JESUS, I Love You, I Love You!

The song, Jesus I Love You (click if you are not familiar) is one of my favorites sung by the Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir. As Believers we love to sing songs about how much we love Him, or the power in His name. We even love to tell others how much He means to us. But, the Messiah has a requirement to our love for Him and that is, “If you love me, you will obey my commands!”

Do you see the “if”? He knew for many the raising of the hands in church or at concerts would be show and the voices of “Oh, how I love Jesus,” would be lip service. Because God had already said, “These people come near to me with their mouth and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. Their worship of me is based on merely human rules they have been taught.” (Isaiah 23:19) Sounds like us today.

You might be wondering exactly what commands are we to obey to show our love? Well, let’s take a look at Matthew 22:34-40, for starters. “³⁵Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, the Pharisees got together. One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question: ³⁶ “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”

³⁷ Jesus replied: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. ³⁸ This is the first and greatest commandment. ³⁹ And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself. ⁴⁰ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” (my emphases)

Wow! That's a lot to think about, but, before I go any further…I want to add one more.

When Jesus told the disciples he would not be with them much longer, he also told them, “³⁴A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. ³⁵ By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” (John 13:34-35)

Jesus gives much instruction as to how anyone who claims to be His disciple is to live, but these three seem to be the cream of the crop and ALL hang on Love.

Where do we start? Well, I say,  “Seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness!” because, this is where we find out who God really is and how a real kingdom works (Queen Elizabeth in the UK, does not rule over a real kingdom.).

In the fall of last year, I started studying what I call “Kingdom Living”. At first I didn’t know how to go about it, but I wanted desperately to understand what Jesus meant when He said, “Seek the Kingdom of God and His righteousness.” I just jumped in believing that if I seek God I would find Him—and I did!

First I began to meditate on the, “Do not worry” (click) part of Sermon on the Mount. I have read it many times over the years, but I now approached it by leaving behind the things I had heard, been taught or made up in my own mind, and asked the Holy Spirit for new eyes to see, and clearer ears to hear.

I don’t remember how long I stayed on this alone, but I tell you that many questions arose for me. One of the biggest was putting forth effort to live in “today” and let tomorrow take care of itself. It takes purpose and work to achieve this. Of course we look at tomorrow; it is an everyday part of life. Pastors prepare their sermons in advance, we have all sorts of things we must do to prepare for tomorrow, but this is not what Jesus is talking about. He is talking about looking at tomorrow and the next day and the tomorrows after, focused on the things that steal our hope, joy, and overwhelm and consume us.  You know—those things He has yet to show us how He is going to work them out.

Something comes up in life you have no control over and apart from God moving in the situation, things look pretty bleak 3 weeks from now. What are we to do? Live in today and stop looking 3 weeks ahead. And once we begin to do that, we quench the fear of what tomorrow will hold or not hold, and we can be grateful for the good in our lives for today and work on building our faith for whatever tomorrow does holds—if we get to see tomorrow—that is.  

If we truly believe that God is working all things together for our good, then why are we fretting about certain situations? We can’t have it both ways. Either we believe or we doubt—we must choose one or the other. 

This was only the beginning. The deeper I dug into how real kingdoms were ran (the way God set them up) the more I began to see what it means to be subject to a King. No one questions the King and His authority and everything in the kingdom belongs to Him.

As I read through the Gospels, I began to see how much Jesus likened so many things to the “Kingdom of God”! And everything He talked about was not from Him, but from our Father.

Have I completed my study? No! I will never be done on this earth, because “Kingdom living” is a way of life for the Believer and is never ending.

What I have found is, when we get a glimpse or a truer understanding of what it is to serve our King, then our love for Him grows in our hearts, our souls, our minds and we begin to love with our strength. It becomes easier to love ourselves (through the lens of Christ) and therefore love our neighbors the same. The desire to live a life that pleases the King makes it easier to give, share and forgive. We learn to love as Jesus commands and God equips us to do. The bottom line….

…We look more and more like Christ to our King and to the world.

Sisters, there is so much to learn about “Kingdom Living”! You don’t have to wait for your pastor to maybe start teaching on it…pick up your bibles and go for it!

I did a Biblegateway.com word search on the word “Kingdom and King, so many scriptures came up I didn’t know where to start, so I prayed and let the Holy Spirit pick out the scriptures (Old Testament and New), for me and took it from there.

There are way too many of us who do not look like Christ to the world. We are a poor witness at best. (I have been there myself!) That’s the bad news, but the good news is…you can turn that around starting today!

Don’t be afraid to study and read on your own. Ditch the so called “devotional books” for awhile and just read your Bible. Ask the Holy Spirit for fresh eyes and an open heart to receive. Ask, Him to help you put aside those things you have heard that are not correct or you have misunderstood.

We can never go wrong when asking the One whose job it is to help us…for help. Amen!

Until next week...

