Love
describes God's divine nature. Jesus is love personified to us through His
sacrificial gift of His life on Calvary's cross. As we are conformed to the
image of Christ, we exhibit more and more of His love.
Our
whole life is about loving God and our neighbor (1 Timothy 1:5). This love
motivates our thoughts, words and actions. Sure, we all get in the flesh now
and then - tired and grouchy, stressed and overworked, etc. This makes us
reluctant to lay down our life in love for anyone else.
This
is when we can emulate Jesus' behavior and withdraw to the mountains to pray -
we may not have a mountain, but we can have a prayer closet - our "war
room", or a bench under a shade tree, or a secluded spot on the beach or
countryside, or a rocker on the porch; I've even dashed into a bathroom stall
more than once to recover my equilibrium (1 Corinthians 13:4-7).
Once
when I chatted with my adult daughter by phone, she said, "I put myself in
time-out until I can get a better attitude." Whatever works for you is the
best way to walk in the Spirit and fulfill our goal not to give in to the
desires of our flesh (Galatians 5:15-25).
In
times when grief and stress cloud our natural eyes, we rely more heavily on our
spiritual eyes and ears of faith in our Heavenly Father's wisdom and
faithfulness.
We
trust and never doubt; but if we do doubt, we ask God to help our unbelief, and
He will (Mark 9:23-25). We count on His eternal love to see us through the most
gruesome issues of life.
Prayer:
Father
God, we shall not lack in any good thing that we need, because we know that You
supply all of our physical, emotional, mental and spiritual needs according to
Your abundance (Philippians 4:19). You
will never abandon us, although at times You stretch our patience and build our
faith by waiting beyond our human time limit to provide for our needs (Matthew
28:20; Hebrews 13:5).
Sometimes,
You do not even heal our sickness, but allow us to suffer in this life for some
reason. Whether you are teaching us an object lesson, building our faith by
making us wait, or taking us home to be with You in glory (Psalm 116:15), we
still trust in Your love and gracious generosity to meet all of our needs.
Thought
for the Day:
God's
love shrouds us like a cloak and refreshes us like a waterfall; we never need
to fear, because Christ in us is greater than the god of this world, and God
gave us a sound mind through salvation, spiritual power by His Spirit and His
abundant everlasting love as a free gift for eternity.
-
2 Timothy 1:7
