God’s love

It Should Happen. It Really Ought To.

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The apostle John has a unique writing style. You can see it in his Gospel, but really feel its beautiful rhythm in his epistles. It has a repetitive, circular pattern to it that helps drive his point home. Look at this passage in 1 John:

Dear friends, let us continue to love one another, for love comes from God. Anyone who loves is a child of God and knows God. But anyone who does not love does not know God, for God is love. God showed how much he loved us by sending his one and only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through him. This is real love – not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins. Dear friends, since God loved us that much, we surely ought to love each other. No one has ever seen God. But if we love each other, God lives in us, and his love is brought to full expression in us. (1 John 4:7-12 NLT)

The point is simple: We ought to be like God.

No, we shouldn’t be little gods, but our characteristics ought to be the same characteristics that God possesses. For instance, we ought to love the seemingly unloveable. We ought to forgive the seemingly unforgivable. We ought to be willing to reach out and touch the seemingly untouchable, and more.

I write “seemingly” because we were seemingly that way once, too. As Christ-followers, we ought to exhibit the same traits and characteristics as our God and His Son, Jesus. After all, Ephesians 5:1 says, “Be imitators of God…”.

But look at the passage from 1 John again. He says a five-letter word that I also repeat five times after John’s passage. It’s the word, “ought.”

If you look up the word “ought” in the dictionary, here’s what you find as the first definition:

1 – used to indicate obligation, duty, or correctness, typically when viewing one’s actions or behavior.

It would be easy to use “ought” in this manner in John’s passage. After all, God loved us before we even knew Him. Jesus died for us while we were sinners. It is now our duty to repay Him with our love and devotion, right? Well… hang on. Let’s look at the next definition:

2 – indicating what is probable, desirable, or to be expected.

This, I believe, is what John is getting at. If we have been truly impacted by God’s love… by His sacrifice at The Cross for us… by Him loving us before we had any clue… then our lives OUGHT to exhibit His love to a world which so desperately needs it. If my heart has been changed by His love, then love coming from me is “probable, desirable, or to be expected.”

It is not out of duty or obligation that you or I express love – for God Himself or for others. It is a natural out-flowing of our inward condition and transformation.

It was John who said in his Gospel:

So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you SHOULD love each other. Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples.”(John 13:34-35, NLT, my emphasis)

(If you look up the word “should”, it has the same definition as “ought.”)

It SHOULD just happen. It really ought to.

The Power of Accountability

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Thank you.

“For what?”, you ask.

For holding me accountable.

“How in the heck am I doing that? What are you talking about!?!”

Let me explain.

At some point, over a year ago, I promised Donna and her daughter, Amanda, that I would pray for Donna as she began her journey through cancer treatments. We all promise to pray for folks, and if you’re like me, you’ve said the words, “I’ll be praying for you.” This time I wanted to assure her that I’d be praying every day.

So I began praying each morning and then I’d post an encouraging message borne out of my prayer time, tagging Donna and Mandy so they’d know I’m committed to pray each day. As I did this daily, God seemed to draw closer and closer. And I wanted Him more and more.

Then, to help my prayer time, I began a Bible-reading plan to read the Bible in a year. That sounds daunting, but was much easier than expected. I played an audio version and read along each day. It took about 15 minutes a day. 15 minutes. Seriously. I would then post a prayer on Facebook, birthed from my reading, tagging and encouraging Donna, Mandy, and their family. God continued to whisper encouragement into my heart and for the family, I believe, all the while, drawing me closer and closer to Him. He has been so faithful.

I finished that reading plan in January, and then I began journalling as a way to help the healing after leaving my longtime church. I would post my thoughts, prayers, and readings on Facebook as an encouragement to Donna, Mandy, and the family, tagging them each day. Journalling certainly has helped my healing, and, somehow, others like you have found some encouragement in them, too. Many have told me that I need to continue to do it daily, and so I do. I began this b
Og as a way to that.

Through writing, God has brought His love, acceptance, and healing into my life. He has shown me a new facet of His grace that I never knew before. He has filled me with a zeal for others to know His healing and wholeness. I am amazed by Him. To be frank, when I finish writing, I sometimes don’t really remember what I write. I have to look back and re-read it to remember. It’s almost as if I didn’t write it. Hmmm.

The point I’m trying to make is that what started as a commitment to pray and then progressed into a promise to not only pray daily, but also to post daily encouragement has served to draw me closer to God like never before. It is the power of accountabiltiy and commitment. It is the power of faithfulness… not mine, but God’s. He is so faithful.

I encourage you to be accountable to someone or to hold someone accountable. We all need it. We have been blessed to be a blessing. And the blessings from our faithful Father are immense.

