Fridays don't come often enough, yet time is passing so fast they come too often. I often wish my life away looking for Saturday. Just to be real, about the struggle that is, by Friday I am maxed out. By Friday I don't like who I am, I don't like my thoughts, I don't like my reactions, I don't like my mental fatigue. I don't like to have to make one more decision or figure out one more problem at work. I think things like, "Why can't people just.........?" . You fill in the blank. Usually it's accompanied by a huff, an eye roll, or the flopping of my hands in exasperation. Sometimes all three. I don't like my attitude. Period. It stinks. And the end of the Friday work day can't come soon enough. I practically run to my car! I think they are so tough because I know that Saturday is almost in my reach and I just want to be there already, like the last 20 minutes of a long drive. I just want it over, you know? Not to complain, but to illustrate how much Saturday means to me, l have to explain. I work Monday through Friday, and since my husband is a pastor, Sunday is sort of a work day for all of us. Not a bad work day, just a day of being committed to be somewhere. So, it feels like Saturday is our only day of "freedom" so to speak. Hence the struggle. It's amazing how, in just seconds after I recognize my Friday foul-ness (or any other day, for that matter) and consciously turn my thoughts toward Him to try to face it through that lens, the enemy bebops to my proverbial doorstep to present an irritation, a frustration, something so petty, that SQUIRREL, there goes my perspective, faster the passing of a beloved Saturday. This is not a new struggle. It's an old one. And it is real. But so is the victory. Here's where He stopped me this Saturday morning as I sipped my coffee from my ❤️Wonder Woman mug❤️ But thanks be to God, who always leads us in His triumph in Christ and manifests through us the sweet aroma of the knowledge of Him in every place. Did you see that word triumph? I did. And that's what I want. Victory. Here's few simple facts we can mine out of this verse
His lead always goes in the direction of what Jesus did. Victory over sin. If I want the victory over my real struggles, the answer is to follow His lead. God's direction is the one that always leads to victory because Jesus' victory over death cannot be changed. For it was Jesus Himself who said, It is finished. That sweet aroma that I crave will be present to others will only happen by following this lead. It comes from knowing Him in each moment of that journey. Even on Friday.
The stuggle is real, folks. But so is the victory.
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I had no clue it was so until the teacher passed the big envelopes out to us at the end of the day, and to be honest, I don't really think I had a clue until my mother saw the envelope, gasped, and immediately started to rant. It was my first grade school picture. Mom had dressed me in the little blue and red plaid dress, with a white collar, gold buttons at the top. She had taken the time to perfectly pull my curly hair up into pigtails that morning. I was her firstborn. First ever school picture, and we all know the momma pride that swells within us about our babies. Her gasping and ranting was the result of a crushed momma dream, my first grade school picture having me all smiles - - - With one pigtail. One. Not two. One. Pigtails is supposed to be plural. "How did you not know that one of your pigtails fell out?" , she asked frantically, immediately followed with, "Why did the teacher not fix it?", which was also immediately followed with, "Why did the picture people even take your picture with you looking like this?" She was furious. And you better believe that, yes, ma'am, I was participating in remake day come you know what or high water. Remake Day! Note the pigtails - plural. You see, it was first grade. I was a first grader, had barely turned 6. I'm pretty sure pictures were near the end of the day, and I'm pretty sure I had played chase that day at recess. In my dress. And my pigtails. Without a care in the world. Do you remember those playground days of playing chase? No, I'm not talking about the dreadful day on the playground that your cousin, Brian, along with a couple of other boys chased you down and held you against the monkey bars so that Peter Schmidt could kiss you. Not that day. Yes, I was and still am completely mortified. I'm talking about the days that I ran completely carefree. Wide open, my curly frizzy hair and all, laughing and running until breathless. I didn't have a single worry about falling and skinning my knee or my elbow. My thoughts were simple. Playing chase. Psalm 23:6. Surely goodness and lovingkindness will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. Don't skim over this verse because it's familiar. I almost did. There is a little treasure tucked in there in the word "follow". In the original language this word for follow is radaph. It means this:
