Day 341: Crazy Love!

1 Corinthians 13:4-8

4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.

5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.

6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.

7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

8 Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away.

Romans 13:10

Love does no harm to a neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.

1 Peter 4:8

Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins.

Has love ever caught you by surprise? Like have you ever been overtaken by love and didn’t realize it until something happens and you know only love could make you do something like that? They say love makes you do some crazy things, that can be both good and bad. But today we want to talk about the good kind of crazy love.

Love will take you by surprise sometimes, and sometimes it’s unintentional. I cannot stay mad at anyone, even when I try I cannot hold a grudge against anyone because my love for whoever it is is greater. I have too much compassion and it’s all Jesus’ fault. He made me like this. He did this to me. It may sound funny, but I’m serious. Sometimes I just want to be mad, like give me time to sulk and get over it. Just let me be angry sometimes, I’ll get over I just don’t want to get over it at this exact moment. But then I’m reminded of the scriptures and how Jesus loves us and forgives us, and how we are called to love one another. I’m reminded that love covers the multitude of sins. I’m reminded that love forgives, and does no harm. I’m reminded of all these things and I start to ask myself what would Jesus do. Then the next thing I know I’m praying for that person, because I love them so much. Because God loves them so much and God loves me, and His love is within me. I cannot help but to love His people the way He loves them.  

Our hearts are set up a certain way, they are set up in Christ, they have been captured by the Lord. This heart in me, that heart in you has been purified by the Holy Spirit and made new. This heart God has complete ownership over. Therefore we love like God and live like Christ. That means we love even when we do not want to. It means that the love we have in our hearts will catch us by surprise, and sometimes that’s how we know it’s genuine because we aren’t even trying to love but it happens. We aren’t even trying to live like Christ but our hearts have been captivated by Him so it just happens. That’s that crazy kind of love I’m talking about. It’s crazy because sometimes we don’t want it, but we cannot help it. Sometimes we love people so much only to have them not love us an ounce back. It’s the crazy love that says even though you sin against me and nail me to a cross I will ask God to forgive you while you are in the act of killing me.  That’s the love that is in us and we wonder why we can do no harm to our neighbor even when they harm us. We wonder why we have so much compassion for people even when our mind tells us they don’t deserve it, the heart does something different. We have to follow our hearts, because God is in our hearts. When our hearts are full on God, everything that comes out of them will be just like Christ. Yes, that will catch us by surprise sometimes but it is the best feeling ever! It is great to know that God is so good that He makes us good as well. God’s love towards us is so unconditional that we learn to love people without condition. It’s beautiful.

All this to say, walking with God will have us loving people even when we want to do everything but that. But love is the key to living. Love is the key to peace. Love is everything we need. God is love.

Reflection

1. Has love ever caught you by surprise?
2. If yes to the above question, elaborate.

Prayer Time

Take the time to talk to God about love. Thank God that He loved us first. Thank Him that He teaches us how to love and how to live. Whatever is on your heart talk to God about it.

I love you so much and I hope you have an amazing day or evening! Be sure to share this with someone and come back tomorrow for day 342!

Day 248: WE LOVE!

Today is a bit of an expansion or part two of Day 245.

1 Corinthians 13:1-3

If I could speak all the languages of earth and of angels, but didn’t love others, I would only be a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. If I had the gift of prophecy, and if I understood all of God’s secret plans and possessed all knowledge, and if I had such faith that I could move mountains, but didn’t love others, I would be nothing. If I gave everything I have to the poor and even sacrificed my body, I could boast about it; but if I didn’t love others, I would have gained nothing.

