Seek First The Kingdom of God no. 19

“Love each other devotedly and with brotherly love; and set examples for each other in showing respect” (Romans (Rom) 12:10). I don’t know but this love thing seems kind of important. And what better way to show love than to respect our brothers and sisters? And I think that is where I start to fall short. I often try to see where other Christians are wrong and I can just ignore them. I tend to try to find where they get things wrong rather than loving them as a brother or sister and recognizing that we are all in this together to grow in and through Him. And that is why the commandments to love God and love neighbor are so important to me. Those are much more important in my walk than prophecies about the future. Love is more important to my walk than anything other than forgiveness and grace. Through His love He found the grace to forgive me even when I was His enemy. How much more should I forgive those that are not His enemy? How much more should I forgive my enemies? How much should I want to love my enemies like they were my brothers and sisters?

“'For if we were reconciled with God through his Son’s death when we were enemies, how much more will we be delivered by his life, now that we are reconciled” (Romans (Rom) 5:10)! “In other words, you, who at one time were separated from God and had a hostile attitude towards him because of your wicked deeds, he has now reconciled in the Son’s physical body through his death; in order to present you holy and without defect or reproach before himself — “ (Colossians (Col) 1:21-22).

And that is by no means something easy. If it were an easy thing to accomplish, then everyone would be showing His love. I struggle every day with love. Sure. I have gotten better at love BUT I am by no stretch of the imagination an expert in love. Loving people is not easy because people are difficult to love. People do not make loving them easy, myself included. I fail, I fall, and I am broken BUT He strengthens and encourages me through love, grace, and forgiveness. I have sat through so many sermons and lessons and read books that are so much theory and not so much practice. And love is something I need to practice. Forgiveness is something I need to practice. It isn’t something I just become good at doing. Work on loving and forgiving today.

“I may speak in the tongues of men, even angels; but if I lack love, I have become merely blaring brass or a cymbal clanging. I may have the gift of prophecy, I may fathom all mysteries, know all things, have all faith — enough to move mountains; but if I lack love, I am nothing. I may give away everything that I own, I may even hand over my body to be burned; but if I lack love, I gain nothing” (1 Corinthians (1 Co) 13:1-3).

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. 18

“I may speak in the tongues of men, even angels; but if I lack love, I have become merely blaring brass or a cymbal clanging. I may have the gift of prophecy, I may fathom all mysteries, know all things, have all faith — enough to move mountains; but if I lack love, I am nothing. I may give away everything that I own, I may even hand over my body to be burned; but if I lack love, I gain nothing” (1 Corinthians (1 Co) 13:1-3). You ever think God is trying to hammer a point home? I feel like that with these verses about shalom and love and forgiveness constantly occurring in my study in the morning. I mean take this idea just a few lines earlier in the same letter, “Well, whatever you do, whether it’s eating or drinking or anything else, do it all so as to bring glory to God” (1 Corinthians (1 Co) 10:31). I think it keeps reinforcing the idea that being Christian and being a Christian are two distinctly different things in this society.

I see so many folks that are content with being a Christian. They said the prayer, they attend the church, and the rest of their life shows no witness to Christian behavior. They still are unchanged. And I am rather certain the Good News requires us to change our ways. That is what repentance is, a change in behavior. And then we’ll get the folks who think that means our salvation is based on works . . . No. God did all the work. I just have to live like His work meant something to me.

And that means making some uncomfortable changes in my life. It means learning how to love like Him. That means listening to His Spirit. That means changing to be Christian, or like Jesus. His anointing on my life should cause a change in my behavior. And that change should be soaking me in love, forgiveness, and peace that only He can provide. And that doesn’t happen overnight. It isn’t magic. BUT it does happen if I sincerely want to love Him and my neighbor. It will happen if I want to be an Ambassador of His Kingdom.

I will truly love others. I will want the best for them no matter their intentions for me. I will pray for them. I will turn the other cheek. I will pardon rather than punish. I will live out Matthew 5-7 as not just some lofty goal BUT as a lesson to guide my life. “So, everyone who hears these words of mine and acts on them will be like a sensible man who built his house on bedrock. The rain fell, the rivers flooded, the winds blew and beat against that house, but it didn’t collapse, because its foundation was on rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not act on them will be like a stupid man who built his house on sand. The rain fell, the rivers flooded, the wind blew and beat against that house, and it collapsed — and its collapse was horrendous” (Mattityahu (Mat) 7:24-27)!

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