Author: marquitabp

Love is…

 

"Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude.  It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth.  Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things." 1 Corinthians 13:4-7

 

I wonder how people assumed that love does not hurt.  It is not listed in any of the verses above.  Walking in God's love is sometimes painful, because in the process of refinement, we get scraped, scratched, and sometimes gouged to get rid of the impurities.  Sometimes the negative thoughts we think must be strained away from the clear waters of our mind to have a place for God's will to lay on our hearts.  If you aren't willing to be hurt or experience pain in the name of God, you may not allow yourself to go through some necessary cleaning. 

 

Moses experienced hurt at the hands of the Children of Israel, because he would repeatedly go before God asking for His mercy on them.  Can't you imagine how that would hurt?  Somebody constantly being faith-less and disobedient, but you believing in them and going before God on their behalf?  Any parents experience that?  Jesus even asked how much longer would He have to be with the people that would not believe or have faith in what He would tell them.(Matthew 8:26, Matthew 17:14-20, Luke 9:38-42)  The disciples, chosen by Jesus, did not believe in their ability to cast out demons, and the man did not believe that the demon was gone from his son in the latter verses. 

 

Love is in the fact that God did something–allowing a part of Himself to die for us; inflicting pain upon Himself for our ultimate elevation.  Sometimes when a person does not believe but looks to what the world is giving them as how their life is going to go, you must keep loving them, having faith in God for them, and simply trusting in God's word for them until they know for themselves.  No, this does not mean stay in an abusive relationship, that's just crazy.  That does not mean you have to condone someone living destructively or inflicting pain on you, your family, or themselves.  No, you are supposed to love your brothers and sisters to the point of willing to die for them.  No, you are supposed to love God even when you do not love yourself–actually I take that back, we are made in the likeness of God, who loves us and created us in His very image–or you feel that no one loves you.  Love bears all things—meaning the good and the bad, stress and strife, even when you are at the lowest point and cannot see above you to go up.  Love hopes for and endures all things; you must endure the difficulties that life gives you and continue to seek God's face in the midst.  You must not doubt God's love because it is there for us all.  God has no favorites.  So I pray that you allow yourself to walk in the love of God and do not dare be afraid to experience everything it has to offer, even if it hurts a little.

 

"And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge–that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God."  Ephesians 3:17-19

Fairy Tales are Real

 

"Now in the days of Ahasuerus, the Ahasuerus who reigned from India to Ethiopia over 127 provinces," Esther 1:1

 

I bet you wonder why I said that, right?  Well, a typical fairy tale consists of a protagonist, the hero, an antagonist, the villian, and a damsel in distress, the prize to be won.  Well, the people of Israel have always been God's favored people.  But they have always either turned their backs on God or victimized in some way.  They are the damsel in distress, but with a twist–they were often disobedient, more like the Prodigal Son.  The different prophets, like Moses, Isaiah, Ezekiel, and Jeremiah, were their fairy "godfathers", warning them of what would happen if they were disobedient.  God sends Jesus, our hero, and He dies to save us.  Isn't that what fairy tales consist of?

 

One of my favorite books of the bible is Esther.  Now when I was little, you could find me reading anything.  I had to have read every single book in the John P. Thomas and Gibbes libraries while I was in school.  But nothing was like Esther was.  She was beautiful, chosen by King Ahasuerus (aka Xerxes), to be his new queen.  Unknown to her, Haman, an evil Agagite, secretly plots to have all Jews killed.  Because the King trusted him, he did not know what Haman was planning.  Esther's uncle helped her inform the king, and Haman was put to death instead.  Without Esther, there would not be many Jews–for as history tells it, it was not until after Xerxes that the Temple in Jerusalem was officially completed.  All of the Jews would have been killed.  God put a story like this in the Bible to inspire us–that although we sometimes face great dangers, He will be sure to rescue us and make a way for us.  Although you may face difficulties, you may even face death at times, God will make His righteous prevail.  And even if you die, we have already won because of His sacrifice with Jesus.  Good night!

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God loves you…He blesses you with another day so make the most of it!

Marquita B. Priester