Footprints of LOVE

“A heart to love, and in that heart, courage, to make love known”
-  Shakespeare

~  ~  ~

        It takes courage to selflessly love others, does it not? Selfless love is not part of our nature, rather it is part of Christ's nature. It was that very love that moved Him to die for us. The same love that He commands us to walk in, so that the world might see Him through us. When we love others we are dieing to ourselves; we are denying who we are without Christ so that we may live more fully in Him.

           "Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God.

           Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God." 

1 John 4:7
   

      Everyday, we must learn to kill our flesh to walk in His love. It takes courage to do this. It takes faith. It takes prayer. One cannot slay the dragon in a single day. It takes weeks of practice before that knight becomes skilled in his swordsmanship. It is the same in our lives. We cannot expect to have our perspective changed over night. Because we were born into this world, our flesh is OF this world. Therefore, it is a daily fight to learn His ways.We must learn to seek out opportunities to practice this great love.

    When that mother gives up her sleep to care for her sick child; when that father works overtime to bring in extra income for his family; when that ministry diligently cares for HIS orphaned children, that is Christ's love. All life is like a song. A beautiful orchestra that God is conducting. Only when we love as He loved us, will we begin playing to the rhythm that He wrote, long before time began. That's when we will truly walk in HIS footsteps: the footprints of an everlasting LOVE. 

 "And walk in love as Christ also has loved us
 and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice
 to God for a sweet-smelling aroma."
Ephesians 5:2
"For the glory of God!"

His beloved

"Then God said, "Let Us make mankind in Our image, 

in Our likeness......
So God created mankind in His own image, 

in the image of God He created them;

Genesis 1:26-27

~*~*~*~

          In the very beginning of time GOD created the earth. For those of us who have read the Bible, we know how the story goes: "then God said....let there be light....let there be an expanse between the water above and the water below...let the water under the sky be gathered in one place...etc." All through the first chapter of Genesis we see the phrase "then God said." God had the power to simply speak the earth and all that is in it, into existence, but there is one creation He didn't speak into being: MAN. In all other areas of creation God said the word and it was. But with mankind He took the time to hand create us, to breath His very breathe into us, to make us part of Him. 

          What does that say about His heart for His people??

         God did not want to speak us into being because He wanted to us to feel His love, to be in communion with Him. To God, we are not just another part of creation, we HIS PEOPLE. We are His beloved, His children, His heart song. 

"I am my Beloved's and my Beloved is mine;" Song of Solomon 6:31

 WE ARE HIS!!!

 

     In His chest beats a heart so full of love towards His children that even with all eternity, we will never be able to comprehend that great love. HE created us FOR HIMSELF: to love, honor and obey Him in all areas of our lives. He GAVE us live, LEADS US in life, and AWAITS US AT OUR LIFE'S END. Like a father that eagerly awaits His child's return, like a groom at the alter, so too is the heart of our Father towards us. 

    There will come a day for all of us when our strength fails. We will kiss this world good bye, and with our final heart beat be carried to the realm eternal. There, at the celestial gate our KING will be waiting for us. With all the joy of a lover, He will welcome us into the realm of light, of love, and of joy: HOME.

       I think of a dearly beloved friend who has passed on into heaven's splendor. Such a blessed woman is she to be partaking of heaven's delights! Oh, what joy divine! What everlasting delight! What peace unending and laughter abounding, awaits the faithful when we are gathered into heaven's folds!!!!

    

"My Beloved spoke and said to me, 

"Arise, My darling, My beautiful one,  

come with Me."

 Song of Solomon 2:10

How far will YOU go?

      The enemy laughs. The flesh scoffs. The deepest regions of hell deride the opposition of the soul.  All the while the heart cries, “I cannot do this!”  The enemy marches, the flesh cowers.  

      Is this to be the “resistance” we offer the enemy when he tries to  steal us from our LORD? A weak rebellion without faith, without action? Is our faith naught but empty words 

and hollow professions of action??

