An Inconvenient Love

"Greater love has no one than this—than to lay down one's life for his friends." (John 15:13)

I heard a message the other day that stated:  

"Loving people the way that Jesus loved people will cause you some inconvenience."

What a sobering and inconvenient reminder.

But it's a reminder I need daily.

Truth be told, like most everyone else, I want some major peace, happiness and comfort in this life.  "Dying to self?"  "Take up my cross daily?"  That certainly doesn't come naturally.  Not for me anyway.  But hey, keep those "blessings" coming.

Over the last decade I've grown increasingly sickened and weary of the whole materialistic christian sub-culture. Some call it "Churchianity."  So many churches have become like cliquey country clubs with polished marketing campaigns, catering to specific demographics. It's such a consumer mindset. Christians have their Christian bumper stickers. We have our fancy leather bible covers with all kinds of religious slogans on them.  You can even get camouflage bible covers.  There are hundreds of cool religious bumper stickers letting the world know that we don't agree with their pagan views. Thousands of religious hats and t-shirts galore. Pastors and church youth groups everywhere are doing their darndest to make church and Jesus "cool." We have thousands of Christian songs we can download to our i-Pods. Church goers complain if the music and bands on Sunday morning are not just to their liking.  People fill out comment cards telling the pastor they don't like how he taught something.  People don't like the coffee the church serves. Not enough doughnuts. They don't play enough contemporary songs.  They don't play enough old hymns. I have to walk a block from where I parked to get to the church building. The parking lot attendant was rude to me. It's too warm in here today. It's too cold...

Aren't you sick of it?

How many of us who call ourselves "Christians" ever allow ourselves to be bothered to actually help someone in need?  

In Matthew chapter 25, Jesus said:

“When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory. All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats. And He will set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left. Then the King will say to those on His right hand, ‘Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.’

“Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink? When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You? Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ And the King will answer and say to them, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.’"

I think that says it all.

Today I needed the reminder that Jesus demonstrating His love for a lost world was inconvenient. It cost Him something.  It cost Him everything. He laid down His life for you and for me.

"Greater love has no one than this—than to lay down one's life for his friends."

     —An inconvenient love.

—God is Love, and Love Never Fails.

You Are Not Alone

"There is a God-shaped vacuum in the heart of every man which cannot be filled by any created thing, but only by God the Creator, made known through Jesus Christ."

Philosopher Blaise Pascal, penned this statement of truth over 400 years ago, and yet, it still rings profoundly true today.

Loneliness, without a doubt, is the most painful emotion we experience in this life. It has been said that babies can die from lack of touching. Marriages wither and die from a lack of emotional and physical intimacy. Lonely people all over the world desperately try to numb their pain and fill up the empty spaces in their aching hearts with hedonistic pleasures, wealth, entertainment, narcotics, food, alcohol, material things, and often times, with very bad relationships.

As the song says, "Looking for love in all the wrong places."

We often go to great lengths to escape our loneliness.  

Anything to dull the pain.

As I think back over the course of my life, the road is filled with monuments of the countless times I tried to fill up the lonely spaces in my own heart with other things and other people, only to discover in the aftermath, that my choices made in desperation left me feeling empty and even more lonely. Sadly, I also left a wake of emotional destruction in other people's lives.

I'm convinced that God, in His mercy, allowed me to go through my decades of loneliness and disappointment because that was the only way that I would see that the temporary things of this life can never truly satisfy me. I had to experience the truth that I have this God-shaped vacuum in my heart that can only be filled by Christ.

What about you?

Do you ache with loneliness and you are trying to fill up the empty spaces in your heart, but no matter what you try, you only feel more empty and alone?

Friend, I can truly tell you that God has filled those empty spaces in my own heart with His joy and peace. The emptiness and loneliness I experienced for the first 33 years of my life has been replaced with a hope and assurance that I have been set in an everlasting family whose Father is God. I have friends now who would literally take a bullet for me. My marriage has been healed and made new by the power of the love and forgiveness of God.

And that love and forgiveness of God is freely available to every person on this planet. You too can freely receive it through a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.

