Love is ...

It's Valentine's Day or as my kids like to call it, Single Awareness Day. It is a day every year where I wonder what I can buy for Gail that will communicate the depth of my love and devotion to her. How do you say "I love you!" in ways that transcend mere words? Love has been written about, portrayed on the stage and in movies and yet there is nothing as poignant a picture of love as 1 Corinthians 13 ...

Love never gives up.

Love cares more for others than for self.

Love doesn't want what it doesn't have.
Love doesn't strut,
Doesn't have a swelled head,
Doesn't force itself on others,
Isn't always "me first,"
Doesn't fly off the handle,
Doesn't keep score of the sins of others,
Doesn't revel when others grovel,
Takes pleasure in the flowering of truth,
Puts up with anything,
Trusts God always,
Always looks for the best,
Never looks back,
But keeps going to the end.

John 15:13 where Jesus, "Great love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. The ultimately expression of love is laying life down and picking up an agenda that is God's born out of a love for him. Just today I received an email from Naomi Contreras, a passionate follower of Christ here at The Fellowship, who shared these words with me. They were penned by a young man in Africa and tacked to a wall in his house. The exact story I can't verify but, it has been said that in 1980 this young Rwandan man was forced to renounce Christ or die. When he refused, he was murdered on the spot. The night before his death he had written these lines. Words like these express a love that moves beyond sentimental notions, leading us to live a life of worship, giving God our attention, adoration, affection and allegiance - our very lives.

I'm part of the fellowship of the unashamed. I have stepped over the line. The decision has been made. I'm a disciple of Jesus Christ. I won't look back, let up, slow down, back away, or be still. My past is redeemed, my present makes sense, my future is secure. I'm finished and done with low living, sight walking, small planning, smooth knees, colorless dreams, tamed visions, mundane talking, cheap living, and dwarfed goals.

I no longer need preeminence,prosperity, position, promotions, plaudits, or popularity. I don't have to be right, first, tops, recognized, praised, regarded, or rewarded. I now live by faith, lean on His presence, walk by patience, lift by prayer, and labor by power.

My face is set, my gait is fast, my goal is heaven, my road is narrow, my way rough, my companions few,my Guide reliable, my mission clear. I cannot be bought, deluded, or delayed. I will not flinch in the face of sacrifice, hesitate in the presence of the adversary, negotiate at the table of the enemy, or meander in the maze of mediocrity.

I won't give up, shut up, let up, until I have stayed up, stored up, prayed up, paid up, preached up for the cause of Christ. I am a disciple of Jesus. I must go till He comes, give till I drop, preach till all know, and work till He stops me. And when He comes for His own, He will have no problem recognizing me--my banner will be clear!

Sacred Garments

The last few weeks I have been reading, thinking about the wound that we all share ... the depravity wound. I see it everyday on the news, in the headlines and on the Internet. Just this morning I was listening to reports by reporters who just couldn't understand how smart men and women could do dumb things or why rich individuals would choose to do lead destructive life styles. There is this belief that educated, well off people have the capacity to "be better" than those who are less educated or less well off financially. The truth is that no person is immune when it comes to the depravity wound; that wound which is from our sin nature, which no matter how hard we try, it just doesn't heal on its own. In the Search for Authentic Manhood by Robert Lewis, he talks about this wound and how it can't be overcome by education, money or self effort. It is a wound only God can heal. As I was S.O.A.P.ing up yesterday and today in Exodus 20-30, I came across God instructions to Moses about the priests clothing and how they were to, "Make sacred garments ... to give him dignity and honor." That really caused me stop and think about how you and I are able to go before God because of the sacred garment of Christ's righteousness which gives us dignity and honor. When I think about all that Christ has done to take a life suffering from sin and cloth it with the sacred garment of His righteousness ... it is to his glory. Paul said in Romans 8:10, "But if Christ is in you, your body is dead because of sin, yet your spirit is alive because of righteousness." I am alive in Him and as Isaiah wrote ... "I delight greatly in the Lord; my soul rejoices in my God. For he has clothed me with garments of salvation and arrayed me in a robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom adorns his head like a priest, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels." May my life reflect that truth on the sacred journey.

Meeting with God

What an awesome Sunday. We welcomed our new Worship Pastor, John Cordes and his family as we worshipped our audience of one, God himself! I was S.O.A.P.ing up this morning in Exodus 20-30, Iwas just going to read a chapter or two but I just got enthralled with Moses' conversation with God on Mount Sinai. After my worship experience yesterday I couldn't wait to meet with God this morning. Two things really stuck out in these 10 or so chapters ... one was in 20:20, Moses said to the people, "Do not be afraid. God has come to test you, so that the fear of God will be with you to keep you from sinning." A healthy fear that keeps you from sinning is key to living a life that honors God. I always tell my children, "You can choose your sin, but you can't choose your consequences." Too often I look right past the glaring potential consequences of my choices and only see the immediate gratification and pleasure of my sin. It is the reality of the consequences and the God who loves me enough to discipline me, or administer those consequences that causes me to slow down and choose wisely. Fear is indeed the beginning of wisdom. I know it breaks God's heart when I choose to sin and thus choose the consequences. I have told my children, "I don't understand why you chose this punishment." They look at me rather incredulously and say, "I didn't chose this!" My response is, "Sure you did! You knew the consequences and chose to ignore them, therefore you chose them." As a parent it breaks my heart to enforce their choices, I can only imagine how God feels.

The second thing that really stuck out in these chapters I'll share with you tomorrow. Have a God filled day on your sacred journey - Jerry.