13 If I speak in the tongues[a] of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal.2 If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. 3 If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast,[b] but do not have love, I gain nothing.
4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
8 Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. 9 For we know in partand we prophesy in part, 10 but when completeness comes,what is in part disappears. 11 When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me. 12 For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.
13 And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.
As I look back over this last year I realize that the greatest changes, the greatest knowledge, the moments that changed me forever were all about love - the one thing I wanted nothing to do with.
36 “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”
37 Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’[a] 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’[b] 40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”
I believe as we grow we learn the same lessons over and over but on a deeper level. Love is not something I am totally comfortable talking about but it is the root of all good things. Confidence for instance, a child who is loved develops a confidence those who don't feel loved do not have. Security comes from being loved as does trust.
As I look at each significant person placed in my life by God this last year, I either see that they were placed in my life to show me love or placed in my life to teach me to love. If love is the greatest commandment then wouldn't it make sense that the greatest desire of the enemy is to make us believe we are unloved? When things happen to us, don't we question God's love for us?
It is much easier to love and accept love from those who are like us. I believe that is how God got His foot in my door. He placed people around me who have struggled with the same situations and pain that I have struggled with. Recently He has placed a couple in my life who has not struggled with these same situations. I realize it is a fear of mine that if you don't understand me how can you say you care? To be accepted by a person who has had a good life surrounded by the love of their parent's and taught about Jesus from the very beginning who shows me love and acceptance is big in my life. It shows me even more how huge God's love is.
I have talked recently with a person who is what I consider mature in Christ. He doesn't hear from God like I do, but in different ways. He wrote recently "I have to be honest, I have a real hard time with this concept of God "speaking" clearly and directly to people. I'd guess it is probably mostly because I don't feel like that is how He communicates with me. Perhaps I'm jealous because if He does do it, then why not with me?" I woke up this morning with this statement on my mind. Because I believe God wants us all to be able to hear His voice, I have to wonder if this is a fear of not being worthy or loved as much as another person. I have to wonder if this isn't the enemy stepping in the middle to stop a showing of love with doubt of that love.
To experience the enemy as I have with dark shadows, evil faces and obvious attacks seems scary to people who have not had these experiences. But in a conversation recently with a friend who has had many of the same experiences and more, we came to the same conclusion: We would much rather see a shadowy figure come rushing at us than some of the mind games the enemy plays. The most damage the enemy has done to my life was through my mind, through my thinking, the messages I have heard from him about my lack of worthiness and being loved. So wouldn't it make sense that the one of the greatest ways for Christ to build a relationship with us through conversation, through hearing His voice? Maybe some of us need it more than others to believe.
I have had several people laugh at me because they say I give God too much credit. They may not say it with those words, but they laugh when I give God the credit for all good things that happen in my life, no matter how small. God placed the Holy Spirit inside of us. He didn't just send Him to us occasionally when things were really bad, or to answer prayers. He is with us always. Does He give us a good parking spot when we ask Him to? I believe He does. Maybe because sometimes we are willing to walk a little further and leave the good one for the person who needs it more.
There is a story I have heard a couple times recently about a man years ago who wanted to move his family from a poor country. He used his savings to buy himself a ticket on a ship to America with the plans of sending for his family once he earned some money. He packed a little food, but went through it within a couple days. He was very hungry as he watched the people eating in the dining room and tried to come up with a way that he could pay for a meal. Then he was approached by a man who told him that all meals were part of the package, part of the price he had paid for the ticket. There it was, everything he could need and want to eat. Do you think that desert was part of this or that he was only allowed to eat foods considered to be part of the main course? I believe he was given the right to deserts. I believe parking spots are deserts.