Blessings and Hugs,

Ponnie

Higher Level

There is a misconception amongst the Saints that God brings bad things to take us to a higher level. As a new convert, I often heard this when people were experiencing rough times, sickness and decease or as some like to say, “Going through!” This leads one to not have to look at what part they might have played in ending up in the “hard” times. It gives us the allusion that it’s all God’s doing, when in reality—it could be the consequences of our own sin or lack of wisdom.

I have never seen in the Bible where God gives hard times to bring us to a higher level. In fact—what does that really mean?

When we look at Job, God didn’t allow Satan to test him to bring him to a higher level. No. The Lord knew that Job was going to pass the test, because of what he already had in him. In fact, when he tried to complain, the Lord put him in his place.

You could say that the apostle Paul (though a Jew) was one who lived in the world and later came to Christ as many do each day. He had a past he brought with him, but like us all, the Cross erased his sins, but it does not erase the natural consequences of our sin. When he was a Pharisee, he persecuted Believers. He was instrumental in having them stoned, imprisoned and beaten. Did his Damascus experience with the Messiah erase what he might suffer because of his actions? Nope. As an Apostle, Paul was beaten, stoned, shipwrecked and imprisoned. Secular history leads us to believe that he might have died by decapitation.

If you were an intravenous drug user before Christ, there is no guarantee you will not be diagnosed with Aids of hepatitis C because you are now a Believer. If you murdered someone, it doesn’t mean you will not spend time in prison or even be executed. If you had children out of wedlock, it doesn’t mean that as a Believer, God is going to kiss your boo-boo and make it all better. No. You will have challenges in your life as a single parent and they may not be pleasant. If you married the wrong man, it doesn’t mean God will take him out of your life. In fact the only way to be free might be “Till death do you part,” and you might be the one to go.

Now is God going to be with you through it all? Yes! Will He work it together for your good? Yes! But there are stipulations. Read Romans 8:28-30 (click)

As a child I was raised by a harsh woman (she was the best she could be at the time), which was out of my control—we don’t get to choose our parents. And as an adult I made some poor decisions based on my hurt and pain. But, there came a time I had to take responsibility and stop blaming my mother for everything. It wasn’t her fault I was frivolous with my money and credit card debt. It wasn’t her fault I found myself pregnant at 39, and lost my job and couldn’t pay my bills. Nope, it was all on me.

My life has been far from easy. And even with God pleading for me not to have an abortion and trust Him…He didn’t make it easy.  He has been faithful to His promise to supply all that we would ever need, but I still didn’t get off scot free.

Am I that same person I was 23 years ago? Praise God, no! Have the hard times I’ve lived through made me different? Or was it my relationship with God? It was my relationship with God, which empowered me to live through the things I encountered.

Since we have a free will, I could have become an old bitter woman and blamed God because He didn’t make things easier for me—after all—I didn’t have the abortion. But I chose to “Trust’ Him and over the years learn who He truly is. Not the God I heard about, or the God I had made-up in my own mind—but the God of the Bible.

My experiences haven’t taken me to a higher level (still don’t really know what that means), but my growth has matured me and made my relationship with the Father more solid. And it was the Word of God that did this.

Sisters, many of us are in trouble right now because of things we have done in the past, or things we should be doing now but aren’t. Why is this? We are not really living on truth—because we don’t know what the truth is for ourselves.

Nowhere in the Bible have I seen that God brings the bad into our lives to take us to a higher level. And if you disagree, please get into your bible to prove me incorrect. Because I read that if we seek Him, we shall find Him. If we draw close to Him, He draws close to us. I read, He will supply all that we have need of, through Christ Jesus and if we lack wisdom we are to ask Him. I read we are to meditate on the Word, hide it in our hearts so we can divide the truth from fiction and have a renewed mind. I read that there are consequences for our sins (though forgiven) but that God will use these things and work them for good in our lives. I read, we go from faith-to-faith and in the beginning of our walk we drink the milk of the Word, but we are to grow so we can eat the meat. I read, that through obedience comes a blessing…but nowhere do I see He gives bad things or hard things to take us to a higher level.

Girls, stop being afraid to study the Bible for yourselves! Stop, living on what others tell you or what you have dreamed up on your own and learn the truth about your inheritance and the God you serve. Learn what it really means to put your trust in Him and let go of stuff you are trying to hold on too!

It is the Holy Spirit’s job to lead us into all understanding and truth and decipher the Bible for us. 

You don’t need a little book in the morning to start your day off…read and study your Bible. Pick something you question and study it out. Pray, ask the Holy Spirit to explain and enlighten you.

Too many of us are suffering, simply because we do not, I repeat, “Do Not!” know the God of the Bible, what it means to live in the Kingdom of God, what Christ bought for us on the Cross or who and what the Holy Spirit’s job is. And we have no one to blame but ourselves.

Do you think Noah would have been able to build the Ark once the rains came? Same with life, it is hard to try to get the Word inside when the storm is raging—it helps to already be there.

