Jesus is here with you and me via His Holy Spirit.  Jesus loves You!  How are You doing at loving Yourself?  Here's a self check!


1 Corinthians 13 describes that love called "agape".


"Love is patient,  (I am patient with myself).

love is kind. (I am kind to myself).

Love does not envy, (I choose to be thankful in all things).

love does not boast, (I choose to give God the glory in all things).

love is not proud. (I choose to give God the glory in all things).


Love does not dishonor others, (I choose to honor the differences in myself and others).

love is not self-seeking, (I choose to seek the kingdom of heaven first).

love is not easily angered, (I choose to listen more, see with new eyes, and breathe deep).

love keeps no record of wrongs. (I choose forgiveness and forgetfulness).



6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. (I choose truth).



7 Love always protects, (I choose to protect myself with flexible - not rigid boundaries).



Love always trusts, (I choose to trust the LORD who works in and through me).



Love always hopes, (I choose to rest my hope in Jesus).



Love always perseveres. (I choose to to never, never, never give up).



8 Love never fails... (I already know the end of the story... LOVE WINS!)



13 ...And now these three remain: faith, hope and LOVE.

But the greatest of these is LOVE. "

~Oh, the JOY~
 
For more time in the WORD, check out our weekly posts this year for WOMEN IN THE WORD WEDNESDAY here.

HERE WITH US... GRATITUESDAY...

Can you imagine your children waking up one morning and they find that their parents have disappeared and you are not coming back.  How horrifying! 

I've worked with many children throughout my almost 40 years in education.  One thing I saw yesterday and see on a regular basis is kids who do not trust.  They've learned quickly, in their young lives, to put up walls for protection.  Their needs have not been met, nor have their wants.

I am so grateful that Jesus said, "I will never leave you or forsake you...".  The word IMMANUEL or EMMANUEL means "God with us".  The promise is that He will be with us always.  Then, why do we run from that?  Why do we distrust and say that God let us down again?

I believe it is because we do not comprehend that even when things go "wrong" He has our best interest at heart.  Our troubles are part of how we are refined and molded into His image.  Just look at Jesus' life on earth.  It certainly was not a bed of roses!

Jesus came to model for us how to live holy lives.  Just because we do not get instant gratification does not mean that He is not here with us or that He does not listen to us.

Want to live the BLESSED LIFE?  A HAPPY LIFE?  A JOY FILLED LIFE?  A LIFE BASED ON WHO HE IS AND WHO I AM IN HIM?  Jesus explained how to do that in His Sermon on the Mount.  He was already modeling it, at the time.   

Thank You, Jesus, for modeling how to live this BLESSED LIFE.  We each have a choice to make:  love myself enough to love God and do things His way.  He is here with us; He is here to help us!  We step out in faith to live like He told us to in His Sermon on the Mount:

"Then He opened His mouth and taught them, saying:

³ “Blessed are the poor in spirit,
For theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
⁴ Blessed are those who mourn,
For they shall be comforted.
⁵ Blessed are the meek,
For they shall inherit the earth.
⁶ Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
For they shall be filled.
⁷ Blessed are the merciful,
For they shall obtain mercy.
⁸ Blessed are the pure in heart,
For they shall see God.
⁹ Blessed are the peacemakers,
For they shall be called sons of God.
¹⁰ Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake,
For theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

¹¹ “Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake. ¹² Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you."

~Oh, the JOY!~

HERE WITH ME... MONDAY MEDITATION...

Loving Yourself the way Jesus loves you, means you must spend lots of time with Jesus!

Love J esus!

Love O thers!

Love Y ourself!

This month, we're talking more about loving Yourself.

I was challenged by Steves's sermon, yesterday, as he looked at the life of David and his relationship with God.  Steve made some implications for our own lives. 

There were times when David was:


5)  A Non-Believer – Read 2 Samuel 12:1-15

• Satan was after David’s relationship with the LORD! What if Nathan hadn’t come?

4)  A Pretender – Read 2 Samuel 11:14-25

• David had a hardened heart! How could adultery & murder be no problem to him?

3)  A Coaster – Read 2 Samuel 11:1-5

• It was the spring of the year and David should have been – WHERE? Why wasn’t he?

2)  A  Survivor – Read Psalm 42 and/or Psalm 31

• There were times in David’s life he was barely hanging on! Can you relate? Explain.

