All About Love

“Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God.  He who does not love does not know God, for God is love. In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him.  In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.  Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another” I John 4: 7-11.  

John tells us that we are commanded to love one another and that this is true agape-love that only Christ can give us. If we have the Holy Spirit living inside of us, then that type of love is available to each of us. Unfortunately, although this agape love has been spread in our own hearts (Romans 5:5), it sits there stagnant and inactivated.  Love then becomes a theory with no practical life application. The scripture above tells us the essence of love and how to live it out practically in our daily lives:

  First, love is to be shared unconditionally, many times with those who do not deserve it. God loved us first when we were still His enemies so we must do the same for our enemies.

It is not difficult to love those who love you.  The true test comes when we love someone that may seem unlovable.  When we find the God-given courage to love someone who speaks wrongly about us, spreads gossip about us, and has betrayed us, that is the special kind of agape-love to which John is referring.  This kind of love also includes loving the stranger or person that we do not already know.  I remember I had a boss who was harsh with me and always seemed to point out all my faults instead of praising my strengths.  After a while, I began to feel angry and bitter towards him.  I was very close to quitting my job, but God, in his ever gentle way, reminded me that I was to love this man as His word said.  I felt prompted to pray blessings over him daily (Luke 6:27-28).  At first, I couldn't do it because of all the anger within me, but I began to speak the words anyways although they were empty and insincere.  Lord, I bless this man’s life, his job, his family. Pour financial blessings on his life.  May you promote this man and allow him to reach success beyond measure.  Each day was a struggle to say those words because I didn't feel it, but I somehow found the strength to pray those words anyways. Little by little, I began to feel a change take place within me.  My heart became soft as each day I began to feel the words I was saying.  After about two weeks, I actually meant the words that I was praying over this man.  I began to forgive him and actually enjoy my job.  To add, I began to see God bless his life and promote him on the job.  Our professional relationship improved and we grew to have great respect for each other.  He was one of the best bosses I ever had and I learned so much from him for my future jobs.  We have to remember that love is not a feeling. Feelings come and go.   Love is a commandment and something that we can make ourselves do because it is God that does it through us.  You may be trying to love a spouse that seems unlovable through your own efforts, but you have been approaching it the wrong way.  Allow God to fill you with himself and you will quickly realize how much easier it is to love them even with all their flaws.  You may be struggling with a neighbor who has an issue with you, but allow God to give you agape-love for that person.  If you want this kind of love, but have not accepted Christ as your savior, then call on the name of Jesus and accept His word and commandments in your life so that you too can be filled with the agape-love that allows you to love others unconditionally.

Next, Love is to be sacrificial as it gives all of itself for the benefit of another.  God gave Jesus Christ as a sacrifice for our sins.   We too must give sacrificially.

If it’s not costing you anything, then it isn't love.  If love comes easy for you, then it’s not a sacrifice.  A sacrifice will cost you something.   In our relationship with Christ, we give our wills to Him, our time, our finances, and everything else.  It is often no different when it comes to loving others. I will note that if you don’t live in relationship with Jesus Christ, you won’t be able to love others with the love of Christ. We can only love from what we have been given.  Your well must be full in order to give others a drink from it. Trying to love on your own effort will leave you ineffective and emotionally drained.  God has way more capacity for love than we do so we must draw from him in order to be effective.  I find myself often saying how much I would love to give to others by volunteering or doing a special task for a person in need but often talk myself out of it because of time and money constraints.  God finally convicted me by reminding me that true love will cost me something and that’s what makes it sacrificial.  

So this is the essence of Love.  Take some time today to reflect on how you can live out love unconditionally and sacrificially.  Don’t be afraid to take small steps of faith.  The other day, I was admiring a man who gives of his money and time to do events for underprivileged families.  His entire life is about giving and showing love.  He gave up his entire preaching ministry to minister in the neighborhoods and reach needy families.  My brother, seeing this desire in me commented that I don’t have to start big, but start by doing something simple such as taking groceries to a single mom or visiting an elderly person.  He’s right.  We must start small and allow God to do something great with our lives through his powerful love.

