So simple....but so hard!

John 14:15 "If you love me you will keep my commandments."

Wow, that's straight and to the point isn't it? I mean, no gray areas in that one, we don't need a theologian to explain the Hebrew or Greek or tell us what it "really" means. If you love the Lord, you'll obey Him. I understand that verse. I even long to say that I absolutely, positively, ALWAYS keep his commandments but I would be lying to you if I said I was there. Oh, I can hear some of you gasping now. Well, try not to judge to quickly. You see God's standards are much higher than any of ours. Not only are they higher but they are fair. You see he doesn't see sin in degrees. You know, we've all probably heard that preached and may have even said an "amen!" here and there but the truth is for a lot of us we still think some are worse than others. You may say, I don't ever drink or curse but you gossip like there's no tomorrow. You may never miss a service and be on every committee there is but if you have no compassion you are still sinning. You are not obeying the commandments and according to John 14:15, not loving Christ like you should. You may hold those secret sins of bitterness or resentment. You may get your feelings hurt easily and feel you definitely are due an apology but let's get real, have any of us been wronged any worse than Christ? No one in scripture that I can find apologized to Him.

I've been really thinking about my life, where I am as a Christian, how am I serving Him...how am I obeying Him? It comes down to the simple observation of how much am I loving Him? You see, I can bite my tongue and not say what the flesh really wants to say if I love Him enough to allow the Holy Spirit to control me. I can serve my family without applause or appreciation if I look at it as serving Him, and doing it all because I love Him. I can be kind to a sister in Christ who certainly isn't going out of her way to be kind to me if I love Him enough. I can do anything as long as the love for my master is there. I will resist the urge to "fix" things in my kids and allow Him to work in them in His timing if I love Him enough.

I don't have to grit my teeth and dig my heels in to "will" myself to obey.....I just have to love Him, for then, I'll gladly do what He wants me to do. I don't want the devil to cause me to loose focus of that. Christ is easy to love, actually he made it possible for us to love Him. His word tells us that "We love Him because He first loved us".....Lord.....help me remember all you've done and all that you are and help me to love you more each day....for then I will obey.

Thankful

Hey everyone! I haven't posted anything on here lately and I just wanted to share with you how God has been working in my life.

First of all I am excited about 2009 and what God is going to do in my life. There will be valleys to walk through and mountains to climb and times to soar like an eagle and other times when I'm sure I'll feel like I'm crawling face first in the dirt, but I am certain that I will not be alone through any of them. What a comfort to know he'll be there too. I serve a God who will not leave me, fail me, nor will he leave me defenseless. He will give grace at the appointed time and strength when I am weak. Exodus 14:14 even says "The Lord will fight for you and ye shall hold your peace".....that means be at rest......I can rest while HE fights for me....wow...what a Savior!

I had the family over for lunch today (16 of us) and I had such an overwhelming sense of gratitude. We all love each other and accept each other (I must say I learned that part of loving people from Paul and Karen) and it was wonderful just to be together. I couldn't help but think of how blessed I am as a woman to have all these amazing people in my life. We all love the Lord, love to serve Him and love to bring Him glory. I loved serving them lunch and making their afternoon a little less hectic. They just showed up and ate and relaxed. What a joy it is to serve others! (If you haven't tried it....you should!)

I had to be back at the church for choir practice at 4:45 and Ben went with me. What a joy that was! Not only was I praising my Savior through song I had the great joy of knowing Ben was experiencing this with me! We are learning the song "Lord you are Holy" and it is amazing. The words are powerful and so true. It just brings me to a place where I want to just tell the Lord how much I love Him over and over again. Just snuggle up next to Him and rest in His arms for a while. I hope it ministers to people the way it does to me.

I stand amazed at how good God is to me. Believe me, I know I don't deserve it...not even a fraction of the good in my life do I deserve. God is so gracious. God is so kind. I am overwhelmed at the goodness of God.....it really does make me want to know Him better. Please Lord help me not get caught up in the petty things of this world, but keep my eyes focused on you. Eternal things are all that warrant concern....help me keep this in the forefront of my mind. Help me love those who are hard to love, help me be extra gentle to those who get their feelings hurt easily, and help me be willing to put pride aside and make amends even if it really isn't my fault if it will make you smile. Lord let it all be about you this year. That's my heart's cry because.........I am THANKFUL!

What about you?......................

Women's Bible Study

Hey ladies! Tomorrow night January 6th we are cranking back up with the ladies Bible study! It will be from 7 to 8 at the church in the Joyful Women's class. Please review your homework and be ready for discussion. You'll need the review since we took the month of December off. I'm SO ready to get started back and hope that we see God do great things in the months ahead. This month is on Repentance and Grace and it is AWESOME!

I hope to see you there!!!

Serving Him,

Lora