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)

Clean This House, Clean This Heart....

"O my son, give me your heart. May your eyes take delight in following my ways." Proverbs 23:26 NLT

If I open the cabinet under your kitchen sink, will I find cleaning products? Well, you will surely find them under mine. I have everything from degreasers to disinfectant, from dish detergent to laundry detergent, to anything with Febreeze or Gain or just plain ole "it smells good so I had to get it" underneath my kitchen sink. The purpose of every last one of those things is to clean, of course. To clean every area, even the areas that people cannot see, behind and under furniture and appliances...the forgotten areas. Not only does thorough cleaning bring a fresh scent, it also keeps our homes free of unwanted visitors, like bugs and rodents. Eww, right?? Yeah that's why cleaning is so important.

Christ comes into our hearts to clean it up, which essentially cleans us up as a whole. As a matter of fact, we were extended an invitation for salvation and we make the choice of accepting Him into our hearts. It doesn't matter how much filth you can live in naturally, if you're a hoarder or if you have OCD, Christ doesn't dwell in a messy place. So while He's in our hearts, he cleanses it of all malicious intent, envy, pride, bitterness, and just plain old evil and sin and He teaches us to love and live like Him. We just have to surrender and let Him do it, which seems to be "the struggle".

Why purchase cleaning products if we never plan to clean? Just to have them? To lend some out when our neighbor needs to borrow some? So if we aren't allowing Christ to clean us from the inside out, then why did we accept Him into our hearts? Is it just to say, "Christ is in my heart" or "I'm a Christian"? What happens when we encounter someone who really needs some Jesus, not memorized quotes and "feel good" slogans? If we are still trying to control how our hearts operate and there are not even in the process of being cleaned by His Blood, then how beneficial can we be in those moments? We can't give someone something that we don't have.

Being cleaned by Christ helps us so much. He fills us with His Holy Spirit, blesses us with the gift of discernment and the desire to seek wisdom and understanding; He gives us a sound mind, encourages us to renew it daily and His Word teaches us to guard our hearts and minds. When we apply these things to our lives it keeps us clear of the unwanted visitors, like worry, fear, doubt, etc. and He doesn't leave us empty. He fills us up with hope, joy, confidence, courage...just more of Him. I'm not saying we won't be tested, because we definitely will but with Christ remaining in constant cleaning mode in our lives, we will pass the tests, even if we have to take them a few times before we do. It's because of His cleansing power that we are able to fight in the spirit when the enemy tries to attack our minds, our lives and/or when temptation presents itself. I can go on forever because He does so much more for us by just coming into our hearts. Once He begins to change our hearts, our minds change. We begin to see, talk, and walk differently, and the process molds us into who God intended us to be, teaching us every step of the way.

I encourage you to let Him live in you and let Him work in and through you, FOR REAL. Your journey will be a trying one, but you'll be pleased more with His results than you'd ever be with your own.

" Let Him Live, Let Him Work...."

"Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect." Romans 12:2 NLT

Are You Expecting?

It's so funny how we stand in need of something from God, but we don't look like we're expecting it. I mean we know that He's going to supply every need (Philippians 4:19) and instead of getting ourselves ready for the outpour, we walk around with a"woe is me...my change is never gonna come" spirit, and our mindset is that of defeat. God wants us to stand in expectancy throughout every struggle and every situation in spite of what it looks like. Have you ever sang the song, "Jesus is a way maker.... One day He made a way for me"? Do you believe that your "one day" is coming?

Don't you think that our situation will change when our attitude does? Can we worship God in our now? Our worship is a reflection of who He is so us. Why would God trust us with His future for us, if He can't rely on us to worship Him in His now for us? He wants us to worship in ALL things...good, bad, happy, sad...ALL things. His Word says it in 1 Thessalonians 5:18, because it's His will for us all. Oh yes, it may look unfixable but do you know who your Father is? Like do you know, know??! He's El Shaddai...The Lord God Almighty!

I'm not saying that we need to put on a front, pretending to have it all together, just acting like we believe, I'm saying that we need to actually believe and put on our garment of praise. The change begins our your minds. We have to speak God's Word over our lives, ask Him to change our situation, ask Him to help us understand and see Him in it and BELIEVE that He will do what He's promised. Whatever it takes, do it until you see the change.

Look for the change in you first. God changes us before He changes our situation. He has to make us ready for what He has prepared. We, well I know that right now I can't handle some of the things He has in store for me because He is still preparing me. So I have to be patient and let God's patience work through me.

Remember that someone is always watching us, watching our journeys...someone that knows Christ and is going through just like us but is afraid to talk about it...someone who doesn't know Christ. So THE MOST important thing to do when God brings us out, is share our testimony of not only how God brought us out, but how He's brought us through...it's how we overcome (Revelation 12:11) and how we help open the doors for to others to overcome as well.

Go on in Expectation of something amazing from of our Mighty God!

Cuts Hurt, But Love Can Heal Them...

I think that I can do just about anything. Last night, while being a "do-it-myselfer", I cut myself. It bled a lot but at the time it only hurt for a minute, so I cleaned it really good and bandaged it up. Later that night I was lying in bed listening to my new favorite song,"Great Is Your Love", by The Walls Group (please go listen to it, you'll be in worship for hours)...and my cut started throbbing. It was really hurting...the pain that I was experiencing then, I should have experienced much earlier. But, there I was in agony and I didn't know what to do.