What is life without love? Is there any use of going through life without love? I’m going to answer these questions based on scripture, life is nothing without love. We gain nothing, it has no meaning. Going through life without love is essentially attempting to go through life without God. I love this scripture, it comes right before the definition of love in 1 Corinthians 13:4-7. However the passage we are focusing on today tells us that we can do great things in our lives and with our lives but if it is without love, it’s not worth anything. I think this is so important because we use so many things to try to take the place of the love we give others. Sometimes acts of love and actually loving someone are two completely different things. We do things for people to make it look like we love them. We can do great deeds for others, give everything up for them, but if it is not rooted in love, if we didn’t love people it would not matter. Sometimes these good deeds and great acts of kindness are to make ourselves feel and look better as opposed to the wellbeing of someone else. I’ve heard countless people who were born into wealthy families say, “I would give it all up, just to have a parent that truly loves me.” The thing I’m trying to get at here is, there is no substitution for love. We cannot replace it with anything else, no matter how expensive or how great the deed. Nothing beats love. Nothing.

We know that love is patient and kind, love does not envy or boast, it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on it’s own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing but it rejoices in the truth. We know all of this, it’s written right there in the scripture (1 Corinthians 13:4-7) We know the definition of love but why do we love?

We love because without it we have nothing. Love is our very foundation seeing that God is love (1 John 4:8). Everything we are is built upon that truth. The scripture goes through a myriad of things telling us we can have it all but if we do not have love it is not worth it. “If I could speak all the languages of earth and of angels, but didn’t love others, I would only be a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. If I had the gift of prophecy, and if I understood all of God’s secret plans and possessed all knowledge, and if I had such faith that I could move mountains, but didn’t love others, I would be nothing.” Everything we do is rooted in love. If it’s not then what’s the point?

We love because God first loved us (1 John 4:19). We love because it is a command from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ (Mark 12:30-31, Matthew 22:37-39, Luke 10:27). We love because God is love, and if we want any part in Him we will dwell in love, because it is who He is. If we want to live like Christ and enter into the gates of heaven we will live and walk in love the same way He did.

We love because sometimes people will only ever experience true love through us. We love because our world is broken and corrupted and love covers the multitude of sin (1 Peter 4:8). We love because it is the one thing that can bring us all together as one body. That’s who we are, we are lovers of God, ourselves, and people. Everything we are and everything we do shall forever be rooted in God, meaning that it will be rooted in love.

Reflection

1. Why do you love?
2. Why do we love, as the body of Christ?

Prayer Time

Allow you answers to the above questions guide your prayer. Talk to God and have a conversation about what we discussed today. Whatever is on your heart, as HIm to search your heart and teach you how to love.

I love you and I hope you have an amazing day or evening. Be sure to share this with someone and come back tomorrow for Day 249!

Day 245: One With the Lord (The Power of Prayer!)

1 Corinthians 6:17

But the person who is joined to the Lord is one spirit with him.

Today I want to talk about being one with the Lord, what I mean by that is, having a relationship with Him. When our spirits are in tune with God we are joined to Him as one spirit. As when two people get married they become one, well there’s another marriage we must have that comes before every other relationship in our lives and that’s our relationship with God. I can never stress how important it is to have a personal relationship with God. To get it for ourselves, not depending on the prayer of others to get by. As I talked about earlier this year, we are the generation living on the prayers of our mothers and grandmothers; but no matter how much or hard they pray, they cannot have a relationship with God for us. That’s a decision we make on our own. Once we make that decision we are joined to Him for all eternity, there should be no going back. I love talking about having a personal relationship with God because it is so important, but we also get to break down what that means and what it looks like.

It’s more than just standing up in church one day and making the decision, while that is very important it is only the beginning. The moment we make the decision to dedicate our lives to Christ is the moment we decide to be joined to Him for all eternity.  Our spirits become one with the Lord as our lives begin to change to emulate the word of God. Our lives are moulded by His word. We will get to a point where everything we do we do to the glory of God. There is also a point in our relationship with God when we know we are in tune with God. I can’t tell you when it is or what it feels like, but you will know when it happens. Being joined to the Lord we just know, we start to move through the Holy spirit allowing it to guide us through life. When we are joined to God, life seems to be easier, things seem to worry us less. We start to see the world through the filter of God’s eyes. Our lives start to look a bit different, as we continue to grow in Him, we will find deeper revelations of who He is and the more clarity in the word of God. We will start to understand things differently and live every day of our lives by trusting God. We start to live by faith knowing that God always has a plan, it becomes easier to jump when we have faith in God. Knowing that even when we feel like we’re falling He is right there to catch us. Knowing that we are never alone, that God is always there.