Study, study….STUDY!

Until next week...

Blessings and Hugs,

Ponnie

Blind Spots…We All Have Them

A few weeks ago I had a driving experience that was nerve wrecking and a little unsettling to say the least. I was thrust into driving a car I had not really driven before, on a highway I had never been on before and I had no idea where I was going. Oh, and did I mention it was the evening rush hour!

I’m one to obey the law and that includes the speed limit, so even though I was driving 68 in a 65 mph limit, you would have thought I was crawling along. The cars were whizzing by and jumping in front of me on a four lane highway. Phew! The passenger next to me (the owner of the car) kept talking to me about her hair and trying to show me something on her phone. I couldn’t hear the GPS my daughter was holding in the back seat, so her girlfriend thought it would be a good idea to read it to me instead. Not so! By the time she read it, I was in the wrong lane for my left hand turn—not once, but twice! And when I had to get over to my right, I realized I couldn’t see out the mirror and I had to shout so the two voices vying for my attention would be quiet long enough to hear that I couldn’t see and tell me when I could move over. And to top it all off, the car had a really bad blind spot on the driver’s side.

Yes! We made it to the restaurant safe and sound, but I felt like I could have used a drink, and I don’t drink liquor! Whew!!!

Of course it would have been a much better ride if everyone had been quiet and let me hear the GPS, but that is much like life…it is never perfect and it’s full of noise and distractions vying for our attention.

Later on that evening as I went over the incident with the Lord, I was inspired to think about the blind spots in our lives. Just like most cars have them, so do we as human beings.

None of us sees ourselves as others do, “aka” our blind spots. If the Holy Spirit hadn’t told me to look closer when I was preparing to move over to the left lane, I would have had an accident because the blind spot hid the car coming up on my tail. (The car I’m used to driving sits higher and the blind spot is different.) I needed Him to point this out to me. Same goes for us; we need help in seeing the blind spots in our lives and for some of us—it’s an accident waiting to happen.

We can have all sorts of blind spots in our lives. I know that parents are infamous in having them when it comes to their children, but the biggest blind spot is usually in our own lives. Just as the blind spot on a car can prevent you from seeing clearly and avoiding an accident, so do the blind spots in our lives.

When my youngest was a teenager, I remember her telling me, “You have never been fussed out by you and you don’t know how it feels.” She wasn’t trying to be rude or sassy, but her words were like a slap in the face. What did she mean by that? Well, the Holy Spirit didn’t allow me to run from the truth and I had to spend time thinking about what she said and then praying about it. She had pointed out one of my blind spots. And yes, I apologized to her and to God. But most of all, I had to work on changing because it was no longer a blind spot—it had been revealed.

One of the major culprits for blind spots is—pride!

Last week’s blog talked about “Self” and when we are wrapped up in ourselves we have plenty of blinds spots, but it doesn’t stop there. They are everywhere—because again—we do not see ourselves as others do.  

How does God deal with blind spots? Exposure.

He uses people, (iron sharpens iron) but He will also tell us in those quiet times with Him. Have you ever been sitting quietly reading your Bible and “Bam!” the Holy Spirit magnifies a scripture (one you’ve read many times before) to you in such a way, you can’t run or hid from what it’s saying? I sure hope you have, because this is one of God’s favorite ways to reveal blind spots. And also during prayer.

One day while praying, (early on in my walk with the Lord) the Holy Spirit reveled to me, “You’re a liar.” “What?” “You heard me. You’re a liar.” I burst into tears, because it was the truth and I couldn’t hide from the illumination He was shedding on it. Not to defend myself, but I had been taught by my mother to lie. It was ingrained in me and was such an intricate part of my being. I lied so people would think I was interesting and like me. I lied because I had low self-esteem and wanted people to think my life was better than it was. I lied out of fear…but mostly as an adult; I lied because it was who I was by then.

Yes, the Lord could have used someone to tell me, but I doubt it would have touched me as it did with the Holy Spirit. You see, I couldn’t defend myself or get angry and attack the messenger. No! I had to face it head on and allow Him to help me change and cut that out of me.

It is easy for us to see the blind spots of others, but our focus should be on seeing the ones in our own lives. Just has I had shout out for help to see if it was clear for me to move over, we need to shout out to Jesus and ask the hard question, “Lord what are the blind spots in my life? What is it that I need to see and change?”

Sisters, I can’t say it enough. Read your bibles—spend time in prayer—mediate on the Word of God—study!

Do you know that it has been found that 12 minutes of daily focused prayer over an 8 week period can change the brain to such an extent that it can be measured on a brain scan? This type of prayer seems to increase activity in brain areas associated with social interaction compassion and sensitivity to others. ~Dr. Carline Leaf~

I don’t care how busy your life is—all of us have 12 minutes to spare. Amen!

Until next week...

Blessings and Hugs,

Ponnie