Get Out! Reached by Reaching

This morning was a morning I was in need of affirmation.  After contemplating the beauties of Jesus in my devotions, I was praying He would give me something very special today, something that would really make me happy...and He did.

The first Bible study I had scheduled was with a lady and a  church member.  I started by going to the church member's house and going over the lesson with her, to decide which questions she would lead out in, and which ones I would lead out in.  We prayed, and then went to the lady's house.  The study was about salvation, and the lesson went really well.  As we were talking about Jesus, my friend from church said "you know one thing that I heard in a sermon that always stuck with me was that Jesus is giddy about us.  He really loves us!  He is a personal God."  As she spoke tears welled up in her eyes.  As we continued the study we came to 2 Corinthians 5:17 "If any man be in Christ he is a  new creature..."  At this point in the lesson I like to discuss things in our lives that God has made new for us, or areas in our lives where we need to be made new.   In this study though, I didn't have to ask the question!  The two dear ladies just started sharing what God has done and is doing in their lives!  It was so beautiful to see my new friend from church, who originally told me she was nervous about giving a Bible study, now connecting with and sharing Jesus with someone else!  I didn't have to talk very much!

One of my evening Bible studies cancelled, so I had time to go door-to-door doing surveys.  Before I got out of my car I prayed, "Father, I know it's your will that people study the Bible, I need more people to study with, so I ask in faith, believing that you will lead me to people on this street who will want to study the Bible.  Amen."

I met a lady who tells me she was going to attend a Prophecy seminar that the church had, but she didn't make it.  She said, "I enjoy that type of stuff, because I see that the end of the world is soon."  We had a wonderful conversation on how she sees that the end of the world is coming soon.  She was one of the people on the street who said I could come back and study the Bible with her.

At another door, I meet a dear lady who hasn't really turned to the Bible much.  When I ask what her prayer request are, she asks me to pray for her elderly mother and she opens up to me about the depression her mother has faced after watching two of her children pass away.  As we bow our heads for prayer, her husband comes to the door and says "Your mother is on the phone, she needs you."  "I'll be there in just a moment, we are praying", she replies.  I wrap my arms around  her and lift up her and her mother in prayer.  When we open our eyes, I see tears coming down her cheeks.  "It looks like you came at just the right time", she says.  I left that door overjoyed!

A few doors down I meet a lady who talks with me about how she can see that the end of the world is near.  After we pray together, she tells me "You are so precious!  Each of us is precious to Jesus!"

I share these stories, not because I am such a beautiful person, but because my Jesus is!!!!  This morning I was singing the song, "Jesus You're Beautiful to Me", because I wasn't feeling beautiful!  I was struggling with some doubts, fears, and problems I saw in  my own life, so I was seeking Jesus to fill my heart!  It finally hit me right before I left for Bible studies that at the root of what I was going through was simply Satan trying to get my eyes on myself, so he could get me down and hinder the work I am doing reaching out to others!  But the power of Jesus is greater than anything we face that holds us back!

For years I wanted to do more for Jesus, but often fear always held me back.  This summer I've got out of myself more than ever before.  At times it's felt weird praying with a stranger.  There are times I'm like, "Lord, I don't know what to pray for these people!"  Then there's the outside of the box ideas that I couldn't help but do, like giving a music CD to a cashier at a grocery store who I've seen a few times.  Last Friday, I was reminded that even little things can make a difference.  I did a little shopping, after the lady checked me out, I said "Thank you" and then added, "and God bless you!"  She thanked me and said "I needed that!"

As I see the needs of those around me, my world view has been expanded.  It has made me more grounded in the fact that my only hope is Heaven, because I see that the world has nothing to offer.  It can be easy to get stuck in a fake reality...in our bubble of Christianity, our church, our school, our career, our family...stuck in self, the business of life, so caught up that we don't get out.  And yet, when you get out and see the needs around you, it does something for you-it is where LIFE and JOY really exist!  It is what Jesus did when He was on this earth - he was out mingling with and reaching the people!  

It's always been God's plan for us to reach out to others.  It is an integral part of how we are saved!  Paul, when writing to Timothy, said it like this: "Take heed unto thyself, and unto the doctrine; continue in them: for in doing this thou shalt both save thyself, and them that hear thee." (1 Timothy 4:16).  So get out!  Get out of yourself, get out of your bubble, and reach out and share Jesus with someone today!

A Beauty of Jesus

"Dear God, I'm frustrated!"  I prayed.  "I want to serve you better!  I love you and I want to do more for you, but I don't know what to do!  I see your leading in my life, but I don't know where it is pointing.  Please reveal to me Your plan for me and I will follow it!  I am ready to know what you want me to do!"

After praying that prayer, I read the following:

"There are thousands today who need to learn the same truth that was taught to Nicodemus by the uplifted serpent.  They depend on their obedience to the law of God to commend them to His favor.  When they are bidden to look to Jesus, and believe that He saves them solely through His grace, they exclaim, "How can these things be?"  

-Desire of Ages pg. 175

Those words spoke to my inner heart.  Yes, love will compel us to work for God, and yes, faith without works is dead, but I needed to be reminded of the fact that God's grace alone saves me!  If God clearly wrote down on a piece of paper exactly what he wanted me to do with my life, it would make it easier for me!  My attitude has often been in my Christian experience "Lord, tell me what to do, and I will do it!"  But God wants something deeper - He wants me to be still and know that He is God!  He wants me to trust Him!  The hardest lesson for me to learn is this lesson!  My desire expressed in this prayer was what God wants me to do.  Yes, I want to know God better, but at that moment my focus was more on what He wants me to do, rather than on knowing Him as my Savior, the Lord of my life, and my Best Friend!

