The Love Chronicles ~ Psalm 4:2

 

 

Psalm 4:2

"How long, O you sons of men,

Will you turn my glory to shame?

How long will you love worthlessness

And seek falsehood?"

 

It's so easy for me to read the Psalms with my finger pointed.

 

It's so hard to take something so emotionally charged as a song & put ourselves in the same mindset as the author. So what usually happens when I read a Psalm is either a complete disconnect because I can't relate or I start pointing - "Yeah, sons of men, how about that? Why you gotta be that way?"

 

But something interesting happens when I just read one verse instead of the entire Psalm: perspective.

 

"How long, O you sons of men, will you turn my glory to shame?"

 

Is this David talking to the ambiguous "wicked," or is it God speaking to us?

 

Aren't we all technically sons of men? The only thing separating us from "the wicked" is simple: grace.

 

God's grace.

 

Because, not that long ago, we were the "sons of men." And it's so easy to fall back. So couldn't this verse just as easily be God speaking to us?

 

"How long, O you sons of men, will you turn my glory to shame?"

 

How often do we do that? Take the glorious message of Christ & pollute it? We are quick to anger instead of love. We judge without the full story. We condemn. We selfishly complain when we don't get a want when so many others are without basic needs.

 

And that is To. Our. Shame.

 

We are Christ's ambassadors. We are the representatives. If we don't live what we're preaching, how can we expect others to accept Him?

 

Because isn't that the goal of all of this?

 

Leading those in darkness into this marvelous Light?

 

How can we lead when our light is so smothered by anger, envy, jealousy, strife, sarcasm, dissention, arguing, and petty-ness? We take His glory & turn it to our shame.

 

"How long will you love worthlessness and seek falsehood?"

 

This is exactly what we do when we are not resting in Him, when we are not pursuing His Kingdom. We are pursuing worthlessness and seeking falsehood.

 

I've taught enough English to know: These are Action. Verbs.

 

We're not simply in this state-of-being, zen-like state and then worthlessness & falsehood seek us out - We. Are. Actively. Looking. For. Them.

 

When we are not pursing the good of the Kingdom, we're still pursuing something - and that something is worthless and false if it's not for God, if it has no eternal purpose or value.

 

But we are not without hope - when we recognize this in ourselves, there is a promise in the very next verse: "The Lord will hear when I call to Him."

 

He will not leave this son (or daughter) of man.

 

As soon as I recognize my sin - He. WILL. Hear. When. I. Call. To. Him.

 

A promise.

 

And another action verb.

 

I must actively cry out to Him.

 

He will not force me. Because love that is forced is no love at all.

 

But when I cry out, when I actively seek Him & turn my back on my worthless, false pursuits, He is quick to hear and save me.

 

Praise be to Him!

 

 







The Love Chronicles ~ Deuteronomy 6:5

 

 

Deuteronomy 6:5

"You shall love the Lord your God with

all your heart, with all your soul, and

with all your strength."

 

I have to be honest: when I first saw that this was the verse for my reading today, I almost skipped it.

 

This verse has been read so many times on so many occasions for so many reasons. Every Sunday School attendee memorizes it within the first year. I wish I could say I'm one of those people who can read a verse as if it's the first time every time. But I'm not. Sometimes reading the Bible is work.

 

It's work to look at a verse you've read over and over for over 20 years and try to see something new from it. So I almost skipped it. But then the words spoken by our school's guest speaker at chapel last week popped into my head: "If you sit down to read the Bible with the honest intention of hearing from God, you'll be amazed how quickly you hear from Him."

 

So I mustered my strength and read it again for the 111th time: "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength."

 

I think I know why it's so easy to skip this verse: we know it's completely unattainable. We can never love someone this perfectly. So why try? Why would God put this verse in the Bible when He knows we'll never attain it this side of heaven? And that's when He stared speaking.

 

The first thing I heard?

 

This is another command  - "You shall." No maybes. No if-you-feel-like-its.

 

Because God knows: if we don't love Him, we'll love someone else. SomeTHING else. Work. Spouse. Children. Alcohol. Wallowing. Anger. Self-Pity.

 

There's a hole in our hearts, and we try to fill it with oh, so many things. If there's not room in our hearts for God, how can there be room for others? There is only room for self.

 



 

And that's when I heard the second thing:

 

How are we to love Him? Half-heartedly? When we have time? No!

 

With. Everything. We. Have.

 

"All  your heart, all your soul, all  your strength."

 

Because when your heart is full of love, then you have a heart to fill up with God's love, a heart that love the people God loves.

 

And. God. Loves. Everyone.

 

The atheists.

 

The liberals.

 

The gays.

 

The nerds.

 

The unlovable.

 

If our hearts are full of God's love, then we will be loving towards everyone.

 

Because when your soul is full of love, there's no room for love of self. Your soul becomes God's; your soul becomes for others.

 

You empathize; you feel their pain. Your soul aches and rejoices with theirs; there is no. Room. For Self.

 

Because when you love with all your strength, you're exhausted, poured out; you've given it all willingly, joyfully, sacrificially.

 

You have no strength for anything - except God and others.

 

And that's how it should be.

 



 





Love Chronicles ~ Leviticus 19:18

 

 

 

I haven't been able to get love out of my mind lately. And it's not residual Valentine's goopiness. I've just felt so burdened about how much the Bible tells us to love, and how little we do it. The world is already such an unloving place, we certainly don't need to be adding to the darkness. That may seem harsh or strange because, as Christians, aren't we the light? Yes! But how often do we live the Light? How many times do we look just like the ones we're trying to save? We can say all the right words, but if we're not living it, no one will believe us.

