From March 11, 2008
I Corinthians 13:4-8
"Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keep no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails..."
Romans 12: 9-17
"Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves. Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. Share with God's people who are in need. Practice hospitality. Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn. Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position. Do not be conceited. Do not repay anyone evil for evil."
Romans 13:9-10
"The commandments, 'Do not commit adultery,' 'Do not murder,' 'Do not steal,' 'Do not covet,' and whatever other commandment there may be, are summed up in this one rule: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' Love does no harm to its neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law."
I Peter 4:8-10
"Above all else, love deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins. Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling. Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithful administering God's grace in its various form."
I Timothy 1:5
"The goal of this command is love, which comes from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith."
Ephesians 5:1-2
"Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God."
Can we remove all romantic connotations from the word for just a few moments? Love is pure, but the concept is tainted by the secular definitions. In all these verses, the "love" is not complimented by words such as "marriage", but rather the idea of reaching out to others, no matter who they may be.
Love is a word that is often thrown around quite meaninglessly, most likely because most people do not truly understand what love truly is. Now I do not claim to be an expert, but I would consider Paul one. And his description of love, as seen in I Corinthians covers it all.
It's the end of that segment that touches me the most. "Love never fails." I think it's complete crap when people utter the words, "I just don't love him/her anymore." If that's the case, then it obviously wasn't love to begin with. The things of the world are fickle and uncertain, but love is of God, and if there is one certain in life, than it is Him. If anyone's experiences with love goes against what He has said in anyway, then I am confident to say that it was not quite love.
"For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demon, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God that is Christ in Jesus our Lord." (Romans 8:38-39)
Now that's love.
Of course, we are repeatedly told to love our neighbors, but I'm sure we all question whether or not it's possible to have such a sincere love for everyone, including people we haven't meant. Obviously, there must be different levels of love, defined by the amount of fervor behind it, but the same principle still remains. Though not as invested in the homeless man I pass on the street daily as I am with my mother, I am still expected to reach out to him just the same.
But I believe to fulfill the criteria of love as stated above from the Bible, certain prerequisites in the relationship aren't needed, especially since we are not talking of "romantic" love at this moment. Thus I am constantly inspired to reach out in the best way I can to everyone who may need it. It's a thought that has been swimming around in my mind a lot for the past weeks, but I feel like I haven't exactly acted on it. No, I do not blatantly shun people, but there is always more than I can be doing to show love.
I Peter 4:8-10 especially speaks to me on this matter. Verse 8 has always been one of my favorite verses, but recently I've noted the following verses. It is not a coincidence that Peter speaks of hospitality right after he mentions love. So I want to be available to anyone who may need me, may it be in the simplest way or in the most complex way. I realize how easy it is to show love and how the slightest gesture can mean a lot to a person.
"Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithful administering God's grace in its various form."
Another thing that I am now becoming more focused on. I've been quite aware of my talents for some time now, mostly because compliments on them have been shoved down my throat since I was about seven. But it's come to the point that I realize that I shouldn't be using my gifts for my own joy, but for the joy of the Lord and of others. Especially in my case, when I have talents that specifically can be used to impact others (creativity, writing, humor). And without even meaning to, I've seen lately that these abilities have already been used by God to touch the lives of others, but I am not willing to just stop there. I want to take it to another level.
I just think it's very important to be a beacon of the love of the Lord. More important than myself, after all, is others.
Love is a simple concept with a powerful results. It can change moments, lives, the world. It's something we all need to be more conscience. Instead of automatically equivocating this concept to romance, we need to broaden our definitions to encompass what God truly means it as.
And this is regard to not just our friend and family, but enemies and strangers as well.
Let it be known that I am working on a blank state here. Despite lack of compatibilities or events that may have occurred in the past, I am willing to love and I'm going to love. And I think I've lost the central point of this note long ago.
But then again, isn't the central point love? 'Cause unlike most things, love never fails.
I love you all.
Showing posts with label I peter. Show all posts
Showing posts with label I peter. Show all posts
Saturday, January 14, 2012
God ALWAYS Comes Through
From December 10, 2011
About to get real honest on this one.
So here’s the deal - woke up feeling terrible because I still haven’t gotten a call for the Paramount job (and others have), and I was starting to truly believe that I never would get that call a.k.a. did not get the job.
And of course, I love to feel like I’m not susceptible to certain, common human emotions - like feeling down over stuff and feelings of low self-worth. It’s a pride thing, even though it is true to a certain extent, because I’m incredibly chill and laid back, so those things don’t tend to get to me (not to mention, I have a slew of other issues that do affect me), but that doesn’t mean I’m invincible.
