What I Have Been Learning

As I continue to prepare for my trip to Africa, naturally I am spending more time in the Word of God. My Heavenly Father has been showing me so much, and I cannot wait for His dreams to be fulfilled in me while I am away. He has spoken great things to me and conveyed to me a calling that I hope to never lose or give up on. In our times together, He has shown me things about faith, trust, obedience, love, and His promise to never forsake me. One of my absolutely favorite verses in Scripture is Isaiah 43: 1 and 2,

 “But now, thus says the Lord, who created you, O Jacob, And He who formed, O Israel; ‘Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by your name; You are Mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; And through the rivers, they shall not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned, Nor shall the flame scorch you.”

That gives me so much peace! My God will not leave me! Do you really understand that? Think just for a moment… the Creator of the galaxies, the author and finisher of all that exists, the One who breathed you to life, the God that is above all other gods, will never ever leave you!!! Not even when the flames are surrounding us or when the waters are rising and billowing all around us. But, better than just not leaving us, He says that the flames will not scorch us or burn us, and that the waters will not overtake us!! What an awesome God that we serve!

The other important thing that keeps showing up in so many passages of Scripture that I read is, love. As you remember from my first post, I am on a journey and a quest to experience Gods love in a radical way and to share His love with all that I meet. I feel like we hear so much about how important love is and how we should love our neighbor as ourselves, but often we cease to obey this commandment. Many of you are familiar with the 13^th chapter of 1 Corinthians. It is a very powerful selection, and Paul writes to show just how great love is and the power that it holds. Let us read:

“Though I speak with tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal. And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith, so that I could move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profits me nothing.”

Those first three verses can be hard to swallow. Paul hits the nail right on the head. Love is not a show or an act. If we speak, so eloquently and brilliantly but, have not love… it becomes an annoyance, a clanging cymbal in the ears of God. We may be able to understand complicated concepts and may have the faith in God to move mountains, but without love, it is pointless. Paul says that even if we give all away and offer our life to the point of death, but do not sacrifice out of love…. What does it matter?  Each of us know when someone is pretending to be our friend or is just saying something nice for show, and doesn’t it just drive you crazy? I would rather they be hateful towards me than watching them have a fake love.

Paul then describes to the Corinthians what love is:

“Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in truth, bears all things, believes all things hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails…… And now abide faith, hope and love, these three; but the greatest of these is love.”

Wow. Imagine if we genuinely acted that out? How would you feel the next time someone said I love you? We should read this every day as a reminder of how to love. This is why we are on earth: to bring glory to God by loving Him and serving Him and a result of that would be loving everyone else. A genuine love makes you stand out. Christ does not tell us to simply love our friends and family and those we care about, He takes it a step further. He commands us to love our enemies and those who hate us. He did as He was dying on the cross. He not only gave His life for those that would accept and believe in Him he also died for the ones that were crucifying Him; He loved all with a genuine love, the love described in  1 Corinthians. Let us follow in His example!