Your Heritage: The Power to Condemn the Enemy

No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn.  This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and their righteousness is of me, saith the Lord.”  Isaiah 54:17

The scripture above tells us that weapons WILL be formed against us. It is not a matter of if, just when.  If you are truly endeavoring to live a life faithful to God, you will experience spiritual attack and warfare.  The enemy knows what makes each of us uneasy or worried. He will attack in a plan tailored specifically for us.  He will attack our finances, our marriages, our children, and our minds. He will attempt to weaken our faith.  However, the Word of God tells us that no weapon will prosper or will be successful against us.  Part of the verse that is rarely preached is the second part, “every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn.  This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and their righteousness is of me, saith the Lord.”  For the most part, we believe this verse in theory but rarely in practice.   As children of God, we need to fulfill the second part of this verse.  We need to begin to condemn those voices that speak out against us in judgment.  The enemy may send people your way to carry his message, but more than likely, he will try to speak into your mind with his lies. He’ll try to tell you that you’re not good enough, that you’re having an identity crisis, that there’s no hope, that God does not hear you, that you will always be the way you are, and that you don’t deserve love.  He will try to make you feel anxious, stressed, depressed, and confused.  Right now, you need to condemn those lying voices in Jesus name.  Began verbally speaking against them.  Condemn them and watch them leave.  Then begin speaking life into your situation.  Begin speaking the blessings of God into your situation.  Speak peace, joy, favor, and victory.  As the verse says, this is your heritage which comes with being a servant of God and a Child of King.  Maybe you do not feel worthy, but the last part of the verse says that our righteousness comes from God and not ourselves so speak those words anyways.  Speak and watch the enemy leave as God begins to work.  

April

The Way to the Place

In John 14, we receive one of the most powerful promises of all time,

“Don’t let your hearts be troubled.  Trust in God, and trust also in me.  There is more than enough room in my Father’s home.  If this were not so, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you?  When everything is ready, I will come and get you, so that you will always be with me where I am.  And you know the way to where I am going.”  V. 1-4

Thomas struggles with these words.  He wants to get the place God has prepared for Him, but despite Jesus telling him that he already knows the way to the place and what the place is, Thomas replies to Jesus,

"No, we don’t know Lord….We have no idea where you are going, so how can we know the way?"  v. 5

Jesus replies back,

“I am the way, the truth, and the life: No one can come to the Father except through me…” v. 6

In these scriptures, we see many powerful lessons.  The most important lesson is that God has a special place prepared for us if we believe on Him.  This life is not the end of all things, but is just the waiting before we get to our eternal destination.   I could stop right there and it would be enough.  However, I want to share another lesson that I received from these scriptures.   In our life here on earth, God always has a place prepared for us or many places for us.  I like to think of them as mini steps we take or little stopping places we make in our journey toward our eternal destination.  We often get anxious about those places or dreams that God places inside of us.   Like Thomas, we have questions about the place that God has prepared for us.  When are we going to get there?  How are we going to get there?  What will the “place” be like?  Who will I meet when I get there?  My current situation seems so dark so how it will it be possible for me to get from this point to the next?  What is my purpose?  How will I get out of this situation?   Sometimes, these questions can drive us quite mad.  However, Jesus answers Thomas just like he answers us with a simple answer-   I am the way, the truth and the life. The truth is that Jesus is the answer to all of life’s questions.   If you want to know the way- Jesus is the way.  When your reality tells you that something is impossible –Jesus is the truth.  When you don’t feel like you can take another step, Jesus is the life that keeps you going.  We never need to look outside of Him.  In addition, it is the not really the place that is important, but Jesus Christ who is the way to the place, the process and the means by which we get there.  I heard one person say, it is not the final destination that matters but the lesson we learn, the people we meet on this journey called life. I also propose that it is not the small destinations in life that are so important but the process and the relationship with Jesus that we build along the way.  My encouragement to you today is that if you are struggling with questions, turn to Jesus who not only has all the answers, but IS the answer to everything.   It is easy to get distracted worrying about all the questions, but quiet those voices and focus on Jesus.  Set your affections on Him ( Colossians 3:1-2) and not the earthly distractions.  He will get you to where you need to be.