So though I was touting the mantra of, “Even if I don’t get this job, that means God has something else for me - something that’s better than me”, subscribing to patience, and not jumping to conclusions, suddenly I was feeling so discouraged, frustrated, and just bad about myself. I laid in bed for about an hour after I woke up, in the midst of this intense, emotional battle - trying to keep my spirits up against a force that was weighing them down. It was a battle that I was winning yesterday, but was losing so badly today.
And I was consciously aware that it was the devil’s lies affecting me, but it was so hard not to give into them, believe them, and wallow in self-pity as sentiments of “You can never get a job. There’s something wrong with you. You’re not good enough” rolled around my head.
But since I was conscious of it, I knew that this was spiritual warfare. And I could tell myself encouraging things in an attempt to combat it all I wanted, but there’s only one fool-proof defense against spiritual warfare, and that’s God. There’s no way I could stand strong against it alone or on my own strength. Because it became very clear to me that I didn’t have much strength at all.
So I prayed…and prayed…and still felt crappy, but I kept on reaching out to God. Then realized that I needed even more ammunition, and God puts people in our lives for a reason, and I’ve been trying to fight battles on my own for too long without letting anyone else in. So I reached out to Beth to explain how I was feeling and to ask her to pray for me, too.
And immediately after I just even sent that text message, I started to feel the peace of God come over me. I could feel my emotions and heart doing a complete turn-around.
But I didn’t want to take that for granted and just figure I was good to go. So I immediately grabbed my Bible, knowing that God’s word is a great weapon against the lies of the devil and the weaknesses of the flesh. And His peace grew within me, swallowing up all of my discouragement, frustration, and every lie I was being told. Suddenly, I was able to believe those encouraging things I had been telling myself, because the Holy Spirit was confirming them. If I don’t get this job, then okay - it obviously wasn’t meant to be. I tried my best, and not getting it doesn’t mean my best wasn’t good enough. There’s no reason for me to feel bad about myself - everyone has their strengths and weaknesses, after all.
And God does have a plan for me, meaning that there is something to come that is in His plan. Something much better for me.
Just an hour after I had started praying over this, and my emotions did a complete turn around, and that’s nothing short of the grace of God. I feel at total peace over this now. I feel joyful, even. Not because of eternal circumstances, but because true joy is given by the Lord and found in Him. So whether I get a phone call today saying I got this job or a letter tomorrow saying that I didn’t, then either way, it’s totally fine. I don’t feel discouraged, frustrated, bitter or bad about self over either outcome. And I am so grateful to God that He has provided me with this peace.
I wanted to share this experience hopefully to help encourage others. Find your refuge in God when you’re feeling down or attacked. Don’t try to fight against it by yourself - seek Him out and He will come through. Surrender it all to Him, pray to Him, get other believers to pray for you, and go to His Word - I promise you that if you completely give it to Him, He will come through and give you peace. I went through a miniature ordeal this afternoon, and it’s only through Him that I am now so bright, peaceful, encouraged, and hopeful. Because just a few hours ago, I was miserable and felt so heavy. It’s crazy - God is so good. He just wants us to go to Him.
I originally wrote all of this in my journal, and this journal has either a Bible verse or a quote pertaining to spirituality on each page. After I wrote this up, I decided to see what quote and verse where on the pages I wrote on, and check this out:
“When you accept the fact that sometimes seasons are dry and times are hard and that God is in control of both, you will discover a sense of divine refuge, because the ope then is in God and not yourself.” -Charlie Swindoll
“Yet the Lord longs to be gracious to you; He rises to show you compassion. For the Lord is a God of justice. Blessed are all who wait for him!” Isaiah 30:18 NIV
How perfect is that?! It goes exactly with what I was dealing with - God is so good, y’all!
Of course, I have to stay diligent and keep on seeking Him out, even as I feel much better, because I know how sneaky the devil is, so I know relapse is possible if I’m not careful. Just as I Peter 5:8 says, “Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.” So pray that I continue to seek God in this, and He maintains this peace within me.
It is so tempting to just give into these negative emotions. Succumb to them and wallow in them. And I was so close to that. But when I called upon God’s strength instead of trying to depend on my own, when I reached out desperately to Him in my weakness, He lifted me up above the things that were bogging me down. He empowered my resistance and won the battle for me.
“But He said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” 2 Corinthians 12:9-10
“Resist [the devil], firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world. And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to His eternal glory in Christ, will Himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you. To Him be the dominion forever and ever. Amen.” I Peter 5:9-11
God is seriously so amazing. I have no idea where I’d be without Him, and I am so grateful for His love and grace.
About to get real honest on this one.
So here’s the deal - woke up feeling terrible because I still haven’t gotten a call for the Paramount job (and others have), and I was starting to truly believe that I never would get that call a.k.a. did not get the job.
