabbing in politics, many rumors flying about the lives and choices of various celebs, and just plain bad manners on our highways and byways at times. Is it possible our culture has forgotten these two 'hallmarks' of "ONE NATION UNDER GOD"?

Write them deep within your heart. Perhaps this is where our departure from simple kindness and unyielding loyalty began - we neglected to hide God's word deep within our hearts. Favor with God took backseat to favor with others. Favor with others seems to only be important if they can 'do' something for us. We forgot that our neighbor is our friend, and our enemy needs our prayers.

Norman Thomas reminded us, "The secret of a good life is to have the right loyalties and hold them in the right scale of values." When we align ourselves with those who don't share the same values as we do, they can actually change the 'scale of values' we embrace. It is best to align with those who will elevate our scale of values, helping us to grow deeper in love with Jesus.

It may seem hard to be loyal to the truths of God at times. In fact, there is so much opposition to this type of loyalty, it can even make us frightened to stand up for our beliefs in the face of untruth and hurtful actions. God's desire is for a faithful few who will embrace this life of loyalty to him - a remnant of sorts - then take the outflow of that loyalty into the world. When our loyalty to Jesus meets the opposition of the world, that is where kindness is best exhibited. Just sayin!

Go and produce what lasts

"Treasure the love you receive above all. It will survive long after your good health has vanished."

(Og Mandino)

This is my commandment: Love each other in the same way I have loved you. There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. You are my friends if you do what I command. I no longer call you slaves, because a master doesn’t confide in his slaves. Now you are my friends, since I have told you everything the Father told me. You didn’t choose me. I chose you. I appointed you to go and produce lasting fruit, so that the Father will give you whatever you ask for, using my name. This is my command: Love each other. (John 15:12-17)

The same way Christ loved us - is it possible to love that much? I don't believe Jesus would have told us to do so if he wouldn't also empower us to love in such a manner. How does one actually lay down their life for another? Does it always require physical death? I don't believe Jesus would have told us to all die - he might want us to have the attitude of heart and mind that considers the other person's need as 'worthy' of being met, not just our own need. We have no issue with meeting our own needs, but when another expresses their need, do we always realize we could be instrumental in helping to meet it?

Whatever we ask for - could it be that Jesus wants us to take the needs of each other before him more than we take our own? I think Jesus wants us to look out for each other, knowing that some will not be able to bring their needs to him as well as we can. At times, we see the other's need better than they do, but if we don't 'lay down our life' to bring those needs before Jesus, what good does it to just 'see them'? Perhaps the greatest thing we could do for each other is lift one another in prayer each day - knowing there will be things that challenge our consistency, interfere with our willpower, and become too hard for us to handle alone.

When we have another so 'dedicated' to showing us the love of Christ, we should treasure that relationship. There are many who give 'lip service' to our needs, promising to pray for us, but those who put 'feet' to their prayers, coming alongside, lending a hand, and being the hands and feet of Christ to us are most valuable indeed. We are appointed to go and produce lasting fruit. I believe we do this whenever we bring the love of Christ into the relationship. Love lasts long after the action is done. Just sayin!

Live well

So don’t lose a minute in building on what you’ve been given, complementing your basic faith with good character, spiritual understanding, alert discipline, passionate patience, reverent wonder, warm friendliness, and generous love, each dimension fitting into and developing the others. (2 Peter 1:5-7)

Jesus has the power of God - so, if he indwells your spirit, don't lose one minute in allowing him to put that power to use within your life. Faith is good, but we need renewed thoughts, changed behavior, and a whole lot of 'umph' to get through the testing of that faith! We need his power - we have his power - but most of us still feel 'powerless' to live as we should. It is because we think we have to do all this 'changing' in our own power, not HIS.

Good character comes as we begin to allow his indwelling power and his word to bring conviction to any area of our 'character' that isn't upright. That conviction should turn us away from those things that muddy our character and point us toward those things that will build up the good character of one who is truly devoted to God. Spiritual understanding may not be immediate, but when we said 'yes' to Jesus, his Spirit came into our lives in order to bring us into more and more understanding of 'spiritual things'.

Many times, the 'failure' to develop 'good character' begins by allowing our focus to drift back to old ways of thinking and acting. Alert discipline is called for in this walk with Jesus. It is more than 'being on alert' for the enemy's attacks - it involves being open at all times to receive the 'teachable moment' within that circumstance we are facing. Patience may seem a little bit 'passive' to some, but in reality, there is a great deal of 'passion' behind our patience. We know Jesus is about to break down walls, remove past hurts, heal unhealthy emotions, and create a newness within us. We are eager to see it done but wait on his perfect timing with expectation and hope.

Love caps it all off - because God is love and his presence creates that love within us - the love that has no strings attached. We cannot love well until we have truly made the commitment to 'live well'. We only 'live well' when that living is guided and empowered by the Spirit of Christ that indwells us! Just sayin!