1)  A Pursuer – Read Psalm 119:62,72,82,92,97,102,112

 
 
Steve asked for each of us to circle the one that applies to each one of us.  Try this:  with the idea of  "more of self" being the highest -  #5 NON-BELIEVER and "more of Jesus" is the lowest -  #1 PURSUER. 
Go ahead... which one?
 

• #5 - NON-BELIEVER?

• #4 - PRETENDER?

• #3 - COASTER?

• #2 - SURVIVOR?

• #1 - PURSUER?

Steve encouraged us to love ourselves enough to love the LORD in such a way that we PURSUE HIM!!!!

We've definitely talked about the importance of this during the month of February, on this blog.  What did Steve suggest?  He shared what our teens had been challenged to do when they went to Winterfest last week, in Tennessee.  This is certainly worth meditating on:

Am I spiritually disciplined in pursuing God?  Is it time to work on spiritual disciplines in my life?  Richard Foster's book divides them up into 12 disciplines, in this way:

• THE INWARD DISCIPLINES
• Meditation
• Prayer
• Fasting
• Study
• THE OUTWARD DISCIPLINES
• Simplicity
• Solitude
• Submission
• Service
• THE CORPORATE DISCIPLINES
• Confession
• Worship
• Guidance
• Celebration

On this blog, we've looked at Christ's Be-Attitudes in Matthew 5.  He divides them this way:

• IN YOUR RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD 
• Blessed are the poor in spirit...
• Blessed are those who mourn...
• Blessed are the meek...
• IN YOUR RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD AND OTHERS
• Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness...
• Blessed are the merciful...
• Blessed are the pure in heart...
• IN YOUR RELATIONSHIP WITH THE WORLD
• Blessed are the peacemakers...
• Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness...
• Blessed are those who rejoice in persecution for righteousness...

Oh, the JOY of loving Yourself enough to PURSUE JESUS!  It takes time, but the transformation is worth it!

~Oh, the JOY!~

HERE WITH ME... SUNDAY IN THE SON...

"Here With Me"

as sung by MercyMe

I long for Your embrace,
every single day-
to meet You in this place
and see You face to face.

Will You show me?
Reveal Yourself to me!
Because of Your mercy,
I fall down on my knees.

And, I can feel Your presence here with me.
Suddenly, I'm lost within Your beauty,
caught up in the wonder of Your touch.
Here in this moment, I surrender to YOUR LOVE.

You're everywhere I go.
I am not alone.
You call me as Your own.
To know You and be known.

You are holy!
And, I fall down on my knees.

I can feel Your presence here with me.
Suddenly, I'm lost within Your beaut,
caught up in the wonder of Your touch.
Here in this moment, I surrender to YOUR LOVE.

I surrender to Your grace.
I surrender to the One who took my place.

I can feel Your presence here with me.
Suddenly, I'm lost within Your beauty,
caught up in the wonder of Your touch.
Here in this moment, I surrender:

I can feel Your presence here with me.
Suddenly, I'm lost within Your beauty,
caught up in the wonder of Your touch.
Here in this moment, I surrender to YOUR LOVE.

HE'S STILL WORKING ON ME... FAMILY FELLOWSHIP FRIDAY...

This week, I have witnessed a great outpouring of love in God's family.  It's the kind of love that says,

"I've walked this road of learning to love myself like Jesus loves me.  The burdens seem heavy until you understand that He will never leave you and that I will come walk beside you."



Love J esus!

Love O thers!

Love Y ourself!

~Oh, the J.O.Y.!~

HE'S STILL WORKING ON ME... TRANSFORMING THURSDAY....

Want to love yourself?  Overcome your fears!

FAITH VS. FEAR: 

WHICH WILL IT BE?

Trials are not enemies of faith

but opportunities

to prove GOD'S faithfulness...

FEAR NOT!  

Love yourself enough

to allow God to s..t..r..e..t..c..h you!

 ~Oh, the JOY!~

HE'S STILL WORKING ON ME... WOMEN IN THE WORD WEDNESDAY...

We're trying to "get it" LORD!  You want us to love ourselves so that we can love our neighbors as ourselves.  Why is it so hard?  Yet, these ARE Your Greatest Commandments!

MATTHEW 22:34-40:

The Greatest Commandment = J.O.Y.
34 Hearing that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, the Pharisees got together. 35 One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question: 36 “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”

37 Jesus replied:

“‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart
and with all your soul
and with all your mind.’
38 This is the first and greatest commandment.

39 And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’
40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”

~Oh, the JOY!~