To Love Jesus Part 2

LOVE is kind… (1 Cor 13:4)

For me, kindness depicts a gentle spirit and a soft heart.  Like welcoming a new neighbor with a batch of fresh cookies or bandaging up a scraped knee, wiping tears, or offering comfort or encouragement.   

Kindness reacts with helpfulness and is moved with compassion.

Do I present myself before my Jesus with an open heart and open hands? Is my helpfulness limited to only the things I want to do or is my kindness directed by my compassion and love for my Jesus?

Is it possible for me to be an encouragement to Jesus; a comfort in the controversy with evil?  

Too large a number of His children are far away from Him. There are many, who make the choice to push Him away and it grieves Him and brings Him pain.  I have compassion for His pain and I desire to show kindness to Him by offering a hug or a prayer for those who He has not as yet been able reach.  When I show kindness for His children, I do it with Him at the forefront of my mind.  If He is the one that I desire to show eternal kindness to, my devotion to Him will overflow onto His children as well.  

So it makes sense to me that if I aim to embody the characteristic of kindness, I will direct it to my Jesus by demonstrating the gift of kindness to others.  Because above all else, He is kind to me. 

 


copyright 2/23/2015

To Love Jesus Part 1

 We look for it; we cry if we don't have it; we read about it

or write about it, and it is totally indispensable to life. 

Love; the most precious of all commodities. 

Since God Himself is love, He gives us a complete picture on what love is and how to love each other in 1 Corinthians 13.

He shows us “the most excellent way" through the entire chapter and we respond with, "Aaah how beautiful!"

But after reading this chapter, recently, I began to wonder if these words about love would apply to how I treat Jesus, and not just how I should treat others.

LOVE is patient… (1 Cor 13:4)

No quibbling here, it is a stated fact. To love Jesus invites me to be patient with Him,  I have an opportunity to display patience with the Creator of the universe!  What an honor to practice a characteristic of God on God, Himself .

For me to love Jesus will mean that I will not impose time limits on Him.  I will not be frustrated that the answer to my prayer didn’t come at the time I expected.  I will wait patiently for Him to answer me in His way and in His time.  I will be patient with Him because I love Him and know that He loves me and so I trust that the timing of His response is exactly what I need, when I need it.  Sometimes that means that I will wait for a considerable amount of time.  It may even mean I will not see the answer, at all, until heaven reveals all unanswered questions.  But if I choose to love my Creator and King, then I will be patient with Him.

Do I truly love my Jesus enough to patiently wait? 

c0pyright 2/22/2015

 

A beautiful Thing

The Lord has set me on the path that lays before me. He has placed markers along my way for me to follow so as not to stumble and lose my footing.

His quiet steps beside me and whispers of wisdom assures me of His presence.

Along this fore-determined road have been dark days and sunlit mornings, self selected detours, mountaintop experiences, times of utter despair, and moments of glory.

I don't look back much, but what the past has taught me is to never lose sight of the face of Jesus, and never, ever let go of His hand. staying close is my place of real security; of peace, and of joy.

Probably, not unlike yourself, there are things in my past I would like to redo, but maybe that's the point...just maybe I wouldn't be at the place I am today if I hadn't experienced the results of those self selected detours I mentioned. Just maybe, the greatest lessons learned were in the darkest hours at the lowest depths. 

My family and I were on vacation one summer when my daughter was young. I kept reminding her, because the shops were busy that time of year, to stay close and not to get distracted and wonder off. We walked out of the store expecting her to be right beside us. I abruptly stopped when I realized she was not there. A thrill of terror shot through my body at the realization. Just then she came bursting out the door of that store with her own moment of terror written all over her face. Her first words were, "why did you leave me!" Lesson learned; she never wondered off again, and I was most careful to never let her out of my sight.

I know this is not the perfect illustration because God has promised to never leave me or forsake me. Even when I cry out, "why did you leave me," He's been there. It was me that lost sight of Him.

Do you suppose there is a thrill of terror that stings the heart of God when we lose our way?


My point is,  there is a result that follows when I allow the distractions of this world to cause me to forget that my security is in staying close to Jesus. Because those times of indiscretion were so painful, I eventually learned that staying close is a beautiful thing. I also learned, the longer I'm in my God's presence, the less alluring the world has become. 


copyright 2/16/2015


  

Yes Or No

The most important decision you will ever make in this life is what to do about Jesus.

It's actually just a yes or no question, but also, an all-or-nothing question. 

Do you want Jesus in your life?

or

Do you not want Jesus in your life? 

There's no middle ground on this decision; no diplomatic answer; no partial option available.

You do understand, though, that not making the decision IS making the decision.

copyright 2/9/2015

Time To Choose

This morning I woke with a decision to make. 

Yesterday I was feeling quite alone and feeling rather sorry for myself as well. When I'm not up to snuff physically it's altogether too easy to allow myself the luxury  of wallowing in self pity. But I soon discovered my wallowing was not making me feel better, only worse .

This morning when I was awakened to that familiar voice inside my head, "it's time to get up" I was also vaguely aware of another voice, the voice of God, that said,

"it's time to choose."

it's time to choose? 
 
Choose what?

"To choose the joy of My presence, or to choose to wallow."

"Do you trust Me for today's circumstances, or do you choose to go it alone?"

"I thought you didn't like being alone."

"It's your choice you know."


copyright 2/8/2015

In All Things

"In all things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am convinced that

neither death nor life,

nor angels nor demons, 

neither present nor the future, 

nor any powers, 

neither height nor depth, 

nor anything else in all creation, 

will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord."

Romans: 8,37-39

Are you in pain?

Are you hurting physically,

emotionally,

spiritually?

Rather than say, "where is God when I need Him,"

I can look at my many and varied difficulties and say, "I can now relate to what You went through to save me. 

The heartache I put You through;

the rejection, 

my anger heaped upon You, 

my doubt,

my endless waywardness, and yet You loved me still.

Your love for me outweighs any and all my trials. 

That love has bought me entrance into the throne room of heaven.

My Jesus, I believe in You!!! 

copyright 2/6/2015