We get this to this point by continuously choosing to be in a relationship with Him. I’ve said it so many time, but this lifestyle we’re living is a choice, and that’s what makes is so rewarding. It’s something we want, we choose to put our faith in God. We choose to have a relationship with Him. We are not forced into this, we cannot be forced into it. It has to be our own decision.

All this to say, we are joined to God first through Jesus Christ, when we give our lives to Christ we are automatically connected with our father in heaven. But we also make the choice to trust in His word and dive into a marriage with Him. We are joined to God through His word, reading and gaining knowledge and understanding of His word. One last, but the most important thing, prayer. Direct communication with God, we cannot have a relationship with God without prayer. One of the main ways we communicate with God is through prayer. We cannot have a relationship without communication. I cannot stress how important prayer is in our relationship with God. I think sometimes it is often looked over, but it is imperative that we pray without ceasing. Prayer brings change, God hears the prayers of His people. HE heard the cries of the Israelites countless times and continuously delivered them. He heard the prayer of King Hezekiah and added fifteen years to his life. Prayer works! That is something that is constant throughout the entire bible, everyone prayed. There is no one in the bible who had a relationship with God without prayer. Prayer is key to being joined with God.

Response/Prayer Time

Take the time to respond in whatever way you feel led. But take the time to really pray, pray about whatever is on your heart. Ask God to help you with your prayer life, just take the time to talk to God and have a conversations with Him.

I love you and I hope you have an amazing day or evening! Be sure to share this with someone and come back tomorrow for Day 246!

Day 242: Faith is For Everyone

Galatians 3:26-29

For you are all children of God through faith in Christ Jesus. And all who have been united with Christ in baptism have put on Christ, like putting on new clothes.  There is no longer Jew or Gentile, slave or free, male and female. For you are all one in Christ Jesus. And now that you belong to Christ, you are the true children of Abraham. You are his heirs, and God’s promise to Abraham belongs to you.

Let me first start off by saying that, no one, and I mean no one is excluded from God’s love. No one. Now that we’ve discussed that, let’s dive in a bit and talk about how faith is for everyone.

When we think about the Old Testament and the Law and how the Jews were God’s chosen people, you would think that anyone who wasn’t Jewish was excluded from the faith. You would think that God loved Jewish people more than anyone else, because they were His specially chosen people. When we think about it, God used a people to be set apart from the rest of the world and say, these are my people and this is how they will live. I believe it was to show that God’s people were set apart for the word. Actually the Hebrew word for “holy” means, to be set apart. So when God called the Jews to be holy He was calling them to be set apart from the rest of the world. Meaning obeying the law, and commandments, Obeying every detail in Exodus, Leviticus, and Deuteronomy, no matter how boring and repetitive it is reading them. Jewish people were living lives so completely different from the rest of the world that it made them stand out. It made them different from anyone else, because they were following commands directly from god. God has chosen a people to carry His word, to live out His commands and lead generations of people to Him. Anyone who was not living the way God had instructed the Jewish people to love were not considered people of God. They were Gentiles (non-Jewish people).

Now that we’re done with the little history lesson let’s take it back to the New Testament, when Jesus arrives. Jesus, a Jewish man Himself, comes to save all humanity, Seeing that He was Jewish He was obligated to obey the commands and the law, which He did, He did not come to destroy it but fulfill it. Jesus came to offer everyone a relationship with God, not just the Jewish people. Because of Jesus you no longer had to go through a priest to be forgiven of your sins. We had a direct connection with God.

