What The World Needs- Love Challenge Week 3

 

 

 

This past week's challenge I found myself LOOKING, THINKING, and ASKING GOD, How can I show love? Not just in a way that was satisfying to me, but that actually was satisfying to the person who I was trying to show love to?

 

 

I am reminded of the Five Love Languages, coined by author Gary Chapman. The way my love needs are fulfilled are not the way the next person's need to be fulfilled. In examining how I was attempting to show love this week, I actually made some headway. The first thing I had to recognize was that love expressed may take some time. The longer you know a person, the more important it is to study out the ways you can appreciate them. Love should be tangible. It should be, like the image above, something you can get your hands around and "grasp", and it should be visible.

 

 

One of my best opportunities came with a co-worker. She had been having some serious medical problems and I had been agreeing with her in prayer. We were invited to a thank-you lunch, but because of her condition, she could not walk down to where the lunch was held. I went on to the lunch. As I was standing in line, I felt the presence of God, and the internal voice that resonated with this thought: take her lunch. It was simple, but it was perfect.

 

 

I asked the sponsors of the lunch if I could do just that, and I took the plate of food to her (up three flights of stairs). The look on her face was priceless. She said, No one had ever done that for her. I was so glad in that moment, that I had chosen to postpone my personal need to demonstrate kindness.

 

 

And I'm learning daily, that is what love does. It's puts others ahead, not necessarily to the detriment of one's self, but considering someone else in their time of need. Love doesn't have to be complicated, but it will take us out of our convenient places to serve someone else!

 

 

I've got two more days in this month to show love! I'd love to hear how God is challenging you!

 



Finding People To Love- Love Challenge Week 2

Week two was a challenge in the strangest way. It was challenging for me to find people to love ON. Why? I had to really think outside the box, and I had to do some things remotely due to the snowmaggedon. People were not 'out and about' so that made my week a bit more challenging. This week, I focused on writing, and calling, and praying for people. 

As much as I wanted to season the whole world with my enthusiasm, I  learned this past week, that I had to meet people where they are. With it being Valentine's week, so much emphasis was placed on eros and not enough on agape or even brotherly love. 

I reflected on my own love relationship with my siblings, one I have grown closer to in the last five years, and the others...that are just not as close as I'd like them to be. I recognize that even in our desire to love people with all that is within us, it can be down right exhausting, if that kind of love is not reciprocal. I can imagine how Jesus felt, wanting the cities to receive what he had to give, yet they would not. 

Perception, apathy, skepticism, religiosity, all seemed to stand in the way of what Jesus was offering: redeeming love. I would venture to say, that many feel more comfortable with romantic love than redeeming love. You see that kind of love seems to peer into the soul, to see your flaws, your mishaps, your missteps, and love you anyway.

The truth of the matter, is that redeeming, unconditional love scares people. Some fear they just can't offer that kind of love in return so rather than receiving it, they sabotage a great relationship and convince themselves that what was offered was not real. I know, I've been there. 

So the challenge this week is to accept the love that is given in a gracious fashion. To appreciate those who appreciate you right back. To not allow the question why me? to settle in the mind. So, be open to agape. Be open to brotherly love. Take off your lenses of suspicion and look with a fresh pair of eyes.

I can't wait to hear from you!

When LOVE is Tested - Love Challenge Week 1

We all have those days when Love is tried.

We can be cruising along, minding our own business, in our own little land of happiness and peace. I call that my Sunshine Inside spot. I have to keep that internally because the level of dissatisfaction around me can vary from person to person. And we are usually okay until we intersect with someone or something that throws us off. Such a thing happened this first week of the Love Challenge.

A co-worker approached me out of the blue and in a very disrespectful way insinuated that I had something that belonged to her. 

My first, second, and even my third thought was not "Christian" but it was human. 

My first thought was, No, she didn't.

My second thought? Out of 150+ people am I the only person she addressed? 

My third thought? How dare she ask me?

Let's just say there aren't very many chocolate chips on the staff cookie and this particular staffer isn't exactly a fan of chocolate chips. 

It wasn't just the question. It was the fact that she did not choose to send out a notice to everyone about her missing item. 

 

I really had no clue why she thought I might know where it was. The more I thought, the more livid I became. That's when I heard the Lord say, "Why don't you look for it?"

Okay, Jesus. Stop the press. Here I am, feeling insulted, and the Lord says, Go see if you can find it?

So, I go to the 'lost and found' and get some assistance. Sure enough, the item is there. 
The person overseeing 'lost and found' happily emails her that her missing item has been there all along. I walk way.

What did I learn from that?

I learned that I've still got some triggers and I must overcome them. God is so gracious to us so show us where WE are challenged to love people, and I am challenged to love those who accuse falsely.
Lord, HELP ME!

I also learned that we can choose to act on our emotions or quiet them and act as God would have us to act.

I also learned that we can leave things as they are or we can follow through.
I could have recognized her things and left it in the bin out of spite. Instead, I identified the item and had her notified.

Will I hold my breath for a thank you or an apology? Nope.

Sometimes the test of Love is not about how people respond to or treat us, but how we respond to and treat people who seem the most disagreeable.