I continued reading:

"Our Redeemer thirsts for recognition.  He hungers for the sympathy and love of those whom He has purchased with His own blood.  He longs with inexpressible desire that they should come to Him and have life.  As a mother watches for a smile of recognition from her little child, which tells of the dawning of intelligence, so does Christ watch for the expression of grateful love, which shows that spiritual life is begun in the soul."  

-Desire of Ages pg. 191 

As I read those words it dawned on  me that Jesus just wants me to be with Him!  What a beautiful picture of Jesus!!!  He is a personal God!  Sometimes in my friendships I will worry about what I am doing, and if I am really being the friend I should be.  I tend to carry this same attitude over to my relationship with God as well, and yet, Jesus just wants me to rest in Him!   He is actually longing for me to enjoy His presence!  He wants me to admire Him and appreciate Him as I would do to a friend!  Just as a friend enjoys being with you, God wants that friendship with us!  He actually loves for me to just be there with Him and abide in Him!  I can actually make Jesus happy and do His will just by praising Him, loving Him, appreciating Him, and giving Him my heart!  I realized that God wants me to trust Him, and abide with Him moment by moment and just enjoy the present rather than worrying about the future.  The most important work I can ever "do for God" is to trust Him fully!

No, it's not a completely new thought, it's not profound, or maybe it is, but it's actually very simple:  Jesus wants my heart!  Jesus wants your heart!  He wants to be our very Best Friend!  He longs for us to love Him with our whole heart!  Will you choose Him today?

A Journey of Love

"How would you define love", a friend asked me.  Me define love?  My definition?  I have to admit, it wasn't something I had thought much about.  Oh yes, I think about love...I love my friends, I love my family, I love my "job" this summer, I love mountains, I love Jesus, I know Jesus loves me very much...and yet, what really is love?  I felt very inadequate to properly define it and to do it justice.  I mean, love is the most powerful force ever...it is something deep...it is something that really many people lack...and many other people misinterpret.

Love is something that I have always wanted  more of.  I've wanted to be loved more, and I've prayed that I would be able to love others more.  A couple of weeks ago I read a Bible verse that really spoke to my heart, speaking of Jesus it said "having loved His own which were in the world, he loved them to the end."  (John 13:1).  "Wow!"  I thought, when I read it, "That means he even loved Judas who was as about to betray Him, and Peter who was about to deny Him. I want that kind of love for people, but that's a high standard of love!"

As I thought about the question of how to define love, I thought of 1 Corinthians 13, which tells us that love is kind, etc., etc.  I thought of 1 John 4:7 "God is love", and I thought of 1 John 3:16 which says "Hereby perceive we the love of God, because He laid down His life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren."  "I guess the simplest definition I can think of for love is Love gives", I replied to my friend.  "You can give without loving, but you can't love without giving."

Nothing says "I love you" more than the way you treat people!  You  may have heard of the five love languages, if not they are: physical touch, quality time, words of affirmation, acts of service, and gifts.  What do these all have in common?  They are all giving something!  Whether you give someone a hug, sacrifice of your time to spend it with someone, write them a note, give them a compliment, or give them a gift, either way you are giving, because you care about the other person.

This past week I experienced love in a deeper way than I ever have before.  It was Wednesday and the Bible study I was about to give was on the sacrifice of Christ (how he suffered on the cross).  Before my friend from church and I got out to give the Bible study I prayed, "Lord, melt our hearts, and help us to see your love in a fresh way.  Please help the lady we are about to study with to really see and understand how much  you love us, Amen".  After reading the story of Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane I started explaining how Jesus was being weighed down with guilt, the sins of the whole world.  I explained how difficult it was for him to decide to go through with the cross, because it meant separation from His Father.  As I explained the story in my mind I imagined Jesus falling helplessly in prayer to the Father in the garden that dark, lonely evening.  As I explained Jesus' love I spoke with more conviction than I have ever spoken.  Then I said Jesus looked in the future and could see that if He didn't follow through with the cross we wouldn't be saved.  He made the choice to save us because he loved us, no matter what it cost Him.  And then I broke....I've never cried in a Bible study before, but I couldn't keep back the tears!  In that moment of silence with tears in our eyes, I realized my prayer had been answered, each one of us saw how much God loved us!  Yesterday I gave the same Bible study to another lady.  Her comment after was "If that's not love, I don't know what is!"

This summer has been something a little different than I expected, it has been and will continue to be a journey of love.  A journey to find more depth of God's love than I have before...a journey to learn to be completely fulfilled by God's love and not other people's...A journey where I learn to give and give, more than I thought possible, and not feel empty at the end...not come back at the end of the day and miss those I'm miles away from, because I'm full....because when you give of God's love you truly are filled more and more!  Yes, there's times I'm tired, and times I miss friends and family, but that doesn't happen very often, because I have so many people here who I've grown to love!  And by God's grace I am getting closer to the point where I don't care how I feel or what mistakes I made, I just care how other people see Jesus through me!

And, it's a growing experience.  Sometimes growth hurts!  Because the first step of growth is to admit that I have a problem, I must admit that I haven't loved like Jesus loves!  It hurts to admit I've been selfish in my relationships!  It's humbling to see that there are some people who are so much easier for me to love than others.  It hurts to admit I don't always turn completely to Jesus every moment of the day for help, and that sometimes I turn to people who don't have all the answers.  It hurts to admit the fact that I make mistakes - I don't have all the right Bible answers to people's questions, and I don't know what I'm doing a lot at times.  It also really hurts to see other hurting people and realize I can't solve everyone else's problems!  I can't fill their needs, all I can do is direct them to the source of love, joy and fulfillment - the One who offers them the water of life freely!

Growth in God's love is a journey.  A journey of love that will continue through eternity, where we can each say that we have met the One "Who loved me, and gave Himself for me!" (Galatians 2:20)