The Choice

You cannot love unconditionally without being hurt.

You cannot love unconditionally without at times being take advantage of.

To love unconditionally is to be a man or woman of sorrows; acquainted with grief.

To love as Christ loved--to have as your heart's desire to minister to the needs of those around you, you must love unconditionally.

To have as your heart's desire to minister to every heart's greatest desire--the desire to be loved--you must love them, each of them, unconditionally. Grace demands it.

Your choice. Love them. Love yourself.

There are no other choices.

June 2015 Ricochets

How do I make my most insignificant acts beautiful?

How do I make my words beautiful--life affirming, life-changing?

Kindness
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Though you have never seen Him and haven't the slightest idea what He looks like, when you do see Him, face to face, you'll know immediately who He is. What a day of rejoicing that will be!
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 The reason I struggle so hard with forgiveness is because it is the essence of Christianity--the expression of the very nature of the God of love. The message of the cross for me who so desperately needed (and needs) forgiveness. There is nothing the devil hates more. And true forgiveness--like His--always "forgets." Why do you think the tempter keeps trying to dredge up the past all the time? Crush him with a forgiving heart. What joy and freedom it gives!!

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 "Thy Word have I hid in my heart that I might not sin against Thee." Until the Word gets from my head to my heart, it does me little good. How does it get from my head to my heart? A life of obedience. Regardless of the circumstances. "If you love me, . . ."

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 You cannot love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength if you do not love your neighbor with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength--if you do not love them as fully as He loves you. And it should be with heartsoulmindstrength. It's one love. All encompassing. Wide, wide, as the ocean, deep as the deepest sea."

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 We are so quick to criticize and judge. Take Job's wife for example. She--a loving mother--had just lost all of her children. All of them! She needed the two reminders Her husband used to encourage her. "You are speaking AS IF you are one of the foolish women." "Remember, God is good when He gives blessing, and He is good when He gives adversity." Or as we say today, "God is good. All the time." The gift we give to God in our times of adversity and sorrow is our broken heart. Encourage. Always encourage.

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 A heart of gratitude is essential to the victorious Christian walk. "In everything give thanks for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus." You cannot murmur and complain and do God's will. It's impossible.

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 Endurance and perseverance are the soil in which the love of God grows.

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 To be rich and content may be more difficult than to be poor and content. Is there, after all, anything more dangerous to complete dependence on Him than wealth? Be careful what you pray for. Be generous with what you've been given. Godliness with contentment are the only true riches. Neither one of those can be put into your bank account.

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No one can have the peace of God ruling in their heart until he or she has made peace with God as their Redeemer.

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The first thing God reveals to us about Himself is that He loves to create--good things. His creation is glorious beyond words. The new creations He makes out of those who have trusted in His Son are glorious--eternally. And God pity those of His children who try to suppress or minimize the creative gifts God has given His children. Do we dare discourage them from being like their Father?

Assignment

I have a simple assignment for you: Read one of the gospels. Have those you love read one of the gospels. Read it together. You see, the gospels make one thing crystal clear--the love of God. You cannot help but see love in the words and actions of our Savior. And He is your Lover--you are His bride. And what happens when I begin to see anew the wonder of His love for me? "We love Him--and His other children--because He first loved us." From the manger to the empty tomb. Sometimes we harp so much--demanding obedience--when obedience is the "natural" flow from someone's heart who knows how deeply he or she is loved by the God who is love. Read the greatest love story ever told and remind yourself that you are at the center of the story--the one so loved. He came, lived, loved, died, rose again, and ever intercedes now for you. Why? Because He loves you.