T o run after To chase To hunt His goodness and His lovingkindness chases you all the days of your life, friends. He is playing chase with you and me, He's right on our heels. But He's never running from us. The question is, are we chasing something else? If we would but stop that chase, turn our head over our shoulder, we won't have to chase after Him, because as we turn, we will collide. We will run smack dab into the One who loves us more than we can understand. To know that His lovingkindness and His goodness is chasing me is a simple truth makes the hard days a little easier to walk through. He doesn't care if you have one pigtail or ten, He thinks you are beautiful just as you are! On July 4th, my hometown was the second hottest place on the map, with the number one hottest place being in our same state only an hour or so away. I came out to my porch that morning to spend some time with God, which is my favorite place to listen for Him. That morning, I sat down with my coffee and it didn't take very long to realize it was too hot already for that cup of coffee and to start to feeling sticky all over! Sitting the coffee aside, I chose to stay. Stay out in the heat. I chose to stay out in the heat for a little while and be sweaty and uncomfortable because I know how I am once I go inside to the comforts of the air conditioning. I get distracted and other things get my attention and my time trying to savor Him is no where near as sweet. I opened the book I have been reading, Secrets of the Secret Place by Bob Sorge, which I highly recommend by the way, and a few paragraphs in, he referenced a verse, Matthew 24:12. And because lawlessness is increased, most people's love will grow cold. How ironic since I was dripping sweat while sitting still in the shade before 9AM! I guess that's how He got my attention with it, though. I had to know more about the phrase "will grow cold", because it was obvious the love was once present in the people He was describing and I did not want that to happen to me. The original word for that phrase means "to breathe or refresh with cool air". Because things were so bad, they had sought relief in the air conditioning, and their love for Jesus grew cold. Follow me for just a minute, would you? He impressed upon me more than the obvious here. Y'all, it's been hot here. Not just outside. My life has seemed very hot and sweltering for a couple of years now because of things happening to me and to the people I love. Severe illness, death, uncertainty, plain old getting old (HAHA!), unjust things happening to people dear to us. Hurting for people who were hurting and carrying their burdens along side them, trying to lovingly let go of children as they spread their own wings, while still trying to protect them. Watching friends and family grieve. It has been so swelteringly miserable at times, I would have done almost anything for 5 minutes of relief and refreshing, just to not feel anything. I begged Him for relief. A little would come here and there and then as soon as we could wipe the sweat from our brows, boom, the midday heat sizzled again. It sort of becomes survival only mode at that point. And that's then when you comprehend the verse in Hebrews that says we will receive a kingdom which cannot be shaken. When everything else is shaken up, He is all that remains. Y'all as much as I've whined to Him (and everyone else!) about how hard this season has been, I am thankful He did not give me the relief I begged and ached for. I'm afraid if He had allowed me the air conditioning my love may have grown cold. That's the last thing I want or need. The scary thing about living in the air conditioning is that you don't realize how cool you have become. The ironic thing about this truth He showed me was that he prepared me a few days before with an example and I had no idea at the time. My husband and I were coming out of Cracker Barrel. It was afternoon and it was warm outside. As I looked at the porch lined with rockers, there were several people taking advantage of them, rocking and chatting with those around them. I noticed that everyone on the porch was older, part of a wiser generation and everyone my age and younger sought the comfort of the air conditioned gift shoppe. I remember saying to my husband, "the older people don't seem to mind to be a little uncomfortable just to enjoy some company and conversation." When I read this verse in Matthew and thought about the heat, the air conditioning, and my heart, this Cracker Barrel visual immediately came back to my mind. Breathe in cool air, you cool off. Breathe in hot air, you get hot. Sometimes it is so sweltering in life that all you can do is do one breath at a time, and that's what I did through this tough time. I inhaled in the truths I knew about Him. Inhale - He is completely good, no matter how bad things may seem. Exhale And somehow, He, in His divine way does something with this and brings us through one more day. And we keep breathing until we come out on the other side.
And the passion in our hearts for Him burns with greater heat. I don't want to breathe in spiritually cool air just to be comfortable. I would rather be on fire for Him on the inside. How about you? Y'all, it's been hot here, but He has been with me through every drop of sweat and for every breath. He will do the same for you. It was as if my heart literally sighed in relief and as if I almost heard it do so when my eyes saw the words. They read it just like this: SIN WILL HAVE NO DOMINION OVER YOU.....since you are not under law but under grace. The words came with great authority, with a boldness, and I knew it wasn't me. I have no energy for a personal spiritual pep rally these days, so I knew it was the Spirit speaking through His written word.