Jesus came and united all people for one purpose, to serve god. He came and said, you weren’t born Jewish but you deserve salvation too, it doesn’t matter if your Greek, God loves you too. Oh, you’re a sinner, come to me, I can fix that. Jesus came and changed the game completely when He came looking at people’s hearts, and seeking their souls, instead of trying to figure out their bloodline, (plot twist: He already knows). It didn’t matter if they were Jewish, Gentile, slaves, sinners. None of that mattered anymore because god wanted His people, not just the chosen people of Israel. No, He wanted all of us, every single one of us. Which brings me to my main and perhaps only point I want to make today, faith is for everyone.

No one is excluded from Jesus, No one is denied access to God. We are all one in Christ Jesus, He loves us all the same. When Jesus came He did not show favor to the Jews, in fact He was harder on them. He came to let everyone know that it doesn’t matter who you are, there is room at the cross for you.

I want to you know that. It doesn’t matter who you are or where you’ve been, Jesus wants you. I think a lot of times, for many different reason we feel like God doesn’t want us. We feel like we aren’t good enough or we’ve done too much. We feel unworthy of His love and grace. I want to let you know today that God loves you so much. He wants to have a relationship with you so bad that He sent His only son to die so that you could have a direct connection with Him. I know sometimes we feel unworthy when we think about how good God is, but He’s so good that He’s finds us worthy of His grace when we know we don’t deserve it.

All this to say, there is room for you in the house of the Lord. There is a specific spot waiting for you actually. We are all His children, no one is excluded  from that. We all have a seat at this table, even when we decide to give it up. It’s always open because Jesus is constantly interceding for us, and pulling us back. We always have  seat waiting waiting for us at our Heavenly Father’s table. This message will never get old or tired. No matter who you are, where you’ve been, or where you are at the moment, God loves you. He is waiting for you, standing there with open arms, He will not judge you, but He will shower you with gifts and grace. One day, it will be too late. None of us know what that day is, but let’s not try to wait and find out. Turn to Him today, make that decision.

Response /Prayer Time

Respond today however you feel led. Talk to God about what we discussed today, and have an honest conversation with Him.

I love you and I hope you have an amazing day or evening! Be sure to share this with someone and discuss it with someone. Come back tomorrow for Day 243!

Day 231: Don't Be a Stumbling Block

(I apologize for the lateness, it has been a long night and a very long day.) 

Romans 14:13

So let’s stop condemning each other. Decide instead to live in such a way that you will not cause another believer to stumble and fall.

Romans 14:19

So then, let us aim for harmony in the church and try to build each other up.

This week we’ve talked about deciding what is right for us, and not judging people who choose to live their lives differently than we do. Today I want to talk about how we can sometimes become a stumbling block to our brothers and sisters in Christ when we choose to do certain things. Many times it isn’t intentional, we don’t get up with the mindset of causing someone to stumble. Many times it’s the way we act towards our fellow Christians and how we treat them because we don’t agree with their decisions or lifestyles.  The main point I want to stress here today is, don’t do anything that will cause your neighbor to fall. One example being, if we decide for ourselves that it is okay to drink alcohol, the right thing to do would be to abstain from it around someone who is a recovering alcoholic. It is the Christian thing to do. We must learn to lift one another up and do all we can to contribute to someone’s growth.

I love that the scripture starts off by saying, “Let’s stop condemning each other…”. This is so important because one, there is no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus. Second, from what I have experienced in my life, a lot of condemnation stems from unnecessary judgement, selfish desires, and ulterior motives. We often do things in the name of Jesus in order to “improve the body of Christ” when it’s really just a selfish way to improve our image as a Christian. Things have been said and done to people that should never be said or done. We never really know what someone is going through, or why they have made the decisions they have made. We don’t know why someone’s lifestyle looks the way it does. So to condemn someone because we don’t agree with them or their lifestyle is a bit childish. We are not here to pressure or guilt our neighbors into living the same exact life we have chosen to live. We are here to love people, no matter who or what they are.  I believe there is something much bigger than whether we agree or disagree, that doesn’t matter. What does matter is that people are not turned away by your judgemental face and comments. What matters is that we put someone’s soul before our opinions. What matters is that we do not become the obstacle someone has to get over in order to get to Christ. It’s much deeper than just not drinking so your friend doesn’t feel like they’re going to relapse. We’re talking about people’s souls here and how we can either contribute to their growth in Christ or be the reason they stumble.

