Week 34 Being Love in Darkness

So I have had these scriptures rolling around in my heart a long time. The title for these next two weeks was planned in January, yet, in light of Charlottesville etc., how much more timely can it be? 

God has been preparing us for such a time as this by revealing the Truth of His love for us. And we have been preparing for this moment by accepting and internalizing His Love. NOW it is time to to take action.

The following scriptures are self-explanatory examples for putting Love in action.

Luke 10:25-37
One time an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. “Teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”
 “What is written in the Law?” He replied. “How do you read it?” 
 He answered, “ ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ ” 
 “You have answered correctly,” Jesus replied. “Do this and you will live.” 
 But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, “And WHO IS MY NEIGHBOR?” 
 In reply Jesus said:  “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he was attacked by robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, brought him to an inn and took care of him. The next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper. ‘Look after him,’ he said, ‘and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.’ 
“Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?” 
The expert in the law replied, “The one who had mercy on him.” 
Jesus told him, “GO AND DO LIKEWISE.”

James 3:8-10
No human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil full of deadly poison. With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are created in the likeness of God…
Surely, my brothers and sisters, this is not right!

Genesis 1:27
So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.

Matthew 5:44-45
But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.

Romans 13:10 
Love does no harm to a neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.

Week 33 The Way of Love

Can we agree that God IS love? Do you remember when Jesus told His people to Love each other as He has Loved us? When He commanded you to love Him with all your heart, with all your understanding and with all your strength, AND to love your neighbor AS yourself? He said THAT was more important than ALL the burnt offerings and sacrifices. 

                                                   That makes me think of 1 Corinthians 13.

But first, Psalm 103:8-12 explains how God expresses Love:
The LORD is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love. He will not always accuse, nor will he harbor his anger forever; he does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.

That’s how God loves you. In Truth, you can only love others to the same degree you love yourself.  Understanding the depth and breadth of your Father’s love for you allows you to freely love yourself. Then you are able to manifest the Love He has shown you to others.

                            Our Heavenly Father does not ask us to love in a way He does not Himself love.

1 Corinthians 13 shows us how to love, yes, but also details how God loves us. So often we put pressure on ourselves to love others like this without understanding that God himself loves us this way first. 

For instance, I have struggled with the fact that God truly keeps no record of my wrongs, which made it hard to let go of others wrongs. But when I understood and internalized that God doesn’t accuse, throwing my transgressions away as far as the east is from the west, I could let go of others faults more easily.

If He asks you to turn the other cheek, do you think He does not? If He asks you not to be offended by insults, do you think He can be offended? If He asks you not to be provoked to anger, do you think He is easily provoked?
                                                                                    God is 1 Corinthians 13.

1 Co 13
If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing. 

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails. 
But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears. 
When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me. For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known. 
And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

Week 32 THE LIFE and The Way of Love

What I have learned this year:

The Truth about myself and God

• God is infinitely good and complete.
• God is my Father, I am his daughter.
• I am remade in the likeness and glory of my Father.
• Nothing can separate me from His Love.

The Way I choose to walk

• I align myself with the Truth of who I am and who He is.
• I see with spiritual eyes before the physical.
• I surrender my attachment to all other identities.
• I remain in His Love.

Now I must learn to live this LIFE in this world out of what I believe. To live my life in Jesus. This is the manifestation of the Father and myself on earth as I am in heaven, evidenced by love, joy, peace, and power. 

As I realize my true identity I begin to walk in love, joy, and peace on earth as it is in heaven by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Holy Spirit, help me remain in His Love so the world will see and know Him.

Jn 17:23
I in them and You in Me, that they may become perfectly one, SO that the world may know that you sent me AND love them even as you loved Me.

Jn 14:16-20
And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the SPIRIT of TRUTH, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees HIM nor knows HIM. You know HIM, for HE dwells with you and will be in you. I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. Yet a little while and the world will see me no more, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. In that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you.