You want to know why? Because He knows. He knows that sin will have no dominion over me, yes, but He also knows that I sit in a place of struggle and discouragement and He knew what my heart was wrestling with but afraid to say. He knew I have felt "stuck" for quite a while now. I feel stuck in my becoming more like Him. Stuck in the same old petty "acceptable" sin wondering if I will ever rise above it and break free. He knows. He knows my sin without my speaking and He knows that it will not have dominion over me. He also knew that I was in need of some truth spoken straight into my heart like an IV push. Although I find myself in the same trappings of sin in my thoughts, attitudes, and my words, THAT SIN WILL HAVE NO DOMINION OVER ME. Although, I feel like it has control, it doesn't. It will not have mastery over me because I am His. The only mastery and control it can have is how much I give it. Yes, I am exhausted with these struggles. And am often left wondering if I will ever grow past this point. This verse shows me that, in Him, I win over these things that I hate about myself, but tend to love in the moments of my days. It shows me that I WILL grow beyond this place of stuck. Any power this sin has in my life is false power and I must stop settling for the lies about being weak and unable to overcome. Those lies distract me from this truth: The Spirit wins at the point of my surrender. And the dominion becomes His. So thankful for this verse, along with many others, but mostly for His unmistakable way of loving me right where I am and making Himself known. Jesus, I really want to be better - I want to make YOU proud. Nudge me in those moments and remind me in Whose kingdom I stand and that your Spirit is willing to take total dominion and is ready to move me from stuck to victorious. It's all over. We've had weeks of reasons to celebrate and be joyful. First Thanksgiving, then Christmas. January and February are difficult months for many. It seems easy for the blues creep in and find no reason to rejoice. When those blues and blahs try to take up residence in our hearts, we can learn from David's prayer to God in Psalms 51: David is more than blue. He is deeply grieved over his sin and this whole chapter is about David confessing and receiving forgiveness for it. He knows he has been forgiven, but he is still deeply grieved. He has been crushed inside by what he has done to God and he just can't get past it. Instead of wallowing in the despair, like I often do, David goes straight to God and asks Him: Make me to hear joy and gladness He's already heard all of the grief and the sorrow that he can stand and he can't get beyond those feelings on his own. Negative emotions are pretty loud and obnoxious in my experience and I have no doubt they were the same for David. Hear. To listen to. To obey. To discern. To perceive. He asks God to make him obey joy. Make him perceive joy. Make him discern joy. Make him LISTEN to joy. He is crying out to God to help him be joyful in the forgiveness he had received even though he didn't feel joyful. Friend, we can hear so many emotions and we can decide which one we are going to listen to. He is asking God to help him discern the joy when all he can "hear" is his despair because he is crushed to pieces on the inside. He, effectively, is asking for the ability hear and obey the truth, which was that he had been forgiven, something to definitely rejoice about. We get to decide which voice our heart is going to obey, and that doesn't come naturally, which is why we have to go to God for it. It's like being able to pick out the sound of different instruments in an orchestra. It's only after experience listening can you hear the different instruments as they play instead of the whole orchestra. How often when I am down or in despair do I ask to hear the truth on the matter? Not much. Because so many negative emotions are screaming, rudely, might I add, I find myself defaulting to whichever is louder. Father, in times of joylessness, I need to come to you just like David. I need to ask you to tune my ear to the joy of forgiveness that I have in Christ. That in itself can change the whole outlook I have on the day. I have been forgiven much and I can rejoice in that no matter what the day holds. Holy Spirit, remind me that I get to decide which voice my heart is going to obey. Rejoice, my friends. The tree and the decorations are put away for another year. The sparkle and lights may be gone, but the Reason for it all lives forevermore and He is why we don't stop celebrating in our hearts after the tree comes down.