Joyful or Happy?

Think about what we have in Christ: the encouragement he has brought us, the comfort of his love, our sharing in his Spirit, and the mercy and kindness he has shown us. If you enjoy these blessings, then do what will make my joy complete: Agree with each other, and show your love for each other. Be united in your goals and in the way you think. (Philippians 2:1-2)

What is it we have 'in Christ' that we didn't have without him in our lives? For one thing, we have been given more than just forgiveness as we might think of it. When we forgive someone, do we forget the offense? No, there is a lingering remembrance. With God, there is no remembrance of the sin. When I was in grade school, the teacher would use the chalkboard all day, erasing with those black erasers. It left a tell-tale white residue on the board. At the end of the day, I enjoyed 'cleaning' the board with the soft 'shammy-like' eraser that removed all that residue and made the board look like new. I think of grace as God's 'shammy-like' eraser - removing not only the sin, but all the residue it leaves behind.

What are the enjoyments of grace? For one thing, we live with a clear conscience. We enjoy the privilege of walking away from sin, knowing we don't have to follow that path any longer. We also enjoy the power of Christ's protective covering over our lives, knowing we don't need to fear temptation, but can speak God's powerful name in the moment of temptation and receive all that is needed to avoid it. We enjoy each other's fellowship, drawing from one another's experiences in Christ. These aren't just 'meager blessings', my friends. They are tremendous blessings, undeserved and unrestricted. We should relish each one, thanking God often for them.

What are our goals once we come into Christ's love and grace? I think they might just lead us into a desire to live in harmony with each other, but how do we get from being selfish, self-centered individuals to the place where we actually desire to live in unity, learning from each other, and uplifting one another? We lay down our 'agendas' for the way things have to be in order for us to be 'happy' and focus on the tremendous joy of living in grace. Happy people aren't happy for long - simply because their happiness was based upon a moment, a certain person's treatment of them, or some 'fulfilling' experience. Joyful people find contentment in being sustained in the hard times, while enjoying the elation of the better times. How? In Christ all things are a blessing - hard stuff and easy stuff alike. Just sayin!

Is this how it was intended to be?

 Love cures people - both the ones who give it and the ones who receive it. (Karl A. Menninger)

I give you a new command: Love each other. You must love each other just as I loved you. All people will know that you are my followers if you love each other. (John 13:34-35)

Some in this world crave love because they really haven't seen much love modeled in their lives - rejected, alone in most of their actions, drifting kind of aimlessly from one relationship to another, just hoping they will find 'whatever' it is they crave. Love isn't learned from the textbooks - it is modeled behavior. We can absolutely KNOW God loves us because he sent his son to 'model' the behaviors of love. His love has been in action since he created heaven and earth, but if we ever doubted his love, we only need to look to the actions of Jesus on our behalf, the actions of his Father in sending him to earth, and then the actions of the Father pronouncing sin's penalty has been paid once and for all through Jesus.

Love has a curative effect - it envelops us in its actions and surrounds us with its gentleness. Is love always gentle, though? I never thought it was when my parents would discipline me for some misguided action on my part - until I was the parent and had to take similar actions in the lives of my two children. It was then that I realized love isn't always 'gentle' as some may think of gentleness - but it is directive, protective, and restorative! Love gives what one needs, not always what one deserves. This is indeed good news, isn't it? We need God's gentle love, but there are times we need his discipline in our lives in order to bring correction. Both are God's love expressed, with one being a whole lot easier to accept than the other!

Love isn't ethereal - it is practical and is often seen in the actions of another. We would find it hard to believe someone who said they loved us and then saw no actions that revealed that love, wouldn't we? We are the kind of people who need 'proof' that what is said is meant. Isn't God good to give us that 'proof' in his Son? We might think we don't need his love, but there is no basis for real love apart from God initiating the actions of love within us. We might have 'fond feelings' or 'good vibes', but we don't really experience love as God intends it to be experienced until we experience his love. Just sayin!

Persist IN

Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance. 

(I Corinthians 13:7)

I don't know who needs this today, but the words that popped in this passage today were 'love never gives up'. There are times when all we want to do is throw in the towel and just call it quits. It could be in a relationship, a job, some adventure you got yourself into, or even a dream that you have always wanted to see fulfilled. Love never gives up - never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures - regardless of the circumstances, our lack of whatever it is we need at the moment, or how hard the pressure seems to be 'in the middle of the muddle' we call life.

Does that mean whenever we want to give up, we need more love in our lives? No, it just means we turn to the one who loves us beyond our understanding of his love. We turn to Jesus and ask him for whatever it is we need at the moment - to continue with purpose, power, and persistence. If God has called you there, he will take you through it until you see his hand in it. If he has placed you there, he will clothe you in his grace to get beyond the present discouragement you feel. If he is drawing you there, it is because he is already there to meet with you.