While it remains true that we all get to choose the lifestyle we want to live and that looks different for all of us but at the end of the day we are all one body, We work together, we function as one body. We cannot have the hands falling while the head is sitting high and mighty. We must work together and live together in harmony. We must learn to put our differences aside because they don’t matter and live to serve Christ. That is our common purpose, we are followers of Christ. No matter what, at the end of the day we all follow one God, live off of one Word, and believe in one Gospel.

All this to say, we are to live in harmony with one another and lift each other up. While we are living our own lives and making our own choices, be mindful of how they affect others, We can sometimes be a stumbling block without realizing it. Just because we are living our best lives and choosing to do what we have decided is right for us does not mean that we forget that there's a whole other world out there. There are other people who need us to lift them up, pray for them, and not cause them to stumble.

Reflection/Prayer Time

Take the time to respond and have a conversation with God. Respond however you feel led, and talk to God about that response. You can talk to God about how you may have been a stumbling block to others or how others have been a stumbling block to you. Ask God to remove those specific blocks from our path. Pray for the body of Christ that we will live in harmony with one another.

I love you and I hope you have an amazing day or evening. Be sure to share this with someone and come back tomorrow for day 232!

Day 227: Unpacking Romans 12-Good Overcomes Evil

Romans 12:21

Don’t let evil conquer you, but conquer evil by doing good.

“Darkness cannot drive out darkness, on light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate, only love can do that.”

-Martin Luther King Jr.

These wise words were spoken by Martin Luther King Jr. at a time in history when segregation, and discrimination based on race had come to a boiling point in America. Black people, and people of color in America were oppressed simply because of the color of our skin. Many were: beat, killed, lynched, jailed, raped, turned down from jobs,, spit on, hosed down with fire hoses, attacked by police, attacked by police dogs, etc. This was all because there was a hate for the color of their skin. Martin Luther King had been put in jail multiple times, led peaceful protests, and gave beautiful speeches. As a God-fearing man, he refused to fight fire with fire, but he also stood up for what he believed in, no matter the cost. Kind of like Paul.  

Now when I planned this series, never did I think that I would be addressing this specific subject on this day. I am referring to the events in Charlottesville, Virginia over the weekend. Where hate has once again led to violence, pain, and death. I’m reminded of this scripture in light of everything going on, that we as a people, the body of Christ cannot be overcome by this. Especially my brothers and sisters of color, as it can be intimidating and scary to think that the color of your skin, something God gave you and He views as beautiful, trust me it wasn’t a mistake; however it is disheartening to think that something as simple as your skin tone can get you killed. Even in this dark truth I encourage you all to find hope in the Lord. To not be overcome by the hate we face each and everyday and what we see on television and social media. The only way we can overcome the evils of this world is by doing good. Evil cannot beat good. Hate cannot beat love. Dark cannot be light. Fear cannot beat hope. So today I want to encourage the body of Christ to love in the face of hate, to do good in the face of  evil. Be a light in the dark. I know that it hurts us, and not just the black and hispanic community, but we as the body of Christ should all be grieved by the fact that our brothers and sisters are being hurt, attacked, and murdered because of hate.

We have been seeing this for centuries. Not just in American History, but the history of the world. Even in the bible, the rifts between the Jew and Samaritans. The Hebrew people who were enslaved by the Egyptians. None of this is new, but we must be able to see it through the filter of God’s eyes. I cannot tell you why this type of stuff happens or why it has to happen but I can tell you that God is bigger than all of it. God’s love and light never runs out. As long as we know who is for us, we will never run out of hope.

