Taking a Chance

Two days ago I met a young girl, who I will refer to as Maggie, standing on a corner holding up a cardboard sign. A cardboard sign that tells of a class of people, not very highly looked upon, and often ignored.

I put my four way flashers on and got out of my car, not really thinking, just moving. I walked up to Maggie and gently asked her “What’s going on?”

She was homeless and hungry…and pregnant.

“How old are you?”

She was eighteen, had just gotten out of a bad relationship, and was trying to get to Little Rock to stay with her sister.

I didn’t know what to do or how I could help her, but I knew that I wanted to. I didn’t have any cash, but I had some leftovers from the restaurant I’d just left and some crackers. I offered them to her and she quickly accepted…

Over the course of the next two days, and with Lifehouse and my sister behind me, I was able to offer Maggie some encouragement, a bus ticket to her sister, meals, a place to stay, and what I hoped would be a new beginning for her.

Maggie had been homeless for a week, after leaving her abusive, drug-addicted boyfriend of the last year and a half. She was four and a half months pregnant, lonely, and hopeless. Through God’s grace, my sister and I had the chance to sow seeds of love and truth into her…

Maggie had a ticket to Little Rock today. She was supposed to call my sister and I this morning, and we planned to meet her at the bus station; however, though my sister waited for quite some time for her, she never showed up. It’s possible she still made it to that bus, but we will most likely never know.

I can’t quite explain what emotions I have…When I stepped into this situation I was prepared to be lied to and was mindful of the possibility of being taken advantage of… but in the end, I still found myself disappointed…

With the sting of disappointment in my heart, I thought about all that God has done for us. How often do I take HIM for granted? How often do I take for granted the grace he so freely gives and disregard the new beginnings he offers.

Today I’m challenged. I could give up on helping those homeless and in need because of the possibility of their abuse of it, or I can take moments like these and be reminded to not only thank God for all he has given to me, but to step into the life and freedom that he paid so much for me to have.

Be reminded today how much God loves you and how much He has paid for you so that you could have life. And not only life, but life abundantly!
Love,
Sarah

Brotherly Love

I Thessalonians 4: 9-10 
Now about brotherly love we do not need to write to you, for you yourselves have been taught by God to love each other. And in fact, you do love all the brothers throughout Macedonia. Yet we urge you, brothers, to do so more and more.

Rejected. Ignored. Abused. Betrayed. Suicidal. Dying...

Dying inside...

If you do a google search for "dying inside" you will find a plethora of stories of people who are hurting... My heart breaks for these people and a little part of me feels frantic for what I could do to help... But who are these people, where are they...

The truth is, they are probably all around us, we just don't see it... They are everyday, normal people. They work with you. They go to school with you. To church with you. You run into to them at the grocery store, and you pass them on the roads...

I suppose, they are often hiding behind angry faces. Shaking fists. Bitter glares... which makes it really difficult to look close enough to see it... But they are there... hurting, and desperate for... for something. For love, yes... But not just any love... The love that every soul cries out for... The love of God...

What can we do today to help them experience that love? Is it possible that God could use us to help change the course of a hurting persons life?

May it be so...

Getting rid of the junk

Here's the thought for the day...

If we remove the other emotions that course through our hearts, I believe, we will see an increase in love in them... Giving us the ability to love others more.

This is a process that God is a NECESSARY component of.  Here's my prayer, that God would continue the work he started in me and get rid of all insecurity and self awareness, get rid of hurt and anger, get rid of impatience and pride...and fill me with peace, patience, kindness, gentleness, goodness, self-control, joy, humility, and in all of that - Love.

After all - "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 keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices in the truth. It always protects, always hopes, always trusts, always perseveres. Love never fails..." (I Cor 13: 4-8a)

A Single Command

According to Romans 13:9, the commandments can be summed up in a single command, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself"...

That's a pretty amazing scripture and really shows the importance of loving others.  It says in verse 8 that "he who loves his neighbor [who practices loving others] has fulfilled the Law [relating to one's fellowmen, meeting all of its requirements]" Amplified version.  I won't get into a discussion about who our "neighbor" is, but if you read Luke 10:25-37, you will find that same question being posed to Jesus and you can read his response.

I think the point is to Love Others. In Romans 13:10 we read that "Love does no wrong to one's neighbor [it never hurts anybody]. Therefore, love meets all the requirements and is the fulfilling of the Law." Amplified version

When you go about your day, I challenge you to ask yourself if your actions are being done in love.  Like it says in I Corinthians 16:14, "Let everything you do be done in love (true love to God and man as inspired by God's love for us)" Amplified version.

It only takes a moment...

