Today I've been thinking about how much more we are willing to sacrifice for a person or thing when we love that person or thing. I don't think many people would disagree with me on that. It's interesting that when something is covered in love, forgiveness and grace just flow naturally. When the verdict is out on love, it's harder to find the desire to sacrifice and be flexible to accomodate for specific needs. Love, after all, matters the most.
When you love something, you make time for that thing. You don't have to check your schedule and make sure you can fit that thing in, you just fit it in. You protect that thing with everything you've got. You believe in that thing even when it can't believe for itself. Love covers everything, love never fails. Sacrificing for what you love is natural, it makes sense, there is not another option. Mistake after mistake, love fills in gaps, love reminds us of the good times, love gives us hope and confidence that there is more. Love NEVER fails you.
Now, think about how the Lord loves you. He loves you with an unconditional and a relentless love. He is jealous for you. He will make every sacrifice necessary to seek after your heart. He'll pour out grace and love until there is no more just for you. Jesus wept when he realized what was happening around him. He wept over you. He wept until there were no more tears. Love was there the whole time. What the Lord has covered in love he will ALWAYS pursue after. There's no thing, no word, no thought that we could do or have that would derail his purpose. Understanding the revelation of the Lord's love for y.o.u. will give you understanding and peace that transcends beyond anything that could ever be processed or understood according to natural means. He loves you because he loves you because he loves you because he loves you because that's just who he is. You are never out of the realm of the grasp of the Lord. Believe it about yourself. Believe it about your circumstances. You heart is now and always will be redeemable. There is no greater love than that.
Today, be encouraged knowing that the things that you need to see happen for the people that you love are coming your way. You will see them happen. Because love never fails you. God is love, and God never fails, therefore love never fails. Keep covering those areas and relationships where you feel stretched and challenged in love. Love even when you don't feel like loving, because love will never fail you. Your promise is greater than your pain, and your future is better than your past. Our praise and faith are not predicated upon our circumstances and mistakes (thank the Lord). Today is the day to believe that there's something greater for you. Start loving like you've never loved before. Love the Lord, love yourself, love your family (all of them), love your friends, love your job, love your season of life...love it all. When you start covering things in love, you de-activate the enemy's potential to attack those things. Because love is greater than struggle. Promise is greater than pain.
...and because love never fails you.
Wednesday, September 28, 2011
Tuesday, September 20, 2011
back to the foundation.
The foundation of a thing is seriously the most important part of that thing. Foundations uphold the integrity of a structure. Without a foundation, a structure cannot stand. This is true for houses & buildings & relationships & workplace decisions & life in general. If the foundation is built hastily, the structure will eventually collapse. Now, let's talk about structures collapsing...this isn't always the end of the world; sometimes structures need to collapse. I know, you're thinking "What in the world is this girl talking about? Why would a structure ever need to collapse?" Just hear me out, in five minutes it will all make sense...promise.
Sometimes in life we are faced with decisions that are easy to make. Then there are difficult decisions to make. The beauty in being faced with a difficult decision is that you automatically begin building the foundation of that thing slowly, because it's not an easy decision to make. You take adequate time to think and then to build, to pray and then to build, to process and then to build. When decisions are easy to make, we run the risk of hastily building up the foundation. Our eyes and hearts and desires are so anxious to see the finishing of the structure that we pay little or no attention to the most important part: the foundation.
Moving on to the area of relationships. (To those faithful reader(s) of this blog, you know right now I'm not talking about romantic relationships because I'm a big proponent of speaking only when you know what you're talking about. Obviously, in this season of my life, I wouldn't know what I was talking about if I was speaking only on those kind of relationships, so please be enlightened; here I am talking about any relationship - mostly of the friendship variety.) Relationships are one of the most essential areas in our lives where the foundation has got to be built the right way. It's hard because (and I'm being candid here) sometimes we just want to jump right in to relationships with no regard to time. No limits, no regrets, no boundaries. What happens when we take this route is when we're fully invested and feel like we know all there is to know about a particular relationship (we've climbed to the top floor of the structure), we notice that the foundation is cracked, wobbly or sinking. What goes up in haste comes crashing down in haste. Don't be discouraged by this, because sometimes when our foundations are cracked and our structures have to come down, we have an incredible opportunity to do something great: rebuild.
There is beauty in the rebuild. It will be difficult and challenging at times, that's just real life. Setting boundaries after there have been none is not fun. While you're rebuilding, you can't help but think about how you wish that you never had to start over, but then the Lord steps in and reminds you of two important things. One: while you're rebuilding, you have to start over from the beginning. The past has to be the past. You have to start over with priveleges and trust and all of that. Two: Things that are built the right way, even if they are being built for the second or third or eighth time are sweeter and stronger. Things that are rebuilt are seasoned, and things that are seasoned always have more to offer. It's okay if you have to rebuild the structure, but remember the foundation. What a thing is built on top of determines the integrity that surges through that entire thing.
Yes, sometimes structures need to collapse for the sake of making sure the foundation is filled with all of the right things. But that's ok, because when you start over, the process means way more. You're congnizant of all of the right things. Build, or rebuild, your life, decisions, relationships and motives on love, joy and encouragement.
Sometimes in life we are faced with decisions that are easy to make. Then there are difficult decisions to make. The beauty in being faced with a difficult decision is that you automatically begin building the foundation of that thing slowly, because it's not an easy decision to make. You take adequate time to think and then to build, to pray and then to build, to process and then to build. When decisions are easy to make, we run the risk of hastily building up the foundation. Our eyes and hearts and desires are so anxious to see the finishing of the structure that we pay little or no attention to the most important part: the foundation.
Moving on to the area of relationships. (To those faithful reader(s) of this blog, you know right now I'm not talking about romantic relationships because I'm a big proponent of speaking only when you know what you're talking about. Obviously, in this season of my life, I wouldn't know what I was talking about if I was speaking only on those kind of relationships, so please be enlightened; here I am talking about any relationship - mostly of the friendship variety.) Relationships are one of the most essential areas in our lives where the foundation has got to be built the right way. It's hard because (and I'm being candid here) sometimes we just want to jump right in to relationships with no regard to time. No limits, no regrets, no boundaries. What happens when we take this route is when we're fully invested and feel like we know all there is to know about a particular relationship (we've climbed to the top floor of the structure), we notice that the foundation is cracked, wobbly or sinking. What goes up in haste comes crashing down in haste. Don't be discouraged by this, because sometimes when our foundations are cracked and our structures have to come down, we have an incredible opportunity to do something great: rebuild.
There is beauty in the rebuild. It will be difficult and challenging at times, that's just real life. Setting boundaries after there have been none is not fun. While you're rebuilding, you can't help but think about how you wish that you never had to start over, but then the Lord steps in and reminds you of two important things. One: while you're rebuilding, you have to start over from the beginning. The past has to be the past. You have to start over with priveleges and trust and all of that. Two: Things that are built the right way, even if they are being built for the second or third or eighth time are sweeter and stronger. Things that are rebuilt are seasoned, and things that are seasoned always have more to offer. It's okay if you have to rebuild the structure, but remember the foundation. What a thing is built on top of determines the integrity that surges through that entire thing.
Yes, sometimes structures need to collapse for the sake of making sure the foundation is filled with all of the right things. But that's ok, because when you start over, the process means way more. You're congnizant of all of the right things. Build, or rebuild, your life, decisions, relationships and motives on love, joy and encouragement.
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