~* ~ *~

                                                                                                                    Thousands around the world today are already  facing death and persecution for their faith. There may very well come a day when we too face the same battle.  We need to ready ourselves, for on that day God will ask, “how far will YOU go for me?” The enemy is preparing his troops for battle, battle against the most powerful BEING in the universe.  He will lose, but  he’ll go down fighting, destroying the lives of the ones GOD loves: destroying us.  He’ll stop at nothing to tear us away from our KING, we cannot let that happen!

“How far will you go for ME?”

    When we are faced with an assault from the enemy, it is our fear the prevents us from fighting the good fight, from resisting Satan. But resist we must, for to give in to his whims means denying our Father in Heaven. Right now we fight a spiritual battle, but one day this battle may become a physical battle: a fight for our very lives, and the honor of our KING.  In that day we MUST stand strong, we we must NOT back down. So what if we lose our lives, for to lose our lives here, will be to gain an eternity with GOD.

Let Satan laugh now, his time is coming. Our KING will defeat him once and for all!!

Are we ready to fight for our GOD??

"For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it."

Mark 16:25
 

Bitter be Autumn's bite

    

"To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven"

  Ecclesiastes 3:1

 

  The  proud stalks bend and sway in the last light of summer’s day. Sunset’s golden light casts shimmering hues of color upon radiant fields of grain. Daylight’s hours now are few, as Nature begins her queue.  Green have been the leaves, now basked in Autumn’s glory. The fading light, the whispered rite. Summer’s done, the dance of Autumn has begun.

       Ahh…Autumn. I bask in the cool breeze as the first of Autumn’s chill arrives. I watch as the leaves slowly change to brilliant shades of red, gold and orange. I smell the chill in the air, I see it in the sparkling frost that lies upon the ground each morning. This is a season of rest and tranquility for nature. A season to enjoy the fruits of her labor, to glory in her splendor, to grow strong again for Summer’s harvest. A time of peace.

     The human life is much like nature. We too have different seasons. Spring/Summer: where we harvest the fruits of our spiritual labor and grow in our walk with the Creator- a time of plenty. Then there’s Fall/Winter: a time of trial, where the rains fall and the winds blow. Our “leaves” (spirits) fall and our “land” (hearts) are washed in the heavy floods of His grace.  In seasons like these we often get so caught up in stopping the storm, that we fail to see the beauty and the peace, in the midst of all the thunder.   

       Hidden within of each storm is hand of GOD reaching out to us from within the rains, asking us to trust Him. 

      In every season, God is always at work  behind the clouds of gray; He is ever spinning, ever weaving, a pattern of splendor; a scenery of color and brilliance, that will stun us with it’s vast beauty when it is unveiled.
 
     “Autumn/Winter” may look and feel bitter, cold and heartless. A season without a purpose. But there is always a ray of SON waiting to burst worth at the first sign of Spring in our hearts, when the first buds of faith and trust are springing up from grounds of hardened frost.

Don’t fear the cold, my friend. For though it hurts now, Spring will come. And when it does, nothing else will matter as we dwell once more in the LIGHT and the warmth.

“The LIGHT shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome IT.” John 1:5

“For the glory of God!”

Why orphans?

 

 "You can always give without loving,

but you can never love without giving."

-Amy Carmichael 

  ~* ~*~*~*~

 

   Someone recently asked me,  “Why orphans, and why Africa?”  Many people have asked me the same question in the past. Well, here is my answer: as followers of Christ, it is our duty and blessing to reach the lost and the hurting in the world. We are to minister to the poorest of poor, the lowest of low.  For me, that means the orphans. Truly, they are the poorest of poor in today's society; having no one to call family and nothing to call their own.  

According to Orphan Hope International, there are between 143 million and 210 million orphans worldwide. As of today, 48.3 million of those are in Africa.  By age 16 these children “age out” and are no longer in the adoption systems. 38,493 orphans “age out” each day . With diseases like malaria, HIV, AIDS and yellow fever, 5,760 children are orphaned each day. The vast majority of these have never heard of Christ. They live in villages where witchcraft and demon possession is rampant. The witch doctor is their only doctor, and consequently their “religious leader.” 

