Until Love is Stirred

Interestingly enough, about a half hour ago, my girlfriend and I decided to start a relationship fast. It's not a decision that just sprouted up, but we were not sure of the timing up until now. We are doing it to make sure we are in God's will. We've been dating for awhile now and it seems like its close to decision time...that time to decide whether marriage is the next step.

This from Max Lucado's Grace for the Moment, Volume 2:

GOD IS ENOUGH

Because your love is better than life, my lips will glorify you...My soul will be satisfied with the richest of foods. - Psalm 63:3, 5 NIV

When it comes to love: Be careful.

Before you walk down the aisle, take a good long look around. Make sure this is God’s intended place for you. And, if you suspect it isn’t, get out. Don’t force what is wrong to be right...Be careful.

And, until love is stirred, let God’s love be enough for you. There are seasons when God allows us to feel the frailty of human love so we’ll appreciate the strength of his love. Didn’t he do this with David? Saul turned on him. Michal, his wife, betrayed him. Jonathan and Samuel were David’s friends, but they couldn’t follow him into the wilderness. Betrayal and circumstances left David alone. Alone with God. And, as David discovered, God was enough. David wrote these words in the desert: "Because your love is better than life, my lips will glorify you...My soul will be satisfied as with the richest of foods."

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God loves you. Personally. Powerfully. Passionately. Others have promised and failed. But God has promised and succeeded. He loves you with an unfailing love. And His love--if you will let it--can fill you and leave you with a love worth giving. Best-selling author Max Lucado has successfully pricked the hearts and minds of readers for decades. Now, he boldly says that before we can pass love on, we must receive it ourselves--from God. Pointing out that we must "love one another," Lucado issues an impassioned plea to accept God's love in order to truly, unselfishly, wholeheartedly love another. God wants us to drink deeply of His love, soak it up, and marvel at its depth. A Love Worth Giving: Living in the Overflow of God's Love is available at Amazon.

Do Not Crave His Traffic

PROVERBS 23:1-12, BLOGGERS EDITION

When you login to network with a moderator, note well what is before you, and delete your post if you are given to trolling. Do not crave his traffic, for that social networking is deceptive.

Do not wear yourself out to get rich or drive more traffic to your site; have the wisdom to show restraint. Cast but a glance at blog ratings, and they are gone, for they will surely sprout wings and fly off to the sky or blogosphere like an eagle.

Do not comment in the post of a stingy blogger, do not crave his traffic; for he is the kind of bloggger who is always thinking about his ranking. "Post and comment," he says to you, but his heart is not with you. You will vomit up the little you have Dugg and will have wasted your shouts.

Do not reply to a blogging fool, for he will scorn the wisdom of your comments.

Do not try and change moderators rules or trespass on the forums of the clueless, for their webmaster is strong; he will take up their case to ban you.

Apply your heart to your profile and your ears to His "About Me" pages.

- Proverbs 23:1-12 (Bloggers Edition, Alexander)

See also:
Bloggers Demand Miraculous Signs

Alexander is a writer in the online spiritual battlefield. You can also find him at The Scrooge Report.

Lucado: The Intersection of Love

Though He was crucified in weakness, yet He lives by the power of God. - 2 Corinthians 13:4 NKJV

This from Max Lucado's Grace for the Moment, Volume 2:

The cross. Can you turn any direction without seeing one? Perched atop a chapel. Carved into a graveyard headstone. Engraved in a ring or suspended on a chain. The cross is the universal symbol of Christianity. An odd choice, don’t you think? Strange that a tool of torture would come to embody a movement of hope. The symbols of other faiths are more upbeat: the six-pointed star of David, the crescent moon of Islam, a lotus blossom for Buddhism. Yet a cross for Christianity? An instrument of execution?...

Why is the cross the symbol of our faith? To find the answer look no farther than the cross itself. Its design couldn’t be simpler. One beam horizontal—the other vertical. One reaches out—like God’s love. The other reaches up—as does God’s holiness. One represents the width of his love; the other reflects the height of his holiness. The cross is the intersection. The cross is where God forgave his children without lowering his standards.

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Reading a Max Lucado book is as comfortable as having coffee and conversation with a close friend. He Chose the Nails: What God Did to Win Your Heart is signature Lucado: warm, conversational storytelling blended with scripture, humor, and vulnerability. Lucado invites us to understand the symbols surrounding Christ's crucifixion and celebrate the significance of the promises they offer. From the sign in different languages tacked to the cross ("I will speak to you in your language") to the burial clothing ("I can turn your tragedy into triumph"), he speaks of each symbol as a "gift of grace" that reveals God's love for mankind... - Amazon

Pride: the Subtle Sin

If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. - 1 John 1:8

This from Greg Laurie's Daily Devotions:

I had to laugh when I heard the story of two men who approached the great British preacher, C. H. Spurgeon, one day and told him, "Spurgeon, we have reached sinless perfection."