Silence

Sometimes in our lives God is silent. It is not that we have learned all we need to know so that He has nothing left to teach us. Not a chance. It is not that He is displeased with us and doesn't enjoy our presence. We are His beloved, loved with everlasting love. Can you name a moment that is not a part of "everlasting"? It is not even that He is hiding His presence from us. The exact opposite is true. I believe His silence is trying to reinforce a simple truth in our lives--His presence is enough. He doesn't need to be doing anything for us. He doesn't need to be teaching us some new truth. If sitting in total silence in a room with someone I love and someone who I know loves me on a human level is serenity, how much deeper should my peace be when I am in the room with the eternal, faithful, Lover of my soul? And He has promised that He will never leave me--never. And He has promised that He is always near at hand--near, always. He is always "in the room." I am never alone. And it is that truth, that "sense of His presence," that empowers me to love Him faithfully no matter what. A friend loves at all times. Jesus "in the room" is enough. It is serenity, it is peace, it is the fortress that guards my heart and mind so that I can love rightly and think spiritually. Yes, it is the joy of living. Obediently. At all times. No matter how silent--how deafening the silence, His love for me is reverberating throughout the stillness. Yes, the stillness that allows me to rest in the knowledge that He is my ever-present God. "Moment by moment I'm kept in His love; moment by moment there's life from above; looking to Jesus till glory doth shine; moment by moment O Lord, I am Thine."

Seeing

Christians are often looking at spiritual truths, evaluating God's character, but how often do we see things in the way He desires to see them. Take Isaiah, for example. He had been looking at the people around him and was appalled at their wickedness and apathy toward God's holiness. Then, God allowed him to look into Heaven itself and see the pre-incarnate Christ in all His glory. And Isaiah's looking turned to seeing.
What is the evidence? It was no longer, "Woe are they" but "Woe is me." He finally saw what the right reaction to God's glory should be. He finally saw himself in comparison to God. And what happened when he saw? Humility and repentance and awe. How could God want to have anything to do with him?
God's response? Cleansing. Followed by a call. "I have something that has to be done, and I need someone to do it. Is there anybody out there willing? Isaiah's response--and he had no idea what God wanted done or where or when--"Send me; I'll do it; whatever it is." Gone was the "holier than thou" attitude; in its place was humility. Gone was the self-trust; in its place was God-dependence. Gone was the claim of "my ministry"; in its place was a desire to do God's work anywhere at anytime. Gone was the judging of others; in its place was a cry for God's personal cleansing. In its place was submission to the call regardless of the results.
Did Isaiah's message change? No. But the heart behind the message did. Have you looked at God lately, at His character, at the revelation of His truth? Did you see Him or merely look? Was it a glance or adoration? When you see Him, your desire will be to be like Him. The person you will examine will be yourself and what He has called you to do will be an honor--anywhere, anytime, anything. In fact, everywhere, all the time, in all things you will desire to be in submission to His call, out of reverence for His holiness--and the incredible miracle that He would choose to use you for His work on earth.

HELP

Never hesitate to ask God to show you compassion. Our God is a God of compassion. He is never indifferent to our needs. He just knows what the actual needs are. Don't be afraid to pray that most eloquent of prayers: "HELP!!!!"

Feelings

Feeling unloved--remember the cross. For you He died.
Feeling overwhelmed, powerless--remember the empty tomb; resurrection power lives within you.
Feeling insignificant, unimportant--remember that you are a "vital cog" in the plan of the omnipotent God to defeat evil and change the world through grace. You are a necessity for that plan's completion.
Feeling sadness--remember He was a man of sorrows and a "friend" of grief, but He had a joy that enabled Him to endure the cross and complete His "assignment" from the Father. He intends to immerse you with His joy as He abides--makes Himself at home--in your life. Day by day.
Feeling alone, forsaken--remember His words, "My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?" That moment guarantees that for eternity present and future, He will always be with you--you are never alone; will never be forsaken. "Christ in you, the assured hope of glory." Forever--and today.
Feeling the need to talk through your problems with someone--"Have a little talk with Jesus, tell Him all about your troubles, He will hear your faintest cry, and He will answer by and by." And it will be the perfect answer. "Just a little talk with Jesus makes it right."
Feeling incapable of pleasing Him--remember love is expressed through obedience. Faith is expressed through an obedience that leaves the outcome in His hands--trusting in His love and His wisdom.

"Turn your eyes upon Jesus, look full in His wonderful face; and the things of earth will grow strangely dim in the light of His glory and grace."