I want more...
Don't be greedy for the good things of this life, for that is idolatry.
Colossians 3:5b
God, you have given me the ultimate gift - eternity with you. You have opened the door for a relationship with you. You have blessed me beyond all measure in this life. My blessings are too numerous to count.
And yet, I want more. I still continue to look with envy, desire at the good things of this life. I want them more than I want you. I am an idolator.
Father, forgive me for my idolatry. Give me a new mind. Remind me again to focus on all I have, not on the things I don't. May You be the only thing I want more of. Teach me to be content with my lot in life, and to live it well.
I will trust...
"Do you trust God?" my pastor repeatedly asks from the pulpit. Good question. Do I trust God? I don't know.
I believe that God loves me. I believe that He never changes. I believe that all things are possible with Him - supernatural as well as natural. But I believe He usually lets the natural run its course.
I believe that He can send His angels down and supernaturally intervene in my life in all manner of ways. But I don't believe He usually will. I don't trust God to protect me from bad stuff in life. But I trust Him to give me the strength to get through each day.
I kind of believe that He has a plan for my life, but more for my character development than my place of residence, career or marital status. And I don't think I trust Him to make things occur so that His best plan for me will come to be - I think the running of my life is largely up to me... "Life is 10% what happens to me and 90% how I react to it". But I do trust Him to be with me no matter where I end up, and to keep challenging me to grow and mature.
I believe God can heal, but I don't trust Him to do so - sickness and death are part of life. I see it as a suprise gift when He does answer prayers to heal.
I trust God with my family, in that I know He is far more able to look after them than I. But I also know that, just as I make choices for my life and have to live with those choices, so it is with their lives. And bad stuff will happen to people I love.
I guess I trust that God is all-capable, but not all-doing.
I trust Him that in the end, it will all be good... I don't trust Him to make things rosy along the way. I feel comfortable with this. I don't expect more from Him. Any rosy spots therefore are unexpected gifts from a God who loves me.
The Love (1 John 3:18,19)
Dear children, let us stop just saying we love each other; let us really show it by our actions. It is by our actions that we know we are living in the truth, so we will be confident when we stand before the Lord.
Love is not a feeling, it's an act of the will. Words only go so far - actions speak louder. I can say I really want a clean room, but if I watch telly every night instead of cleaning my room, the question must be asked - do I really want a clean room, or is it just a nice fantasy? TV is obviously more important to me. I can say I love someone, but if I speak badly to or about them, put my own needs and desires constantly first, am rude and impatient and regularly fail them, the question must be asked - do I really love them?
I can act lovingly even when I don't feel it, but can I feel love and not act it out?
My actions tell much about the state of my heart.
James 2:15,16
Suppose you see a brother or sister who needs food or clothing, and you say, "Well goodbye and God bless you; stay warm and eat well" - but then you don't give that person any food or clothing. What good does that do?
Just as faith without deeds is dead, so love without action is dead.
The Love (Mark 12:29-31)
Jesus replied, "The most important commandment is this: 'Hear, O Israel! The Lord our God is the one and only Lord. And you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength.' The second is equally important: 'Love your neighbour as yourself.' No other commandment is greater than these."
The most important thing I can do with my life is to love God. Totally, completely, with everything in me.
What does it mean to 'love God'? To put Him first. Give Him the best I've got. Live in a way that will make Him smile, rather than seeking my own pleasure. With everything I've got - no greater priorities in life, nothing that will distract me from Him, no other simultaneous goals that I'm trying to achieve on the side - just full-on living soley for God. Yikes!
To love your neighbour is EQUALLY important! It is such a priority in God's heart for us to love others that we cannot say we love God fully if we are not loving those around us.
If I do nothing else with my life, I must love.To love your neighbour as yourself - to meet their needs as you would your own. To treat them in the way you wish to be treated. 'Look out for number 1' - for a Christian, our neighbours are number 1.
No other commandment is greater than these two. Basically, all other commands are summed up by these 2 commandments. If I love God and love others, I will be living in the way He wants me to live.
