Relationships are built on mutuality and thrive on reciprocity. I cannot build with someone who is constantly attacking me. Passive aggressive behavior is violent in nature. You may “only” be emotionally dismissive, neglectful, and stoic, but each instance is an attack on everything I see in and believe about you….I will not chase anyone who is not pursuing me. I am the good thing you are responsible for shepherding, but I am also responsible for where I choose to go. You lead, I follow. When you stop leading, I stop following. Remember that.
Tag Archives: Jesus Christ
…and the people said “HELL NO!”
The world teaches that love is a soft thing – warm, cuddly, tender, weak. Perhaps those who bask in the labor of someone else’s love experiences warmth and softness, but those who labor to love… well we weather tempestuous storms, debilitating uncertainty and endure heart-breaking on-the-job training. We don’t immediately see the benefits of the humiliation, shame, loneliness, sadness, abuse or temptations that hammer at us throughout the workday. But when we get to a certain point on our walk, we are able to look back and see where one humiliation prepared us for the next until humiliation was no longer a concern. We see how shame shrouded us in darkness until we decided to cast off the weight of shame and expose ourselves to more light. We can look back and see how loneliness felt excruciating for a time, but it was only in our aloneness that we were able to draw closer to God.
Seven-year itch: Where did my zeal go?
Where’s the community that actually reaches out within itself? To the Believers who are still hurt or newly hurt? To the Believers who need more than words, who need to be shown how loved they are? Need to know how much they matter in the chain of events that surround their life. Where’s that community that focuses on itself, embraces itself and then radiates itself to surrounding communities? {Follow the link to read the full post.}
Are you focused only on what you can get from people?
Others simply faded away by not answering calls or responding to messages or showing up when asked or needed. However, not one of them had the decency and honesty to simply say, “I no longer want or need anything from you so this is where we part ways.”
Christian lifestyle is not a destination…
“I know, I know – sometimes you don’t want to overcome the temptation. You just want to do what you want to do. Times are hard. You need to take your joy where you can. I know. I’ve probably had the same self-talks, but I will tell you, there comes a time after you have surrendered your heart and your will to God that the temptations that once tortured you will barely register a blink when you’re confronted with it/them. The God in you is stronger than you think you can ever be.” Follow the link to read the whole post.
Why so prejudiced against Christians?
I’m always shocked how quickly and completely people pre-judge me simply because I profess my belief and faith in God, Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit. After they know that about me, it’s like they deem me unworthy of getting to know. Suddenly, I have no opinions other than what’s popularly known, assumed or guessimated about the Bible. I have no sense of humor. I’m self-righteous and overly ripe.
Jesus’s purpose…
Then John 10:10 came to mind. I initially thought the message was about the enemy’s purpose. A reminder that I should expect to be attacked by those who aren’t aware of their own blessings. But it wasn’t a reminder about the enemy’s purpose; it was a reminder about Jesus’s purpose! Jesus Christ came to give me and you life. Not just any old kind of life. He came to give us LIFE IN ALL IT’S FULLNESS!
What really matters in the end…
I am not one to admit to having favorites within my family. There’s a great deal of jealously on both sides and I learned early on that what I did for one person, I had to do for others. Most especially for my two grandmothers, who had the wonderful foresight (or cunning) to be neighborsContinueContinue reading “What really matters in the end…”
An oxymoron in teaching about sin: “Love the sinner, hate the sin.”
A heart that loves God completely has no room for hate of any kind. Jesus instructs us to love everyone as we love ourselves. We are to love people (patiently treat them with gentleness, kindness, mercy and grace)– yes, even those consumed in their sin – and pray for them. That’s it.
“It was all worth it.”
A young woman I’ve been helping this year asked me the other day, “Ms. Jones, If your life were to end right now, in this moment, and you were taken up to Jesus immediately to see Him face-to-face, what would be the first question you ask Him?” She had asked the question so earnestly, IContinueContinue reading ““It was all worth it.””
Harvest Life 