All this to say, even in the midst of all this, it is our job to pray for those who persecute us. To do good to those who curse us. Now is the time, more than ever, to put everything that we talk about and preach about into action. We are called to love, we know this. But please don’t let your love be tainted by hate. Don’t let the good in you be taken away by evil. I beg of you, as hard as it may be, don’t run out of hope. Don’t stop seeing the bright side, there’s always a bright side. In the face of evil, don’t forget that God is good. God is love.

Reflection

1. How are you feeling?
2. How do you feel about the state of the world?

Prayer Time

Take the time to pray for the state of our nation. Pray for those affected by racism and those who are racist. Pray that love continues to conquer hate. Have an honest conversation with God.

I love you so much! I hope you have an amazing day or evening. Be sure to share this with someone and come back tomorrow for Day 228!

Day 217: Walk With Each Other

Romans 12:10

Love one another with brotherly affection Outdo one another in showing honor

Romans 12:18

If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all.

Today’s devo is all about getting along with one another, something that sounds simple but it is so hard. Not that it’s hard to get along with everyone because most times we can get along with everyone but we all have those few people or at least one person that we’d rather not cross paths with, to say the least. I have to be honest, I have been struggling with this subject for the past few days. However as Christians it is important that we live in harmony with one another, that we walk with one another and that we honor and respect one another.

If you are like me, you’re the type of person that only has to be crossed once or twice and then your done with a person. So when I came upon these scriptures I kinda almost had an argument with God. Trying to find a loophole in it all. Like okay God but this person is a jerk, like they’re wrong. Why do I have to deal with their foolishness in my life, why do I have to be the bigger person? Why do I have to try to get along with someone that I know doesn’t like me? Like God the feelings are mutual. I know many of you can relate, but this is something that I have been sincerely struggling with. Something I had to start praying about, God help me with my pride. I found that the reason I was feeling this way was because of my pride. I don’t like feeling disrespected, I don’t like being talked to crazy. And even though all of this may actually be happening, one thing I had to ask God was to help me get over my pride.

It’s not on the other people, the scripture says, “so far as it depends on you” so it is our job to do all that we can to live peaceably with one another. It’s our job, we cannot use someone else as an excuse as to why we cannot do our part to love one another. I know it’s hard, I know sometimes people are hard to get along with, but we must do all that we can to show our love. It’s hard, it’s very hard, but it’s not impossible. And if at the end of the day we’ve done all we can on our part, and the other person still doesn’t come through on their end, at least we did our job. We can still love them. Everyone is not meant to be our best friends or be close to us, but everyone deserves love, rather we like them or not. It is still our job as Christians to love them. Even when we’re angry at one another love is more powerful than that anger. I’m the type of person, and I blame this on Jesus, that no matter how angry I am at someone, no matter what they’ve done, my love is stronger. Love is greater than our own feelings, love is the strongest part of us as human beings. Love overcomes it all.

All this say, do what you can to live in harmony with your brothers and sisters in Christ. This is easy when we have to get along with people we like and the people that make it easy to get along with. We have to love those who make it nearly impossible to love or to like. Jesus did it, He loved us despite our wrongdoings. Do what you can to live in harmony with your brothers and sisters. That is not to say that we should not guard our hearts. Guard your heart. Proverbs 4:23, Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it. Don’t let your love be tainted because of how someone else treats you. Also don’t let your pride get in the way of you trying to get along with others. Don’t just give up on people, try and do all you can.

Reflection

1. Do you find it hard to get along with certain people? Why?

Prayer Time

Take the time to talk to God about what we discussed today. Talk to Him about pride and helping you to get along with and love your neighbors. Ask Him to help you even when it’s hard. Talk to Him about guarding your heart and finding a good balance.  

I love you and I hope you have an amazing day or evening! Be sure to share this with someone and come back tomorrow for Day 218!