It's amazing how one minute we can be full of love for God, and then next feel irritated and frustrated with someone else... It only takes a moment to get sidetracked from what is really important.  Something is wrong with that picture, and sadly, I have been convicted of this very thing in my heart and my life... It is so important to continually renew our hearts and minds in the Lord, but we MUST allow that renewal and transformation process to invade every area of our lives... When it comes to dealing with people that I don't necessarily mesh with all the time, I need to be transformed and see them as God sees them.

I don't want a love that is limited. We know that God loves the world and he sent his son to die for us all... I pray that my heart would be changed and my love for others would transform into a real and pure reflection of God's love...

No more "moments"... I pray that I would never lose sight of God's love IN my life, but especially THROUGH my life...

The essence of reaching your world for Jesus Christ...

is Love.

This is a really short article - http://gospeljunction.net/uk/2010/04/20/loving-others/
but it's one worth reading...

Disciples of Love (Jesus)

My reading this morning was in John 13. It is the last dinner Jesus had with his disciples before He was betrayed and handed over to be crucified.  In the beginning of the chapter Jesus washes his disciples feet, then later in verse 14 (Amplified version) Jesus states, "If I then, your Lord and Teacher (Master), have washed your feet, you ought [it is your duty, you are under obligation, you owe it] to wash one another's feet. (v.15) For I have given you this as an example, so that you should do [in your turn] what I have done to you." ... And in v. 17 he continues, saying, "If you know these things, blessed and happy and to be envied are you if you practice them [if you act accordingly and really do them]. 

I pointed this passage out first because, I believe that this is part of his later command in verses 34-35, "I give you a new commandment: that you should love one another. Just as I have loved you, so you too should love one another. By this shall all [men] know that you are My disciples, if you love one another [if you keep on showing love among yourselves].

Joyce Meyer states in the "Putting the Word to Work" section of my Everyday Life Bible:

"Have you ever wondered what the best way to tell someone about Jesus is? The answer is, 'Love them'. Live out the selfless, sacrificial love that you have received from Jesus. Extend that love to those who have not trusted Him as Lord and Savior, and your actions will speak loudly about who Jesus is and what He is all about".
I have been reading this book called Israel and the Church, and I was really hit by a part in the book where it observed that often when we read the scripture and ask "What do you think about this" or "what do you think this means", but in the Judaism, the question was "How do we live this?".  It also states that being a disciple of Christ is not just about learning about Him, but being a disciple is living like Him.

I challenge you today to begin to ask yourself, "How can I live this?"

Loving God and Loving Others

1 Peter 1:22 (New International Version)

Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for each other, love one another deeply, from the heart.

Joyce Meyer "Lifepoint" from the Everyday Life Bible 
The Holy Spirit, according to I Peter 1:22 is the One who purifies our hearts so we can allow the sincere love of God to flow through us to others. The Holy Spirit's aim is to get us to the place where the sincere love of God flows through us, which helps us to "ever be filled with the Holy Spirit (see Ephesians 5:18).

Walking in the Love of God is the ultimate goal of Christianity, and should be the primary pursuit of our lives. We should keep our love for Jesus red-hot! We should also have a fervet love for one another (I Peter 4:8-Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins). Jesus Himself instructed us to love one another as He loves us (John 15:12-My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you.).  He said that was the new commandment He came to pronounce and that all other commandments are summed up in the exhortation to love God and to love other people (John 13:34-“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another., Matthew 22:37-40 -Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.' All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”)

When I think of what I can do for myself or how I can get others to bless me, I am filled with me.  When I think of other people and how I can bless them, I find myself filled with the Holy Spirit, Who is the Spirit of love.

Loving Others More

I was thinking about the approaching holiday-the dreaded by some, favored by others--Valentines Day... I don't know what type you are, whether you are the wear black to spite the day or wear pink to delight the day, but I have a thought about this year's Valentines Day... My thought is this, what if I, and as many people as I could get to join me, did something to love others for this day...

Here's the thing, I've always been brought up to just love others, and valentines day was never about that special someone for me.  This year could be a painful day for me, but I chose to turn that pain into something good.  What I'm asking is for each of you to consider how you can join me in loving others on Valentines Day... 

Share with me here what you did to love others this year for Valentines Day...

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Philippians 1:9- (amplified)

And this I pray: that your love may abound yet more and more and extend to its fullest development in knowledge and all keen insight [that your love may display itself in greater depth of acquaintance and more comprehensive discernment],

So that you may surely learn to sense what is vital, and approve and prize what is excellent and of real value [recognizing the highest and the best, and distinguishing the moral differences], and that you may be untainted and pure and unerring and blameless [so that with hearts sincere and certain and unsullied, you may approach] the day of Christ [not stumbling nor causing others to stumble],

May you abound in and be filled with the fruits of rightneousness (of right standing with God and right doing) which come through Jesus Christ (the Anointed One), to the honor and praise of God [that His glory may be both manifested and recognized].