Be faithful IN the circumstances. Be hopeful FOR the moments to bring greater things. Be consistent and see what God will do THROUGH the circumstances you find yourself in. The truth is that we all doubt when times get a bit harder than we imagined they could be, but we don't have to put our faith in our doubt! We need to take our doubt to God and ask him to change our outlook. In other words, we are asking him to change our perspective so we 'see outside' the circumstances. When we do this, we begin to see Jesus, not the 'hardness' of the moment.

Life doesn't always deal us a 'good hand', but when we press into his love and allow his love to envelop us with his peace and endow us with his power, we will have whatever we need to persist even in the worst of circumstances. Just sayin!

Treasure Seekers

"Treasure your relationships, not your possessions." (Anthony J. D'Angelo) There are all kinds of treasures we 'seek', 'find', and 'maintain' in life, but the greatest treasure is that of relationship - first with God and then with others. We can never neglect the importance of each of these, for our very sanity and safety depend upon them!

Who may climb the mountain of the Lord? Who may stand in his holy place? Only those whose hands and hearts are pure, who do not worship idols and never tell lies. They will receive the Lord’s blessing and have a right relationship with God their savior. Such people may seek you and worship in your presence. (Psalm 24:3-6)

Relationship with God actually brings us to a place in our lives where we are made 'right' in our daily walk. In other words, we have our sins erased, minds renewed, hearts made pure, and spirit energized by him. As a result, we are free to relate to one another in a way unlike any way we relate to each other apart from this renewed heart. All relationship that is devoid of God putting a life right with him is rather self-centered. Those with him at the center find their relationships with others richer and more meaningful.

We might assume we can 'get along' without Christ in control of our lives, but there is nothing that brings us closer together than Christ's love at the center of their lives. There is a drawing effect of Christ's grace in our lives that brings each of us into union with each other. A union that would otherwise be impossible when selfish ambition and misguided trust were at the helm in our lives. 

What do you treasure? Who is it you treasure most? When do you reveal what it is you treasure? Do you trust God to show you the way to love one another? These are questions we must ponder if we are to fully understand the depth and breadth of grace's work within our lives. Our 'treasure' begins to shift from what we can get to what we can give. We begin to treasure people above stuff. We find our 'focus' is not so much 'what's in it for me' any longer. We find 'anchor' in Christ, and we are secure in his love.

The more we treasure grace, the less we think about sin. The more we treasure God's love, the less we think about ourselves. The more we treasure each other, the more we fulfill God's plan for his children. Just sayin!

Tap into this

Those who love money will never have enough. How meaningless to think that wealth brings true happiness! The more you have, the more people come to help you spend it. So what good is wealth—except perhaps to watch it slip through your fingers! (Ecclesiastes 5:10-11)

I don't think there is anyone who wants to look back on their life only to realize the majority of the activity they performed was merely to 'make money'. The average wage-earner in the United States holds about 12 jobs in their lifetime, spending about 4.5 years per job, meaning we work about fifty years or so. If all that work is without any rest, the body, mind, and soul of a man is taxed by the end! Too much rest makes for a different outcome - we might even be labeled as a little 'lazy' and 'foolish'. The balance comes somewhere in the middle, but it should never be to the detriment of our relationships - including our relationship with God!

True happiness is kind of an elusive thing for many. We somehow equate 'happiness' with some state of 'being' that we work hard to attain, but seldom find. It is much better to put oneself in the place of finding peace and forgiveness in relationship with God than it is in finding wealth and privilege in this world. Wealth won't open heaven's doors. Privilege gained in this world won't give us 'heavenly status'. If we want true 'wealth' and 'heavenly status', we find it in an intimate relationship with Jesus.

If the principle of 'the more you have, the more others will find ways to use it for you' holds true, I wonder if the more grace and peace we have works the same way? If we are filled with grace, will others tap into it, realizing they both need and desire some of what we have? If we are overflowing with love, will others draw from the recesses of that love and find their lives are transformed as a result? Maybe the 'wealth' we need is more of Jesus - so when others come looking for what it is we have, they find the best resources they can 'tap into'! Just sayin!

Your mission...should you choose to accept it

Keep on loving each other as brothers and sisters. Don’t forget to show hospitality to strangers, for some who have done this have entertained angels without realizing it! Remember those in prison, as if you were there yourself. Remember also those being mistreated, as if you felt their pain in your own bodies. (Hebrews 13:1-3)

Keep on...the call for the new year. It is not a time to sit back and just watch...it is a time to rise up and take action. Love each other...as brothers and sisters. No family is perfect. No relationship is always without stress or strain. We must work at loving one another as Christ loves us.

Three missions for the new year: 

Show hospitality to strangers. Give comfort, provide meals, present gifts, and lend them help. The Latin word “hospes” means “visitor”, so we are to look after and care for them. How can we make someone's life a little more comfortable? What act can we perform that will minister to their need?