** I gessoed a napkin to the page and wrote the words with microns

Week 31 Step Out of Prison
GE 12:1-4; 15; 17:1-8

   Abram was stuck in Haran (named after his dead brother.) But the Lord came to him and spoke, “Move on. Leave your father’s house and name and follow the Way I present before you.” 
   There were promises made and movement happened. But he didn’t exactly leave his father’s house behind… He was still connected to his old name by his nephew, Lot.
   Movement towards Bethel where Abram called on the Lord to receive more direction and promises before he took a turn from the appointed path. He forgot the promise of protection. So, in order to save himself, he headed towards Egypt where a series of bad decisions (with a side of the Lord’s mercy) brought them back again to Bethel. And here Abram let go of his old identity in releasing Lot and accepting a life free from the past family prisons. And soon he would accept his new name. The Lord of Heaven and Earth, Abram’s Creator and original Father, revealed Abram’s true identity as Abraham, Father of Many. (My version of Genesis 12-17)

Lord, help me walk in my new name. Amen.

The lyrics below are from the song ‘ABRAHAM’ by Josh Baldwin. Find it…it’s worth a listen.   (https://youtu.be/zRZ2zleNiC4)

There is a mountain in between
What you have said
And what I see
Standing before this offering
My failing heart
Will fight to believe

*Chorus*
On this altar
On this road
You have called me from my home
The weight I carry is not my own
Spirit move this heart of stone
How can I walk in my New Name,
‘Father of Many,’
A promise you gave
And on this altar
And on this road
I lay down my flesh and bones

Here on this mountain
I have climbed
Wrestling doubts that flood my mind
When ashes and dust are all that remain
Will hope for the world still comes from my veins

(Chorus)

And I will sing out
Until I believe now
Your faithful to carry me
Oh I will sing out
Until I believe now
You’re faithful to carry me

(Chorus)

Genesis 12:1-4a 
Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” So Abram went, as the Lord had told him…
Genesis 13:14-18 
The Lord said to Abram, after Lot had separated from him, “Lift up your eyes and look from the place where you are, northward and southward and eastward and westward, for all the land that you see I will give to you and to your offspring forever. I will make your offspring as the dust of the earth, so that if one can count the dust of the earth, your offspring also can be counted. Arise, walk through the length and the breadth of the land, for I will give it to you.” So Abram moved his tent and came and settled by the oaks of Mamre, which are at Hebron, and there he built an altar to the Lord.
Genesis 17:1-5 
When Abram was ninety-nine years old the Lord appeared to Abram and said to him, “I am God Almighty; walk before me, and be blameless, that I may make my covenant between me and you, and may multiply you greatly.” Then Abram fell on his face. And God said to him, “Behold, my covenant is with you, and you shall be the father of a multitude of nations. No longer shall your name be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham, for I have made you the father of a multitude of nations.
Rename yourself and follow the leader

Week 30 Step Out of Prison
MK 8:34-36

I think I am stuck. I need to move forward. But I am ..stuck.. fast at this spot in the road, a road I had once successfully been traveling. Why?

Once, Jesus called the crowd over to Him and said, “Whoever desires to follow after me on My road must CONTINUALLY be forgetting his connection to himself: his old broken identity and life. Instead, continually take up your Cross and join Me on the Way as My sibling under the banner of My Name. You see whoever desires to save and protect his own identity will end up destroying it anyway, but whoever gives up his identity for Mine and My good message shall actually heal and restore his original identity also. After all, what advantage is there for a person to acquire every earthly desire but damage your spirit. (My paraphrase of Mark 8:34-36)

Things I forgot while traveling this road:

I need only LISTEN to the Lord’s voice.
I am now in God’s family, my old family name and prisons are NOT my identifers. 
I am a new creature in Christ, I DENY the old and take on the new. 
I follow the Way that has been blazed before me FORGETTING old paths that lie behind. 
No looking back; see ONLY the author and finisher of my faith.
Forget my old identity… press towards His Identity 

Mark 8:34-36 
And calling the crowd to him with his disciples, he said to them, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s will save it. For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul?”

Week 29 Beautiful Brother and Savior

I’ve been reading about trailblazers through history and I am reminded of a local hero, Daniel Boone. A Quaker born in the north, he enjoyed the wild outdoor life. When his family moved to North Carolina he began exploring the back country.

Before long he had opened up new trails into the future state of Kentucky. From 1767 on, he spent the better part of the next 30 years exploring and settling the lands of Kentucky, including carving out the Wilderness Road, paving the way for westward expansion. 