Have a joy filled 2017, friends. I am certainly going to try. Remember, it doesn't happen on its own, we need His help. I received a Christmas card in the mail yesterday. Although I have loved every card I have gotten, this one got my attention. At first glance you wouldn't think so. It wasn't fancy. It wasn't glittery. It wasn't a beautiful family photo. It was a simple card. But it was the simple, yet not so simple words my aunt had written on the inside that stirred me then and were still stirring me this morning when I woke. Here's what she wrote: Many blessings for a happy and holy Christmas! Friends we go through this season wishing Merry Christmas to those we love and we really do mean it, but I don't ever recall being wished a HOLY Christmas. And that is what Christmas is. So deeply holy. With my aunt's wishes for a Holy Christmas echoing in my mind, I read from Isaiah this morning asking Him to remind me of Holy as I go through the activities of today and tomorrow. And as I read, words that I had not noticed until now got my attention in Isaiah 53:5. Our well-being. If He didn't care about us, He wouldn't mention our well-being. He was concerned about my well-being and yours. The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him. As I dug a little deeper into this word "well-being", here's what I found it means in the original language: Peace, friendship with God Peace in war Safety Welfare Completeness That's what makes this all Holy. There was punishment due for my sin and yours, and that fell upon him so that it didn't have to fall upon you and me. He was concerned about our well-being and did what He could to protect it. And because He took that punishment for us, my sinful state is no longer at war with God. I have peace with Him and He calls me friend. I am safe. I am complete. But although He did this, although He already took the chastening, it is not automatic for you and me. Until we acknowledge our sin and our need for what He did to pay for it on our behalf, our manger is still empty. We can celebrate Christmas all we want. It can be the merriest of times. But it isn't holy. The Savior has not yet come - for you. You are not at peace with Him. You are not safe. You are not complete. Your manger is still empty. But it doesn't have to be. As I close this post today, I could wish you a Merry Christmas, but that would not be enough. I want more for you, friend, so as my aunt wished me and my family, Be at peace with Him this Christmas.
Be called His friend. Be safe. Be complete. If you want to know more about Him, I will be glad to show you, just leave a comment below. I wasn't there. I don't really know. But I imagine what it was like. Another morning, another long day of much to do awaited her as her eyes lifted from sleep. She rises from her bed, her body still tired and heart a little weary, she slips into her worn clothing and twists her hair away from her face. Quietly she moves toward the kitchen so as not to stir the children. If she could just get a few things done before they wake - well, it was just easier that way. She stepped outside, gathered a few sticks for the fire, for the oven had to be heated for her daily baking of bread. She pulled the flour and the oil near and began to quietly mix the dough. Her mind wondered as she began to knead. Another day, another batch of dough. Did anyone appreciate or notice the things she did? There was always bread to be baked, clothes to be washed, shoes to be mended, messes to be cleaned. As her hands worked the dough, these are the things that flooded her mind. Sure, her husband loved her, she knew that. He was a wonderful man, but he worked very long, hard days to provide for them making time together scarce. She knew she had much to be thankful for. She had him and a house full of healthy children she reminded herself. She often got lost in thoughts like this while she kneaded. It was a bit therapeutic, one could say. She lifted the dough rolling it in her hands thinking about what was "missing". There must be more. Remembering the promises she had been taught since childhood, she knew there was a Savior to come. God had promised a messiah for His people, but that was hundreds of years ago and He had been quiet since. Where was He and why was He so quiet? Her heart asked, "Will life be empty like this forever?", as she lays the dough and presses it. She hears little feet coming her way. Those thoughts and questions in her heart would have to wait until tomorrow when she starts it all over again. What she didn't know as she began her morning, with it's seemingly mundane tasks was that the world had already heard from God. It had been the most magnificent of nights. While she had been sleeping, her Messiah, her answer to what was missing, arrived. He was very present, there for her less than a mile away. While she had kneaded and wondered of when her people would ever hear from God again, she didn't know they already had. And this changed everything. God was at work orchestrating and fulfilling His plan unnoticed. It had been a glorious night. He had heard His people. He had acted. And there was now an empty spot in Heaven while the earth was full of His glory. And she had no idea. Friend, I know how you feel. Sometimes it seems God is quiet, like He's doing nothing in our waiting. Sometimes life seems stale, like there is something missing. But He had very much been up to something 2000 years ago and they had been totally unaware how He had been using their ordinary activities as part of His extraordinary plan. Her need. It was taken care of. And it may just seem like another day of being unnoticed to you, but He already has an answer to your need and He knows what is best. He has not forgotten you and your heart has been heard. Trust His timing and trust that He is completely good. And trust that He is working even when it seems He isn't. When I think of the people in Bethlehem that Christmas morning, I think of them scurrying around doing their daily responsibilities not knowing that Greatness was right under their noses. And it reminds me that when I go through my responsibilities, it may just be that Greatness is right under my nose too. I have hope in Him and that He has been working while I have been sleeping. Sometimes our answer has already arrived and we just don't know it yet. But when we do, oh how our hearts can sing...... Glory to God in the highest! Merry Christmas, friend.It was for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore keep standing firm As I reflected on the flag draped over the