Do you enjoy a sense of security, love and significance? I so hope so! Of course those are some elements that are important for a person's emotional health. Important!
"Love never fails...
and now these three remain:
faith, hope and love.
But the greatest of these is love" (1 Cor. 13:8, 13).
Sometimes it's kinda hard to witness to others of God's love and of His Gospel when you do not believe you are loved. Maybe you've been ripped off by evil people before? Maybe you feel that God owes you, after you've prayed so long for Him to give you something way-special.
It's more of a challenge for sure .. to fish for people ..when you don't feel safe from harm, from lack, or from exploitation or rejection. And many Christians feel they must have it all together in every area in order to start sharing Jesus Christ. I don't know where they learned that from. Those in the world know we ain't perfect. They sometimes see our flaws before we do.
Listen, we don't always have to have it all together to be an effective world changer today. In fact sometimes just being real honest with people (without negatively pointing the finger or dumping on em) about where you're at.. you know, acknowledging that you don't have all your ducks in a row ..can make an even greater impact with them. Wow, he/she is non-cynical, non-deceptive and real! You know there are so many believers out there who are wearing religious masks, that really mask nothing.
If you feel half ready to represent the Lord publically on any level, I want to strongly encourage you to pray specifically about all that ..from every angle.. and not to walk by your feelings or by sight. Things might not look good right now from your perspective, but God is still on His throne and is in control. Trust Him fully.
I didn't feel so hot this week and it really made me want to pray more. Why does it seem so much easier to pray and receive grace when we don't feel so good? Not totally sure, but that time alone sure helped me. And any time is a fine time to receive His grace! You spending time with Jesus will aid you a whole lot as well, 'cause He doesn't play favorites!
Please know that God seriously cares about you and has enacted a good plan that you can be a part of!
"I have loved you with an everlasting love" (Jer. 31:3).
"Loved with everlasting love,
Led by grace that love to know;
Spirit, breathing from above,
Thou hast taught me it is so." ~Robinson
Any of us might feel really good every day if we simply have those essential elements that I was talking about. What a plus that would be, but if we all wait until we "feel good" to start sowing seeds of truth and love ..or to begin winning our friends to Christ, then a whole lot of unbelievers will have to wait right along with us until we, the Church, feel better. But Christ's Great Commission isn't contingent upon us feeling a certain way. He said "Go" and the blessing is in the obeying.
Please know that you are viewed by a perfect Father with tender affection and much appreciation right now, regardless of your circumstances or mood. He who knows all your needs and can meet them. God really understands you, what you (and your friends) are going through, and this should not only give you a sense of value, but it should also motivate you to show great respect to others. Having a relationship with the Lord can make you want to add value to others ..at whatever level you can. This ain't new information for everyone, but we do that with His Word. There is zero spiritual growth apart from the Word of God!
The Apostle Paul did this and he also spoke of our security and significance in Romans 8 when he said, "If God is for us, who can be against us?" (v.31).
Later he tells us that nothing at all can separate the believer from His care.. "from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord" (vv.35-39). Face it; the Lord truly values you and me and His love gets shed in our hearts if we only allow this.
"Love never dies.
Inspired speech will be over some day;
praying in tongues will end;
understanding will reach its limit.
We know only a portion of the truth,
and what we say about God is always incomplete.
But when the Complete arrives,
our incompletes will be canceled…
Trust steadily in God,
hope unswervingly,
love extravagantly.
And the best of the three is love" (vv. 8-10, 13c msg).
"God is jealous for you because God loves you so much. He wants nothing but the best for your life, and He knows that if you have any other love or passion above Him, you're gonna come in second. You're not going to achieve or attain that which is best for you. And God's desires towards us, as He declares, are always good!" ~Chuck Smith Sr.
Perhaps you might say, but Kurt, I've experienced the best of human love before so why would I need any other love? Good question.
A: You were actually created and designed for the Love of God and you were not designed to merely have a human's love alone. Human love can be great indeed, I've seen it in action and we've all heard stories about people selflessly sacrificing for their friends.
But human love is still so radically small compared to God's love—He is Love! Man's love, no matter his initial intentions upon a relationship-entry, can run out sadly. The high divorce rate in every nation shows us this. Human love is simply not insufficient to give you the kind of security and significance that you really need. But why, Kurt?
A: Well, one reason is this—a person's life brief and fleeting away. People grow old and then they die, and their love (for many people) eventually comes to a complete end. In personal relationships, everyone knows that we humans are sinful, fickle, and we can be unfaithful to varying degrees. We don't want to hurt our loved ones, but we do. All living people have a fallen nature in them, but when they give themselves away to Christ, then God gives them a new nature inside. He can Love sinners and flawed saints through us. Allowing Him to—that's our calling!
We all need the compassion and eternal Love of God—He sees us as totally priceless and valuable. The cool thing about the Gospel is this—it reveals that we wrong-do-ers have such love in the sinless Person of Jesus Christ. He ain't ever fickle or fake and He'll never let you go. He'll fill you up with love, grace and joy and use you to love others who are thirsty.
Our greatest security is found in the eternal love of an eternal God who has you and many hurting n non-hurting people on his heart.