Remember the prisoner. This doesn't always mean we visit or write to people in prison. It could be that we help their families as they go through the terrible experience of separation and loneliness. We may be their only friend at the moment, sober a great friend. We might become aware of a need to help clothe their child for the upcoming school cycle, or get those much needed repairs done on a rickety old car. Meet the need in both a practical and emotional way.

Don't overlook those who are being mistreated. No one likes to be treated cruelly or with unfairness. How can we be the balance they need in a world that so quickly judges them and rejects them because of their looks, economic status, or some other silly thing? The bully will always seek to mistreat the one they believe to be weak, so become the one who bolsters the strength of the one who is singled out for any type of mistreatment.

Keep on loving each other as Christ loves you. Their is no time like the present to begin to fulfill your mission. Your mission is clear, but will you accept it? Just asking...

A tended ember glows brightly

For love is as strong as death, its jealousy as enduring as the grave. Love flashes like fire, the brightest kind of flame. Many waters cannot quench love, nor can rivers drown it. (Song of Solomon 8:6-7)

"Love has no age, no limit; and no death." (John Galsworthy) When I was in Bible College, one of the professors asked us to take time to write down some ideas about what we believed love to be - actions of love, thoughts it evoked, and even the emotions it evoked. It was a pretty interesting lesson as all of us 'scholarly' students put forth our best effort to come up with the 'best' definition of love. As we shared our ideas in the classroom that day, I recall how each of us came up with some of the same 'pat answers', while others had gone much deeper, their answers revealing just how much they understood the depth and breadth of love. Love is a very 'strong' emotion that evokes even stronger actions. It was apparent to me that I had only touched the surface of understanding and exhibiting love. 

Love is as strong as death - enduring beyond the absence we say makes the heart yearn for it time and time again. It comes in starts and fits, lingers a bit at times, making us feel very special, and then we find we must move on a bit in our relationship in order to find new ways to explore its depths. No greater love than this - isn't that what God said about his son? No greater love than that a man lay down his life for another - ponder the determination and depth of commitment required for that one. It is indeed true - love endures when we don't think it will survive, grows when it seems like there is nothing but dryness all around, and it lingers long after the grave has called a loved one home.

Love is the brightest kind of flame. If you have ever looked at a flame closely, you see it flickers - kind of growing at times, then becoming a bit smaller at others. Human love is kind of like that flame - it grows, giving off a warm glow, then it ebbs a bit, requiring something to rejuvenate its glow once again. As we know, oxygen fuels the flame at the end of the candle - take it away and the flame will no longer burn. As the flame flickers and goes out, there is that tiny ember you can see glowing deep within the place where that flame had once been. That ember can be fanned again - bringing forth light once more. Just as human love needs a lot of 'tending', God's love needs a lot of 'rekindling' within our hearts because we have a tendency to ignore the flame until it nothing more than an ember. 

When we realize God's love no limit and no death, we also understand the 'embers' of his love will always be ready to be reignited when there is attention given to 'tending' that flame once again. Some of us need to 'tend the flame' a bit in our relationship with others and probably even within our relationship with God. God's love is a bright flame that can never go out, but sometimes the ember needs a bit of 'tending' in order for us to experience that brightness once again. Just sayin!

We've got the map

Love is kind and patient, never jealous, boastful, proud, or rude. Love isn’t selfish or quick tempered. It doesn’t keep a record of wrongs that others do. Love rejoices in the truth, but not in evil. Love is always supportive, loyal, hopeful, and trusting. Love never fails! (I Corinthians 13:4-8)

How well are we revealing God's love to those we live with and serve on a daily basis?  After all, there is no specific 'day' to focus on these character traits - it is just expected every single day of our lives!  For most of us, this thing called "love" is like one of those "match games" you see online these days where you have to align the right sequence of candies or jewels.  There are little hidden bears or objects behind those colorful squares - waiting to be uncovered - reliant upon your skill and reasoning.  If the hidden is to be uncovered, you must be very, very "calculated" in your moves.  Sometimes I think we approach loving each other in this same way - we make "calculated moves" hoping we will reveal what we are looking for, but making many a move which doesn't prove to uncover what it is we were imagining was underneath.  Yep, love requires some "skill", but it isn't as "calculated" as some may think! To truly understand love, we have to turn to the one who exemplified love in the first place - Christ Jesus himself.  

Love isn't so much about the "calculated risks" we take, but about the person we allow to shine through us as we respond to the movement around us.  In life, we move one way, but we don't always control what comes back our way. This is where we need the ability to be loving like we see repeatedly in examining the life of Christ.  He was consistently kind and patient - even when ridiculed, spat upon, and nailed to the cross.  He was not jealous of those who had more than he did, lived in better houses than his, or even had a bigger "church" than his!  He didn't get all uppity when he knew the answers to the problems at hand.  He also didn't push his way through or over others to get noticed.  

