all of you. forever. every day.

The two greatest commandments that the Lord gave us are both centered around one four-letter word that the world we live in barely seems to even begin to grasp. Love. "And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all you strength. The second is this: you shall love your neighbor as yourself. There is no other commandment greater than these." (Mark 12:30-31 ESV)

Modern language puts such a limit on love. Just those four letters creating one word that can mean anything from having a particular fondness for Peanut Butter Cup Perfection ice cream at Coldstone to the Creator of the universe sending his one and only Son to die for the sins of all mankind. How can that one word mean both of those things?

But perhaps even more than the English language limits love, WE limit love. In our depravity, we cannot even know the meaning of this word without Christ in us and even with Him our minds and hearts limit love so much.

Love is SELFLESS. More than anything else, it is that. Love is dying to yourself in every way. Sacrifice and commitment.

And in this, we find the most fulfillment in this world that we could ever hope for because in living a life os selfless love we get the closest glimpse of God that we ever can in this life.

So--love the Lord your God with all of you. Forever. Every day. The Lord is our ultimate lover. He wants all of us. As we give ourselves to Him fully and seek his heart, the richness of love and life is most deeply felt and more utterly amazing than any words I could find in even the best thesaurus could express.

And then, as we love God--love him in the real sense of the word--loving others becomes second nature. And as we live this life of selfless love and devotion to Jesus, we have found what it is actually all about.

[i forget to] Remember to be astounded

Reading in Mark 6 just now, I came across the old familiar story of Jesus feeding the 5,000 with five loaves of bread and two fish. i read it through without taking any extra notice of it and then I came to the next event in the chapter where Jesus walks on the water to the boat where his disciples are at. As I was just casully reading along--which is so easy to do when reading the gospels and the stories you have heard your whole life, however miraculous and amazing they may be--verses 51 and 52 jumped out at me as if they were in bold print:

51 And he got into the boat with them, and the wind ceased. And they were utterly astounded, 52 for they did not understand about the loaves but their hearts were hardened.

Their hearts were hardened. These men were Jesus' apostles. The twelve he had chosen out of all men to spend his three years of ministry on earth with him and then carry it on when he was gone from this world. And their hearts were hardened.

What does that mean exactly? I think that the disciples perhaps were used to Jesus. They had seen his miracles and while they could not explain them, they were no longer in awe of Jesus, the God-man. So when Jesus fed 5,000 men, plus women and children with five loaves of bread and two fish, the disciples didn't even respond in awe.

Sadly, this reminds me of myself every time I read these stories of Christ's miracles. I forget to be in awe because I have let my heart harden. Not in a way that I turn my back on God or anything like that--but possibly worse, I sit and read the freaking Word of God every day and am told of the A-mazing things Jesus did and more often than not, I read it like a storybook and the realization of God's indescribable power and awesomeness so often passes me by because I forget to be astounded.

So now, as I continue to read these gospels, I hope I see them in a different light--the way the disciples did after Jesus walked on water. I hope I don't forget to remember to be astounded.

The Woman with the Alabaster Flask

Matthew 26:8-13 Jesus Anointed at Bethany  

8And when the disciples saw it, they were indignant, saying, "Why this waste? 9For this could have been sold for a large sum and given to the poor." 10But Jesus, aware of this, said to them, "Why do you trouble the woman? For she has done a beautiful thing to me. 11For you always have the poor with you, but you will not always have me. 12In pouring this ointment on my body, she has done it to prepare me for burial. 13Truly, I say to you, wherever this gospel is proclaimed in the whole world, what she has done will also be told in memory of her."  

After I read these eight verses I couldn't even finish the chapter without picking up my journal to write about the significance of them.  

The woman with the Alabaster flask is the woman I want to be. Her relationship of love with Jesus is a beautiful thing and something she had no desire to hide. The Bible doesn't say how great of a sacrifice this woman made by the gift she gave Jesus, but Mark does tell us it was a very costly ointment with which this woman anointed the head of Jesus. She gave him her best.  

I think this woman shows us the stuff of what our relationship with Jesus should be. Our relationship with our Saviour doesn't begin with giving to the poor (which is a good thing). We don't form the basis for our relationship with him on our church attendance or how many worship songs we can play on the guitar (which are also good things). Rather, the very core of our relationship is what the woman with the alabaster flask understood--it is absolute devotion to Jesus. We need to be in love with Him, sold out to Him, we need to give our best for Him because our hearts desire is nothing less. Only then--in that passionate love we can realize only in Christ--can we truly love and serve others and worship and glorify our Creator.

Reviving the Soul

Psalms 19:7-10 spoke to me in a really beautiful way today. It says:"7 The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul; the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple; 8 the precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes; 9 the fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever; the rules of the Lord are true, and righteous altogether. 10 More to be desired are they than gold, even much fine gold; sweeter also than honey and drippings of the honeycomb."

I love the first verse most of all: The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul. It is amazing the way that law--when it is good and from God--is a beautiful thing. It makes our souls refreshed and pure when we live in it.

As I sit here sipping my iced mocha at Starbucks, I think about how if they hadn't followed the instructions for this drink it wouldn't be this good. its sort of like that with our lives. Not through a life of legalism and rules, but rather a life of commitment to walking in the ways of the Lord--his love and kindness--and fully realizing the excitement and adventure that comes with wholly embraicing Jesus and His beautiful plan for our lives. One of my favorite quotes that Adrian Rogers that my youth pastor often referred to when I was in high school is "He who is a slave to the compass has the freedom of the seas." Freedom is such a beautiful word and the absolute fullness and realization of it can only be found in Jesus and walking with Him.

Its like every word that we use and place value in takes on a whole new level of reality when it is embraced through Christ. He redefines what humanity limits because of our finiteness. The excitement that comes from the idea of living in freedom--true freedom, the freedom of Jesus--is way overpowering the little buzz from the caffeine in my Starbucks drink and I can hardly contain the joy in my spirit as I stand in absolute awe of who God is.

In the Shadow of His Wings

One thing that I love most when reading the Word is coming across verses that have meant a lot to me at some point in my life or have always stood out to me as being extra wonderful. This morning-well, really it was afternoon, but I just woke up- I was reading Psalms 17 where in verse 8 it says "Keep me as the apple of your eye; hide me in the shadow of your wings." I love that imagery.

I am reading The Shack right now where "Papa" is constantly telling Mack that she is especially fond of people. Finally, Mack says, "You seem to be especially fond of a lot of people. Are there any who you are not especially fond of?" Papa looked at Mack and said, "Nope, I haven't been able to find any. Guess that's jes' the way I is." I think that is such a beautiful picture of how the Father loves and cares for each and every one of His children as a favorite child. Even though He may get angry with us or have to discipline us at times, He loves us all the same and that will never change. I know its hard for me as a human being to not let my feelings towards a person be affected and changed when they mistreat me, ignore me or even deliberately turn their back on me, yet God in his infinite love, mercy and grace will still love His child that does all these things. They will still be the "apple of his eye."

Even more beautiful to me is being able to hide in the shadow of His wings. It just brings such peace and comfort to my heart knowing I can rest and hide in the Lord and He can completely cover me. Nothing can penetrate the protection that God can provide for me. He is the ultimate loving Father and I feel so safe to just be able to rest in Him.

I am so thankful to the God who created the universe that I am the apple of His eye and He hides me in the shadow of His wings.