A quote to consider:

…I would like to beg you dear Sir, as well as I can, to have patience with everything unresolved in your heart and to try to love the questions themselves as if they were locked rooms or books written in a very foreign language. Don’t search for the answers, which could not be given to you now, because you would not be able to live them. And the point is to live everything. Live the questions now. Perhaps then, someday far in the future, you will gradually, without even noticing it, live your way into the answer.

Rainer Maria Rilke, 1903

Fully Persuaded

There's faith and then there is FAITH.  I'm not just talking about the kind of faith that operates like a carousel, up one minute and down the other.  I'm talking about the kind of faith that is unshakable   As I read Romans 4: 19-21, I am amazed at the conviction in which Abraham lived out his faith.  We read the following regarding his faith:

"And being not weak in faith, he considered not his own body now dead, when he was about an hundred years old, neither yet the deadness of Sara's womb:  He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strong in faith, giving glory to God; And being fully persuaded that, what he had promised, he was able also to perform. "

God had promised Abraham and Sarah a child many years earlier.  Time went by without the promise being answered.   If anyone had the right to doubt, it would be Abraham.  His body was,well....kind of old.  His wife's womb was considered dead with regards to child bearing (v. 19). Yet, Abraham remained "fully persuaded".  To me, that means that he didn't doubt even once. Sarah doubted a couple of times, but not Abraham. He was a friend of God.  He knew that God would answer as impossible as the situation might have seemed.  God honored that kind of faith.  Romans goes on to tell us that his faith was  imputed to him for righteousness. This means that his unshakable faith made him saved.  His faith made him pure.  That's some special kind of faith!  

Romans does not stop there.  It says the following:

Now it was not written for his sake alone, that it [righteousness] was imputed to him, but for us also, to whom it shall be imputed, if we believe on him that raised our Lord Jesus Christ from the dead (Romans 4:23-24). 

So here's the cool thing.  Abraham's story was written for us as an example of what our own faith should look like.  Notice that the last verse emphasizes our belief in the God who "raised the Lord Jesus Christ from the dead." What this tells me is that we should have a resurrection type of faith.  If God raised Jesus from the dead, then know that He will make the dead things in your life live again and will do the impossible when we are "fully persuaded" of his goodness and faithfulness. 

This song was written a couple of years ago, but I feel it more than ever.  Enjoy!

Single for a Season...Single for a Reason

Note:  If you've never experienced a long season of singleness in your own life, then this blog posting is probably not for you.  However, please feel free to pass on to others who you think might be blessed by it. 