I don't want us to think love is just something which we just "happen" to get right on occasion. - Yep - there are some calculated risks we take - when we go out on the line for something we believe in or someone we care about.  Yep - there are some hidden things in relationship that give us challenge after challenge to attempt to uncover.  Yep - there are times when we will get to the point of thinking we will never get past the place where we find ourselves today.  But...we can take a lesson from the one who has taken the risks, is able to uncover the hidden, and who knows the way out of the difficult places.  Christ comes alongside to show us the way to love each other. He has already walked through everything we are facing today. How is it Christ can help us with this thing called "love" - he has already lived it out for us and left us a road map to follow in his Word!  Just sayin!

Let love be the force

Love is the only force capable of transforming an enemy into a friend. (Martin Luther King, Jr)

“You have heard the law that says, ‘Love your neighbor’ and hate your enemy. But I say, love your enemies! Pray for those who persecute you!" (Matthew 5:43-44)

Probably one of the toughest things we encounter is the desire to actually 'be nice' or 'do nice things' toward our enemies. Why is that so hard for us? We feel wronged, leading us to feel a little bit like we aren't important to that other person, or that we deserved better. We want to let them know how much they have hurt us - how much their 'negative impact' has left us feeling like we were 'less than' or 'didn't matter' in their eyes - at least from the way we took their actions to mean. Jesus reminds those of us who have said 'yes' to him that it is responsibility to not only love our 'nice neighbors' or the 'friends we actually like', but to love our ENEMIES and then pray for those who 'persecute us'. 

The 'Enemy-to-Friend' pathway that King described isn't going to be easy - it might even come with some sacrifices on our part that we didn't think we had to make! Whenever someone is pursuing us with any form of harassing or 'oppressive' treatment, we most likely don't feel like we would ever want to pray for them. Their actions have been hurtful, and we would rather avoid them than ever encounter them again. We can spend our entire lives 'running away' from hurtful people, but will it ever do us much good? Not likely, for hurtful people will always be there - we have to learn how Jesus wants us to deal with their hurt. If I read this correctly, he wants us to take those hurts to him in prayer, releasing the individual and their actions toward us into his hands. Then we love them back.

It is that 'loving them back' part that is hardest, because our natural response might just be to strike back. Do we have to respond back with hurtful words? No, we can use words of grace. How do we learn the words of grace God would want us to speak? I think it comes as we pray for them, but especially when we lean into the inward prompting of the Holy Spirit in the moment. Our nature will want to rise up, but God's presence within us will tell us to settle into his peace and then allow his peace to shine through. It won't be the easiest path to take when retaliation is our immediate desire, but when we ask God to help, he will show us how to manifest grace. Remember, grace is never deserved - but it is can always be given. Just sayin!

Not another opinion!

Finally, all of you should be of one mind. Sympathize with each other. Love each other as brothers and sisters. Be tenderhearted, and keep a humble attitude.(I Peter 3:8)

One mind is hard to get your mind wrapped around, isn't it? We all have an opinion, and some may come close to what yours is, but does it match perfectly? Not always. In fact, there are more opinions in this world than there is truth! What does it mean to sympathize with each other? I believe we need to see things through each other's eyes in order for us to 'come into one mind'. It is never going to happen that we see things perfectly as the other person does, but we can come into a place where we don't compromise truth and that is when we become of one mind.

The outcome of being united in truth is that love flows freely - there is an outpouring of the grace and goodness God has given us. I have one brother and sister, but I have 'many' in the family of God that are my brothers and sisters. Truth should never be compromised, but if we don't keep it ever before us, we can allow the things of this world to counteract any opinion that we hold. We need to study truth, allowing it to influence our every thought, countering every held opinion that doesn't align with the Word of God. When we do, we enter into 'community' and 'family'.

As we begin to relate within community, we also begin to see our attitudes toward things changes - but only to the degree we embrace truth and allow it to influence our hearts. The heart is influenced by the thoughts we mull over time and time again. Isn't it a good thing to 'mull over' scripture - allowing truth to invade each and every aspect of our heart? Tenderhearted people aren't born that way - they allow the Word of God to influence them over and over again until the hardness of heart no longer exists. When opinion becomes less and less important, we will find it easier to resist the tendency to be prideful.

We might find it easier to 'get along' with our family if we let go of some of the long held opinions that are contrary to the Word of God. Just sayin!

Bonded to one another

So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other. Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples.” (John 12:34-35)

Can you imagine if some of the Pharisee leaders had of overheard this conversation between Jesus and his disciples that night? "A new commandment I am giving you" would have sent their heads spinning! They would have debated the credibility of Jesus and then demanded to know who he was to 'give a new commandment' - because only God could give those! Hmmm...only God could give those...maybe Jesus was really showing his disciples that he and his Father were one - that he was 'really' God with a bod. 

