I was driving home from work and I just felt these words raise up inside of me…
God Is Proud Of You!
I believe God wanted me to share that with you, my brothers and sisters in Christ. If you’re doing your best to love Him, trust Him, and obey Him, then He is so proud of you. He is excited about the future He has in store for you.
Don’t look at how far you have to go, instead look at how far you’ve come. Rejoice always! Give God praise and be thankful that you’re moving forward in Christ each day!
Again I say…Rejoice!
Zephaniah 3:17 NIV, “The LORD your God is with you, the Mighty Warrior who saves. He will take great delight in you; in his love he will no longer rebuke you, but will rejoice over you with singing.”
(2 Thessalonians 3:5, NIV), “May the Lord direct your hearts into God’s love and Christ’s perseverance.”
Love Connects
Connecting with people is more of a challenge today. Although we have email, texting, and social media right at our fingertips, real interaction with people has faded away. In order to have meaningful healthy relationships, we must be intentional about spending quality time with people.
Hebrews 10:25 NLT, “And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near.”
As Christians, we definitely must put forth extra effort to be aware of those around us who need encouragement. We should also be willing to go beyond our inner circle of familiar people, so we can reach out and touch someone who is unfamiliar. Even if that someone looks different, speaks different, or acts different from us.
Love Forgives
Although difficult at times, we must forgive people who hurt us. Not forgiving will keep us in bondage. A person with an unforgiving heart is not walking in love. We must decide to forgive, and then trust God to help us to walk in that forgiveness.
Mark 11:25 NIV, “And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive them, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins.”
Ephesians 4:32 NIV, “Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.”
(2 Thessalonians 3:5, NIV), “May the Lord direct your hearts into God’s love and Christ’s perseverance.”
Yesterday I mentioned that love gives and love trust. I also mentioned how people can hurt us, which breaks our trust in them and/or God. It’s one thing when people disappoint us, but what about when we feel God has failed us?
Here are a few reasons we may feel God failed us:
He didn’t work in a situation the way we thought He should.
We lost someone or something and we feel He could have prevented it.
We feel in general He is just not being fair.
Since God is the Source of true and lasting love, how do we move forward when we struggle to receive His love? It’s worth asking ourselves this question, because receiving His love is what empowers us to love Him and other people.
Ways to move forward in our relationship with God:
Prayer&Repentance are key factors in healing from a broken relationship with God. Communication is important in all relationships, it’s the same with God. Expressing our frustrations, hurts, and worries to Him will help us. 1 Chronicles 16:11 KJV, “Seek the LORD and his strength, seek his face continually.”
Seek Counsel from a fellow Christian, your pastor, or a therapist. When we share our experiences with one another it brings healing. Knowing we are not alone in our fight for faith brings strength to keep going. Be careful not to seek counsel from ungodly people. Psalm 1:1(NLT),“Oh, the joys of those who do not follow the advice of the wicked, or stand around with sinners, or join in with mockers.”
Meditating on Scripture will renew our mind so that we will have the mind of Christ. Scripture is not just words on paper. It is living and active. Hebrews 4:12 NIV, “For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.”
God has a divine will. His will is good. It’s hard sometimes because we can’t see what He sees. He never promised us that life would be easy. He instead chooses to grow our faith. Remember He is patient and kind. Find joy and peace in His faithfulness. He knows what we need and when we need it.
(2 Thessalonians 3:5,NIV),“May the Lord direct your hearts into God’s love and Christ’s perseverance.”
Really when I think about love, one of the first things that comes to my mind is “trust”. Love and trust are closely connected. But before I can get to trust, I think it makes sense to mention this…
Love Gives
God loved the world and gave His only begotten Son (John 3:16). He loved and then He gave. There is no way to truly show love without some type of giving being involved. When we love, we give. We give of ourselves and/or our resources. Usually when people begin to feel unloved , it’s because they are not being given something they feel they need or want.