Day 215: You're Not A Robot

Matthew 16:24

Then Jesus told his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.

My fear within the Christian community and those of us who have grown up in church is that we have conditioned ourselves to be spiritual robots. Meaning when we read this scripture all we see is, deny. Deny yourself in order to follow Christ. We take this to mean, deny your feelings, deny your impulses, deny who you are as a person because following Christ is now our personality. There’s a few points I want to hit today. First let me start by saying, God changes our ways as a person, He changes who we are by changing how we live. Following Christ does not mean we turn ourselves into robots. In fact it means the exact opposite, we  truly find ourselves when we are found in Christ. When Jesus tells us to deny ourselves here, He is telling us to deny our flesh, turn away from our selfish ways, turn away from the things we want to do that will keep us separated for Him. That’s the part of us we have to deny, the impulse to sin, the fleshly desires. God made us who we are for a reason, the personality we have He gave it to, I do not believe that it is God’s desire to strip us of who we are and force us to be robots. I believe that the idea itself is something man made in order to make us look like better or good Christians. What it does is turn us into spiritual robots. Meaning that being a Christian and following Christ will become nothing more than a routine and obligation. We are made to worship, but many times we confuse worshipping God with living a religious life. Based on rules. When we live by religious rules, we are so focused on the things we cannot do because we serve God. We focus on not doing things in order to stay in “good graces” with God. Which is ridiculous, God’s grace doesn’t run out. Religious rules puts pressure on us to prove our spirituality. When we are in a relationship with God, and when we truly follow Him and love Him this relationship isn’t about what we can’t do. It’s about what we can do, it’s about living with God and enjoying the life He has blessed us with. We are so obsessed with the idea of being a good Christian that we start to lead this robotic lifestyle that God never intended for us to live. If God wanted to be served by robots, He would have made robots. No He gave us a mind, and choices and free will. He gave us the brain to think the capacity to love and the choice choose to serve Him. Don’t deny your humanity. He made us the way we are for a reason. He gave us a personality for a reason. Don’t deny it.

The second point I want to get to is how we have made ourselves emotional robots. When we think about denying ourselves we deny our feelings, we deny how we feel. That is not how we are meant to live, we are human, we have feelings, whether good or bad. It’s what makes us human. God gave us feelings for a reason. Feelings are part of the human anatomy, everything from pain to happiness. We as Christians tend to deny the feelings that in our opinion show we are weak. Even if they do, it shows that we are human and it shows the areas of our life where we need the strength of God. We openly accept the good parts of life sometimes.

Religion has taught us that humility means we don’t get too excited when we succeed, it’s taught us to suppress those excited and proud feelings so we won’t be arrogant or boastful. It’s taught us to deny the feelings that are bad, deny anger and pain. Deny depression, because Christians don’t get depressed or have anxiety deny it because it’s not from God. Denying it does nothing but make it worse. Nowhere in the bible does it say that beings angry, sad, upset, or even depressed is a sin. The sin comes when we act on our anger. When we allow how circumstances to dictate who we are and how we lead our lives, when we allow it to keep us away from God. Being emotional or sensitive is not a sin. We have been taught to be strong and persevere, to pick up our cross and continue walking like Jesus. Jesus persevered yes, but we know that He was in pain, however there was something greater than His pain, and He acknowledged. That doesn’t mean that He acted like the pain didn’t exist, it meant that He was willing to take it in order serve a greater purpose. We see that in the Luke 22 when Jesus prayed at the mount of olives.

Luke 22:42-44

“Father, if you are willing, please take this cup of suffering away from me. Yet I want your will to be done, not mine.” Then an angel from heaven appeared and strengthened him. He prayed more fervently, and he was in such agony of spirit that his sweat fell to the ground like great drops of blood.  