For me, I had to come to the end of my rope to see that nothing this world has to offer can ever satisfy.

Before I came to know God through Jesus Christ the Savior in 1993, I left my wife and traveled halfway around the world trying to 'find myself.'  The problem was, once I found myself, I didn't like what I found.

For my entire testimony please read "Our Story." 

http://marriage-miracles.blogspot.com/2011/10/our-story.html

All I can do is share what I have personally experienced. It is real, not just some words in an old black book. 

God the Heavenly Father loves you and He is alive and present, and He has openly revealed Himself to humanity through His Son Jesus Christ.

But to know Him, you have to invite Him into your heart.

Jesus said:

"Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come into Him and dine with him, and he with Me." - (Revelation 3:20)

God is knocking on the door of your heart, personally calling you by name.  But He will not kick the door down and force Himself on you.  You have to choose to open the door of your heart from the inside and invite Him to come in.

I can truly share with you that it is the most important decision that you will ever make.

And if you invited Christ to be your Savior once, but you haven't been talking with Him lately, He is also knocking on the door of your heart.  He wants to come in and dine with you.

Just call out to Jesus.  Talk to Him and share your heart with Him.

He loves you with an everlasting love.

     —Blessings to you.

—God is Love, and Love Never Fails.

Bloom Where You're Planted

Are you truly content with where God has you right now?

If you're like most people, you would probably have to answer "no" to that question.

Most people simply have not learned to be content, in whatever condition they are in. 

You are always dissatisfied with your position, or how you feel are being treated at work. Your car just isn't good enough any more. You'd feel you would be happier if you lived on the other side of town in a bigger house. Your church isn't living up to your expectations and now you're shopping for a better one. Your spouse or significant other just doesn't appreciate you enough and you feel that maybe another person might make you happier.

All the above examples have one root problem; self. 

And from self comes self-focus. 

The problem is, most of us are "me-monsters."

"It's all about me."

The photo of a rose flourishing in the midst of thorns is very telling. This is a symbol of someone who has learned to be content no matter what state they are in. They have surrendered their will to God, and have chosen to bloom where they have been planted—even though their life is surrounded by thorny circumstances. 

They are not constantly looking for a better situation. They are content with their station in life—thankful for what they do have—not disgruntled or dissatisfied over what they don't.

Which best describes you?

Are you truly content with where God has you right now?  Or are you constantly trying to 'fix the fix' that you feel you are in?

Did you ever stop to consider that God, who is sovereign, may have planted you where you are at for a reason? For His purpose? For your benefit? Or for the benefit of someone else?

One of my favorite passages in all of scripture is Psalm 1:1-3.

"Blessed is the man who does not walk in step with the wicked or stand in the way that sinners take, or sit in the company of mockers, but whose delight is in the law of the Lord, and who meditates on His law day and night. That man is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields fruit in its season, and whose leaf does not wither—whatever he does prospers."

This passage describes a spiritually mature person who has chosen to enter in to God's rest—whose life is deeply rooted in Christ, as described in Psalm 1:3.  He or she is not constantly looking for a better gig in life, never satisfied or thankful for what they do have, easily up-rooted by trials, ready to bail at the first sign of difficulty. 

If you're always looking for a way out of the fix you feel that you are in, constantly seeking the path of least resistance, striving to escape the suffering and trials with which this life is wrought—your life is not deeply rooted spiritually. Your life is shallow. Your roots are just under the surface, planted in shifting sand, ready to be up-rooted and blown away at the first sign of adversity.  

You're exhausted.

Jesus said:

"Come to Me all you who are weary and burdened and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls." (Matthew 11:28-29)

To take Jesus' yoke upon yourself, you must choose to submit your life and will to Him in all things—even to where He has you in life right now—as difficult as that may be.  

He said "Learn from Me." 

Jesus did not try to escape His suffering. He embraced it, because of His love for you and for me. 

He said He will give us rest for our souls if we learn from Him. Rest in Him and be content with where He has you right now. Only then will you find rest for your soul. 

There is no rest in constantly striving to make your life or situation better.

Like a rose flourishing in the midst thorns—bloom where you're planted.

—God is Love and Love Never Fails.