Continued 3am Meditations.. or Delirium

Love. The fulfillment of the Law is wrapped up in one thing alone, and that is love. Jesus leaves us with one command that is the greatest of them all: Love God, and love others as yourself. That’s it. If our full battle lies in putting all our faith, hope, and trust in Jesus, that we may witness his power that increases our faith (which faith alone pleases God) then what is left but to love? It seems simple enough, that is until I look at 1 Corinthians 13’s definition of love. I’ve determined that it is impossible to truly love unless it comes from a place of overflow of direct relationship with God. God is holy, and by that I mean GOOD! He is set apart, unlike any other, and as we are in touch with goodness in our lives, we fill up to the point of overflow. How hard is it to love when we are in need and life is handing us lemons? If we have eyes of faith and know the truth in our hearts that God is good, despite our circumstances, then we can have joy in the midst of our suffering, making it again easier to make the choice to love. I love the fact that our battle isn't here on earth. That is, not with flesh and blood. “It is against the rulers, against the authorities, against the world powers of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavens.” (Ephesians 6:12) Jesus said all who are heavy laden, come to him so he can give us rest. He carries our burdens for us, and our only job is to give them to him, that he may give us peace and rest that surpasses all understanding. Do we have the faith it takes to give him our battles we take on as our own, that we believe is our own responsibility to carry, or do we have enough trust in him to carry our burdens and go to war for us? Do we know how good he truly is? How much he truly loves us? One of my favorite truths about God is that he is our defender. We don’t have to try and explain ourselves, to prove we are right, or make other’s understand our hearts and who we are. We don’t have to engage that battle. Jesus is our defender, and he will reveal the truth in his own perfect way, in his very perfect timing. I leave that battle for him to fight for me. Maybe the truth will be on the shores of eternity, that is a promise from God, but I choose rest in that promise. I guess the revelation that we need is God is good, he is light, and in him is no darkness at all. Do we truly know God for who he is? Do we know his many names? Do we know everything he longs to be for us, if only we would let him love us. I believe we can only truly love, a 1 Corinthians 13 kind of love, to the same measure as we first know he loves us. We need a greater revelation of his love for us. We need a greater revelation of who he is, his character, his nature, and what it means that he is holy, that there is no other like him. If we set our gaze upon his holiness, we fall in love and become overwhelmed with his beauty because we realize how God truly is, and only then are we transformed into his image.. desperate and longing to be as beautiful as our God! Not by striving. Not through dead works. Not by people pleasing. Not by trying to fit into a mold. Not by trying to make ourselves change. But by sitting with him, gazing at his beauty, and soaking in his great love for us. This is the true power of worship. Not only is he getting the love that he deserves, but we get in touch with his divine nature, and become transformed by the truth of his beauty, and who he is in our lives. Thank you God that you are GOOD, ALL THE TIME!!!

Rainy Day Meditations

We are the Lord’s army. If it’s honorable to lay down your life for the sake of your own country, how much more honorable is it to lay down your life for the sake of the Kingdom of Heaven? We don’t belong to this world, but our citizenship is in heavenly places. We are citizens of the Kingdom of Heaven. If we believe what the bible says is true, we will believe this truth with all our hearts. Jesus did not promise us prosperity, wealth, complete health, protection from any and all harm, including suffering, or even that everyone will like us, but in fact, he promised us trial, tribulation, persecution, suffering, and that the world will hate us, as the world hated him first. It’s time to align the truth of the gospel with our own lives. The church is in need of a great adjustment. We don’t live for what the world offers today, for these things are passing away, but instead we live for the sake of eternity. Our life is but a breath to God. How are our lives making eternal impact? How are our lives going to uniquely mark eternity? I pray for that revelation for all of us! Where do our treasures lie? Are we storing them up here on earth, or in heavenly places? For wherever our treasures lie, there our heart will be also. As this is true, I know what else is also true. The fullness of our joy is made complete only in Jesus. It’s time to draw that line in the sand. Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life. There is no other way but through him alone. If we come to believe and trust in Jesus alone, the call on our lives will be made clear. If we answer the call on our lives, how truly great will our lives be!? Jesus is the only one who makes our lives whole. As an overflow of his love, he created us, and created the very desires and longings in our hearts, and only through him, through his sovereignty in our lives, and through our willingness and obedience to his will, will we be made whole. He alone gives us the desires of our hearts; he alone fulfills us, for he alone knows us as we were being knit together in our mother’s womb. He alone knows what he was thinking when he made us. Who else holds the answer? Who else knows us better than we know ourselves? Who else has the vision for the fulfillment of who we were created to be? His ways are higher than our ways, so it requires our trust in him alone for the fulfillment of who we were created to be. We discover our identity is only realized through him. Good luck figuring it out on our own. That is an exhausting process. In Jesus, we get to rest and trust in his great love for us, and his sovereignty in our lives for the realization of our identities, so our full battle lies in resting in his love, learning to trust him and grow in our faith in him, who alone is responsible for our outcome, as long as we choose to put all our faith, hope, and trust in him. Fear of the Lord is stepping outside that place of rest; stepping outside the center of his heart. Lord, never let me walk away from your covering!! Jesus alone brings the fulfillment of the desires placed in our hearts. He alone conceives and brings life to those desires, as we rest in him. As we put all our faith and trust in him. Our impatience and striving produce Ishmaels, but he alone conceives Isaacs in our lives, bringing to fulfillment the great promises over our lives. Again, Jesus alone is the fullness of our joy! Our joy is only made complete in him and him alone!! He alone is the fulfillment of more than we could ever dream or imagine!!