The new commandment was not really all that new, but it emphasized a 'new work' Jesus expected from his disciples. They were to 'prove to the world' their faith - through love. In prior times, you 'proved' your faith through 'religious works' such as sacrifices upon the altar, keeping yourself 'ceremonially clean', and following all the rules inherent in the Law of Moses. Jesus is telling them there would be a 'new way' of doing daily life - love being at the core of all they would do. 

Just as I have loved you - nothing is better than having an example of 'how' we are supposed to do something. When I get those little illustrated booklets in some piece of furniture I am supposed to assemble, I am grateful for the illustrations because they help me make sense of the assembly. Jesus gave repeated illustrations of his love while on this earth. He embraced the unlovely, hung out with those society considered to be outcasts, and welcomed the faint of heart. Love does things differently than one might expect, huh?

Love begins at home - isn't that what Jesus meant when he told them to love each other? Begin with those closest to you - laborers in the daily journey we call life. Then allow that love to flow out of that bond with each other - so others begin to experience the love of God in their own lives. We ALL learn best when there is an example. Jesus wasn't telling them to make a show of their love, but to live 'bonded' to each other, solid in their beliefs, and united in their mission. When we live like that, there is no stopping this Jesus Revolution within! Just sayin!

A heaping helping, please

 Have you ever said of one thing only to act an entirely different way when push came to shove?  We pledge to do one thing, but we do another.  It is just human nature to "preserve" ourself when the times get a little tougher to deal with than we first imagined them to be.  When it comes to loving another individual, we want to save face, come out on top, and not be "found out" for the cowards we really are. When it comes to loving another individual, we are pretty cowardly at times - not willing to face danger, difficulty, opposition, or pain within the relationship.  Face it - relationships can get pretty messy!  When it comes to facing them without fear, we don't do a very good job with this unless we rely upon Jesus within us to actually help us love with the intensity of love he shows us.  We become pretty timid and often are intimidated by the "confines" of love.  Love is truly "messy" business, but it is the "business" we are to excel at!

God stays one with everyone who openly says that Jesus is the Son of God. That’s how we stay one with God and are sure that God loves us. God is love. If we keep on loving others, we will stay one in our hearts with God, and he will stay one with us. If we truly love others and live as Christ did in this world, we won’t be worried about the day of judgment. A real love for others will chase those worries away. The thought of being punished is what makes us afraid. It shows that we have not really learned to love. We love because God loved us first. But if we say we love God and don’t love each other, we are liars. We cannot see God. So how can we love God, if we don’t love the people we can see? The commandment that God has given us is: “Love God and love each other!”  (I John 4:15-21 CEV)

Love begins with God and it ends where it started - with God!  As we ask Jesus to come into our lives, filling us with his intense and unconditional love, we receive "true" love for the very first time.  In serving Christ each day, we are allowing this love to bring us closer to God - experiencing afresh each day the intensity and depth of Christ's love for us.  No one is as close to God's heart as those who serve one another in the love Christ brings to bloom within their heart!  As a matter of fact, it is this service of love which keeps us close to God's heart - keeps our relationship vital, builds strength within it, and draws us closer into intimate fellowship with him.

If we have experienced this "messy" job of loving another individual, we know just how hard it can be to serve when that service seems to be one-sided, or to forgive when forgiveness seems to be demanded over and over again.  Love is not for cowards!  Falling in love with Jesus is not for cowards!  Serving others in the love of Christ is indeed not for cowards!  In fact, there isn't a kind of love worth pursuing which is for cowards - other than this thing we call "eros" love.  That is a Greek term used to describe the self-gratifying love we all possess an affinity toward just because we are human. Eros love is focused on what is in something for "me".  We don't do it, dream it, or move toward it if there isn't anything in it for "me".  Indeed, this type of love doesn't require a whole lot of courage, just the natural instinct to satisfy every craving our minds might conceive!

Two other types of love are spoken of in scripture:  Phileo and Agape, but there is a third type we experience - Storge.  Phileo love is commonly referred to as brotherly love - the type of love we enter into because we are drawn toward someone with common interests.  With Phileo love, we focus on what we have in common and share in personality traits - as when two people are best friends. Storge love is what we might call "family love" - it is based on sharing the same "genes" with another.  Somehow, just because we are "in family" with others, this type of love happens.  Moms take care of babies, babies bond with moms, siblings bond with siblings, etc.  It is just part of human nature to bond in some type of relationship - especially when it is with those we have so much in common with.

Agape love is the one love used to describe God's intensity of love.  It is more than a "natural draw" to another - it is based upon the grace of God and his intense desire to commune with his kids.  Of all the types of love, this is the one which is not natural.  It is something which comes only as Christ inhabits our hearts - it is only possible when one is in relationship with him.  It is this type of love spoken of here, the type of love which chases all worries away. It is the love which binds us together with those outside of our "natural family" and allows us to serve those who may be a little less than lovable themselves! This is the type of love we are to desire above all - and the type of love we are to have govern our thoughts, intentions, and actions.