So the Bible doesn't say when you follow Christ you will get all the good parking spots. In fact it says we must deny our own flesh, our own selfish ways to follow Him. That can't be too comfortable. My flesh is pretty demanding and some times it is difficult to hear God over my screaming flesh. As a parent those special moments aren't always handing over a new car to your child or providing them with all the "in" toys. The special moments I like are when you sit and eat an ice cream cone together, when you sit up late talking about life or sitting back and watching them share a special moment with a friend. Desert moments.
I have also been accused of blaming everything bad on the enemy. I'm going to stand by this one. I do. I blame him. Even if it is my fear that stops me from walking into a room and there is no demon anywhere near me, I still blame him. Why? Because of all the training I have had over the years, all the times he did tell me I wasn't worthy, people don't like me and all those other negative messages. Maybe he doesn't have to tell me anymore because I believe it all by myself, but he planted the seed and watered it until it was full grown and now I am stuck eating the harvest. The One who has reversed that belief is God.
He reversed it by the people He chose to put in my life. He reversed it by the way He talks to me all the time. He has totally turned me around by sending someone to mow my lawn or even by giving me a parking spot for desert.
1 John 4:8 New King James Version (NKJV)8 He who does not love does not know God, for God is love.
To experience the enemy as I have with dark shadows, evil faces and obvious attacks seems scary to people who have not had these experiences. But in a conversation recently with a friend who has had many of the same experiences and more, we came to the same conclusion: We would much rather see a shadowy figure come rushing at us than some of the mind games the enemy plays. The most damage the enemy has done to my life was through my mind, through my thinking, the messages I have heard from him about my lack of worthiness and being loved. So wouldn't it make sense that the one of the greatest ways for Christ to build a relationship with us through conversation, through hearing His voice? Maybe some of us need it more than others to believe.
I have had several people laugh at me because they say I give God too much credit. They may not say it with those words, but they laugh when I give God the credit for all good things that happen in my life, no matter how small. God placed the Holy Spirit inside of us. He didn't just send Him to us occasionally when things were really bad, or to answer prayers. He is with us always. Does He give us a good parking spot when we ask Him to? I believe He does. Maybe because sometimes we are willing to walk a little further and leave the good one for the person who needs it more.
There is a story I have heard a couple times recently about a man years ago who wanted to move his family from a poor country. He used his savings to buy himself a ticket on a ship to America with the plans of sending for his family once he earned some money. He packed a little food, but went through it within a couple days. He was very hungry as he watched the people eating in the dining room and tried to come up with a way that he could pay for a meal. Then he was approached by a man who told him that all meals were part of the package, part of the price he had paid for the ticket. There it was, everything he could need and want to eat. Do you think that desert was part of this or that he was only allowed to eat foods considered to be part of the main course? I believe he was given the right to deserts. I believe parking spots are deserts.
So the Bible doesn't say when you follow Christ you will get all the good parking spots. In fact it says we must deny our own flesh, our own selfish ways to follow Him. That can't be too comfortable. My flesh is pretty demanding and some times it is difficult to hear God over my screaming flesh. As a parent those special moments aren't always handing over a new car to your child or providing them with all the "in" toys. The special moments I like are when you sit and eat an ice cream cone together, when you sit up late talking about life or sitting back and watching them share a special moment with a friend. Desert moments.
I have also been accused of blaming everything bad on the enemy. I'm going to stand by this one. I do. I blame him. Even if it is my fear that stops me from walking into a room and there is no demon anywhere near me, I still blame him. Why? Because of all the training I have had over the years, all the times he did tell me I wasn't worthy, people don't like me and all those other negative messages. Maybe he doesn't have to tell me anymore because I believe it all by myself, but he planted the seed and watered it until it was full grown and now I am stuck eating the harvest. The One who has reversed that belief is God.
He reversed it by the people He chose to put in my life. He reversed it by the way He talks to me all the time. He has totally turned me around by sending someone to mow my lawn or even by giving me a parking spot for desert.
1 John 4:8 New King James Version (NKJV)8 He who does not love does not know God, for God is love.
No comments:
Post a Comment