The scripture says that He was in agony. Agony! So much agony that His sweat hit the ground like great drops of blood. Let me give you the definition of agony; extreme and generally prolonged pain; intense physical or mental suffering. Now some say that Jesus was actually sweating blood. That’s how much agony He was in. Now here is a perfect example of denying yourself, taking up your cross and walking. Jesus says, if it be your will God, take this cup from me but not my will, yours be done. Even though He was in pain, He was willing to deal with it if that’s what God wanted. He didn’t pretend like it wasn’t there, in fact He tried to ease it.  But if He had to go through this in order to fulfill His purpose and fulfill God’s plan than He would do it, and He did. And that’s what it means to deny ourselves.

All this to say, when we deny our feelings because of our faith, we are chasing false strength. Meaning we want to look strong because Christians aren’t weak. We put up a facade like everything is okay when we are dying on the inside. Denying our feelings and who we are in order to serve religion only begets more issues and problems within us. Following Christ is not about looking strong or looking like a good Christian. It is about submitting our life to Christ and living a life that follow His plan and purpose.  Embrace your feelings and embrace who you are. Serve God, not religion.

Reflection

1. Are you familiar with the traits of a spiritual or emotional robot?
2. Have you been living your life like a robot?
3. Take the time to search yourself and ask, am I serving God or religion? Am I living to please God or man?

Prayer Time

Allow you answers to the above questions guide your prayer. Talk to God what it truly means to deny yourself and pick up your cross.

I love you and I hope you have an amazing day or evening! Be sure to share this with someone and come back tomorrow for Day 216!

Day 211: Love Is...

Love is probably one of the hardest words to define because it can be described and showed in so many different ways. With love languages, and expressions and the hesitation to say “I love you” to someone you know you love. Love is serious, it’s not always taken seriously, but it is a very serious thing.

We struggle so much to define the word love and we often look for it in places where it is not. I think that we have all had experiences where we felt love for the first time, like really felt and understood it, as well as knowing what its like to love for the first. I must say that it's a truly beautiful feeling. We can live our whole lives thinking we know what love is and in a minute the definition is completely changed, because somewhere along the way we have an experience that either shows us this is what it looks like to be loved or shows us what its like to love. However it’s very hard to put into words, or at least that’s what I thought. I found the definition of love without even knowing I was looking for it, and it came through reading the word of God. I came across 1 Corinthians 13:4-7,

Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.

This is love, if we are looking to put it into words here it is. Not only does God show us what love is, and what it looks like, He explains it to us. In plain terms there are no metaphors or riddles to figure it out. It’s straightforward. God defines love for us, and it’s beautiful.

The most beautiful thing about it is God is describing himself. 1 John 4:8, Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. To know love is to know God. When Paul writes about love He is describing the very characteristics of God. If we live our lives to serve God and if God is in us, these are the characteristics that we must also inhabit.

Not only does God show us what love is, He shows us how to love. Being patient and kind. Not being jealous of anyone or anything or prideful and boasting. My favorite is, “keeping no record of being wronged”. Love is forgiveness. Love is the ability to let go and move on. Probably the hardest characteristic of love, because many of us have been hurt by people who say they love us. Hurt by love as we would say. I think many of us get to this mindset because we are living by man’s standard of love, not God’s. When we live by God’s standard of love, all of this will be much easier. Life is better because we cannot help but love people, we cannot help but forgive. God’s love is the best kind of love. Love does not rejoice at injustice, love fights for justice, it fights for truth. Love doesn’t give up, it doesn’t lose faith, it’s hopeful and endures. If you love something or someone, you don’t give up on it or them. You don’t give up faith or hope. Love keeps you going, it keeps you motivated. Love makes you continue to fight even when it’s hard and you feel like you have nothing left. This is how God loves us. This is how we are to love ourselves and how we are to love others.

All this to say, if you're looking for love, look to God. You won’t find it anywhere else, God is the source of love. He is love.

Response/Prayer Time

Take the time to talk to God about what it is to love and be loved. Respond in whatever way you feel led.

I love you and I hope you have an amazing day or evening! Be sure to share this with someone and come back tomorrow for Day 212!