God places us within love relationships here on this earth, not so much because we need them, but because we cannot learn to love God as he loves us until we are serving another out of the love he places within our hearts. We need another to reveal the intensity of love God has for us, just as much as they need to see and experience this same love from us. It is only as we serve one another that we finally connect with the heart of God. I don't know where you will serve today, or who you will touch, but every action today is a means of serving a heaping helping of God's love upon someone's life!  Just sayin!

God's plan is you

Mother Teresa reminds us, "If you can't feed a hundred people, then feed just one." Who is your 'one'? You might not realize it, but that 'one' could be sitting right next to you today. When our hearts are open to hear what God wants us to hear and see what he wants us to see, we might just realize there are more 'needs' unmet in that person's life than there are met. Could we be the one to meet even one of those needs? If we are willing to put our own life on hold for just a moment or two, I believe we can become the hands and feet of Christ in a world that is hurting, lost, and oftentimes feeling like the battle has left them our on their own. 

Does your life in Christ give you strength? Does his love comfort you? Do we share together in the spirit? Do you have mercy and kindness? If so, make me very happy by having the same thoughts, sharing the same love, and having one mind and purpose. When you do things, do not let selfishness or pride be your guide. Instead, be humble and give more honor to others than to yourselves. Do not be interested only in your own life, but be interested in the lives of others. (Philippians 2:1-4)

How can we develop this 'interest in the lives of others' that Paul is speaking of in this passage? I think it begins by us asking God to make us 'open' to really seeing and hearing each other - not through our own senses as much as through his eyes and ears. As we begin to fall into step with what it is he prompts us to do, we'll see lives changed. Meeting the needs of another may be as simple as that good morning hug, or a shared cup of coffee. It doesn't have to be a huge investment of our time, finances, or talents - it just has to be an obedient response to God's promptings.

We almost always 'hold back' some part of ourselves when around others - it is kind of like a protective mechanism for us. We don't want to be entirely vulnerable with everyone else, so we reserve part of ourselves in order to avoid getting hurt. If we realize this about others, we might just begin to look beyond the surface a bit by observing what it is they aren't really saying. Have you ever been around someone who uses a lot of sarcasm? They could be masking some pretty low feelings about themselves by doing so. Build them up and see how they respond. If they pull away immediately, their need may be to have someone love them for who they really are. God's plan may just be to use you to love them right into the safety and security of his arms. Just sayin!

Incremental Changes Expected

The love of Christ controls us, because we know that One died for all, so all have died. Christ died for all so that those who live would not continue to live for themselves. He died for them and was raised from the dead so that they would live for him. (2 Corinthians 5:14-15)

The love of Christ is supposed to compel us to live right - to make good choices and respond well to life's challenges. The truth about how most of us live is somewhere between that point and doing things on our own without much thought as to what Christ would want or do. We aren't living quite as close to sin's pull as we once were, but we haven't quite figured out how to get to the point where we are consistently seeking Christ's best for our lives. Don't be down on yourself - you are not alone in this struggle! You have many a traveling companion on that journey!

Christ asks for us to lean into his love, but do we know what that really looks like? I think it means that we see incremental changes in our lives that all add up to us living a little bit less for ourselves and living for him - pursuing his purposes, seeing the needs of others and working to meet them. Hopes and dreams may change a little as we begin to see these changes happening within us. Why? There will be some that don't really matter anymore, others will be clarified a little, and new ones will begin to be formed within us. Priorities will change, almost imperceptibly at first. Before you even realize it, you are making different choices, listening more to hear his voice, and responding out of a 'different place' in your life. That place? His heart beating within you.

Don't underestimate the changes occurring within your heart, mind, and soul. They are there, even though they may not be easily perceived on the surface. Christ's first mission is to get us comfortable with his love - that limitless grace he gives, his unending power displayed on our behalf, and that sense of freedom that lifts the weight of sin off our shoulders. Slowly, but surely, he leads us into new places of joy, peace, and security until one day we are living a new life completely - a life of grace and love. Just sayin!

A reminder from Shakespeare

William Shakespeare admonished us to, "Love all, trust a few, do wrong to none." These are more than just good words of advice. Take them apart and you might just see a few principles you'd like to live by. Love all - isn't this what Jesus said when he reminded us to, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’"? (Matthew 22:37-39)

Trust a few - scripture reminds us not to trust a fool, but always to trust God. Remember: "A good tree can’t produce bad fruit, and a bad tree can’t produce good fruit. A tree is identified by its fruit. Figs are never gathered from thornbushes, and grapes are not picked from bramble bushes. A good person produces good things from the treasury of a good heart, and an evil person produces evil things from the treasury of an evil heart. What you say flows from what is in your heart." (Luke 6:43-45)

Do wrong to none - this is probably one of the most controversial things Shakespeare could have challenged us with, right? We 'get' how we are to love one another, and even how we are to trust those who reveal themselves as trustworthy but getting to the place that we actually 'do wrong to no one' is hard, especially when we have been wronged. Doesn't scripture remind us, "Dear friends, never take revenge. Leave that to the righteous anger of God. For the Scriptures say, “I will take revenge; I will pay them back,” says the Lord." (Romans 12:19)

Shakespeare may have found three of the hardest things for us to accomplish in life - being a kind and loving person to all we encounter, be wise in our placement of trust, and not returning a wrong with another wrong. If he could challenge us with these 'life actions', how much more do you think God will challenge us? Just askin!