I couldn't help but share this amazing article of encouragement with all my fellow singletons, but before I share it, I want to preface it with some of my own words.  I am finally at a point that I am enjoying my season of singleness  to the  fullest.  I wasn't always at this point and for most of my 20's( I'll be 30 next year), I was dragged down the road of God's will often times kicking and screaming like a big baby. lol.  I really thought that I would be married by the time I was 25 years old (uuummm, I've kind of changed my mind about that).  I used to ask God, why am I not married yet?  I'm a decent gal.  I've done everything right for the most part (completely self-righteous as if our works can manipulate God into doing what we want). If its not time, I used to beg God, please take this feeling of wanting to be married away from me so that I can enjoy my life. Yah, that didnt' happen. God wanted me to learn how to depend on Him even more.  He wanted me to learn patience by being put in situations that required PATIENCE.  It didn't come right away, but I recall the time where God began to speak and tell me, You have waited on me and now I'm going to give you what your heart truly desires. I am going to give you a season of pure satisfaction and contentment only in me.  I'm going to give you that rest you  asked me for all this time.  I am going to give you a season of joy and peace where you can serve me without distractions and with singleness of heart.  This will be one of the most blessed seasons of your life.  I cannot express fully what God has done in this season of my life up to this point.  I feel a supernatural push daily to serve God like never before. I feel happy just getting up in the morning. Some even say I smile too much.  I have been blessed in my career as well. I just received a scholarship to go study at a prestigious museum in New York City this summer.  It had nothing to do with my abilities, but everything to do with God's.  He has planted in my heart areas of ministry that I was too afraid to even dive into before.  I feel like I have a gift to encourage other singles to live for God like never before.  Did you know that right now, in our world today, the largest group of under-served and un-churched people are singles.  More young career professionals are putting off marriage until later years in order to pursue their goals.  I believe the church has a wonderful opportunity to share Jesus with these people, disciple them, and send them off the make more disciples.  They not only have the time, but they also have the resources.  I want to be part of the group that makes this happen.  If God can use my simple life to help in this area, then so be it.  Don't get me wrong, I know that one day when God decides to open that door, I will join in matrimony with a person who I can team up with to further God's kingdom, but for now, I want him to use me to the fullest to reach others to build His kingdom.  Some may not be ready to hear me out and I totally understand that. I was once at that same point.  When you are ready to let God use you, where you are at in your life, with what you already have, there is a place for you and an amazing opportunity to make a difference.  Pastor Jason Sciscoe said it once and it has stayed with me until now:  The most on-fire people, the most dedicated, the greatest prayer warriors, and overall, the greatest Christians should be single people.  They can give themselves wholly to God without reservation and without limits.  May that be my life-story.  :)

Here's the article that I found that will encourage you in your season.  May it empower you like it empowered me:

http://www.desiringgod.org/blog/posts/single-satisfied-and-sent-mission-for-the-not-yet-married


Other resources:
Rev. Lee Stoneking and his thoughts on singleness:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wOLeCjC-2K4
Skip Heitzig's Series on Singleness, Dating, Marriage, Divorce, and Widowhood (Great series, completely downloadable):  http://skipheitzig.com/teachings_search.asp?series=112  

When God Hears, but Does Not Answer

    

   We all want to be heard.  There’s something about having our words acknowledged and deemed important by someone else.   We want to know that someone understands how we feel  and that  they can sympathize with us.  In Psalm 22:2, we can relate to the words of the Messiah when He says, “O my God, I cry in the daytime, but thou hearest not; and in the night season, and am not silent.”   How many times have we felt like God is not hearing us?  How many times have we felt like our words bounce back to us when we pray?  We all have felt this way at some time or another.  It can even be discouraging.   Yet, a couple of lines later in that same chapter, we see that the Messiah sings a new song, “Save me from the lion’s mouth: for thou hast  heard me from the horns of unicorns.”  This is much different from his initial cry and prayer.  Hebrews 5:7 says it like this (referring to Jesus),

“Who in the days of his flesh, when he had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto Him that was able to save him from death, and was heard, in that he feared.  Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things he suffered…”

Jesus, without a doubt, knew that every word he had prayed had been delivered and  heard. There was a peace in knowing this.    The interesting thing is that nothing had changed in Jesus’ situation.  He still made his way to the cross to be crucified.  He still had to learn true obedience to God’s will.  This is how he would be perfected and glorified.   A lost and dying world needed Him to be obedient.   It’s through his obedience that you and I can enjoy his salvation today.

      So here is what I want to tell you.  God hears you.  He hears every word that comes from your lips.  He hears your praise and worship, but he also hears your words of pain.  He hears those late night cries.  He hears those sighs of exhaustion because you feel you can’t go on anymore.  He hears your frustration.  He hears those fragrant prayers for your loved ones.  He hears those prayers for that special need that you have.  He hears you.  Your situation may not change immediately because there is still more perfecting that is needed in you.  Your prayer may not be answered because God is teaching to be obedient even when you don’t have your answered prayer yet, but rest assured that God hears you.  There is a peace in knowing that God hears you.  When you trust that His ear is open to your prayer, there is a faith that floods your soul that allows you to walk confidently through life even through the silence of God.  His silence does not equate to a closed ear.  His silence means that He is working on your behalf and believes that you have what it takes to trust him.   My greatest faith has come through His silence.  My prayer is that your faith will also grow through knowledge that God hears you.

