Seek First The Kingdom of God no. 16

“Whom do I have in heaven but you?

And with you, I lack nothing on earth.

My mind and body may fail; but God

is the rock for my mind and my portion forever” (Tehillim (Psa) 73:25-26).

Love never fails because God never fails. People fail all the time. I am a rolling history of failure. I fail God. I fail my family. I fail my friends. I fail my neighbors. I fail my enemies. BUT God doesn’t. And the more I center myself on the Spirit that dwells within me, the better I am at living out His love. And there is nothing more important in my walk with Him than love and forgiveness.

Why am I so prone to failure? Well, I think that Paul adds a great note when talking about love when he says, “For our knowledge is partial, and our prophecy partial; but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass” (1 Corinthians (1 Co) 13:9-10). I just don’t have a total understanding of just how important love can be. I overlook its power. I do that because love is a process. Love takes time. Love endures. Love empowers. Love isn’t microwaveable. Love simmers. And I need to remind myself that although I do not see the immediate manifestations of my love, love is still working. And that can really and truly frustrate folks because it is so easy to see the instant rewards of hatred.

I can strike out with mean words and violent hands and find an instant reward for my evil deeds. I can instantly find gratification through sin and destruction. BUT love takes time. “Love is patient and kind, not jealous, not boastful, not proud, rude or selfish, not easily angered, and it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not gloat over other people’s sins but takes its delight in the truth. Love always bears up, always trusts, always hopes, always endures” (1 Corinthians (1 Co) 13:4-7).

I talk a lot about love and forgiveness because Jesus does too. I got accused of having a ‘squishy’ Jesus that can’t save anybody. I don’t know how loving and forgiving is ‘squishy’ because squishy is soft, yielding, lenient, or imprecise. And being nailed to a tree for love and forgiveness is not soft, yielding, lenient, or imprecise. Giving your life so that others might live isn’t soft, yielding, lenient, or imprecise. Living out God’s love on earth isn’t for the soft, yielding, lenient, or imprecise. It takes a lot to love and forgive. Jesus understood how much it was going to take when he was praying blood and tears. Jesus understood how much love would cost. And it wasn’t soft, yielding, lenient, or imprecise. “For now we see obscurely in a mirror, but then it will be face to face. Now I know partly; then I will know fully, just as God has fully known me. But for now, three things last — trust, hope, love; and the greatest of these is love” (1 Corinthians (1 Co) 13:12-13). Don’t let anyone tell you that love is the easy way out. Love is never easy. There is no better example of that fact than looking at how often we choose not to love and forgive because hatred and retribution are much easier.

Seek first His Kingdom which rests on the foundation of love.

Grace and Shalom to your home. The Kingdom of God is now!

I love you. I forgive you. Have a blessed and abundant day!

#ThinkBetter #BeBetter #NoKingButChrist #EmbraceTheWithin #SeekFirstTheKingdom #NotMyWayYHWH

Seek First The Kingdom of God no. 14

“Who will separate us from the love of the Messiah? Trouble? Hardship? Persecution? Hunger? Poverty? Danger? War? As the Tanakh puts it, ‘For your sake we are being put to death all day long, we are considered sheep to be slaughtered.’ No, in all these things we are superconquerors, through the one who has loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor other heavenly rulers, neither what exists nor what is coming, neither powers above nor powers below, nor any other created thing will be able to separate us from the love of God which comes to us through the Messiah Yeshua, our Lord” (Romans (Rom) 8:35-39). Talk about some good news. Nothing can separate me from the love of Jesus. Nothing.

So, I better start living out His Kingdom. And that is going to mean a lot more loving and a lot more forgiving. I have been praying for more patience lately and God has been working on that. I have to be patient with chaotic people that try to bring their chaos and disorder into my organized life. Love takes a lot of patience and at times I really am lacking in patience. BUT when I am, I just consider how patient God has been with me. I am not the easiest personality for folks to tolerate. And I consider just how much God has had to tolerate from me as well as my family and my friends, let alone strangers and enemies. I can be a lot.

Forgiveness and love are radical ideas in a world that is saturated with vengeance and division. BUT if I keep seeking His Kingdom, if I keep seeking His love and forgiveness and grace and mercy, “Keep asking, and it will be given to you; keep seeking, and you will find; keep knocking, and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who keeps asking receives; he who keeps seeking finds; and to him who keeps knocking, the door will be opened” (Mattityahu (Mat) 7:7-8). So, I won’t stop seeking. There is a risk of being content in where I am. Sure, I am in a lot better position than I was last year, last month, yesterday in my walk with Him. And I am content with what He gives for me to handle. BUT I am always seeking more while still being content that this may be it. Everything He gives is a gift that I can do nothing to deserve BUT that doesn’t mean I am not thankful and I don’t use the gift.

I think far too often we get used to a way of living. And Jesus called me to never get used to what He asks because He should always be asking for more. And that is my experience. I don’t want to learn one more thing BUT He always has something more to teach. And if I am seeking, then my life should always be moving toward Him. As Jim likes to say, “We don’t drift toward Him.” And that is true. If I am not constantly working to get near, then my natural tendency is to drift away. I pray that you seek His Kingdom today and that you want more out of His walk with you.

Seek first His Kingdom which rests on the foundation of love.

Grace and Shalom to your home. The Kingdom of God is now!

I love you. I forgive you. Have a blessed and abundant day!

#ThinkBetter #BeBetter #NoKingButChrist #EmbraceTheWithin #SeekFirstTheKingdom #NotMyWayYHWH