The Love Chronicles ~ Psalm 31:23

 

 

Psalm 31:23

 

"Oh, love the Lord, all you His saints!

For the Lord preserves the faithful,

And fully repays the proud person."

 

 

I love it when God reminds me I'm His saint. For so long, for so much of my life, all I have dwelt on and focused on have been my shortcomings, my faults, my imperfections.

 

I had this idea about humility - that in order to be truly humble, I had to constantly put myself down, never accept compliments, always talk about my bad points.

 

And over the years, this evolved into self-hatred. I literally hated everything about myself: my looks, my weight, my grades, my inability to make friends (gee, I wonder why that was?), my entire life. Everything was wrong. I set ridiculously high standards for myself that absolutely no one could attain.

 

But then the negativity about my life bled over into negativity about others' lives.

 

I became critical of everyone and everything around me. I wasn't acting like a saint; I wasn't even acting like a nice person.

 

I was so focused on me trying not to focus on me, I ironically fell into the very trap I was going to such great lengths to avoid.

 

And that's what false humility is: disguised selfishness. We think it's genuine humility, but look where the focus is: me, myself, & I.

 

Bu this verse calls us saints. Not wannabes. Not keep-tryings. God looks down and sees His Son in us; we are His SAINTS.

 

Not through any good we have shown, but through the goodness and love of His Son living in us.

 

And what should our response be? What else could it be? LOVE!!!

 

LOVE for the God Who does not condemn us.

 

LOVE for the God Who doesn't love us conditionally.

 

LOVE for the God Who knew we weren't saints, yet made us saints by His Son.

 

How could our response be anything but Love?

 

Who, when they've been offered a free, underserved gift, could respond with anything less? If He loves us this much, how can we not unashamedly love Him back?

 

And as if that weren't enough, the Psalmist gives us an extra reason: "For He preserves the faithful."

 

I like that word: preserves. It makes me think of a photo - preserving the moment. Or canning fruits for the winter - preserving it for later.

 

The Lord knows we can't be faithful on our own, in our own strength. I can't be faithful for 5 minutes, let alone a lifetime. So He does the work for us; He preserves us.

 

He takes us, with Christ living inside us, and preserves us, protects us. And the funny part is: He's preserving us and protecting us because We. Can't. Do. It. Ourselves. We keep trying, but we'll never be able to do it.

 

We're hopeless without Him.

 

All that false humility, trying in our own strength? Futile. Worthless. Hopeless.

 

The verse doesn't say He preserves the perfect or the flawless or the most humble - He preserves the faithful - the ones who keep trying and failing and falling and trying some more. The ones who weep on their faces when they don't have the strength to take one more step. The ones who wear out their knees with prayer. The ones who know they're not perfect, can never be perfect, yet are OK in their imperfections.

 

Will they keep striving? Yes! Will they reach it? No!  But it's OK - "LOVE the Lord, you His saints, for HE preserves the faithful."

 

HE is doing the hard part for us! HE is doing the preserving! All we are commanded to do is LOVE! We have the easy part! A photo doesn't preserve itself. It requires an outside force to tenderly frame it or put it in a photo album. I haven't done a lot of canning in my time, but one thing I do know: those fruits & vegetables sure don't can themselves. It requires a dedicated cook, willing to stand over a hot stove for several hours doing all the work.

 

All that trying to achieve things in our own strength? Pointless! HE's got it all under control already. Why does the God of the Universe need our puny little help? It's like an ant trying to help build a skyscraper.

 

All that fear? The "what-if"s? The feeling like we simply MUST take control of at least THIS? Futile. Worthless wastes of energy. We simply must Love Him.

 

And Love our neighbors.

 

And, yes, it's OK to Love ourselves: be happy with ourselves the way He made us. That number on the scale? Not important. That set of freckles on your cheeks or birthmark on your nose? He put them there. That is your signature look, straight from the hand of God. Don't hide it or change it.

 

The Lord preserves His saints. Doesn't that relieve so much pressure? It should! Stop trying in your own strength. Stop being the ant. Simply. Love. Him. And He. Will. Preserve. You.

 



 







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.

 









Coffee Shop Musings

School had a two hour delay this week because of the snow "storm" that hit Georgia. Most teachers would be more excited about this than the kids. My co-workers all hopped back into their nice warm beds and grabbed some extra sleep. Unfortunately, my husband & I live out in the boonies where cell phone reception is sparse at best. As we pulled out of our driveway, fully awake and fully dressed, my cell phone blipped. There it was: "Two hour delay." Sent 40 minutes ago.

I was frustrated. Not frustrated that I couldn't go back to bed. Not frustrated that I now had two hours to fill and nothing to do. Frustrated that my lesson plans would be thrown off. I plan my lessons one to two weeks in advance. I like to know what's coming and where we're going at all times. I enjoy routine and schedules, and when that schedule is thrown off, I do not cope well.

It's at times like this that I wonder how my poor husband puts up with me. The first words out of his mouth were, "How about we go into town and get some coffee and bagels?" My reaction? Negativity. How could I possibly enjoy coffee and bagels with the love of my life when my routine had been changed? Make the best out of a bad situation? How could that possibly be my first reaction? He tried again. It took three tries before I begrudgingly agreed to spend our two hours together, sipping coffee.

We walked into the coffee shop, inhaling the warm, welcoming fragrance of freshly ground coffee beans. We were the only patrons. What else is to be expected at 7:45 a.m. when the mountains of northeast Georgia have seen an inch of snow and ice?

Jon had brought Scrabble. My favorite. Yet in my stubbornness, I was still determined to show why this was the worst possible outcome for my day. Isn't that how it always goes? When something goes wrong, our first instinct is focus on self. How will this effect ME? MY day? MY plans?

