20
August
Joy Is A Weapon
God’s Love. . .
There’s something so much more than a feeling, yet that is how it all begins. God taps into our emotions.
People have a mind... A heart...
A brain—And people have emotions. Our emotions are dynamic and eclectic and combine together to create a myriad of emotions on lots of levels of expression.
This thing with God...it starts off as something that sparks a feeling and then grabs hold of our attention. As we pay attention something gets highlighted in our heart. We become moved, inside to the out, by this thing...God’s love.
God’s love just loves.
It’s simple. It’s pure. It’s sweet and it is oh so special. It’s like nothing else and is difficult to explain because it is so personal. The personal attention and detail of it is part of its magic.
The purity of my pen comes from the purity of God’s heart. The uniqueness of how God uses me to exhort and heal is one of the sweetest sources of joy my life has known. This gift He has given me is quietly celebrated continually over and over again by a small heart that swells big every time it thinks of Him.
Other people will judge your purity through the filter of their own. Know this and dust off the residue that criticism can bring. Few things sting and tender heart more than undeserved criticism.
There is so much of that going around this year. It’s like somehow people everywhere feel they’ve been given permission to express their offense and bleed the wounds of their heart all over others thinking somehow this is how justice starts. I’m not speaking on one specific thing. . . there’s so much of it rampant and growing—I use an amalgam to contain it all.
So I find my thoughts on Jesus. He’s the one. He took all my broken pieces. All my jaded unwillingness to let people in and allow them to love me and get close to me—it took all of that and gave me himself first. Then He equipped me with the courage to allow others into my heart as well. He removed my numbness of heart and with Him I was given a fresh start.
The enemy of your life will always attack hardest the areas God is using in you and your life. So I think of Jesus. What did Jesus do when he was accused, blamed, cornered as the source of others offense?
He stood there and took it.
The Bible tells us that we are supposed to bless those who persecute us. We are to respond in love. I will forever be impacted by the scene in the movie the Passion of the Christ where Jesus was condemned to a death sentence-yet had committed no crime. The mob of people were judging him through the lens of their own purity. Yet he just stood there. He didn’t defend himself. He didn’t point out all of their sins. He gave in. He gave up. He didn’t give up hope—but he used the moment as an opportunity to spread hope. It didn’t look good in that moment. But look how his fame has spread like a net of love over anyone who has been willing to let his love in. Centuries down the road, the offended still want to crucify, just like they did to him.
So when you feel criticized when uncalled for. When you feel accused without a crime. When others point their fingers at you and mock you. Remember my small piece of advice...
The Joy of the Lord is your strength. (Nehemiah 8:10)
Do not retaliate. God sees. God knows. Whatever the trial, He has allowed it to draw out the gold in you. Humble hearts before God are a fortress of strength.
“The LORD is my light and my salvation-- whom shall I fear? The LORD is the stronghold of my life-- of whom shall I be afraid? When evil men advance against me to devour my flesh, when my enemies and my foes attack me, they will stumble and fall.“ (Psalm 27)
Don’t give up. God will shake things up and remove who He needs to remove and He will also surround you with others who will love just right. Love big. Love on purpose. Love with honor. Not because anyone may deserve it—but because honoring others is honor to God.
Love honors God.
“God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved: God shall help her, and that right early.” “God is within her, she will not fall; God will help her at break of day.”
(Psalm 46:5)
Serve Love—no matter how it looks.