Stop Rebelling!

Happy Sunday! I think I mentioned I began my journey through the bible at the beginning of the year. I has been a great journey so far. Reading through the first five books of the bible have provided me great background for where it all started. From creation to the fall to the flood to being given the Ten Commandments – it is fascinating and informing. 

To confess, I was a little self-righteous when I started. I mean, look at the seed of Abraham and how they continually rebelled against God. Look how when God gave them direction, they would do it for a while and then they’d turn to something different. I kept wondering why after being brought out of Egypt and being given manna to survive, they so easily complained and murmured about going back to slavery. I was hard on them. 

Then I thought about us today. We do the very same thing. God continues to keep us even when we choose to not follow His Word and guidance – even after Jesus died for us. And, we don’t really understand what we’re doing. We say, we’re living our best life or we’re living our truth, but what we’re doing is saying God’s way isn’t good enough – we know better. We are in essence rebelling against God’s leading. So, stop it. Yes, we will sin – we are human and imperfect. But, we don’t have to intentionally seek our own way or choose things that are opposite of God’s desire for us. We can choose to do things God’s way. That is the best way. 

Rebellion against God leads to destruction. Don’t allow stubbornness or pride to get in the way of all that God has for you. Surrender to His will and His way and watch what He does in your life. I pray that God blesses the work of your hands and continues to change your heart. Love you!

Stand firm!

Been overwhelmed lately? Feeling all alone? I know I have. Between family and work and other personal stuff, it’s felt like too much lately. I’ve prayed and asked God to move and while I know He is always doing something (for my good), my situation and those around me have sometimes not changed in a way I can see them. That is disheartening and sometimes scary. 

The fact remains that He is still God and I’m still His child (Gal 4:6-7). He loves me and keeps me, whether I’m overwhelmed or not. He loves me and keeps me, whether I see a change to my situation or not. He has me and whether I feel that way or whether I see the change doesn’t matter. I can rest in it because He said it. 

At the end of the day, no matter what my feelings are or what my eyes see (2 Cor 5:7), Jesus saves and He saved me (Rom 10:9-10). Because He did, I’m a joint heir with Him. He will never leave nor forsake me, even when it may feel as if I’m all on my own. He knows my every care and He cares about the things I care about. I can take my cares to Him in prayer expecting Him to carry them (1 Pet 5:7) – my biggest problem is leaving them with Him and not carrying them away with me. I can stand firm on His promises, because He always keeps them (Isa 55:11).

The song “Stand” comes to mind. If you’ve never heard it, a few of the lyrics include: “Stand! When there’s nothing left to do, you just stand. Watch the Lord see you through. Yes, after you’ve done all you can, you just stand.” The song has always moved me, but never more than now. Stand firm in what and who you know. God is handling the situation – whatever it is. He is faithful (2 Th 3:3)!

Choose Love

Before we can choose love, we have to define it. According to the dictionary, love is an intense feeling of deep affection. A feeling? Really? If love is a feeling, then we can’t really control it. I mean, my feelings go all over the place. I might be feeling happy one moment and sad the next. If love is only a feeling, than we have very little power over it. I find that hard to believe, which made me do a bit more research.

Love is defined in 1 Cor 13:4-7. Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. 

That does not sound like a feeling - true love is more than that. Love is action. Love is putting someone else’s best interests ahead of your own. It is unselfish. 

This morning my pastor preached on the Work of Love. One of his points was that love is a choice we make. The bible says in Col 3 that we are to put on kindness, meekness, patience and other characteristics like Christ, but it also tells us above all those things to put on love.  The fact that we can “put it on” says we can choose to love or not to love. We can be kind and not envy.  We don’t have to dishonor others or be self-seeking.  We don’t have to hold wrongs against others.  In fact, if we do, that is not love, no matter what we call it. 

If we say we love someone, but do the things mentioned in 1 Cor 13, we’re lying.  I don’t know about you, but while all lies are sin, I think the worst lies are those we tell ourselves.  If we can’t be honest with ourselves, who can we be honest with? We definitely won’t be honest with God or anyone else. I challenge you to look at the definition above and check yourself. Do you love like that? Does your life reflect the Godly definition of love? If not, let’s get it right. God is love and the way we show love is the evidence we are His (John 13:35). What does you evidence look like? If your evidence is lacking, take this opportunity to repent and ask for His help in showing love like His. If you ask in faith, He will give it to you. You just have to walk it out. Don’t miss an opportunity to allow your life to testify of His great love for us. Choose Love. 

Seeing God in the Everyday

I don’t know about you, but I often take lots of things for granted. A bloom or a sunset are so beautiful, but I often don’t think about how they testify to God’s majesty or creativity (Psalm 19:1). When you see an odd color in the sky, do you recognize how God made that color just for you to see in that moment? It takes me back to the beginning in the Garden. Adam and Eve after having been in the Garden for we don’t know how long with God doing the work He had assigned – tending and watching over the Garden (Gen 2:15) – got complacent with what God had given them. 

Yes, the serpent deceived Eve while Adam looked on (Gen 3:1-7), but why did that happen? They got distracted from the work God had given them and they didn’t see Him in what they already had. They took their eyes and mind off what God had told them and took time to listen to what Satan was dropping. They took the Garden for granted and wanted what they didn’t have. They lost sight of all the blessings God had already given them and wanted the very thing God told them was not good. How often do you find yourself in the same position? Wanting what God has told you is not good. I know I find myself there occasionally and it never works out well. 

We need to seek God in the everyday things (Psalm 105:4). He’s always there blessing us and teaching us, but we must be attentive to His voice. If we’re not, we can easily be distracted. I know I have a reputation of being distracted by shiny objects and I need to stay on course to not veer one way or another. If you are like me, look to God to direct your path and don’t take any detours (Prov 3:5-6). If He is guiding you, you won’t go wrong and even when it doesn’t look like you expect, He’s still working it out.