Walking in confidence,

April

Sharing the Gospel is Not Always a Day at the Beach

When I was about eight years old, I remember my family going to Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk for the day.  We picked a nice sunny spot on the beach to settle down, and then my mom let my little sister and I loose to go play in the water.  Deb and I found a water way under the boardwalk to play in, but we stayed near the shallow end at our mother's instructions.  You see, Deb and I still did not know how to swim.   However, it didn't take very long for my Deb, who was six years old at the time to get nosy and venture to the deeper parts of the water.  Within seconds of stepping into the deep end, she began to cry for help as her head began to go under. She frantically flapped her arms and began splashing in the water as she tried to come up to the surface for a breath of air.  When I realized what was happening, I initially froze in fear. I wanted to help, but I couldn't swim and yet my little sister was drowning.  All of sudden, courage hit me like ton of bricks and I knew what I had to do.  Without knowing how to swim, I jumped into the deep end to rescue her.  As I went under, I realized that there was a possibility that I might drown too, but I didn't care anymore.  I had to save my sister. Within seconds of my heroic act, a slicing pain shot through my foot as it met the floor underwater. The pain took hold of me as I realized I has stepped on something very sharp. The pain in my foot was so intense that it caused me to give up and surrender to the waters. 

 

Then, I felt his hands.  They were strong and mighty and in one quick second, he swooped in and grabbed me from the deep.  As I came up out of the water in one of his arms, I saw my sister in his other arm. Realizing that we were being rescued,  I never felt such relief in my life.  The man sat us on the sand as my little sister was crying uncontrollably. I was still in shock.   Then the pain from my foot hit me like a thousand needles while the  bloody sight of my foot  did not help the situation. I too began  to cry.  My mom who had seen the whole thing from far off ran towards us frantically while a lifeguard was summoned. When we finally stopped crying, my foot was bandaged up by the lifeguard and we went on a trip to the  hospital so I could get stitches.  It turns out I had stepped on a broken beer bottle under water.   To this day, I still have the light scar on my foot, although it has almost disappeared for good.  However, the memory will always stay with me.  

So what is the point of my story?  This morning as I got ready for work, God reminded me of this experience  to show me what sharing Jesus with others can be like for many Christians.    I'll keep it simple for you.  There is a dying world out there that needs Jesus and they are frantically calling out for help.  They are drowning in pain and sadness just like my little sister was drowning in the Santa Cruz Beach waters that hot summer day. As Christians, we are the only hope for many, but we are too scared to do anything because we feel unequipped for the task at hand.  Just as I felt unable to help my little sister because I could not swim, we feel helpless to share Christ with the unbelievers.   However, there is moment when the Holy Spirit gives us a boldness and courage that only comes from God just like the courage that came upon me in my sister's moment of need. This courage allows us to take the risk and jump into the unknown waters of life so that we can help those who so desperately need the Jesus who lives inside of us.   Just as I was unsure of the final outcome with my leap of faith that summer day, there also comes the possibility of failure and obstacles when we make our spiritual leap of faith.  In my situation,  I was met with the pain of stepping on glass and almost drowning along with my sister. However, just like the stranger on the beach  came to our rescue, our Heavenly Father is ready to take us up in his own arms and rescue us too.   So here is my advice today- Take the risk, step into the deep, and be ready to see God work because of your faith and obedience.  God honors both. You might mess up, you might stumble, the words may not come out as smooth as you would like.  You may get some who don't want to hear the Gospel.  You may even feel rejected by those who you speak to, but just know that God will honor your efforts.  Like the title of this post says, "sharing the Gospel is not always a day at the beach."  However, watching God work through us and accomplishing his task DESPITE us is amazing.  

 

April