Tag: people

Posted on

No Greater Love

The week between Christmas & New Years Day is always time of reflection for me. I try to evaluate my year, what was good and wasn’t so good….go over the things that need to remain and the things that need to go.

One thing that I know I need to give up is strife…especially between me and the people in my life. I need to abandon living in chaos, turmoil, and anger. Let people be people, but still love them inconditionally. Not allowing them to disrupt my life with issues, but still be there for them. Learning to die to myself.

Ponder this scripture:

“I have loved you even as the Father has loved me. Remain in my love. When you obey my commandments, you remain in my love, just as I obey my Father’s commandments and remain in his love. I have told you these things so that you will be filled with my joy. Yes, your joy will overflow! This is my commandment: Love each other in the same way I have loved you. There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. You are my friends if you do what I command. (‭John‬ ‭15‬:‭9-14‬ NLT)

Die to oneself – get rid of pride, self-pity so you can love people fully. Take care of yourself, but don’t allow that to turn into selfishness. When someone does something that hurts you, forgive them. When someone tries to take you down, love them. When people are self-centered, pray for them. Let God develop that kind of heart in you – let His love for us teach us to be like His Son.

Be blessed.

/home/wpcom/public_html/wp-content/blogs.dir/759/68941341/files/2014/12/img_1166.jpg

Posted on

The Race

Are you a people pleaser? Well, I am. I absolutely hate when someone doesn’t like me. Odds are, I am going to come into contact with a number of people who will not approve of who I am and what I do.

There was a time in my life that this idea would consume me – so much that I would do everything to make sure it didn’t happen. That way of life is a slippery slope and I found myself in a place where I no longer knew who I was. That is not just a problem for me…but also for our Creator. He “knit us together in (our) mothers’ womb(s)” (Psalm 139:13). We are to work & please Him only, not others. (See Romans 12:2).

Now, my goal is to make Him happy. Do I still fall into the pattern of my past? Of course, I am human. But I don’t let it control me or change who I am. We are all too precious to compromise who we are in Him for someone else…who isn’t Him.

No, this post is not a post encouraging rebellion against authority. God has commanded us to list to authority and follow their commands – see Mark 12:17. We cannot make false gods of them, though.

One of my favorite quotes by Mother Teresa reads:

People are often unreasonable, irrational, and self-centered.
Forgive them anyway.
If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives.
Be kind anyway.
If you are successful, you will win some unfaithful friends and some genuine enemies.
Succeed anyway.
If you are honest and sincere people may deceive you.
Be honest and sincere anyway.
What you spend years creating, others could destroy overnight.
Create anyway.
If you find serenity and happiness, some may be jealous.
Be happy anyway.
The good you do today, will often be forgotten.
Do good anyway.
Give the best you have, and it will never be enough.
Give your best anyway.
You see, in the final analysis, it is between you and God.
It was never between you and them anyway

Also, ponder this scripture:

Do you see what this means—all these pioneers who blazed the way, all these veterans cheering us on? It means we’d better get on with it. Strip down, start running—and never quit! No extra spiritual fat, no parasitic sins. Keep your eyes on Jesus, who both began and finished this race we’re in. Study how he did it. Because he never lost sight of where he was headed—that exhilarating finish in and with God—he could put up with anything along the way: Cross, shame, whatever. And now he’s there, in the place of honor, right alongside God. When you find yourselves flagging in your faith, go over that story again, item by item, that long litany of hostility he plowed through. That will shoot adrenaline into your souls! (‭Hebrews‬ ‭12‬:‭1-3‬ MSG)

We are to live for the One who gave His life so that we can live. Follow His lead. Live like that & I truly believe you will know what it is like to be happy. Be you & trust Him – it is enough.

Be blessed.

starting line

Posted on

We are all Anne Frank

I was recently watching a movie where, for one scene, they visited Anne Frank’s house in Amsterdame. I have read her diary and learned her story, as many have, but while watching the movie, a concept hit me that I have not given much thought – Anne, someone who is pretty much known world wide as giving a voice to the victims of one of the world’s worst genocides – died at the young age of 15 not knowing how great her impact on this world will be. It is all because her father decided to publish her diary that we now know who this old-soul is.

Very few of us will have this type of world-wide legacy, but do we fully understand how Our Father can use even the simplest of things we say & do without us even knowing it? I don’t think so. I honestly don’t think we understand the authority God gave us when he created us in His image (both male & female). See Genesis 1:26-27.

How often do we say or do things without thinking, especially when we are around people we don’t know? A lot, at least for me – if I am perfectly honest. Are we considering the fact that God may be bringing people into out lives for even just a moment so we can show them Him? Or how He can use us to answer a prayer? Like Anne Frank, our impact on people’s lives may never be fully understood by us, but to those we, even briefly, come into contact with are potentially changed forever because Our Father is using those little, somewhat insignificant things to change the world.

I dare say that we have a responsibility, first to God and then to each other, to always be us and don’t waiver because we had a bad day or people wouldn’t like it.

Ponder this scripture:

“You are the light of the world—like a city on a hilltop that cannot be hidden. No one lights a lamp and then puts it under a basket. Instead, a lamp is placed on a stand, where it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your good deeds shine out for all to see, so that everyone will praise your heavenly Father. (‭Matthew‬ ‭5‬:‭14-16‬ NLT)

No matter how small the thing is – a smile, holding the door open, a thank you – it can be used by God because we are made in His image & there is no thing that He does that leaves a small aspect.

Be blessed.

anne

Posted on

Same place, same boat

Oh how very different we all are. There are really no two people that are alike. God designed it that way. We are all his creation & masterpiece and sincerely valued by the God of Angel Armies.

How ironic that we ultimately are all the same? Maybe not in look, character, or personality…but in reality, there is one sure thing that binds us together as one body – our desperate need for a savior.

I don’t care how holy or evil one may seem, we need the Cross daily. No one is perfect or Devine except for the God-head. So many times, though, we get it mixed up.

One thing I discovered as a counselor is how deeply Our Father loves each of His children, no matter what they have done. It struck me speechless many times His deep, pure, unconditional love He has.

Thus, we must understand that we cannot treat those who do horrible things as second class citizens or as if those of us who are “good” are more deserving. Why? Because everything you do to people, you do to God. (Matthew 25:40)

Therefore, we must treat people well not because they deserve – we need to treat people well because we are doing it for God. Of course, we need to honor our own boundaries because we need to treat ourselves well, too. If we treat people the way they deserve to be treated, then no one, including ourselves, would ever be respected. Ultimately, without the Cross, we are all disgusting.

Remember that we are ALL in need of a savior every day, that God loves ALL His creation, and we must do to people what we want done to us. (Luke 6:31)

Take a peek at this scripture:

God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it. For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago. (‭Ephesians‬ ‭2‬:‭8-10‬ NLT)

Remember that homeless man, the sketchy lady you run into, or the thug on the street…they were all created for a purpose by our creator, just like you!

Be blessed.

boat