And of course, I love to feel like I’m not susceptible to certain, common human emotions - like feeling down over stuff and feelings of low self-worth. It’s a pride thing, even though it is true to a certain extent, because I’m incredibly chill and laid back, so those things don’t tend to get to me (not to mention, I have a slew of other issues that do affect me), but that doesn’t mean I’m invincible.
So though I was touting the mantra of, “Even if I don’t get this job, that means God has something else for me - something that’s better than me”, subscribing to patience, and not jumping to conclusions, suddenly I was feeling so discouraged, frustrated, and just bad about myself. I laid in bed for about an hour after I woke up, in the midst of this intense, emotional battle - trying to keep my spirits up against a force that was weighing them down. It was a battle that I was winning yesterday, but was losing so badly today.
And I was consciously aware that it was the devil’s lies affecting me, but it was so hard not to give into them, believe them, and wallow in self-pity as sentiments of “You can never get a job. There’s something wrong with you. You’re not good enough” rolled around my head.
But since I was conscious of it, I knew that this was spiritual warfare. And I could tell myself encouraging things in an attempt to combat it all I wanted, but there’s only one fool-proof defense against spiritual warfare, and that’s God. There’s no way I could stand strong against it alone or on my own strength. Because it became very clear to me that I didn’t have much strength at all.
So I prayed…and prayed…and still felt crappy, but I kept on reaching out to God. Then realized that I needed even more ammunition, and God puts people in our lives for a reason, and I’ve been trying to fight battles on my own for too long without letting anyone else in. So I reached out to Beth to explain how I was feeling and to ask her to pray for me, too.
And immediately after I just even sent that text message, I started to feel the peace of God come over me. I could feel my emotions and heart doing a complete turn-around.
But I didn’t want to take that for granted and just figure I was good to go. So I immediately grabbed my Bible, knowing that God’s word is a great weapon against the lies of the devil and the weaknesses of the flesh. And His peace grew within me, swallowing up all of my discouragement, frustration, and every lie I was being told. Suddenly, I was able to believe those encouraging things I had been telling myself, because the Holy Spirit was confirming them. If I don’t get this job, then okay - it obviously wasn’t meant to be. I tried my best, and not getting it doesn’t mean my best wasn’t good enough. There’s no reason for me to feel bad about myself - everyone has their strengths and weaknesses, after all.
And God does have a plan for me, meaning that there is something to come that is in His plan. Something much better for me.
Just an hour after I had started praying over this, and my emotions did a complete turn around, and that’s nothing short of the grace of God. I feel at total peace over this now. I feel joyful, even. Not because of eternal circumstances, but because true joy is given by the Lord and found in Him. So whether I get a phone call today saying I got this job or a letter tomorrow saying that I didn’t, then either way, it’s totally fine. I don’t feel discouraged, frustrated, bitter or bad about self over either outcome. And I am so grateful to God that He has provided me with this peace.
I wanted to share this experience hopefully to help encourage others. Find your refuge in God when you’re feeling down or attacked. Don’t try to fight against it by yourself - seek Him out and He will come through. Surrender it all to Him, pray to Him, get other believers to pray for you, and go to His Word - I promise you that if you completely give it to Him, He will come through and give you peace. I went through a miniature ordeal this afternoon, and it’s only through Him that I am now so bright, peaceful, encouraged, and hopeful. Because just a few hours ago, I was miserable and felt so heavy. It’s crazy - God is so good. He just wants us to go to Him.
I originally wrote all of this in my journal, and this journal has either a Bible verse or a quote pertaining to spirituality on each page. After I wrote this up, I decided to see what quote and verse where on the pages I wrote on, and check this out:
“When you accept the fact that sometimes seasons are dry and times are hard and that God is in control of both, you will discover a sense of divine refuge, because the ope then is in God and not yourself.” -Charlie Swindoll
“Yet the Lord longs to be gracious to you; He rises to show you compassion. For the Lord is a God of justice. Blessed are all who wait for him!” Isaiah 30:18 NIV
How perfect is that?! It goes exactly with what I was dealing with - God is so good, y’all!
Of course, I have to stay diligent and keep on seeking Him out, even as I feel much better, because I know how sneaky the devil is, so I know relapse is possible if I’m not careful. Just as I Peter 5:8 says, “Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.” So pray that I continue to seek God in this, and He maintains this peace within me.
It is so tempting to just give into these negative emotions. Succumb to them and wallow in them. And I was so close to that. But when I called upon God’s strength instead of trying to depend on my own, when I reached out desperately to Him in my weakness, He lifted me up above the things that were bogging me down. He empowered my resistance and won the battle for me.
“But He said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” 2 Corinthians 12:9-10
“Resist [the devil], firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world. And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to His eternal glory in Christ, will Himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you. To Him be the dominion forever and ever. Amen.” I Peter 5:9-11
God is seriously so amazing. I have no idea where I’d be without Him, and I am so grateful for His love and grace.
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