Does Your Love Consider God?

"Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. Love does not demand its own way. Love is not irritable, and it keeps no record of when it has been wronged. It is never glad about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance. Love will last forever, but prophecy and speaking in unknown languages and special knowledge will all disappear." (1 Corinthians 13:4-8 NLT)

Yesterday was the best Monday I've had in a long time. God used so many people to get some things through to me that it is so mind blowing. I am just still in awe of Him.

Last night at rehearsal, John said something so simple but so very profound. He said that "love is consideration". Now at the time I immediately thought about people who professed to love me but seemed to have never considered their actions towards me. It opened my eyes to a lot of things about myself. Then in my thinking of how "they've" done me, God actually showed me Myself.

How dare I be so selfish that I want to be considered by not only people, but by God, and that I consider people more than I consider Him? How on earth can I place such a huge demand on a person to consider me before they act if I don't always consider God before I act? How can I claim to love Him before men, yet my actions say otherwise? I could go a whole day without talking to Him, but I wouldn't want to go a day without talking to a significant other.....I would get tired of waiting on Him and would act in my own strength (which never got me anywhere), but I'd want someone to wait for me... How could I not always consider the One with my life, when He is the one who gives me life?

For me, I know that a lot of heartache, pain, money, time, etc. would have been saved, had I considered God in EVERY area of my life. "In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths." (Proverbs 3:6 KJV) But now that I've gone through it, I'm able to have a testimony for someone....someone who is going through the same pain or to help someone avoid going through the pain. 

I'm so glad that God's love is patient with me. So much that when I contradict my own self He shows me where I am wrong, and He helps me and waits for me to get it right. He shows me, guides me and directs me to where He wants me to be. Although I seem to question the consideration of others I'll never have to question the consideration of His love for me. Not only did Jesus display it on the Cross years ago, but God considers me every minute of every day. I'll forever be grateful.

I encourage you today the begin making sure that you consider God every single day in every area of your life. Just because you are doing it up, living it up, and succeeding does not mean that you've really allowed Him to lead you. Consider Him. Let Him guide you. To love Him is to Consider Him.

"Be humble and gentle. Be patient with each other, making allowance for each other's faults because of your love." Ephesians 4:2 NLT

Obeying the Holy Spirit

"We are witnesses of these things and so is the Holy Spirit, who is given by God to those who obey him."  (Acts 5:32 NLT)

A few weeks ago before heading home from a long day I stopped by the store to pick up my favorite bread, Captain Johns Derst's. Omg that bread is the BEST! Everything about me that night said that I was in a rush to get home. I went into the self checkout lane because I didn't feel like waiting in a line and I was ready to get out of there. While I was checking out I noticed the security guard looking at me and I said to myself, "Lord I hope this man doesn't try to talk to me while I'm trying to leave; I just wanna go home Jesus". Guess what he did? Yep, he stopped me. He had the most awkward opening line to his conversation and because of that, I knew I couldn't just ignore him. So I stayed and listened.

After about a good 20 minutes of him telling me the issues he was having, he mentioned that he goes to church and is trying to get his relationship with God in order, so I asked him if he ever prayed about the situation. He told me that he never thought about praying about it and that he'd do it when he got home. I began to tell him that he could pray in his heart while he was standing there, or he could pray on his long drive back to Santee but he didn't have to wait until he got home. Then he said that he didn't know why he stopped me out of all the other people that walked in and out of the store that night, but he was glad he did. He was so grateful to me but I was grateful to God for the Holy Spirit, because in my flesh, I would have missed that opportunity to give him those simple words that could manifest a turn around in his life.

Listen, I knew I'd have to talk to that security guard when I saw him looking but everything,  I mean everything in me did not want to. God has a way of setting things up for us to be used in small moments. Moments where we can just brush people off and go about our way, not knowing what kind of opportunities we are missing to share some Jesus with someone who has tried everything but Him.

I encourage you, as I continue to encourage myself to be sensitive to what the Holy Spirit is telling you to do. He will never tell you to do anything harmful. We may not know the reason behind why we have to do the things He tells us but there is one that may or may not be revealed to us. We just have to walk in obedience, that's why God gave Him to us.

"If people would only be obedient to the urging of the Spirit, they would never lose these urgings." -Catherine Booth

True Love is Worth Fighting For....

Have you ever been in love? Like in Love, LOVE? Have you ever been in love with someone who didn't love you back...someone who you professed your love to, but they didn't feel the same way about you? You bend over backwards, jump through hoops and bounds, and drop everything you have going on just for that person if they need you for the simplest thing, all to prove how much you love them. You make a vow to yourself that if they just love you back like you love them, you'll make them see that it's the best decision they have ever made.

Who doesn't want a love like that? A love that matches....a love that's cohesive? True Love. Everyone wants it; everyone needs it and thankfully, we've already gotten it. Sometimes we're just too blind to see it.

The best decision I ever made was letting Christ love me and learning how to love Him back. I was blind but now I see, seriously! We can hope and pray for something that has been there all the time. So many times I've settled for pseudo love, not knowing what kind of love I was worthy of receiving. He showed me and continues to show me my worth. He holds me, comforts me, covers me, keeps me, goes to war for me and He does so much more. He prepares me for my earthly love so I'll know that his has to reflect HIS love for me and He makes sure that HIS love is reflected from me to him.

Jesus loves us. He's our True Love. His love fought for and continues to fight for us. Do you know what it's like to fight for someone knowing that the person may reject you? If I can be brutally honest, I'm entirely too chicken to fight for something when I know there's a possibility that I may not have it for myself. I think it's more of a pride issue for me, so I use the phrase that most people do, "I'm a lover not a fighter." But in most cases of love involves fighting period. Not physical fighting but fight against obstacles, selfish desires, and other things that may harm your relationship. Things aren't always peachy and happy go lucky in our earthly relationships so we have to fight to keep our relationships together. I'm so glad that Jesus is the lover of my soul that keeps fighting for me. I wouldn't believe someone loves me if they wouldn't fight for me...and I wouldn't be in love for real if I didn't fight for the one I love.

As Christians, we are persecuted for believing not just in God, but in Jesus. Just as he fights for us, we have to fight for Him. Jesus is seated at the right hand of God and when we mess up, He's there pleading on our behalf (Roman 8:34). Do you know what it is to have an Advocate 24/7?? A REAL Fighter? He's the real "Ride or Die", not so much in the sense but when you call someone that, it means they have your back through thick and thin until the end. Christ didn't even need all that. He doesn't just have our back, He has us as a whole from the inside out. He died for us before we even went through and continues to ride for us while we're going through, even when we don't ride for Him. "There is no greater love than to lay down one's life for one's friends." (John 15:13 NLT) We have to fight through our fleshly desires, our selfish ambition, and our pride because His love is greater than all of that stuff. It's because of Him that we aren't defeated, it's only because of Him that we have the victory even before the trial, but to test the strength of love, we have to fight with Him right there strengthening us. Even though we're fighting for Him we don't have to fight without Him. Love doesn't get any truer than that...

“I have loved you even as the Father has loved me. Remain in my love. When you obey my commandments, you remain in my love, just as I obey my Father’s commandments and remain in his love. I have told you these things so that you will be filled with my joy. Yes, your joy will overflow! This is my commandment: Love each other in the same way I have loved you. There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. You are my friends if you do what I command. I no longer call you slaves, because a master doesn’t confide in his slaves. Now you are my friends, since I have told you everything the Father told me. You didn’t choose me. I chose you. I appointed you to go and produce lasting fruit, so that the Father will give you whatever you ask for, using my name. This is my command: Love each other. (John 15:9-17 NLT)