More than an icon

Dear friends, since God loved us that much, we surely ought to love each other. No one has ever seen God. But if we love each other, God lives in us, and his love is brought to full expression in us. (I John 4:11-12)

We all desire to 'see' God in some form, don't we? Since the beginning of time, mankind has tried to 'see' God, going to the extremes of making 'images' of him so they could have a 'thing' to look upon that reminded them of God. The 'images' didn't even come close to really represent the character, power, or majesty of God. The truth is that God is 'evident' in each of us - his love being brought to full expression in us through the power of the Holy Spirit within. We don't need 'images', we just need to observe how God manifests himself through those around us. 

God's grace has a unique expression in each of our lives. We are not the same - so what makes us think God's 'image' would be expressed the same way through each of us? We begin to understand the many-faceted love of God as we look upon the way his grace changes the lives of those around us. As uniquely as his grace comes through our lives in the form of transformation, we learn little aspects of God's character and power - his love in action within the lives of those who have said a resounding "YES" to Jesus. 

We don't need images - we just need Christ in us. We need each other - relishing the glimpses into his heart that each of us uniquely exemplifies. We don't need more religion - we need more relationship. We don't need more truth - we need to use the truth we have been given. As we focus more on that ONE relationship that matters above all others - Christ First - we begin to see evidence of his love in our lives. That evidence becomes the ONE THING that may actually draw another into relationship with him. There is more power in an example of love than there is any number of words, images, or 'icons' of love! Just sayin!

Time to get up

The feelings I get when I see the high mountain ranges—stirrings of desire, longings for the heights—remind me of you, and I’m spoiled for anyone else! Your beauty, within and without, is absolute, dear lover, close companion. (Song of Solomon 7:5-6)

If you have ever been "in love", you might just understand this intense longing just to enjoy the "presence" of the one you love so dearly. When separation occurs - whether by choice or because of something out of your control - the longing builds. What many describe as "stirrings" for the presence of their loved one is really similar to how God feels about each of us - longing to just hold us close, gently stroking our backs with the tenderness of his hand, and then encompassing us with the warmth and protection of his full presence. How long has it been since you have experienced the "stirrings" in your heart for the presence of your "first love" - God himself?

It could be we need to "stir" these feelings back to life, finding they have "waned" a little in intensity. Begin by remembering just how much God loves us and with what intensity he directs his attentive care over our lives. God's words to us: "I am spoiled for anyone else!" In other words, no one else will bring such intensity of response, nor fulfillment to the heart of God other than you! If you have ever been in a relationship with another, you know that this would be the most "ideal" feeling someone could express to you. The thought of no one else being able to fill the place your love fills in their life is almost electrifying, isn't it? Now, transition your thoughts to God - your life, in his hands, electrifies him! He is magnificently touched when we are near.

Take inventory of the things which have gotten in the way of having this intensity of longing for him. The things which separate only serve to build the intensity, not shut down the pursuit. The things which block us from each other, even for a little while, are not going to "stunt" love, but cause love to be magnified and ignited until our desire to be together causes us to get past those blockades. The distracting influences are nothing in comparison to the magnificence of love - don't "settle" for anything less than the presence of God. When we find things or people getting "in the way" of our times with Jesus, it is time to begin to use those things to heighten our awareness of the "lack of his presence" and then to drive us forward from our present position. They will not stop one whose eyes are fixed on Jesus!

Consider where it is we find our passion ignited. Some of the most trying times have fully ignited passion afresh in my life. Times of retreat and refreshing may do the trick. Each of us have different ways we connect with Jesus, but no one way is the "right" way to find this connection and to build upon this intimacy. ANY and ALL avenues which lead us into his arms are pathways toward his grace. Passion grows when the separation occurs - after all, absence is touted as making the heart grow stronger, is it not? We might just want to "capitalize" on those times when we feel the stirrings of "absence" within our hearts - for these tiny stirrings are the very things which will fan into flame the embers of the fullness of love.

We can "settle" for the absence - becoming content to simply remember the good times we experienced at the feet of Jesus. No amount of "remembering" will fan the flames of our first love, though. We have to get up from our places of slumber, points of compromise, and positions of comfort in order to come face-to-face with the one and only love of our lives that will truly satisfy our every longing and stoke the fires of our heart once again. Just sayin!