Love – Page 3 – Loving God with Excellence

August 18, 2012

Worn Out

Feeling worn out? Tired, exhausted, depleted? Lots of time and effort goes into our ministries, communities activities, along all those personal and professional obligations. We feel scattered from jumping from one thing to the next. It seems like the more we have to do, the less we strength we have. More is going out than is coming in, and we are enjoying our lives less. Several friends have shared with me, they just want to sit down or lay down somewhere and sleep for days. Hoping, of course that when they awake, they will be refreshed, ready to tackle the next items on the proverbial “things to do list”.

But take courage. God is saying to us, don’t give up in doing well. He knows you want to please him, and live in the fullness of His presence. God knows you want to experience Him at higher heights. He knows the enemy is trying to wear you down. But take courage. Our God will never, ever forsake us. You will be victorious. Seek Him during this time and be prepared for a miracle.

A new season is upon us. On the Jewish Calendar it is Elul [August 19 – September, 16, 2012]. “As the last month of the Jewish year, Elul is traditionally a time of introspection and stocktaking—a time to review one’s deeds and spiritual progress over the past year, and prepare for the upcoming “Days of Awe” of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. As the month of divine mercy and forgiveness, Elul is a most opportune time for teshuvah (“return” to God), prayer, charity, and increased ahavat Yisrael (love for a fellow Jew and [others]), in the quest for self-improvement and coming closer to God.”

I encourage you to seek God with intentionality. Draw strength from His inexhaustible power. Lean on Him more for guidance and directions for all those things, you feel you must do. Just as Jesus did, so should we. Jesus went to the Father for strength, as well as rest as He went about His earthly ministry. The source of power never diminished. Jesus tapped into the Almighty Source, and was able to do all things exceedingly well.

So stop walking around drained, tired, exhausted, worn out. Plug up your holes (mind, body and spirit) with the strength of the Holy Spirit. No more being worn out, and you will experience His joy, His grace, His mercy and His strength.

August 15, 2012

Wisdom

Wisdom is a precious jewel given to us by God. Wisdom is a priceless gift that points the way to life – God’s life. In our world, we don’t seek nor prize wisdom. Our clamoring and searching for the brass ring leads us to the deep pits of despair. But wisdom gives us light, and peace and even more than, that it provides us a way to a blessed life.

Psalm 111:10 “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: a good understanding have all they that do his commandments: his praise endureth forever.”

James 1:5 , 6 “If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him. But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed.”

James 3:17 “But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy.”

Ecclesiastes 7:12 “For wisdom is a defence, and money is a defence: but the excellency of knowledge is, that wisdom giveth life to them that have it.”

August 11, 2012

The Rich

James Allen wrote, “if thou wilt be perfect, sell all that thou hast; but at these words the world turns away “sorrowful”, for it is very rich“; rich in money which it cannot keep; rich in fears which it cannot let go; rich in selfish loves to which it greedily clings; rich in grievous partings which it would fain escape; rich in seeking enjoyment; rich in pain and sorrow; rich in strife and suffering; rich in excitement and woe; rich in all thing which are not riches, but poor in riches themselves which are not to be found outside the Kingdom; rich in all things that pertain to darkness and death, but poor in those things which are Light and Life.”

Riches, true riches come when as we seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness. Then our perfection, our purpose, our happiness, our heritage, our joy, inspiration, wisdom, compassion become solid gold – the real riches – the only ones we truly need.

July 6, 2012

Staying Connected

John 15:5 states, “I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.”

God is not in the business of making those who are strong stronger, rather He takes the weak and makes them strong through His Son, our Savior Jesus Christ. And how is this accomplished? How do we become instruments for His plan and purpose in this world? By staying connected to the true vine. No movement, growth, development takes place without staying connected to the power source of the universe-God. We can’t bear fruit [His fruit] without Him. We try, and fail miserably. There is ample proof of that. But when our lives are devoted to Him, when our hearts seek Him, when our eyes are fixed on Him, we become stronger, more creative, more loving, more giving, we become more like our Christ. But we must stay connected to the vine.

One of the ways to stay connected is through prayer. How is your prayer life? John Bunyan wrote, ” Pray often, for prayer is a shield to the soul, a sacrifice to God, and a scourge for Satan.” The Holy Scriptures encourages us to pray, and provides many examples of how to pray, and answered prayer. In fact, we are obliged to pray. It is our duty to pray, and it is a blessed privilege to engage in prayer. Think of it, we mere confused, hurting, sinful mortals can speak to God through Christ, the author and finisher of our faith. The Bible tells us God wants to hear from us and speak to us, because of His great love for us. We also discover through prayer there is great power, great wisdom and great love. We learn how to better manage our bodies, minds and spirits by staying connected. All the issues; and “the personal, pertinent, and all-important questions for every soul” brought to Him in prayer are effectively, and efficiently dealt with. Enemies are defeated, grace and favor is applied.

You have an amazing day and life ahead of you. Don’t waste it. Don’t get side-tracked or distracted. Draw closer and stay connected to Christ today, and experience the amazing and miraculous.

June 30, 2012

Loving Eyes

Yesterday, as we prepared to leave to attend our uncle’s funeral, I thought about how we look at each other. Although we are made in the image of God, we look at each other differently. There are eyes of compassion, love, judgment, joy, sorrow, pain, celebration, and yes even hate.

