{by our love, we will be known}

Happy Monday my friends!

As it is Make-A-Difference Monday, I thought I'd start off with a story.

This morning I walked into my local coffee shop, a place where I frequently spend my time during the summer months. As I sat down at a corner table, a man who I've been sitting across from the past few days, engaged me in conversation. When I arrived, I had no intention of speaking to anyone because I had assignments to complete, things to do..I had a plan: to lay my things out on the table, plug in my headphones and tune everything, and everyone, out.

Enter, divine intervention.

After sitting down, this man (let's call him Bob), asked me how I was doing. I answered back, not expecting the conversation to last more than a few minutes. Little did I know that it would lead to over an hour of discussion and him sharing his heart.

Bob is a man after God's own heart and his words spoke life to me.

Where did I "make a difference" you may ask? Other than hopefully allowing him to see into the world of my faith, I didn't. Bob made a difference in my life.

He caused me to evaluate how I respond to people, how I interact and engage with them. Ultimately, he planted a seed, beckoning me to examine how I love people.

Towards the end of the conversation, Bob told a story of woman he knows, who personally changed how he loves others. He described her as a woman who truly lives out the love of Christ in situations that the world would say are least deserving of love. It was in that moment that I realized why I woke up, drove to the coffee shop and chose that table.

God's voice was clear.

My love for those around me, in actions and in words, is nowhere near the standard that Christ calls me to. I am slow to listen, quick to speak and quick to get angry. I pass judgment unknowingly and treat people out of that judgment rather than from a place of love. I am impatient and at times hold grudges. I act self-righteously and my pride swells to attain glory that it's not due.

When all of these thoughts came rushing to me, I suddenly realized how human I really am.

I've regarded myself as a Christian; one who serves the Living God and has offered the throne of my heart to the King of Kings..but how can I say that, with honesty, when my life has somehow found its way onto the path paved with good intentions rather than the straight and narrow path?

This Scripture couldn't explain it any better:

He replied, "Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you hypocrites; as it is written: These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.  (Mark 7:6 ESV)

It hit me like a ton of bricks! What a hypocrite I've been! My heart so easily strays from God, while my lips speak His name.

My takeaway from this experience? My life, but more importantly my heart, needs to operate out of love, rather than pride. When I learn to love, or rather be love, only then can Christ rightly be glorified through me. We each need to be an example of Christ to a lost and hurting world, but when honest and pure love is replaced by so many half-truths and false feelings, we're left with a bigger wound and hearts that have turned away.

Most of us are familiar with John 13:34-35:

A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.

And Paul writes this in Ephesians 4:1-3:

I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

Every person, every life that I encounter should be done in a manner that breathes humility, gentleness and patience. How can I expect to truly love someone if I'm not willing to bear with, understand and accept them?

Harsh words need to be cast aside. Forgiveness needs to be extended.  Ears need to be opened. Tongues need to be silenced. Anger and judgment need to be replaced with patience and humility.

Where does it start? A pure heart.

Love one another earnestly from a pure heart. (1 Peter 1:22 ESV)

Wrong intentions and personal gain will never give life to the righteous life that God has called us to. Love is born of God, and because of that, we must come to know Him and understand His heart so that our actions and words reflect His own.

Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. (1 John 4:7 ESV)

My heart rejoices at that thought. Each day that passes, and through interactions like the one I experienced this morning, I am coming to know God and understand His heart more and more.

Friends, let us love.

It is by our love that we will be known.

Blessings,

{righteous anger}

This idea has been on my heart a lot lately.

Anger.

More specifically, God's anger, and what that looks like. I think it's easy for a lot of us to look at God and see Him as loving, compassionate, merciful and gracious (don't get me wrong, He is all of those things), but He is also a just and jealous God.

We seek justice, daily. A person wrongs us and we want to pay them back. An unborn child doesn't make it to their day of birth, and we want immediate answers. Our boy/girlfriend or spouse resorts to cheating, and we want them to feel the pain that we felt.

All of these things, and more, cause us to seek justice. But that made me wonder..if we seek justice for these pains in our lives, imagine how God felt (and still feels) when we turn our backs on Him, wrong Him, sin blatantly against Him, or even deny Him.

Anger rises within us when justice isn't served. If we feel that our anger is justified, because the situation can't be, then God's anger is all the more righteous, and justified.

The problem is that our anger usually results in sin, whereas God's anger is rooted in His love for us. Picture this: A little boy is playing in his driveway, when his ball rolls into the street. He has been told over and over that he isn't allowed to go past the end of the driveway. As he looks around, he doesn't think that anyone is watching, so he runs into the street, grabs the ball, and on the way back to his driveway (thinking that no one has caught him), a car turns the corner and misses him by inches. The father, who watched the ordeal from the window, immediately runs outside, picks up the little boy and holds him in his arms. The anger that is produced is a kind whose roots are found in love. Of course he is angry that his son disobeyed, but it was because he loved his son that his anger surfaced. It was righteous anger.

Now, that story can be translated into God's own love for us. Here we are, running after work, relationships, money, etc., when all of a sudden those things slip away from us. We know that God has commanded that we shall have no other gods before Him, and that the things of this world won't satisfy. But because of our nature, we want to chase them. When we think that no one is looking, we run to catch the thing that has enticed us. And all of a sudden, something happens that jars us awake. All the while, God is watching us, and as soon as we are in a position that calls for the hand of God, He comes. In His love, He scoops us up, and shields us, but with that love comes righteous anger. An anger that says, I've warned you what would happen if you strayed from my commands; it's because I love that I'm angry with you.

We have wronged God in so many ways. A wrathful, revengeful anger should be expected, yet He doesn't produce it.

God is love, and in that, His anger is brought forth from a place that says, I understand.

Maybe today you feel as if you've wronged God and He's turned his back on you. Maybe you feel that you're being punished because you've somehow angered God. Let me be the first to tell you, that is not true. Even on our worst days God's grace is sufficient.

His anger is that of a father. A father who loves His child more than one could possibly imagine.

Is your anger causing you to sin? Or is your anger righteous?

Blessings,