Weekend Words

Being and Doing - two of my devotional reading this morning.  The 'being' (spending time alone with God),  helps us in the 'doing' (loving God and others).

From  A Year's Journey with God - Jennifer Rees Larcombe

Just you, me and us two.

Jesus said, "Let's go off by ourselves to a quiet place and rest awhile." - Mark 6:31, NLT

In my family, extroverts where praised for being 'good, outgoing Christians' whereas introverts were dismissed as 'moody and unsociable'.   So for years I tried to be the life and soul of every party, until I realised that constantly being with people drained me.  I needed plenty of time alone in which to recharge my batteries.  It was such a relief to realise God make me the way I am because He likes me that way!  I guess Elijah was introverted while his colleague Elisha was quite the opposite.  Elijah would not have been daunted when God told him to escape from the fury of Ahab and Jezebel and hide alone for months in the mountains (1 Kings 17:2-7).  The things God taught him during that period of 'aloneness' would prove invaluable in his later ministry.

One of my father's little sayings was 'Just you, me and us two'.  He was a very busy man but he always gave me and my brother time with him on our own...  These treats sealed our relationship with him, which might otherwise have been rather distant; they were special simply because they were 'Just you, me and us two'.

Whether God creates us extroverts or introverts, I believe we all need to carve out time to be alone with Him and give Him our undivided attention...

If you are never alone with God it is not because you are too busy, it is because you don't care for Him, don't love Him and you had better face the facts. - A. Ghazzali

From Beside the Still Waters...

How Is Our Love for God? - Read: 1 John 4:7-21, 5:1-4

By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep his commandments.       - 1 John 5:2

Many people may claim they love God, but do they give evidence of it by the way they live?  Looking inwardly, does our own manner of life show love for God as we examine ourselves by His Word?  One proof of our love and devotion to God is our obedience to His Word and surrender to His known will.  Jesus said, "If ye love me, keep my commandments" (John 14:15).  He also stated, "He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me" (John 14:21).  It is those who "do his commandments" that will enter Heaven (Revelation 22:14).

Loving the Lord with all our heart, soul, strength and mind is directly tied to loving our neighbour as ourselves (Luke 10:27).  In fact, 1 John 4:20 says, "If a man says, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen?"  We demonstrate our love to others not only by our words but also "in deed and in truth" (1 John 3:18).  If we use the opportunities at hand to meet other's needs with kindness, compassion and mercy, we are serving Christ and reflecting his love from our hearts.

How important is loving God?  In Exodus 20:6, God said that he shows mercy "unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments."  Consider also the promise of Romans 8:28: " All things work together for good to them that love God."  And the wonderful things God has prepared and has revealed by His Spirit are for "them that love him" (1 Corinthians 2:9-10).  Let us love one another fervently, obey the Bible diligently, and love the Lord our God supremely.

Mark Kropf - Halsey, OR

May our lives verily express the love we verbally profess.