One of the things we give to show love is trust.
Love Trust
Have you ever trusted someone and then they disappointed you or broke your heart? The ill treatment could have come from a family member, a friend, a coworker, or even a company. After all, some people spend years working for a company then they get let go. That’s definitely broken trust! Of course a company is run by people, so once again it’s people that have hurt us.
When our trust has been broken, it becomes a hindrance to our ability to love. When we trust people, especially people we love, and they break that trust, it hurts. Can you relate? Has someone you love ever broken your heart, or disappointed you?
Psalm 118:8 NLT,“It is better to take refuge in the LORD than to trust in people.”
It’s good when we have people in our lives we can trust. However, we should always trust God first above anyone or anything. Why? Because people aren’t perfect, and things aren’t guaranteed. But God is. He doesn’t make mistakes. So why do we sometimes struggle to fully trust Him, and receive His love if we know He is mistake-free? Most likely because of the people we have encountered throughout our lives. Their imperfect performance has given us an imperfect view of God.
We can’t always trust people, so therefore we feel we can’t always trust God. We ask ourselves questions like, “What if I trust God and He doesn’t come through?” We wonder if He understands the urgency of our needs. We want to trust Him, but fear of the unknown gets in our way.
1 John 4:18(NIV),“There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.”
God loves us perfectly we don’t have to fear Him.
Love gives and love trust. Fear can hinder trust, which then hinders our ability to give and receive love.
(2 Thessalonians 3:5,NIV),“May the Lord direct your hearts into God’s love and Christ’s perseverance.”
About a week ago, I awaken around 3 o’clock in the morning. I was wide awake. I didn’t feel sleepy at all. So I decided I would just use the time to pray. I love early morning prayer because everything is quiet and still. I don’t always do it as consistently as I should, but when I do it, I love it.
During my conversation with the Lord, I could sense Him saying to me, “It’s all about love.” This statement has been resonating with me ever since. I can’t stop feeling as if God wants us as Christians, to never forget that the true foundation of our relationship with Him is…LOVE. Who we are and the things we do, rather for God or for people, it should all be about love.
(2 Timothy 3:1,KJV),“This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come.”
We are living in perilous times. God knows that in order to persevere, we need a strong foundation that is rooted in His love for us. Otherwise, we will succumb to the pressures we face daily.
We hear the word love a lot. We see many expressions of it everyday. Sometimes we may even think we have it (love) all figured out, and then we find out differently. I will take some time to explore love in general over the next several posts. Since it’s the foundation of our faith in Christ Jesus, looking at it more closely is beneficial. I don’t know exactly where this will go, but I’m just going to “trust” the author and finisher of our faith, Jesus Christ to guide the process (Hebrews 12:2).
He died, but I’m so thankful that He also rose. Because the tomb is empty, we have victory. He defeated death, therefore we can have life. True life. Abundant life. We are free, because Love rose.
Matthew 28:6 (NIV), “He is not here; he is risen, just as he said…”
We serve a Risen Savior! He doesn’t just give us love, but He is Love.
May the joy, power, and love of the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you always.
Even with the busyness of life we just have to take time to stop and be still before the Lord. When we take time out to quietly sit still in His presence, it reminds us that He is the One who can handle all of our worries. Just being still, gives us the opportunity to exhale and enter into the peace that the Holy Spirit desires to give to us.
Psalm 46:10(NIV), “…Be still, and know that I am God…”
When stress tries to consume us, we just need to be still. Our God is able to carry every burden we have. He will strengthen us and keep us safely in His care. There is no trial that is too great for Him. As we sit quietly before God, we experience the comfort of His presence. We can sense that His love is surrounding us, and living inside of us through the Holy Spirit. As we are still before the Lord, He will bring healing to our minds and hearts.
Don’t be afraid to be still. It is in taking time to be still, that we come to know and understand that He is God.
Drawing Closer to Christ 