Now here is what I am up to in this part of my challenge…
“The most important one,” answered Jesus, “is this: ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.” (Mark 12:29-31 NIV)
Now why did I just add that here? “Love your neighbor as yourself”
So how can I love my neighbor, IF I DON’T EVEN KNOW HOW TO LOVE OTHERS…
I have completed this challenge… Now here is what happened in the last few days…
Day 35 – Love is Accountable…
Plans fail for lack of counsel, but with many advisers they succeed.(Proverbs 15:22 NIV)
“Mighty sequoia trees tower hundreds of feet in the air and can withstand intense environmental pressures. Lightning can strike them, fierce winds can blow, and forest fires can rage around them. But the sequoia endures, standing firm, only growing stronger through the trials. One of the secrets to the strength of this giant tree is what goes on below the surface. Unlike many trees, they reach out and interlock their roots with the sequoias around them. Each becomes empowered and reinforced by the strength of the others.” – The Love Dare
Wait… When did trees become smart enough to join with brothers and sisters to withstand trails?
Trees? Stand together… Interesting…
Should we learn from nature? Or just let it go?
Wait God made everything, then made man… And everything else live together… Even plant fight together…
But the crowning jewel of creation, us, sucks at best to even acknowledge another…
Something is wrong… Hence today… I also really suck at this… Although I need, and want, to learn… And I am busy learning at this moment…
I struggle to trust people… And then I never open up… Lately I started to contact people I believe I can trust… (God showed them to me and I went)
They seem to listen and give advise and actually care…
Now we seem to think everyone is against us and that no one cares… I feel like this many days…
My WhatsApp status is even: “So I would literally do almost anything for a friend… yet I am just an option when they have nothing to do… makes me wonder…”
Now you may ask… Why would he be this open? The answer is simple… I had a fairly tough week… I to some extent wish I could have just gotten a hug, yet I am not in a position to even ask… You may think this is sappy… Here is the truth… I love hugs… To me it shows that someone actually cares, because you are pretty close and really open… I would like to give all my friends hugs yet… They are normally busy… Which I understand…
As for me… I would do whatever I can to make people feel better about life…
If we support one another, we are stronger….
Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken. (Ecclesiastes 4:12 NIV)
Day 36 – Love is God’s Word…
Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. (Psalm 119:105 NASB)
I will use some scripture here… And give a possible summary… Aill see what I am led to do…
Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful. (Joshua 1:8 NIV)
But we are under Grace?
For the commandment is a lamp, And the law a light; Reproofs of instruction are the way of life, (Proverbs 6:23 NKJV)
Wow… The law is a light…
You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. (Matthew 5:14 NIV)
Wow… This become all the more interesting, to me at least…
I am going to bring this together…
God said we are a light to the world… This is cool… Yet, if we do not know God, can we be light?
Now God also shows that the law is a light… But it is law…
Okay, it is the law… Yet God’s commandments, which is in the law, is the lamp…. Lamps make you see… Seeing allows you to see where obstacles are… And obstacles known is obstacles which can be avoided or even conquered, if needed….
But it is still law… Here is the funny thing, Jesus came to fulfill the law… NOT destroy it… We can not do it all… Yet we should strive for this and when this becomes our goal, while we live under Grace, we can become more like Christ… God teaches and trains us, yet it doesn’t mean you should just stop with everything…
Now how does one start this process?
BE IN IT
Joshua 1:8 says is perfectly….”meditate on it day and night”
STAY UNDER IT
Wait… Does this mean when God tells me I may not have sex before marriage, that I should wait… Unfortunately, or rather fortunately, it does… When you know the truth about something and still do it… What do you think will happen? God is not mocked… A man who knows something hot will burn, and still touches it, he will burn… Knowing something does not give you an excuse to do it… You do it knowing the result thereof… And the implication is that you are sinning…
LIVE IT
Okay simply put… Staying under it will guide you to live it… Here is what will happen if you live it…. Also from Joshua 1:8 – “…so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful.”
We think God jokes about knowing the truth… I hear people often say…
“Forget the law, we are under grace“
Whatever was written in earlier times was written for our instruction. (Romans 15:4 NASB)
What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? May it never be!(Romans 6:15 NASB)
Day 37 – Love agrees in prayer …
If two of you agree on earth about anything that they may ask, it shall be done for them by My Father. (Matthew 18:19 NASB)
I am going to start by explaining something about relationships…
We are all under the false pretense that our relationships consist of us and the other party…
Husband and Wife
Me and my friend
Me and a close friend
Wait… Are you saying this is wrong?
Yeah… We missing someone…Impossible you may think… Yet, this is far from impossible… In the system we currently are at, we believe this… But the most important member is missing in this equations…
Wait who could be more important than my wife?
GOD IS… In every relationship, God is the most important factor… Yet we do not even acknowledge that He is a part of the relationship…
There should be unity in decision making… BETWEEN ALL PARTIES… If you and your wife want to go on holiday… And God wants you on outreach… Is this unity?
God is included when we agree in prayer…
“When you were joined together as husband and wife, God gave you a wedding gift—a permanent prayer partner for life.” – The Love Dare
In the morning my prayer comes before You. (Psalm 88:13 NASB)
Day 38 – Love fulfills dreams…
Delight yourself in the Lord; and He will give you the desires of your heart. (Psalm 37:4 NASB)
I am one of those people who has a dream, and as soon as possible would like to put this into action… But I am going further than this… What is the need God set, what is His dream?
BUT HIS DREAM IS SUCH A TALL ORDER, HOW CAN I DO THIS?
God’s dream has ABSOLUTELY NO dependence on YOUR ability to make His dream come into reality… God’s dream for you is designed specifically for you, which means He will enable you to do this…
This means that you will only be able to do this by God’s will and grace…
Why do I say I would like to get started on my dreams as soon as possible?
My dream is inspired and giving by GOD…
I have a dream to start a company to train people for many different reasons… I love computers and media… Thus my company will use this to help people….
But I believe God has done something more in this which many might not understand… If you love your wife… You will help her fulfill her dreams…
Here is something I have realized, God actually challenged me to help my wife one day to fulfill her dreams… If she wants to start a Dance company, I will help her…
If she loves animals and wants to help animals, I will help her with this… Interesting fact, God even changed my love for animals in the past… I somehow believe my wife will love animals… Not that I know who she is…
Fact remains… Because God loves me, He will help me with my companies… What is 7 companies in the Kingdom of God now? And really what is R50 million (Approximately $5 million at this moment) in the Kingdom of God?
And what is love without sacrifice… Love without helping those you love… Love without knowing who we are…
If we are really honest to ourselves… We CANNOT REALLY LOVE WITHOUT GOD…
What was your greatest needs?
God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (Ephesians 2:4–5 NASB)
God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us (Romans 5:8 NASB)
“Love takes careful notice of each one.
• Love calls you to listen to what your mate is saying and hoping for.
•Love calls you to remember the things that are unique to your relationship, the pleasures and enjoyments that bring a smile to the other’s face.
•Love calls you to give when it would be a lot more convenient to wait.
•And love calls you to daydream about these opportunities so regularly that their desires become yours as well.” – The Love Dare
How can you love yourself in this way? Love is NOT getting… IT IS GIVING… THIS IS FINAL…
God is able to make all grace abound to you. (2 Corinthians 9:8 NASB)
God bless… There are still 2 posts to go then it will be done…