altar, it became clear my friend was thinking the same thoughts as I when she leaned toward my ear, whispering, "How fitting. Our nation on the altar." All I could do was shake my head in agreement. No other words were necessary. Adding to those thoughts was the hymn America the Beautiful. A heart of gratitude to God welled within. People before me chose to stand for what they believe in, what I believe in, and were willing to sacrifice it all for those beliefs. I am so thankful God chose to place me in this country I love and I want to lift her to His altar this Independence Day. Would you join me in prayer for her? God of wonders, thank you for being mine. Thank you for adopting me as your own, regardless of my sin, my past, and my flaws. My mind cannot fathom how loving you must be to extend your inheritance to me to call my own. I thank you for this country that you have blessed this many years. I pray for us, your people, in this nation to turn our hearts from our own ways and our own pride and our own wickedness and face those hearts toward you in repentance. We are all in desperate need of you. Would you bring us, as a people, an awareness of that need? Bring us to the end of ourselves and our "independence" from You and make us a people completely dependent upon You. This country has only been great because of your gracious, merciful hand reaching toward us, may we be mindful of that and not turn our noses up at your demands for holiness. Give us wisdom to see your standards for living as tools for and not limitations to our freedom. Forgive us of our arrogance and pride and please replace it with humility and dependence upon You. Make us a grateful people. Make us a praying people. Make us a loving people. Make us a wise people given to great discernment. May we open our hardened hearts to allow your love to pour in and then spill out on those we meet. Open our minds to be renewed in truth so that truth would be foundational in all we do and think individually and as a nation. Let the truth of Who You Are remind us of our frailty. May your character be our guide when we interact with others. Oh...that we would live reflecting that what we profess to believe is relevant in our choices. May we stop handing down an irrelevant faith to our children. For this nation to continue to be great, the next generations must see that You are relevant in all things, begin that in me and my household. Forgive us as parents for often only making You and your teachings a mere suggestion to our children and not a priority. Sadly, we have allowed what we call freedom to become our own bondage. Help us to see that to be truly free as a people we must begin everyday enslaved to You. It's all about the bottom line. That's true about a lot of things in life. It's true in business, it's true in relationships, in conversations. The bottom line is about what will be earned or produced from something. It's about the profit. We ask ourselves, often unaware, "What will this profit me?". I have no idea when your eyes will fall upon these words, but as I type, I am thinking of tomorrow, Easter Sunday. Many will put forth an extra measure of effort for this special day. Family gatherings and special meals will be prepared, eggs will be hunted, chocolate bunnies devoured. Pastors are preparing messages in hopes that this one opportunity will make a Kingdom difference. The pews will be filled with people, many of whom sit there with very empty hearts, and He wants to pour into those empty hearts His fullness. Will there be any profit? Therefore, let us fear lest, while a promise remains of entering His rest, any one of you should seem to have come short of it. For indeed we have had good news preached to us, just as they also; but the word they heard did not profit them, because it was not united by faith in those who heard. For we who have believed enter that rest..... We've heard the good news preached, many of us all our lives. We will hear the good news preached tomorrow, but has there been any profit? To answer for myself, I can only say sometimes. Not because of a failure of the message or it's unending truth, but because of a failure on my part. The profit from all the exposure to the Gospel hinges on one thing and we find it in this passage - But the word they heard did not profit them, because it was not united by faith. When truth is delivered to me, I have a choice to make. I have to choose whether to unite what I have heard with faith or to leave it disconnected. Disconnected with my everyday life, everyday choices, my everyday heart. I have to choose whether or not I am going to believe it. Am I going to trust God and His character in what has been taught me? Or will I approach what has been served to me with a take it or leave it heart? I have learned there is no power in disconnection. There is no growth in failing to unite truth and faith in it. Sometimes I fail to choose, which leaves me no profit. Faith: A technical term indicative of the means of appropriating what God in Christ has for man, resulting in the transformation of man's character and way of life. To bottom line it for you, it's really pretty simple. It comes down to this - Do I believe what scripture teaches or not? We unknowingly approach that crossroads every time His truth is presented to us. Do I REALLY believe it FOR ME? My actions and responses in life reflect what I have chosen to believe, whether I realize it or not. This has made a vast impact on my growth and it can yours too. All of my life I said I believed the Bible. But I never realized how much of a generalization I was making when I said that. I had never united HIS WORD to my faith. I had never chosen to apply and believe it specifically. Not generally, but specifically to me. That's the bottom line, sweet friend. HE IS AFTER YOU. Specifically. The words are FOR YOU. Not just for the world. YOU. Because I believe what scripture teaches about Him and His heart for me, I am able to say and believe..... God is still good - in the face of cancer. God is still good - in the loss of a friend. God is still good - when feelings of emptiness creep in. God is still good - when money is tight. God is still good - when you walk the road alone. God is still good - when a marriage falls apart. God is still good - when normal is turned upside down. And you can say that too, if you chose to unite that truth with faith. This passage goes on to say: For we who have believed enter that rest. The bottom line - profit comes when we unite truth with faith - Belief -, and that profit is rest.