Many people followed his roads and today our country stretches from coast to coast.

Daniel Boone had many faults, yes, but his willingness to be the first and to conquer fear for others does remind me of my Heavenly Brother Jesus, the founder of my salvation. In this case, founder means pioneer or trailblazer. 

Jesus paved the way first with the intent that I would follow His trail, forgetting what lies behind and pressing forward towards the x that marks the spot. He has marked the trail in His Grace and Mercy so that no matter what path I take it will lead back to His Way. 

That’s what older siblings do, show the way forward.

Hebrews 2:10-18  For it was fitting that he, for whom and by whom all things exist, in bringing many SONS to glory, should make the founder of their salvation perfect through suffering. For he who sanctifies and those who are sanctified all have one source. That is why he is not ashamed to call them BROTHERS, saying, “I will tell of your name to my BROTHERS; in the midst of the congregation I will sing your praise.” And again, “I will put my trust in him.” And again, “Behold, I and the CHILDREN God has given me.” Since therefore the CHILDREN share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery.
For surely it is not angels that he helps, but he helps the OFFSPRING of Abraham. Therefore he had to be made like his BROTHERS in every respect, so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. For because he himself has suffered when tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.

Week 28 Beautiful Brother and Savior 

Romans 8:28-30

I love this verse, ‘all things work together for good to those who love Him and are called…’ and then the next part has been a bone of contention amongst believers for a few hundred years.

Now I’m not here to argue predestination. I don’t believe God lives in this space-time continuum anyway. But because of man spending so much time pondering that question, many have never focused on the next part…
He created us in the “image of his Son, that HE MIGHT BE the FIRSTBORN AMONG MANY BROTHERS and SISTERS…”
God created us in His image… again. Adam and Eve forgot they were already created in His image, but through Christ we are recreated into the image of His Son, Jesus, WHO IS OUR BROTHER!

I didn’t have an older sibling to look out for me. But I looked out for my younger brothers. Not that I was a great older sister, but still, as I travelled through life first, I shared my experiences with them. I paved the way with my parents to make life easier for them. When harsh words were spoken by others I convinced them the words were untrue. Even when we fought, I still fiercely cared and do care about them. 

If I, as an imperfect older sibling, cared, how much more does my older Brother Jesus care for me, model Life for me, and walk with me. We are Family. My journey is to follow in the way my Big Brother has paved for me.

Now, I can easily say that I am the Heavenly Father’s daughter, but I am learning that I am also sister to my Chief Elder, Jesus. Can you comfortably say these things yet? If not, go back and read my previous posts for 2017 and join me on the journey of reconciliation with Abba and His Family.

And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that HE MIGHT BE the FIRSTBORN AMONG MANY BROTHERS and SISTERS. And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified. Romans 8:28-30 NIV

Then you, my people, will know that I am the LORD, when I open your graves and bring you up from them. I will put my Spirit in you and you will live, and I will settle you in your own land. Then you will know that I the LORD have spoken, and I have done it, declares the LORD.Ez 37:13-14

Week 26 Like a child 

I attended a lovely retreat in Wisconsin this past week. On day 1 we each received a unique ‘journey’ picture. Photos taken by a couple of talented photographers on the team, these pictures were to be taken into our quiet time with the Lord so he could share personal messages with each of us over the course of the week. I got this beautiful picture of a fawn under a picnic table. 
Deb, the photographer shared how she caught the pic under a picnic table and how peacefully the little deer posed for the shot.

As I looked at that precious animal I asked myself some questions: Where is its mother? Why isn’t it running away? How does it even know to look at the camera?

Then the Lord shared these keywords: vulnerable, trusting, unsteady, resting, seeing, hearing, alone, childlike.

I choose to put it with this verse because I feel a sense of trust in this little vulnerable creature. Though its limbs wobble and cannot flee, it sits at rest without fear, as if it trusts that it is safe. Those large black eyes and alert ears consider the danger, but see something else in Deb, something beyond its natural understanding. Something innocent that draws the fawn into its own calling as an object lesson for me.

Oh that I can see the Truth in my hostile or scary surroundings and rest fearlessly as a child in His arms.

Proverbs 3:5-6   Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.

Photo credit to Deb Jelinek