Watch What GOD Does

This morning I was reminded to
"Watch what GOD does and then you do it. Mostly what GOD does is love you. Keep company with Him and learn a life of love." Ephesians 5:1-2 The Message

A life of love, huh? My first thought was to say, well, what does that look like? But I already know the answer to that! I Corinthians 13 spells it out so nicely, and Jesus walked it out for us. He had compassion on people, He met their felt needs whatever they were, there was never judgement for the people ~ only for religious tyranny. His only gripe was with the perversion Jews had made of GOD's law, thereby hurting His people. Everything GOD does and says is motivated by love, because that is Who and What He is. So..... living a life of love? Well ..... it's simple .... or rather, simple to understand (sometimes challenging to do!) :)

LOVE is:
patient
kind
not envious
does not boast
not proud
not rude
not self-seeking
not easily angered
keeps no record of wrongs
does not delight in evil
always protects
rejoices with the truth
always trusts
always hopes
always perseveres
never fails

WOW! I never realized how much it does not do! What it is not is obviouly as important as what it is.

In "God Came Near," Max Lucado shares this poignant look at the sum of "Christianity" (the art of being like Christ / or the art of being a Christ-person or a Christ-follower)......
Are we literally what we see? Paul described the enemies of Christ thusly:
"Their god is their own appetite, they glory in their shame and this world is the limit of their horizon." Philippians 3:19
Oh what a horror!! 'augh!'

We were never meant to "dwell in the stale fog of the lowlands with no vision of our Creator .... "
"Seeing Jesus is what 'Christianity' is all about.
Christian service, in its purest form, is nothing more than imitating Him whom we see. To see His majesty and to imitate Him .... that is the sum of Christianity."

WOW!!

Tomorrow or the next day I'm excited to share a little more word study about what love is. Wha-hoo!!

This is just groovy stuff right here....oh yeah.....oh yeah....doin' the happy dance.....uh huh!

Sharoni
...giving voice to those with none....

Overwhelmed By Love.....

I love that I want to do this more than Facebook. Yay!

The title is basically what my life has been about for the past two years. I mean.......I have always been enamoured by Your love, LORD, but.......since we've been back here, out of the darkness and oppressive spiritual climate we lived in for a decade, I have an amazing new appreciation for every little teeny tiny thing of beauty that life has to offer! Is that because I asked You to let me live here a bit longer when I had the opportunity to cave in to cancer and come home? Did that open up new perspectives for me? Or was it that heart attack? Or is it a combination of all of those things and then just a new-found appreciation for Your creation? Whatever it may be......I am so thrilled!

On a page topped with a little blue daisy (I am a sticker fanatic!) I copied these words because they touched me so deeply and because it is truly how I attempt to live my life daily.....
Max Lucado is an amazing teacher and author.....his gift with words and the fact that he actually captures practically my every thought just continues to astound me. Year after year after year.....it's like he and Beth read my mail and put it out there for all to share. So I share now:

"There is a rawness and a wonder to life. Pursue it.... Don't listen to the whines of those who have settled for a second-rate life....they just want to drag you into their misery so as not to feel guilt.....
Your goal is not to live long .... it's to live."
"You can build a fire in your hearth, stay inside, toasty warm ..... dry ..... safe.... OR .....
Or you can hear the voice of adventure ~ GOD's adventure. Instead of building that fire in your hearth ..... build a fire in your heart. Follow GOD's impulses."

Jesus told us and it is recorded in Luke 17:33 that "Those who try to keep their lives will lose them. But those who give up their lives will save them."

Words to live by, huh?

Sharoni
....giving voice to those with none....

Watch What GOD Does

I have been so moved by GOD's great love this year.....really for the past two years, in ways I never thought possible. It has become my life to look at people and see the children He has created and how He loves them. Wow....who knew that such a person who has never really known great suffering could empathize so completely with others? Only GOD. And it has come about only because of His gift ..... the grace to see people as He sees them (to a certain extent) and to care about their pain and situations in a small way. Nothing compares to the depth of love and concern He has for us, but you know when there is a significant difference between what you would personally feel about somebody and when it comes from GOD Almighty. There is no comparison. And there are no words of thanks I have to express my gratitude for such a gift.

These words from The Message captured my heart yesterday morning, and they still reverberate thru my spirit:

"Don't grieve GOD. Don't break His heart. His Holy Spirit, moving and breathing in you, is the most intimate part of your life, making you fit for Himself. Don't take such a gift for granted. Watch what GOD does, and then you do it, like children who learn proper behavior from their parents. Mostly what GOD does is love you. Keep company with Him and learn a life of love. Observce how Christ loved us. His love was not cautious but extravagant. He didn't love in order to get something from us but to give everything of Himself to us. Love like that."

~Ephesians 4:30 - 5:2

Daily I amazed by the depth of His love.

Sharoni
...giving voice to those with none....