daily IMPACT by selahV today

IT'S ALL ABOUT LOVE, NOT Prophecy, NOR...

I cannot imagine what it would be like to "understand all mysteries", to have "all knowledge".  Can you?  I've been a Christian nearly 35 years and I still question "why".  I freely admit that I know a whole lot less about God and why He does what He does and allows what He allows than many people I know.  Sometimes that realization makes me wonder why in the world I even try to write to others about who God is to me.  But God keeps me writing (that's a mystery in itself).  I have no college degree.  Though I read a lot to be informed and knowledgeable about subjects I enjoy talking about, I am no expert on anything.  I sorely lack knowledge.

I've never moved a literal mountain and cast it into the sea.  But I have had the faith to see my share of mini-miracles.  Even in that, I stand amazed when God moves in my life; at times I've felt faithless when He didn't.  However, it is written: 

"If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing." 1 Corinthians 13:2

Prophecy, understanding, knowledge and faith are good things.  But without love, those things mean nothing.  God filled me up with His love when I gave my life to Him.  He exchanged my self-centered mind with new thoughts and I'm constantly renewing it in His grace.  He filled my selfish heart with a generosity and deep concern for others.  He gave me the desire to love others beyond myself, to put others above myself.  This love just kind of oozes out without me even trying sometimes.  Afterwards, even I am surprised that I do what I do or say what I say.  This is one area of my life in which I feel most happy--when I am loving another.  And that is what this thirteenth chapter in 1st Corinthians is all about.  Love.  Not prophecy, mysteries, knowledge or even faith.  It's about manifesting--showing, exemplifying--God's love.  Without it, I am nothing.

PRAYER:  Lord, fill me with Your willful committed love.  Instill in me the desire to so love the world that others will be drawn to You through Jesus Christ.   

IT'S ALL ABOUT LOVE, NOT WORDS

I have often admired women who speak with eloquence and ease: Beth Moore, Priscilla Shirer, Anne Graham Lotz.  I've had speaking engagements through the years as a Christian.  I've spoken to women's ministry events.  I've led training sessions for various ministries within the church.  But no matter how often I speak, I never feel totally at ease.  I'm much more comfortable writing than speaking.  My mind gets all excited with new thoughts and before I've finished one thought, I race on to another.  Sometimes it makes perfect sense to me, then I realize by the expressions of confused faces, that I have chased a rabbit down a trail.  That's when I have to back up and start over again.  I also have problems with interruptions.  If I'm interrupted in mid-sentence of paragraph (like when someone tries to finish my sentence for me), I forget where I was going and wind up looking quite emptied-headed.  In the final analysis of things, it doesn't matter near as much as I think it does.  For it is written: 

"If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal." 1 Corinthians 13:1

More than articulate phrases and poetic oratory, the language of God is love.  And no matter how pretty I may sound, no matter how well I communicate words about love or God, if I do not own love and manifest love, my words are noise.  Without love my words are annoying.  Loud, ear-piercing, irritating, worthless noise.  That is it.

PRAYER: Lord, help me be more concerned about loving than sounding like I am loving.  Instill in my heart a desire to love others as You love.  Let my actions match my words. 

FOR THIS PURPOSE

A sparce, dry land. A pasture unplowed. A field unplanted. A hand with one seed, one plant, one word to offer hope.

Ever played what if?

Would I be writing today if it hadn't been for Miss Laury who encouraged me in 6th grade? Would I ever have been a minister's wife if Marlene had not visited me in New England on a below freezing afternoon in 1975? Would there be a youth minister at our former churches if we hadn't made that a priority part of our ministries? Would I even be writing this to you if it hadn't been for a friend who got me started in blogging? These are things that come barreling into my mind at times. Are you doing what you are doing today because of some person God placed in your life long ago? Recently?

"...Yet who knows whether you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this?" Esther 4:14b.

Sometimes we need to consider the influence others have meant to us. Even unfavorable relationships add discernment and wisdom into how to proceed in a situation. I'm grateful I have people who continually stand up and encourage me to stand strong in the Lord.

I find myself at a time when Christians are mocked, God is rejected, and faith is often met with sarcastic jokes. I recognize that what I say can easily be skewered, debated and argued. My individual beliefs are scorned. Yet, nothing I face at this time is nearly as life-threatening as what Esther faced when she stood up for her fellow Jews. I don't know whether I "have come to the kingdom for such a time as this." But I am leaning on my Lord to ascertain I do not keep silent in things which He wants me to say. How about you? selahV

[© SelahV Today, hariette petersen, 2008]