Transparency & Psalm 34:8

Thank you Lord for being my strength in the midst of it all. How is my heart today? As I read a devotional by Oswald Chambers I am reminded that it is a daily choice to continually open up to you. Where does my strength and freshness come from day by day? Is it you Lord? Why does my heart ache? When failure hits my heart sinks and the wonder comes to mind.. can I do this? My own selfishness shocks me and disappoints. Lord, it is my cry to you, please don't leave me this way. You are so full of mercy and grace. What I sang in worship the other night rings true. I am so unworthy, and yet you love me. How is this possible? Why did you choose me? I am nothing. As I see my own sinful nature my heart breaks. Why would you continue to bless me so much? Lord you are so great, so powerful, how can you care about us that much? I struggle with this. Haven't you seen what I've done, who I've been. How can you forgive this? How come my nature is not to forgive others for so much less than what you forgive me for?

In our search for acceptance, healed hearts, peace, love, and forgiveness may we only find you. This is my prayer.

"The LORD is near to the brokenhearted And saves those who are crushed in spirit." Psalm 34:18

If you love me... (part II)

" If you love me you will obey my commands" John 15:6-7

This statement is Jesus speaking to his followers. Notice here what he does not say... He does not say obey my commands that you understand, nor does He say obey my commands which you agree with, he simply says if you love me obey my commands. 

Jesus knows that our love for God can supercede our need to understand, agree, or want to follow his commands. So what happens when we fail to obey? The greater question is how in love our we with the one who called us to obey? How willing are we to do the things he has set out for us to do? If not, why? What steals that place in our life? Is it money? Is it success? Is it other's opinion? Is it family? Is it fear? Is it unbelief? laziness? frustration? anger? If not these what is it? 

Jeremiah 29:11 "For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future." 

Where on our journey did we lose our desire to give God our heart? 

As I write this I do so in reflection of my own lack of love for Christ. The lack that has caused me to shy away from sharing what he has done in my life. The lack of obedience to serve the poor when I see a homeless person begging on the street corner while I sit in my car at a traffic light. When I pretend that homeless person doesn't exist, I am failing to love the very people Jesus called me to love. It is out of my own sin and shame that I recognize disobedience leads to failure, pain, and ultimately... emptiness. Knowing God's commands is one thing, living them out in relationship to him everyday is quite another.  Many of us have knowledge of God's ways of His commands yet we ignore the urge within us to do what He has asked. So many times we try to do the 'right' thing, but how many of those times has the 'right' thing simply been the most 'convenient' or desirable thing to us? 

I recall times of lashing out in anger at someone or something, not because it was the necessary response, but rather because it was the most desirable reaction at the moment. 

When Jesus said ''if you love me you will obey my commands'' He knew that we would be tempted to do the very opposite.  But he also knew that love covers a multitude of sins. He knew that the very love he has for us is greater than He who is in this world. This New Year, know that the very love that once saved us also leads us back to the cross. It is there we remember we are not alone. Christ knows our pain, our temptation, our very struggle with the world and people in it. Yet it is his love that was offered at the cross to redeem us. Even in his desire to skip the sacrificial death that covers our sins, of of love he obeyed. His willingness to obey is the ultimate demonstration of obedience to God. We may understand, we may not, we may agree or disagree, but either way the Lord commands us. It is our choice to love and obey or not. There are dozens of decisions that face us daily..what will you choose?

"Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him." John 14:21

If you love me... (part 1)

"If you really love me you will..." 

You fill in the blank. "If you love me you will...." How many times have we heard that phrase from those who are closest to us? You can probably fill in the blank remembering when someone said this to you. Maybe it was a family member reminding you of how you should change your ways. May it was a boyfriend or girlfriend asking you to do something for them. Whoever it may have been, that person was expressing their desire for you to do something that you may not want to do.... why?... because of your love for them. 

Why love? Well, the idea is that love is willing to sacrifice. Love is willing to say, I don't prefer to do this (go fishing), actually I don't like this at all, but I will do it because you enjoy it and I love you enough to spend time with you doing what you like. Now most of the time this very love is considered 'sweet' and 'nice', but actually there is more behind it. Consider for a second that your community, your neighborhood, your family, comes down with a rare case of deadly respiratory disease. Imagine if your significant other was the one who was not affected?.What kind of love would it be that would motivate a search for the cure? Would he or she be willing to give up their time, money, energy searching for a cure? What would their love sacrifice for the survival of others? Would they be willing to put their life at risk to cure you or others?

Many think that a love willing to sacrifice is true human love. It is not. Although the statement seems complete, the truth is unconditional love is from God and God alone. "We love because He first loved us" 1 John 4:19

Do you know that kind of love? If you don't... please pray for God to show you, He waiting to do so. And I don't mean a kind of love that 'feels good' for a moment, or satisfies for a period of months. I am speaking of a love that completes, fulfills, and restores our lives. All of us were created to love and be loved. Hence my favorite Tobymac song 'Made to Love'. The chorus refers to his relationship with God

Check it:

You were here before me, 

you were waiting on me 

And you said you'd keep me, 

never would you leave me, (Hebrews 13:5)

 I was made to love and be loved by you

My prayer is that you may now the love of God that is beyond all other things. 

Cori-