Week 1, down Week 2 up next!

#PassTheTest

When Christians Don't Believe

What makes someone a Christian? One who has accepted Jesus Christ as the only atonement for their sins and who lives out the teachings of Christ is a Christian. 

What does that mean, "to live out" Christ?

It means to practice what Jesus taught.  It does not mean we will not mess up or miss the mark. The more we show up to practice his presence, to be present in the moment with God, hearing, listening, and obeying, the more skilled we become in exercising our senses to discern good and evil, and instead of falling in the same hole every time on the same street, we learn to take the path of righteousness and avoid the street altogether. We begin to make Christ more evident in our life when we train our senses to follow the Spirit of God rather than our sinful human nature.

Many times our fears override what we should believe and our carnal desires put a strain on our spiritual walk. If we don't remain vigilant and value this great treasure called salvation we can take for granted or worse yet, stop believing the Word of God. 

Here are 10 verses in scripture that I find many mainstream Christians have stopped believing: 

1.  ¹³ I have strength for all things in Christ Who empowers me [I am ready for anything and equal to anything through Him Who ^[g]infuses inner strength into me; I am ^[h]self-sufficient in Christ’s sufficiency]. Philippians 4

 That CPA exam? That thesis paper? That doctoral defense? That weight loss goal? Yes, YOU CAN do it!

When we stop believing we can,we minimize the power of Christ in our lives. 

2. 

 John 8
³⁶ So if the Son liberates you [makes you free men], then you are really and unquestionably free.

When  we don't believe this, we will keep going to the altar asking God to free us from something he has already freed us from.  We will let condemnation and sin guilt over the past hold our mind hostage. We will let unworthiness bind us and low self esteem blind us.

3.  

Matthew 5

¹³ You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste (its strength, its quality), how can its saltiness be restored? It is not good for anything any longer but to be thrown out and trodden underfoot by men.

¹⁴ You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden.

When  we don't believe this, we will be surprised when we are challenged to SHINE, appalled when people try to snuff out the light, and afraid when people want to sample this Gospel that we preach.

4.  

Revelation 22
¹² Behold, I am coming soon, and I shall bring My wages and rewards with Me, to repay and render to each one just what his own actions and his own work merit.

When we don't believe this, we

* Waste time

*Become consumed with vanity

*Think warning the ungodly of judgement is not an immediate concern

*Justify sin and rewrite scripture to suit our nature

5.     

Psalm 22
But You are holy,
Enthroned in the praises of Israel.

God inhabits the praises of His people, us included in that ONE Man. 

When we don't believe this we will not praise. We won't experience God's manifest glory in our lives. God does not like to hang in the atmosphere of complaint. He enjoys a party in HIS HONOR. That's what worship and praise is.

6.   

Hosea 4
⁶ My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children.

 When we don't believe this we allow an open door for deception and disillusionment. We are urged to study to show ourselves approved to God, not ashamed, and rightly dividing the Word of Truth. Even through the verse above we see the generational effects of rejecting the knowledge of God. (see also Proverbs 12:1)

As Pastor Elliot Sheppard says, "The devil loves sinners and dumb Christians!"

7.

 Mark 11
²⁴ Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.

  

 When we don't believe this, we won't pray and we most certainly won't pray specifically. 

  

Which leads to...

8.

Proverbs 18
²¹ Death and life are in the power of the tongue: and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof.

When we don't believe our tongue is a BIRTHING wheel, setting in motion the cycle of death or a cycle of life, 

*we will curse our future

*we will bury our dreams under our doubts

*we won't see the correlation between our past words and our present harvest

which leads us to ...

9.  

Galatians 6

⁷ Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.
⁸ For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting.

When Christians don't believe this

*they'll hurt people 
*they will have no remorse for their actions
*they won't think ahead 

10. 

 Exodus 20:3

Thou shalt have no other gods before me.

When Christians don't believe this 

*they set up idols

*they make excuses for the idols

*they anger God

*they rationalize their need for or devotion to the idol

God goes on in Exodus in specifics. Here he says: 

⁴ Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.
⁵ Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me;
⁶ And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.

You want to know where some generational curses stem from? Check what your grandmother, grandfather, uncle, etc. CHERISHED and HELD as IDOLS. The iniquity of these things can visit even the Christian and cause undue warfare and oppression in their life as a result.

 In the stirring words of Pastor Elliot Sheppard:

 The devil is the Prince of Darkness therefore he loves those who stay away from KNOWLEDGE!
Knowledge that:
1.Jesus Christ is the light of the world.
2. The devil has been in heaven, a place we have yet to go.Therefore he knows the advantages we forfeit by staying in the dark
3. The Word of God is the language of God, the Bible is the manual.
4. God hangs out in the earth realm through his saints and their praises.
5. Even God's people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. So the devil has made dumb Christians to believe that 4 hours a week of church and 40-60 hours at work is normal.
6. Read number five again.

 I hope I stirred you to BELIEVE again. Believe what the scriptures have said. Don't be a Christian in name only! If we want to have Outrageous Church, we must stand outrageously against unbelief!

Watch this testimony of healing from my husband Robert:

vimeo.com/29933836