Putting alcohol on it was OUT of the question. I'm a country girl, so I blew it. It was still hurting. I applied pressure. It was still hurting. I rubbed around it. It was still hurting. Trying to find a solution, I remembered that I had some liquid bandage. I like it because it's an antiseptic and it helps the wound heal really fast. Finally a solution! Then I remembered how much it burns when it's applied. On second thought....nope, I wasn't using that, not while the cut was still fresh. I couldn't bear the pain.

Finally I just asked God to ease the pain. I believed that He would, and I promise seconds later, He eased it. I was able to sleep through the night without any pain. But I know that I'm still going to have to apply that liquid bandage to it so it can heal properly.

When I asked God, I asked Him in Faith."But when you ask him, be sure that your faith is in God alone. Do not waver, for a person with divided loyalty is as unsettled as a wave of the sea that is blown and tossed by the wind." (James 1:6 NLT) And He answered my prayer, my simple prayer because faith was attached to it.

I can't count how many times I've been "cut" in life. Some were as small as paper cuts (which always seem to hurt the worst). While others felt like a limb was sawed off. They all hurt in different magnitudes and sometimes the hurt wouldn't hit me until much later. You know when devastating things happen and people ask us how we feel, we say, "it hasn't really hit me yet"? Yeah, I've said that a few times. In every situation, no matter what I did, I couldn't heal my hurt.

Sometimes the cuts that I've gotten have been because of my own negligence. And in order to be healed, I had to endure a little more hurt. It hurt worse before it got better....straight Godly conviction and correction that hurt my feelings, my ego and crushed my pride, but essentially healed me from what was hurting me....ME.

God's correcting, redeeming, sweet forgiving love healed me. But in order for Him to do that, I had to go to Him boldly,"So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most." (Hebrews 4:16) NLT. I had to be emptied of myself, but filled with Faith, believing in my heart that He would do it.

A bandage can't do that, not even the liquid one, only He can. I've seen Him heal; I've experienced it firsthand. That's why He's my Jehovah Rapha, the God that heals.

I'm just as undeserving as undeserving can get, not even worthy of His love that He gives so freely, but He's chosen to and still chooses to heal every cut, every nick, and every scrape with His limitless, immeasurable love. He will do the same for you. Today, I encourage you to remove your self-made bandages and let God heal your heart, your spirit & your soul....He really wants to.

"His love has no limits, no measures....it can reach you where you are."

Please listen & get your worship on!!
The Walls Group - Great Is Your Love:
http://youtu.be/DT7WeZAV4_s

Desperate Hope, Desperate Faith

What exactly is Hope? Webster dictionary defines it as, to desire with expectation of obtainment or to expect with confidence. Faith and trust are required in the hope process; it's impossible to hope without the two. Faith is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things unseen (Hebrews 11:1). You trust God by faith that everything you've hoped for will be given to you.

There is hope in not knowing. For if we knew how everything would happen when it would happen, then what would be the purpose for hope's existence? I believe God gives us hope so we'll never forget how mighty He is. God is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all we could ask or think according to the power that works in us (Ephesians 3:20). In that power is hope. When we pray, we hope to see what we petition God for come into fruition. Even in our everyday lives, when someone promises to be there or do something for us, we remain hopeful that they keep their promise, right? Well God is sort of like that ....actually He's better! His promises are Yes and Amen (2 Corinthians 1:20). When He says it, it WILL come to pass, without question, hesitation, doubt or second guessing....all in His timing of course.

If we aren't careful, fear will rob us of our hope and the things we've hope for. Fear has no place in our lives because it's not given to us by God. He has given us power and a sound mind. Don't allow fear to creep into your sound mind and become a derailment of your process. We also have to make sure we don't get weary. Oh, it's very easy to become discouraged and even doubtful but we have to hang on the Word of God. If that's the only thing that keeps us going, let it be. We know that His word will NEVER return to Him void.

When Jesus was on his way to heal Jairus' dying daughter, in the crowd He was touched by the woman with the issue of blood. He had to stop to find out exactly who touched Him. Now this is Jesus and I'm sure there were so many people around and they were all probably touching Him. But this touch was different. It was a touch of hope, faith and desperation. She'd been to the doctors, spent tons of money and had been shunned by the people because they deemed her legally unclean. But when she heard who was in town she didn't care about the people. Her Faith activated her Hope and her Desperation drove her to Jesus in a crowd that would've been hard to get through for someone without hope, faith or desperation...and she was healed. (Story can be found in Mark 5:25-34)

We should have that drive every time we are hoping for God to come through for us, it doesn't matter how small it may be. Hold tight to your faith, hope for better and be desperate in your search for God. He will come through!

"God proves to be good to the man who passionately waits, to the woman who diligently seeks. It's a good thing to quietly hope, quietly hope for help from God. It's a good thing when you're young to stick it out through the hard times. When life is heavy and hard to take, go off by yourself. Enter the silence. Bow in prayer. Don't ask questions: Wait for hope to appear. Don't run from trouble. Take it full-face. The "worst" is never the worst." -Lamentations 3:25-30 NLT