Wednesday, February 5, 2014

ELEVATION NORTH has NEWS for YOU!


I CAN THINK OF NO OTHER LOVE … that I would rather pursue than the love of my Lord Jesus Christ!  And I can think of no other love I would rather rest in and be assured of ~ than that of my precious Savior and Friend!  The media these past few weeks is blitzing ads like crazy … deluging us with visions of diamonds, roses, chocolates, and more – in preparation for Valentine’s Day!  “Ladies, when you receive one of these, you will know you are loved!”  At least that is what the marketing implies.  They forget – it takes more than any of those things to make us feel truly, genuinely, unconditionally loved!  That’s because:  things are only things.  We could be swimming in an ocean of chocolate, wearing a diamond-dazzled swimsuit, clutching the most beautiful long-stemmed roses between our teeth … and still drown in our sorrows and loneliness and self-pity.  So, what does that little visual tell us?  Only that there is obviously more to real love than even limitless quantities of the things we think we love so much.  My heart has never cried so much for the pain of others as it has recently.  I hear the cynicism and bitterness in voices.  I sense the “giving up” mode coming into play.  I feel the struggles vented via people’s posts in social media.  I would totally understand if this vocal behavior was coming from the crowd who doesn’t know Christ personally.  But when I witness the noticeable change in the attitudes and demeanors of those who have long said they were part of God’s family – even to the point of nearly questioning God Himself and the words He has given to us … that’s a sad, rude awakening!  It’s easy to blame any of us humans for exhibiting a less godly love than we should; but for someone to actually state that God sits on high looking down on us and our struggles and pain for mere entertainment … that makes me shiver and shudder.  How do we get from loving God to a statement like that?  What brings about such disillusionment?  The more I ponder and pray over these things, it seems that when we get so caught up in our own agenda instead of opening our hearts to allow God to move and work as He wills on this earth for His Kingdom purposes, we sabotage all that He has for us.  Now wait … please don’t bristle up in your spirit at me.  What you need to know is that before I can put any words that God gives me on paper, He takes me through the practice run – sometimes over and over until I can confront the issue and deal with it.  Not practicing what a person preaches makes the message a useless, noisy, clanging cymbal that no one wants to hear, much less listen to.  And something is usually missing from the overall picture:  a little four-letter word called “love”.  Yes.  It’s a very small word, but in God’s Word in the love chapter of I Corinthians 13, the author Paul explains that exercising love when using our spiritual gifts is “the most excellent way”.  We can do all kinds of things, say all kinds of things … but if we do not have love or show love … we are nothing.  That’s stating it quite strongly, I’d say.  All pretenses are spared in that teaching.  We can attempt to love the way we should, and if we are seriously committed to loving like Jesus loves, He will definitely help us in our quest.  But we’ll never get it right every time – because we are not God.  And we are not perfect, as much as we’d like to think we are sometimes!  Love is not always easy … and sometimes true love rattles the cages of others!  We define love like we think it should be.  Yet the love Jesus frequently demonstrated to others while He walked this earth seemed quite radical – and even shocking to those who observed.  They shook their heads at who He hung out with or whose house He went to eat dinner at.  But Jesus’ example of love purely and totally outshines our best efforts at love.  All the time!  He doesn’t demand perfection from us before He’ll love us; He only asks for our repentance.  He doesn’t want a forced love from us; He invites a set-free love that causes us to automatically run in His direction just because we want to be with Him!  In my hand-written side-notes in my Bible, these words jump out at me once again:  “Jesus' love is extravagant in its expressions!”  Wow!  Wouldn’t we like to have the love in ALL of our relationships be exactly THAT:  extravagant!  Meaning:  a love that exceeds the limit of reason or necessity; beyond what is reasonable.  Someone has said (which I also noted in my Bible!) that “Jesus’ love is the grand essential in the drama of our lives!”  And taking a hard look at our lives in this age we are living in, proves that there’s LOTS of drama going on – either in our own lives – or all around us.  So while drama may be more the norm than not these days, there needs to be one thing that is included.  So let me say that one more time:  “Jesus’ love is the grand essential in the drama of our lives!”  Both Calvary and the Empty Tomb exhibit that extravagant love, and with that example to follow, we cannot, and must not miss the mark when it comes to loving each other.  There is no more excellent way to love!


REMEMBER . . .

“For as high as the heavens are above the earth,
so great is His love for those who fear Him.”
~ Psalm 103:11
(That’s pretty great!)  


Serving Christ Joyfully . . .


Pastor Doug and Debbie





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