Will you do that? Will you unite the truth of His word to your belief the next time you hear it? It's not something we do once, it's something we do over and over. Let Him fill the emptiness of your heart with the fullness of Who He IS. The I AM. He wants you to have rest in that. XOXO Maybe Tina Turner got it all wrong. Maybe love has everything to do with it. If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but do not have love, I have become a noisy going or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge; and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. And if I give all my possessions to feed the poor, and if I surrender my body to be burned, but do not have love, it profits me nothing. Without love = noisy going Without love = clanging cymbal Without love = I am nothing Without love = profits me nothing The reason 1 Corinthians 13 was being discussed was because the Corinthian church was asking Paul which gifts were the most important. They, like us, wanted to "be somebody" and thought if they could figure out which spiritual gift carried the most clout, they could line out the pecking order, so to speak. They weren't much different than we are today. We all want to be somebody. We want to be important. We want to be needed by someone, but as these verses show us, the secret ingredient isn't the gift or the ability at all, it is love. But not love in our cheapened way of defining it, love as in God's way of defining it. love = Greek work, agape, a noun which means: affection of benevolence, a love feast, charity This is a love that loves the way God loves. It is self-giving and gives without expecting any re-payment or acknowledgement. It is a love so great that it can be given to those who are unlovely, and can continue to be given even when it is rejected. This kind of love loves because it WANTS to. It gives because it WANTS to. It does not love in order to receive. As I read in David Guzik's commentary on 1 Cor 13 this week, "It has little to do with emotion and much to do with self-denial for the sake of another." As I pondered this love and what it means, I began to ask if I have ever really truly loved with agape love and I am not sure that I have. The closest I can say that I have been probably was the love I had for our daughters when they were tiny, before they were able to love me back, but even in that, I did want to be loved back - someday. I also pondered this - We like to share with others what we know, it makes us feel important, makes us feel worth something, but without love, I am becoming the exact opposite of what I desire to be. In an effort to be something, someone, I am becoming NOTHING. What I think I know, who I know, my gifts, etc may make me think I am someone, but without love I am not a someone at all. I am a no one. Instead of something, I am nothing. Sorry, Tina, but love definitely has something to do with it. I also read in the commentary: A man with faith can move great mountains; but he will set them down right in the path of somebody else - or right on somebody else - if he doesn't have love. That's not who I want to be. I don't want anyone to see one speck of what I "know" about God if I don't have love, for I fear that my flesh and the way it distorts things would cause them to misunderstand Him and cause them to turn away. If anyone sees any evidence of any ounce of knowledge I think I have, may it be packaged in love.
If I am speaking in big words, churchy words, giving the "you oughta spill", but cannot look and see the NEED of that person with kindness and a willingness to meet that need, I am nothing but racket to them. I may be able to offer words of wisdom. I may be able to exercise great faith personally and move a mountain with that faith. I can give to every charity I chose to and donate endless hours of service, but all of this has no profit without love. So, no, I don't know if I have ever truly loved with agape love. When I think of it in terms of never expecting repayment, it really narrows the field . We naturally want someone to acknowledge our act of love toward them with a simple thank you or something of that nature. We may even start out loving without expecting a thank you, but over time, a repeated complete lack of acknowledgment from the receiver tends to make me less willing to continue to display love to them since it seems unappreciated or unwanted. Notice I used the word, "naturally". God had to point that out to me. In my human nature I cannot love like this, but I can love like this supernaturally. And that only comes from a living relationship with Him, one where I allow Him pour in to me so that I can pour out to another, only looking to Him for acknowledgement. In 1 Corinthians 12:31, Paul says he wants to teach them a more excellent way, then he describes love and it's effects. Love is the more excellent way. 1 John 4:16 teaches us that God is love while 1 Corinthians 14:1 tells us to pursue love, so in pursuing love I am pursuing God and vice versa. Sorry, Tina. Love has everything to do with it. I want the more excellent way. XOXO |