Discovering what love is one day at a time
Sometimes, we can be overwhelmed by our circumstances, and just decide that’s it! I can’t go any further, I give up. I am parking here for the night… (Or longer)…and we refuse to budge in how we are thinking, feeling or even why we parked there in the first place. God makes everything really simple for us. We make it more difficult. He says we are to put on love. He doesn’t say put on love only when things are going our way…only when everyone is treating us the way we want to be treated, or when life looks like a happily-ever-after storybook. He just says put on love. By the power of the Holy Spirit we can be controlled…self-controlled. We do not have to behave the way we feel….. We DO NOT HAVE TO behave the way we FEEL. We also do not have to sit passively while crud is hitting the fan. We get to be men and women of our word. We get to honor the people around us. We do not have to grow weary while doing good, because in due season we will reap if we do not lose heart. Therefore as we have opportunity, we can do good to all. We do not have to shut down, isolate ourselves, or go ”crazy” in whatever manner is our natural inclination. We get to pray for one another, including the person that stirs your heart and lifts up some sludge that they may stand perfect and complete in all the will of God. We also get to ask Him to search our heart and see if there is any evil way within us. We get to ask the Lord why our hearts had the sludge in the first place, what is it, and how do we go about getting rid of it? When our hearts are turned towards the Lord and not our circumstances we don’t end up parking overnight in them, nor do we sleep in prayer, but we heed the warning of rise up and pray lest you enter into temptation. Every single person has a story; some have pretty hairy ones and some not so much, no matter what your life has been we all have issues of sin and hurt and chaos of some sort. There are things that each of us may just sweep under the carpet, because “that was the past…and it doesn’t affect me now.” If that is true…ask God… this question…why do I get angry when….? Why do I get so upset when….? Why do I isolate, shut down, get depressed, work more, drink more, smoke more, do drugs, over commit, spend lots of money, eat too much...or do not eat enough…or any other form of hiding…? And be ready to listen to His answer. He will show you the “bear in your attic” and He will show you how to get rid of the bear for it never to return again. (See Previous Post) There are many things that we do that may feel like we are beating the hurt in our hearts…but unless we submit them to God we are standing in opposition to Him. Instead of submitting our hurts to Him we are resisting Him and submitting to the lies of the enemy of our souls. It doesn’t feel good. It hurts and causes more pain for us and our loved ones. It’s like the grip of the Denver boot…the metal dealy-bob they put on an automobile tire to immobilize it, due to unpaid parking tickets. Twenty to thirty pounds of steel, with a grip like an angry dog. We will do anything to rid ourselves of this weight…and yet the only thing that removes it is looking at it through God’s perspective. Instantly, when we change our minds and come to our right mind, repent and draw near to Him, the grip is released and we have the opportunity to fill that place in our hearts with His fullness, His perspective, and His love. The Bible says that we are to put on the full armor of God that we may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all to stand. That encouragement to withstand, is to resist successfully, stand up against something and oppose with firm determination, to stop or obstruct the course of, to be proof against, to buck, defy, resist, fight, and oppose….If we are not submitting to and using the armor that God supplies, then we are withstanding God, and truthfully it’s not a good place to be. But…if we trust Him and honor receive and utilize the grace that has been given to us, we will successfully oppose the enemy of our souls and he will flee…. Praying that today, we each would be more concerned about others in our lives that we would not oppose the grace that God has so freely lavished upon us; that we would be unwilling to continue in the patterns that are unhealthy for us and the people around us. That we each would no longer oppose the gentle touch of God as He continues the work that He has begun in us. Change us until we are changed…we give You full access unto our hearts minds and will. We desire to walk worthy of the calling You have given each one of us. We are so thankful for Your grace, Your mercy and Your love.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorI have been married to my wonderful husband for 29 years. We have two young men ages 25 and 20.. This blog is somewhat of a journal and attempt for me to remind myself of my purpose and invite others to join me in keeping an eternal perspective as we move through each day. Archives
May 2023
|