  My heart absolutely breaks for those precious little ones, living in those circumstances!! How can we ignore their cries, their pain!? We can't change the world, but we can lives. None of us has the power to save the world, but we have the love to save the lost.

“Not all of us can do great things. 

But we can do small things with great love.”

-Mother Teresa 

  Mother Teresa had it right. Not everyone is destined for great deeds, honor or fame. But all of us, regardless of our current circumstances can do little things and still change lives, if we do it with great love.

    There is a fire burning deep within my heart, fueled by the Lord, to do what I can to help His children. Even if I only impact one life, it is enough. For that is one life more that will one day be in heaven. This side of heaven we may never know how many will be with Christ one day because of us, but we still have to try to reach them. Love speaks far greater than words. It is not enough to simply say you feel for them, we have to REACH OUT TO THEM. 

"Give me the love that leads the way, the faith that nothing can dismay, the hope no disappointments tire, the passion that will burn like fire; Let me not sink to be a clod: Make me Thy fuel, Flame of God."
-Amy Carmichael   “For the glory of God!

Everything changes in a minute

 The power of a minute...

 "Everyone has a moment in their childhood when the door opens to their future." -Wess Stafford

One minute. One moment in a lifetime of minutes. To many, one minute is unimportant, but to children that one minute defines the rest of their lives: who they are when they grow up, what they want to do, and who they want to be like. WE as their elders have the power to change a child's life in the space of 60 seconds. Now THAT'S a heavy responsibility to bare.

Children look up the adults in their lives. They look to us as role models, as teachers, in our every day lives. They watch us and learn from us. As little ones they are very impressionable. As Dr. Stafford put it, "they are like wet cement. The younger they are the easier it is to leave an imprint."  Though they may not realize it, they are constantly soaking up everything around them.

  Children grow up to become a replica of the kinds of elders they had in their lives when they were young. God intended for the elders in a child's life to pour into them, not tear them down. How we impact a child depends on how we interact with that child. We need to always remember any minute, anything we say or do, can be that moment that opens the door to the child's future.                                                                                                 When I see a child, I see one of God's precious children. I see His fingerprints in their lives. I see a child who needs love and affirmation. A little one who's life is only just beginning; who needs Godly influences in their life.When I see a child I feel the need to protect them, to love them, to show them that Someone cares for them. I feel the weight of God's call to all adults. Please, don't ignore His children. When you see a child be sure to pour into them, even if it's just a friendly smile or a kind word. You never know how much that simple act of love may impact them for all eternity. 

 "Start children off on the way they should go, 

and even when they are old they will not turn from it."

 Proverbs 22:6

"For the glory of God!"

.  

Let it rain!

   *Drip, drip, drip*  The rain falls steadily upon the window pane. It is a sound that calms and soothes many people, and excites others. But to me, it is the sound of His love falling upon my life. You see, when it rains we often think of the rain in the plural sense, ignoring the millions of individual drops. Yet, it is those very drops that make up the storm. It is the same way with our Father's love.

   Too often we take His blessings for granted and fail to thank Him for them. Then before we know it they're gone. Evaporated into our lives or blown away by the winds of change. Only the evidence of their having been there is left; the puddles that sit around waiting for us to acknowledge them.We sit there and wonder, "how did we miss the existence of that gift and how could it be gone already?? We only just noticed it." But that's just it. Like the rain, many blessings are only in our lives for a short season. Whether we notice each drop is up to us.

  

     Our Heavenly Father desires to grant us every blessing under the sun, but it is only when we remember to thank Him for each one, that He will keeps pouring His rain upon us.  So the next time your soul is parched, look to the heavens. The skies are ever ready to rain down His love upon us, we have only to learn to see the gifts. They are always there. Not every blessing is life changing. The most valuable gifts are often the smallest and most unnoticeable.

    

So open your eyes. Step out of the prison of ungratefulness and open your arms to the rain. Let the drops cleanse and refresh you. Dance in His love rain. Count the drops. But beware of the flood that is sure to come when you open your heart to thankfulness.

"Giving thanks always for all things unto God

 and the Father  in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ"

Ephesians 5:20 

 "For the glory of God!"