Come near to God and he will come near to you. (James 4:8a)

Thanks for being my accountability partners on this journey of life and faith.

Enthralled

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I came home from work two days ago and Sharon was playing a worship song off a new album she had purchased. As soon as I heard it, I knew I would like it, but I really didn’t get a chance to really listen to it… until yesterday.

Driving home from Harrisonburg, I played that song and REALLY listened to it. The song is “Who Can Compare?” By Jesus Culture. It’s a very simple song with a very repetitive chorus and even repetitive verses. (Warning: the video containing the song is over 7 minutes long. Watch/listen to it when you have time and a quiet place to focus)

That’s one of the criticisms of modern worship music: it’s too repetitive and there’s no depth to the lyrics. The critics refer back to the hymns and their depth. But as I listened to the song and allowed it to saturate me, I began to sing the repetitive chorus and as I sang it over and over again, I found myself lost in worship to my God and King.

I nearly had to pull over to the side of the interstate. I was totally enraptured by love for God and His love for me. Honestly, I wept. As I continued to play this song over and over again, the repetition of the lyrics continued to bring me into the presence of the Lord.

I later reflected on that experience and I truly beleive that the repetition is DESIGNED to do that… to bring me in the presence of the Lord. The more I sing it and the more I repeat it, the more I believe it and the more my spirit connects with the Spirit of God. Rather, the more the Holy Spirit inside me testifies with God’s Spirit. It’s hard to explain. It seems impossible to put in words. But that’s how I get lost in worship.

I know that everyone has different tastes. And that’s okay. Regarding contemporary worship music, I’ve heard some say, “It’s just soooo repetitive. Over and over and over! I get tired of singing it over and over.”

It reminds me of this:

Each of the four living creatures had six wings and was covered with eyes all around, even under its wings. Day and night they NEVER stop saying:
“ ‘Holy, holy, holy
is the Lord God Almighty,’
who was, and is,
and is to come.”
Whenever the living creatures give glory, honor and thanks to him who sits on the throne and who lives for ever and ever, the twenty-four elders fall down before him who sits on the throne and worship him who lives for ever and ever. They lay their crowns before the throne and say:
“You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being.”
(Revelation 4:8-11, my emphasis)

Yes He is.

Surrendered to Love

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I’ve been thinking about the term “Sanctification” recently. It’s term used by certain denominations within the Christian church which means, in essence, totally sold-out or surrendered to the Lordship of Christ in your life. It’s turning over the reins of all aspects of your life to God. It happens both in a moment in time and over a span of time. It is an instantaneous occurance and a process. It can be interchanged with the words or phrases “consecrated” and “baptized in the Holy Spirit”, depending on the denomination. I’m sure there’s other terms for it as well.

But I’ve come to understand it in a new way recently.

I used to believe that when I surrendered fully to God in my life, I was fully sanctified. I wanted to be his vessel to use as He wished. I still do. But it seemed like it depended on my degree of surrender. It seemed like it depended on me. It seemed like it depended on my effort.

We sing “I Surrender All” in our church services. In fact, we sang it yesterday. Surrender or yielding to God’s will and God’s ways certainly must happen. But what I don’t understand is how there can be differing degrees of surrender. Maybe some of you can chime in with your thoughts.

What I’ve been “yielding” to recently or “surrendering” to is God’s overwhelming love for me (and you). It is an amazing love that has nothing to do with you and me, because, I don’t know about you, but I can be quite un-loveable at times. It is a love that depends solely on the Lover. It is so irrational, so incomprehensible, and so amazing. Once I really understood and meditated on that kind of love… once I got that deep down inside me… and I mean DEEP down… it transformed me. And now it’s working its way out.

As I stated yesterday, I’ve re-discovered grace. I’ve found that I don’t have to “be a better Christian” to have God love me any more than He already does. I don’t have to do anything to have Him accept me more than He already does. I can rest. There is tremendous freedom in that.

The funny thing is: It doesn’t “free” me to live my life any “looser”. I don’t feel like I can get away with anything and then ask for God’s forgiveness. On the contrary, it is a freedom that compels me to live my life totally for Him. It makes me “sold-out” by default. There’s no effort involved. I just “am.” As you can tell, I almost can’t explain it.

One or more denominations refer to sanctification as a “second work of grace”. Well then, by definition, it is a gift. There is nothing I can do to earn it. It is a gift that God gives. The only thing I think I’m surrendered to is God’s unconditional acceptance of me and unbelieveable love for me.

If that makes me “sanctified”, then I need to go into Staples and hit the button that says, “That was easy!”