The Love (Matt 5:43-48)
You have heard that the law of Moses says, 'Love your neighbor' and hate your enemy. But I say, love your enemies! Pray for those who persecute you! In that way, you will be acting as true children of your Father in heaven. For He gives His sunlight to both the evil and the good, and He sends rain on the just and on the unjust too. If you love only those who love you, what good is that? Even corrupt tax collectors do that much. If you are kind only to your friends, how are you different from anyone else? Even pagans do that. But you are to be perfect, even as your Father in heaven is perfect.
Our love is to be proactive - given for the sake of being given, not reactive - given in response to someone's goodness to us. We are to rise above the standards of the world. Just as God gives good things to me even though I am undeserving, so I am to give to others, even if they are undeserving.
Real love says more about the giver than the receiver. Real love shows the strong character of the giver, not the worthiness of the receiver.
Who are my enemies? People who let me down, hurt me, fail me in some way. The bully at school or in the office. The woman on the phone who is rude and unhelpful; the annoying telemarketer. The admin assistant who stuffs up my booking.
.........What does it mean to love these people? To treat them with kindness, politeness and respect. To pray for them. To look for ways to make them smile. To be 1 Cor 13:4-8a to them - patient, kind, not envious, not boastful, not proud, not rude, not self-seeking, not easily angered, not keeping record of wrongs, not delighting in evil but rejoicing with the truth, protecting, trusting, hoping and persevering. Wow!
The Love (1 Thess 3:12)
And may the Lord make your love grow and overflow to each other and to everyone else, just as our love overflows toward you.
This creates a cool image in my mind - love is not a forced thing, where I have to make myself love the unlovable, but more a state of being. As I know God's love more and more, and focus on loving all of mankind, love will start to overflow from me, in which case it will just spill on to whoever happens to be near! I don't choose who I will love, I love everone who I come in contact with!
GOD IS LOVE. Could it be that He is the only initiator of love? As humansk we need to know love before we can give love?? As I realise His love for me, and my family's love for me, then love begins to grow in me so that I can then have something to pass on to others?
Love only grows when it is
given. If you want more love, you can't just keep holding on to it - you have to give your love away. Sometimes it may splash on dry ground, but other times it will splash on fertile ground, and the love that comes back will be so much more than you gave.
The Love (1 Cor 13:4-8a)
Because LOVE IS PATIENT
....... I will let you grow at your own pace
Because LOVE IS KIND
....... I will look for ways to make you smile
Because LOVE DOES NOT ENVY
....... I will rejoice in your accomplishments without comparing to my own
Because LOVE DOES NOT BOAST
....... I will talk about the achievements of you and others
Because LOVE IS NOT PROUD
....... When you are less than perfect, I will remember that 'There, but by the
....... grace of God, go I'
Because LOVE IS NOT RUDE
....... I will not let familiarity breed contempt, but will continue to speak to
....... you with politeness and respect
Because LOVE IS NOT SELF-SEEKING
....... I will always give a gentle answer, seeking a positive outcome to the
....... situation, rather than self-justification
Because LOVE IS NOT EASILY ANGERED
....... I will always give you the benefit of the doubt
Because LOVE KEEPS NO RECORD OF WRONGS
....... I will not dwell on past offenses or hold them against you in the future
Becuase LOVE DOES NOT DELIGHT IN EVIL
....... I will avoid actions and words that could harm you or another
Because LOVE REJOICES WITH THE TRUTH
....... I will strive to see muddy situations become clear and relationships
....... reconciled
Because LOVE ALWAYS PROTECTS
....... I will take care to protect your feelings, reputation and innocence
Because LOVE ALWAYS TRUSTS
....... I will believe in you always
Because LOVE ALWAYS HOPES
....... I will look confidently towards the day when things
will be better, even
....... when history suggests otherwise
Because LOVE ALWAYS PERSEVERES
....... I will continue striving for all of the above as long as I live, regardless
....... of the circumstances.
LOVE NEVER FAILS
....... Although perfection will never be achieved, I know that God IS LOVE,
....... and with Him, all things are possible.
The Fruit (Gal 5:22,23a)
But when the Holy Spirity controls our lives, He will produce this kind of fruit in us: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.