It's disgusting, really. And even recounting it here makes me feel ill. Why is that? Why is it that we can sing all the right songs, read all the right verses, say all the right things, but when push comes to shove, when the rubber hits the road, when we have to put our money where our mouths are, we fall, and we fall hard.

All that I was missing was my first period class that snowy, icy morning, sipping coffee with my soulmate. The solution turned out to be me typing up the notes for each student, and we were able to move right along. On schedule. No delays. No worries. Definitely not worth the time I spent speaking negativity.

So how did I make the leap from snowpocalypse to serenity? Somewhere in-between the vanilla chai and playing "zaps" for 45 points. As I listened to the soft, acoustic, slightly-hipster worship music, sipped my chai, and watched the most amazing man I could ever have asked for knit his brows in concentration over a Scrabble game.

The sun gradually came up outside, dazzling the pure white snow into an unparalleled glory. My anger and frustration melted away, my brain finally basking in the glory of this moment: sip by sip, play by play, minute by minute.

Who knows how many precious minutes we have on this earth? And when all is said and done, who will care one iota if my first period class got to see my PowerPoint on ancient Greek theater? They sure don't. But, and I pray God gives me enough years to make this so, when I am old and gray, maybe, just maybe, I'll look back at that morning: remember the sips of coffee, the strum of the guitar, the glow of the light, the shine of the snow, the love of a husband.

Isn't that just what Jesus was all about? Pulling people from their schedules. Pulling them from their routines. Their safety zones. Their plans. "As Jesus went on from there, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax collector’s booth. “Follow me,” he told him, and Matthew got up and followed him" (Matthew 9:9). I'm sure Matthew had a schedule that day. He had taxes to calculate. Meetings to hold. Money to make. A job to do. But Jesus called him to something better. Sweeter. And Matthew simply got up and left. Left his job. Left his schedule. Left his plans. For something better. For the Master.

I would love to know Matthew's thoughts at that moment. Unfortunately, the Bible leaves it to our imagination. Did Matthew question what he was doing? Was it an old-fashioned kick in the pants by the Holy Spirit? Did he wonder who would take over his client list? Reschedule the meetings? Or did he just go? Freely. Joyfully.

Oh, Lord, let it be so with me. Next time, please don't let me waste even seconds of the time entrusted to me. Time with the ones I love. Time to rejoice. Time to serve You. Time to relax. Time to just be.

Be still. While the music plays. While the game plays on. While the time ticks by. Be still.
And know.

Soaring With the Osprey

As a new year begins, it's customary to look back at the last year and see what goals have been accomplished and what dreams have been realized. As with anything nostalgic in nature, looking back at one year often turns into looking back on several until one is contemplating one's entire existence. This happened to me this morning as I sat with my coffee and looked out at the gray first day of January 2014. And I realized that most of my life can be summed up in one word. I wish it were something deep like Transcendence or Illuminating. I'd even settle for something like Peaceful or Faithful. No, the word that best sums me up is a negative one: Fear.

We all have it. We all avoid it. We all ignore it. But it's there just the same, like the Boogeyman hiding in our closet or under the bed. This Boogeyman hides away until just the right time, and then when our faith is lowest and our souls the weakest, he pops out from hiding to terrorize us just as the dark did when we were children.

Fear.

Fear has dominated my life for much more than I care to admit and much longer than it ever should have.

Fear.

As with all things not of God, this particular vice seems quite paradoxical when looked at in clear terms.

Fear of failure. Fear of success.

Fear of rejection. Fear of acceptance.

Fear of not being generous enough. Fear of being too generous.

Fear of not living life to the fullest. Fear of death.

Fear of comparison. Fear of not measuring up.

Fear of not speaking out. Fear of saying too much.

In the dark of our weakness, fear seems insurmountable, a mountain we will never even climb much less leave behind. This Boogeyman knows just what to say to defeat us, hold us captive, take our eyes off Christ.

That's what it all comes down to, I realized, watching an osprey glide through the air, coming in for a landing to his nest built high in a tree by the lake. The Enemy will use anything at all to take our eyes off Christ, and once we've looked away, he will throw every temptation, every fear, every distraction our way to keep us looking in the wrong direction. Some people glance away for a moment, some for a day, some for years. But it all comes down to looking away.

Taking our eyes off the cross. Taking our eyes away from the Master. That's when the distractions come roaring in: How will we pay this bill? When did I stop fitting into those jeans? When did she stop talking to us? The Enemy has a never-ending supply of ammunition, custom-made for each one of us.

And with all things, Christ knew this would happen. "But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness. Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me." (2 Corinthians 12:9)

I shouldn't fear my weaknesses; I should rejoice in them. Because only then can His strength be made perfect in me. As soon as I take my eyes off the cross, I am no longer dependent on Him; I rely on myself, and as I have shown myself time and time again, that is not how I want to live.

MY grace is sufficient. Not my best laid plans. Not my 401K. Not my nicely organized list. His grace. Grace. Unearned. Undeserved. Given freely no matter how many times I glance away like the wayward child I am.

So this year, I commit to living focused on Him. Focused on the cross. Focused on the Savior. I want to soar with that osprey. He had no fear this morning. No worries. He had a goal he was focused on, and that led him. If I'm focused on the Savior, that should lead me. Not my fears. Not the distractions. I want to live this year without fear. Without having to look back on the time wasted by worrying. I want to soar about the worries, above the noise, above the distractions. And God willing, with my eyes focused on the Master, I will do exactly that.

You can too! Keep your eyes trained on Him. Focus on the cross. Focus on forgiveness. Focus on living without fear. Soar.