Faith Filled Friday
Recently, I made a decision and I felt justified by my
decision to remove certain people from my life. Now I didn’t make a big deal or
scene with this decision I made; it was a decision I had made in my heart and
mind. I felt no remorse for it and was convinced that God was behind this
decision. You see I have been hurt by these people all my life, and my weary
heart could not withstand it any longer, or so my weary self thought.
Thanks for joining me today for Coffee Hour with
Chicklit Power and Faith-Filled Friday with Trench Classes United.
Last Sunday during worship they played a song that
talked about fighting for love. As I sang this song, tears flooded my face. I
was to fight to love these people, not for me, but for God because this is what
He instructs us to do. I cried my broken and weary heart out to the Lord. I
came before him standing, but in my spirit, I was on my face asking God to
forgive my wretched heart. After worship, I dried my tears, and the pastor
begins to speak in 1 Peter about loving your brothers fervently. As
I am listening to the message the tears continued to flood down my face. I
couldn’t contain them. My purpose is to show Christ's love, and here my heart
and mind’s decision was the furthest thing from His love.
1Peter 1:22 New King James Version
(NKJV)
The Enduring Word
22 Since you have purified your souls in
obeying the truth [a]through the Spirit in [b]sincere love of the brethren, love one
another fervently with a pure heart,
Looking back, I do recall a period of my life where I had
fallen away from the Lord, and lived my life the way I wanted for my pleasures,
and didn’t want anything to do with God. Yet, He still loved me and sought
after me, and here I am throwing in the towel. Needless to say, my heart was
convicted to the core, but I love how gentle and tender God is with correcting
us. He does it with grace and love.
Can I encourage you beloveds, if there is someone
difficult in your life who causes you pain or hurt, just ask God how you are to
love them and for the strength to do so. It could be either through prayer or
actions, a smile or a simple “How are you?”
You see when we put ourselves and our feelings down and
allow God to work it’s not us they see but Christ who lives in us. Let’s be
like Jesus, though we didn’t deserve his love or grace, He still gave it
abundantly. Let us follow in His footsteps.
1 Corinthians13:4-8 New King James Version
(NKJV)
4 Love suffers long and is kind;
love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not [a]puffed up; 5 does not behave rudely, does not seek
its own, is not provoked, [b]thinks no evil; 6 does not rejoice in iniquity,
but rejoices in the truth; 7 bears all things, believes all things,
hopes all things, endures all things.
8 Love never fails. But whether there
are prophecies, they will fail; whether there are tongues,
they will cease; whether there is knowledge, it will vanish
away.
Love,
Ashley
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