Press the pause button for a moment, and recall someone special in your life. Maybe it is your mother, father, grandparent, spouse, friend, or a child. Bring that person into your mind’s eye. What and how do you feel? Are you smiling, right now? Does the very thought of that person brings joy to your heart? When we look at these special individuals, we look at them with loving eyes. My uncle looked at me with loving eyes. I knew his look. It was a look of acceptance and appreciation. I was valued, and important to him. Everything about me was okay, and in return I looked at him with loving eyes.

Our Lord looks at us with the most indescribable loving eyes. Everything about us at divine levels we can’t even imagine is filtered with love. He looks at you and me with eyes of love – smiling eyes, hopeful eyes-grace filled eyes. Only His loving eyes could look at us and say yes I will go to Calvary. [John 3:16] Only His loving eyes could see our sins, and love us anyway. 1 John 4:8 “God is love.” Only Jesus could look at us, and despite our mistakes, flaws, challenges, see the beauty of our destiny with Him. Jesus loving eyes looks at us daily, and sees God the Father’s crowning achievement in creation with love and compassion. [Proverbs 10:12 (b) “…love covers all sins.” NKJV.] What a glorious thing it is to know our Savior looks at us with those loving eyes.

I challenge you to look at others with the loving eyes of Jesus. It is our role as His ambassadors to demonstrate His love to this hurting world. They need to see His loving eyes through us. So look at someone with His loving eyes, and let them experience being appreciated, and accepted and loved.

June 19, 2012June 19, 2012

Clean Heart

“Create in me a clean heart, so that I may serve thee… ” Become my sweet heart song O’ Lord, fill me with your joy. Cleanse me from all unrighteousness. Forgive me Oh God for my sins…only you….only you can cleanse me. You, O’ Lord are mighty. You, Oh God are awesome. You Oh God are worthy of all the honor, and all the praise. You, O’ Lord can heal me, restore me. Create in me a clean heart so that I may serve you. This is my prayer. This is my heart song.

Amen.

June 18, 2012

Father’s Day

Happy Father’s Day to all the fathers. A great deal more is made of Mother’s Day than Father’s Day. Just give him a tie, or a wrench, and we’re done. Being father is one who sacrifices, prays, loves, works, protects the family, encourages our children to reach their divine potential is a father. Many within our communities may never receive recognition for their God- given role as fathers. This Father’s Day, let us resolve to express our heartfelt appreciation to our men who serve as fathers to our children. I thank my dad, my beloved husband, uncles, brothers, nephews, cousins, friends, and sons for being fathers. I am grateful to God for allowing me the privilege of being part of their lives, and witnessing their growth as men, and as fathers. I am thankful for their acts of love towards my children, grandchildren, and the children in our communities, and circles of love. They are truly Kings among men. They deserve our respect, honor, appreciation, prayers, and love. Happy Father’s Day to all.

April 25, 2012April 25, 2012

The Space Before – Forgiveness

Yesterday, I wrote in my journal about forgiveness while praying for someone who is dealing with the lost of their mother. Grief and lost are difficult enough, but dealing with bad attitudes, misplaced emotions, and contentious behaviors in the midst of it can be too much. As I was meditating, the word forgiveness came up. It wasn’t in any of the scriptures I read, but there it was. Forgiveness. What is forgiveness? And why is it necessary to forgive? And when does it occur? I believe it is a gift-a sacred present. A grace offering. Jesus said forgive and pray for those who mistreat you. It is an expectation, a divine directive from our Savior. Life’s challenges make it difficult to forgive, and much time and energy can be lost in the space of unforgiveness.
I was intrigued, and compelled to write about it. In fact, the word returned this morning, so I had to share this thought. How does forgiveness happened?

Forgiveness takes place in the space between “for” and “give”. Yes, in the space before forgiveness is offered. There is a melting, a release, and moving away from the rock and the hard place. It is like the cold snow melting away under the warmth of the bright morning sun. Picture it! The snow and ice becoming water. This is what happens in the space before forgiveness. Transformation takes place, when the giver makes the decision to for-give. In that space hate becomes love, resistance becomes acceptance, and the past gives way to the future.

A new beginning comes into focus in that sacred space [the before]. And this is not a small space. Look at the word forgive. There does not appear to be any space between the letters. Now, look at it again. F O R G I V E. There is more space. Look at it one more time. F O R G I V E. The space is much wider. In fact it huge, because if you have ever been hurt, betrayed, rejected, abused, the space from the pain is wide. However, at the second, the very moment the decision is made to forgive the space [gap] begins to close. And during the closing of the space preparations for the delivery of the gift begins. The gift is wrapped in love with a bright ribbon of hope. Upon delivery the space is closed, and miraculously another space is opened.

Forgiveness is a wonderful gift. It restores, heals, and allows you and I the opportunity to share the greatest gift we’ve ever received, that of God’s forgiveness.

April 21, 2012

A Pocketful of Miracles

Last night I watched a classic movie based on a story by Damon Runyon called A Pocketful of Miracles. In the story an old bag lady, a hustler brilliantly played by Bette Davis, learns her daughter, whom she hasn’t seen in years is coming to America. The problem is the old lady’s daughter believes her mother is a member of high society. Through a series of “miracles” her life and the lives of those who comes to her rescue are transformed.

Didn’t Christ do this? His gift opened the door so we to experience the miraculous. To enjoy a life filled with wonder, joy, abundance. But there is a problem. Catherine Marshall described it this way, “It would be wrong to have a “poverty complex,” for to think ourselves paupers is to deny either the King’s riches or to deny our being His children.” But isn’t this exactly what we are doing? We are either living below the miracle, or deny miracle exist. Our Jesus came so we could become partners, and hand out pocketful of miracles.