Embrace the Within no. 40

“Jesus’ love never changes. It doesn’t matter how well I do or how bad I do, His love for me never, never changes and it never will.”

• Andrew McCutchen

All conflicts are internal conflicts.

Heavenly Father, redeeming Christ, and comforting Spirit,

I thank you for all the obstacles and challenges I faced this past week. Your Grace and Truth have helped me hurdle those obstacles and face those challenges. I may be unsuccessful at first. I may fail at first. BUT I have the assurance that You will provide the Way through and over in triumph. Whatever I face in the world today and tomorrow, I no longer face alone because I have the assurance of Your wraparound presence to protect and guide me through all that life has to offer. There is nothing You have not foreseen. There is nothing You cannot lead me through.

I ask this week for guidance and wisdom along the path for not only myself BUT more importantly for others. Father, I have seen some really wrong ideas this week. I have seen a large number of folks buying into ideas that are not rooted in Your vision of humans as image bearers of Your plan. I pray that we all spend more time in Your Word and in prayer with You in finding the path you want us to walk. I pray that we all work on building a better relationship with You through love and fear of Your power and glory and grace and truth. I pray that we all truly put our way behind us and walk in Your way of loving You and others.

I pray this week that those that are suffering from physical, mental, and spiritual weakness will find Your strength. There are so many folks out there hurting, Lord. There are so many folks out there that are looking to the world and inside them for the strength to survive this broken world. Help them come to abandon that selfish idea and turn towards Your great strength to lead them into true power. Help those that suffer to find the rest and peace we enjoy in Your Spirit and Truth.

As I move forward with the ending of this week and the promise of a new week ahead, I ask that You look over all that is around in my life and help my words and actions be a blessing to Your glory. Help me and those I meet along the way to see Your vision of the world to come, Your Truth in all those interactions. In all this I ask that it is Your way and not my way. Amen.

Peace to your home. Bless your being. The reign of YHWH is now. Be a blessing to YHWH and others.

#ThinkBetter #BeBetter #NoGodsNoMasters #MyNepheshMyChoice #ChristsLifeMatters #EmbracetheWithin

Embrace the Within no. 39

“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment.”

“A debtor to mercy alone, of covenant mercy I sing.”

• Augustus M. Toplady

God is good all the time. I just fail to see it a lot of the time. Well, at least I used to see the goodness of God a lot less than I do now. I used to have to fake being excited. It was a persona that got me through the day. Now I am no longer faking my excitement. I have a song to sing in my soul and a voice to make that song appear and a mind to focus on the joy. I get to choose to be joyful.

There is a lot of focus on happiness in society. Everyone deserves to be happy. No one deserves to be sad or depressed or anxious or worried. And that just simply isn’t the case. Happiness is my interpretation of the world around me. And if I am looking at this secular world, there is a lot to be unhappy about. When I keep my focus on God, when I look to spiritual things, when I see the goodness around me, then I have something beyond happiness. Something that isn’t based on how I feel at the moment. A joy that transcends the past, the present, and the future. I can have a joy that is constantly present.

I support what I love. I spend time learning about and understanding and knowing the things that I love. My youngest son is entirely into lore. He has to research the history and background of whatever his current favorite thing is. He wants to know that thing inside and out. And he will talk my ear off about that thing as soon as he gets my undivided attention. That is the kind of obsession we need with learning about our faith. That is the kind of passion we need for Christ.

I spend time and money and attention on the things I love. I spend time and money and attention on the people I love. I spend time learning about and understanding and knowing the people I love. I can’t build a relationship with anyone that I barely know. Relationships take time and trust and intimacy and knowledge that just doesn’t happen overnight. Relationships take time to build and only seconds to ruin.

I sing through the spirit and I sing in truth. I have a voice in my spirit to say and sing my love for God and neighbor. I have a body to daily act out of love for God and neighbor. I have a mind to consider and reflect on how to love God and neighbor better. I have a whole nephesh that needs to be aligned with those commands.

“‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. The second is like it, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself [that is, unselfishly seek the best or higher good for others].’ The whole Law and the [writings of the] Prophets depend on these two commandments”(Matthew 22:37-40 AMP).

Peace to your home. Bless your being. The reign of YHWH is now. Be a blessing to YHWH and others.

#ThinkBetter #BeBetter #NoGodsNoMasters #MyNepheshMyChoice #ChristsLifeMatters #EmbracetheWithin