 

 

So, I've decided to start the Love Chronicles. The Bible talks about love 143 times, and I don't know if I've ever truly let that sink in. I'd like to say I'll post a Bible verse & my thoughts on it every day, but that's not realistic. Some days are just too busy. But I will be reading a verse on Love every day and writing my thoughts on it in my journal, and I will post these thoughts as often as possible.

 

 

Leviticus 19:18

"You shall not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against

the children of your people, but you shall LOVE your

neighbor as yourself: I am the Lord."

 

 

This is a command. Not a request. Not an "if you feel like it." Not an "except when..."

 

You. Shall. NOT.

 

Ever. Never.

 

Revenge? Not an option.

 

Holding a grudge against someone? Shouldn't even enter your mind. Find another option.

 

"But, what if..."

 

"I am the Lord."

 

That puts an end to it. No arguing possible. No way around it. No excuses. The biggest period you could ever put on the end of a sentence. "I. Am. The. Lord."

 

God knows we like wriggle room, so He left us zero room for it. "I am the Lord." "You shall not."

 

Once the fleshly options are taken away, there's really only one other place to go: Love.

 

But it's more than that.

 

It's more than just a parental "Don't argue with me." It's said in so much love.

 

"I am the LORD."

 

Don't you trust Me? Don't you believe Me? Don't you know when I give you a command it's for your own good?

 

Love. Is. The. Answer.

 

Not revenge. Not holding grudges.

 

There's MORE out there. There's BETTER out there.

 

"I am the LORD."

 

Don't take the easy path. Take the bigger road, the better road - trust Me.

 

"I AM the Lord."

 

"Don't you know that if I'm giving you this command, it's for your good? For your safety? For your growth?"

 

"LOVE your neighbor as yourself: I am the Lord."

 

Grudges & revenge lead to discord. Love leads to harmony.

 

Grudges lead to hurt. Love leads to healing.

 

Revenge leads to anger. Love leads to peace.

 

Grudges are me-focused. Love is neighbor-centered.

 

Believe it, Heart.

Live it, Soul.

 





A Valentine From God

 

 

The Bible mentions the topic of "forgiveness" 45 times. It talks about "love" 143 times and "joy" 55 times.

 

In a world that can be so hard & hateful & mean & spiteful & sarcastic & negative & deceitful, I would think it would be the other way around - shouldn't we be reminded to forgive those people who are so unloving and unjoyful more often than we're told to love them?

 

We've been hurt. Oh, how our hearts hurt. We yearn for love. For acceptance. And we've been wronged. Just let us pull out our lists. These lists as long as our arms and chiseled in stone on our hearts. These hurts that it will take a miracle to erase. We're broken. We're hurt. We need to forgive, but can we forgive when these wounds still burn? When these scars still feel so fresh? Surely we need to be taught how to forgive.

 

But...God. Is. Love. The very embodiment of it. You can't get more loving than Him. And He lives inside of us.

 

GOD lives inside us.

 

LOVE lives inside us.

 

If we are truly living love, then everything else takes a backseat. LOVE overshadows everything else. JOY flows from that love. Not happiness. JOY.

 

Joy. Comes. From. Love.

 

It's a direct result. Without love, you can't have joy. You may think you can. Success. Recognition. Fame. Honor. All these can make us feel "happy" for awhile.

 

But does any of it last? No - it's temporal, temporary, terrestrial. It doesn't bring long-lasting, eternal joy. Only love can do that.

 

And what about forgiveness? God knows we need it and need to give it. Could it be that if God-Love truly dwells in our hearts, truly sits on that throne in the center of our hearts, not pride, not hurt, not self, if LOVE truly dwells there, the need for forgiveness diminishes because we're so full of love & joy we don't have time or energy to count, catalog, and categorize the wrongs done to us?

 

Because sometimes isn't LOVE itself a form of forgiveness?

 

"Love keeps no record of wrongs."

 

Why do we want to keep that record? Why do we so quickly compile a list of all that negativity - all the hurt & anger & bitterness? How is that love?

 

Why would I voluntarily carry that load I've been instructed to set down? It weighs me down, hurts my back, bends my head from the weight. And as my head is bent, where am I looking?

 

Down. Earth. Temporal. My feet. Self.

 

This record of wrongs keeps me from looking up. From seeing LOVE. From giving LOVE. From living LOVE.

 

Who is on that throne then? Who is at the center of my heart then? Self. And the record of wrongs. Love is de-throned so I can focus on all the wrongs done to me. All the hurt & anger & bitterness & betrayal & everything that LOVE isn't, that GOD isn't.

 

It can't be both.

 

I can't claim Love, walk under His banner, AS His banner of Love with anything but LOVE at the center of my heart, seated on that throne.

 

God-Love Must. Take. Center.

 

When Love truly fills me, there is no room for anything else:

 

• I can speak beautifully but WITHOUT LOVE I. Am. Nothing. (1 Corinthians 13:1)
• I can know all the theology but WITHOUT LOVE I. Am. Nothing. (1 Corinthians 13:2)
• I can tithe but WITHOUT LOVE I. Am. Nothing. (1 Corinthians 13:3)
• LOVE suffers. As. Long. As. It. Takes.
• LOVE shows/lives Kindness.
• LOVE is not envious.
• LOVE is not proud.
• LOVE is not self-seeking.
• LOVE is not rude.
• LOVE is not out for itself but OTHERS.
• LOVE doesn't have a quick temper.
• LOVE doesn't automatically jump to the worst conclusion.
• LOVE never rejoices in evil.
• LOVE is truthful.
• LOVE IS IDEALISTIC ("bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things").
• LOVE NEVER FAILS.

Love is Outward and Upward Focused.

 

There is no room for prideful, selfish self in Love.