"Really?" he asked.

"Yes," they said, "We are absolutely perfect."

Spurgeon was holding a pitcher of water at the time, and he poured it on their heads. When they began to react like any other sinners would, he found out just how perfect they were.

You see, the people who walk around claiming to have reached sinless perfection are victims of one of the most powerful yet subtle sins: pride. None of us will reach sinless perfection—not in this life.

Granted, before we were Christians, we were under the control and power of sin. We went along with whatever our sinful natures dictated.

But something dramatic happened when we received Christ. We were changed. The Bible says that we became new creations in Christ. Old things passed away and all things became new (see 2 Corinthians 5:17).

That is not to say we still don't struggle with sin and temptation. The Scripture clearly teaches that we will sin and that we will have lapses.

Although the Bible tells me I will sin, there is a difference between sinning and being sorry for it, and sinning habitually, persistently, and continually. If someone claims to be a Christian and yet continues in sin, my question is whether that person has ever been truly converted.

Some people wonder whether such a Christian ever could lose his or her salvation. I would suggest that another question should be asked instead: Did he or she ever experience salvation to begin with?

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Books by Greg Laurie can be found at Amazon.com.

Who Will You Serve?

And if it seems evil to you to serve the Lord, choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. - Joshua 24:15

This from Henry Blackaby's Day by Day:

Serving God was not Joshua’s only option. He could have adopted the religious beliefs and practices of his family heritage in the pagan land of Egypt. He could have accepted the idolatrous religion of his neighbors in the region where he now lived. These options probably looked like easier choices than worshiping God. But Joshua had witnessed God’s faithfulness (Josh. 23:14). He was convinced that his Lord was the only true God and that serving Him would bring victory and blessing. Joshua decided to serve God alone. He was determined to teach his entire household to honor his Lord as well. He had trusted God for victory on the battlefield, and he knew that God could also give him spiritual victory in his home.

You, too, must decide whom you will serve. An assortment of popular religions clamors for your allegiance. If you come from a Christian heritage, you may choose to embrace the faith of your parents and grandparents. If you did not grow up in a Christian home, you can decide, as Joshua did, to reject your heritage of unbelief and begin a generation that serves the Lord.

If you set your mind wholeheartedly on serving God, your example will bring a tremendous blessing to your family. If you place your confidence in God, those around you will witness your faith, and they may decide to trust Him too. Choose, as Joshua did, to serve God unashamedly with all your heart, and then watch to see how God blesses your family.

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"Experiencing God Day-By-Day" is based on Henry Blackaby’s multi-million selling "Experiencing God" book and Bible study. Find insight and grace in this 365-day devotional focused on the divine presence in each life and around us.

Looking to Travel Light

When I first truly accepted Jesus Christ as my saviour, I remember that I felt as if the weight of the world had been lifted off my shoulders. It was instantaneous...right after I had said a sinner's prayer. It was not only an emotional feeling, I physically felt lighter.

The feeling lasted for quite some time, not as dramatically as that day, but I was "on a cloud" like they say. Ten years later, I still feel "lighter," but the burdens of life are starting to weigh me down. Fortunately, I have Jesus to look to and give those burdens to Him. However, I can sense a need to really take a time out for God, not for wordly pursuits.

As I look for a vision for my life, I realize I need to get closer to Him...my first love. The one who makes my burdens light.

Give all your worries to him, because he cares about you. - 1 Peter 5:7

This from Max Lucado's Grace for the Moment, Volume 2:

God has a great race for you to run. Under his care you will go where you’ve never been and serve in ways you’ve never dreamed. But you have to drop some stuff. How can you share grace if you are full of guilt? How can you offer comfort if you are disheartened? How can you lift someone else’s load if your arms of full with your own?

For the sake of those you love, travel light.

For the sake of the God you serve, travel light.

For the sake of your own joy, travel light.

There are certain weights in life you simply cannot carry. Your Lord is asking you to set them down and trust him.

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From award-winning author Max Lucado comes Traveling Light, refreshing words wrapped around the biblical passages of the 23rd Psalm to reenergize weary spiritual travelers. In his inimitable, pastoral voice that both soothes and exhorts, Lucado gently unpacks the verses of the psalm while helping readers lay down the burdens of doubt, anxiety, perfectionism, and fear. - Amazon.com