Personal Commitment: I am committed to allowing God to transform my heart, giving me the ability to be a productive part of God’s family, standing shoulder to shoulder with my fellow believers and taking the world by storm, engulfing them in a hurricane of God’s perfect love.
Monday, May 21, 2012
The Family of God (A Beacon on a Hill)
Along the way I’ve discovered that there’s a special connection within families. When a family is emotionally and spiritually healthy there is something magnetic and monstrously strong in the thick ropes of love that bind them together; there is a fierce loyalty, an immovable love that washes away petty fights and angry words; there is an unspoken understand...ing that regardless of what you do they will always, always stand beside you, forgiving your wrongs and steadfastly standing by your side ready to fight your battles, shoulder to shoulder.
Sadly, not all families are bound together with this kind of fierce, immovable love. Too many families find that their ropes of love are tattered and rotten; too late they discover those ropes easily fall away with the slightest tug.
When God first called me to join His family, remembering the broken and rotting ropes of my earthly family, I politely decline, saying, “No thank you; I don’t need any more family drama. I’m better off on my own.” I said this because I had never experienced the thick ropes of love that bind a healthy family together; and without this example of a loyal, loving family I was incapable of understanding what it meant to be part of God’s family.
But God is the Great Healer and He healed much of the brokenness in my family—He healed the brokenness of our hearts. He gave me a plethora of examples, including families in my church and my husband’s rough and rowdy, fiercely-loyal, abundantly-loving family. He restored my picture of love, my idea of family, and my picture of God as a loving father.
So join me as I allow God to continue restoring my vision of family. Join me as I determine to be a productive, fiercely loyal member of God’s amazing family. Join me as I stand shoulder to shoulder with my fellow believers and restore the world’s picture of love, family, and God.
Final Thought: God’s family should be a beacon on a hill shining God’s perfect love to a dark, hurting world.See More
Sadly, not all families are bound together with this kind of fierce, immovable love. Too many families find that their ropes of love are tattered and rotten; too late they discover those ropes easily fall away with the slightest tug.
When God first called me to join His family, remembering the broken and rotting ropes of my earthly family, I politely decline, saying, “No thank you; I don’t need any more family drama. I’m better off on my own.” I said this because I had never experienced the thick ropes of love that bind a healthy family together; and without this example of a loyal, loving family I was incapable of understanding what it meant to be part of God’s family.
But God is the Great Healer and He healed much of the brokenness in my family—He healed the brokenness of our hearts. He gave me a plethora of examples, including families in my church and my husband’s rough and rowdy, fiercely-loyal, abundantly-loving family. He restored my picture of love, my idea of family, and my picture of God as a loving father.
So join me as I allow God to continue restoring my vision of family. Join me as I determine to be a productive, fiercely loyal member of God’s amazing family. Join me as I stand shoulder to shoulder with my fellow believers and restore the world’s picture of love, family, and God.
Final Thought: God’s family should be a beacon on a hill shining God’s perfect love to a dark, hurting world.See More
Between the Blogs
Personal Commitment: The words “Give it to God” are so easy to say, yet, sometimes, so difficult to do; but I am committed to continually turning all my troubles over to God, to continuously claiming His promise to work all things together for good.
Trading Hearts (The Transformative Power of God)
Along the way I’ve discovered that love truly can heal broken and bleeding relationships.
My father and I had a tumultuous relationship for many years, that is, until God changed my heart just as He promised He would in Ezekiel: “I’ll give you a new heart, put a new spirit in you. I’ll remove the stone heart from your body and replace it with a h...eart that’s God-willed, not self-willed” Ezekiel 36:26 (NLT).
And that’s just what He did; and when God’s abundant love filled my heart, it spilled over, saturating my relationship with my father. And, in recent years, this constant, relentless outpouring of love has begun to soften my dad’s heart; and, slowly but surely, his view of our relationship is changing. Now, instead of seeing the hurting, angry child I once was, he is beginning to see me as a loving child of God.
This amazing transformation began when God came into my life, when His relentless, unfailing love swept away the last vestiges of the anger and frustration that was slowly creating a crust over my heart, covering it with a hard shell resistant to emotions—a barrier against love. But, as it is with God’s love, it flooded my life, sweeping away the hate, anger, and pain. Now His perfect love is a powerful river flooding my life, drowning the pain, sorrow, anger, frustration, and hate from my life. Now His love fills my heart to overflowing, permeating every aspect of my life.
So join me as I embrace the flood of God’s perfect love, allowing it to continue His life-changing work in my life. Join me as I allow God to replace my self-willed heart of stone with a God-willed heart of love.
Final Thought: The most powerful weapon in the world is the unparalleled love of God.See More
My father and I had a tumultuous relationship for many years, that is, until God changed my heart just as He promised He would in Ezekiel: “I’ll give you a new heart, put a new spirit in you. I’ll remove the stone heart from your body and replace it with a h...eart that’s God-willed, not self-willed” Ezekiel 36:26 (NLT).
And that’s just what He did; and when God’s abundant love filled my heart, it spilled over, saturating my relationship with my father. And, in recent years, this constant, relentless outpouring of love has begun to soften my dad’s heart; and, slowly but surely, his view of our relationship is changing. Now, instead of seeing the hurting, angry child I once was, he is beginning to see me as a loving child of God.
This amazing transformation began when God came into my life, when His relentless, unfailing love swept away the last vestiges of the anger and frustration that was slowly creating a crust over my heart, covering it with a hard shell resistant to emotions—a barrier against love. But, as it is with God’s love, it flooded my life, sweeping away the hate, anger, and pain. Now His perfect love is a powerful river flooding my life, drowning the pain, sorrow, anger, frustration, and hate from my life. Now His love fills my heart to overflowing, permeating every aspect of my life.
So join me as I embrace the flood of God’s perfect love, allowing it to continue His life-changing work in my life. Join me as I allow God to replace my self-willed heart of stone with a God-willed heart of love.
Final Thought: The most powerful weapon in the world is the unparalleled love of God.See More
Between the Blogs
Personal Epiphany: Learning begins in the deep silence of true, sincere listening.
Between the Blogs
Personal Commitment: Sometimes I falsely believe I can do it all on my own, stubbornly refusing to ask for help; then, looking at the pile of challenges facing me that day, that week, that month, that year, I feel overwhelmed. Today, I am determined to give it all to God. I am committed to living the advice of Jesus and to taking my life one day at a time, letting God take care of all my tomorrows.
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