Its been a trying couple of weeks for me. Which is why I've been away from talking to you. I needed to get back into perspective again; you see I had lost my first love and even though I didnt realise it; I had let is go for too long. So retracing my steps and finding my starting block has proven to be difficult..
I have not got there yet and I'm still being led but God knows I feel a lot better than the loss I felt 2 weeks ago.
God said one thing to us that should be a banner to our souls; 'My yoke is easy and my burden is light'(Matt 11:30)
Life is difficult we know that, the rat race alone could kill you! There was one week just before my serious rebuke from the Lord came that I confessed that Satan had robbed all my time that week... I had no idea how desperately out of God's realm I was! How easy it is to think that alls well with the Lord and you. Its easy to go on thinking that He is always there and He will provide and protect and guide. But the fact remains that God needs you and me as much as we need Him and we hardly reciprocate our emotions to the depths and the heights that He does with us!
Luke 14:26 says that if we love our parents, brethren, children then we cannot be the disciples of Jesus. Thats a pretty astounding statement from the God of Love. But you see God is deeper than that; He requires undivided love and attention. He is after all the God of Love, shouldnt He deserve it? Does this mean then that we hate the people we are to love? No, not at all. Just look at the scriptures -Jesus said to His disciples (us) 'love one another as i have loved you' (John 13:34), (Romans 12:10) 'Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves.' and finally; 'let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God.' (1 John 4:7).
So what then does God want us to do? Lets go back to the Bible. In Genesis 22, Abraham was asked by God to sacrifice his son Isaac. Think about it - would you sacrfice your own flesh and blood for Jesus, for anyone? To actually kill your child? But that was the extent of faith and love that God commanded of Abraham; the father of the nations, which he, in faith, proceeded to do and at the last moment God stopped him. It may seem rather appalling for many but to me its a magnificent test of faith and love for God. Its a clear example that God requires ALL our love and to not put anything above Him or in line with Him.
Then you might ask; 'Is God too demanding? Does He have the right to tell us how to love our families? Isnt jealousy a bad thing?'. All these questions are valid, but; and forgive me from quoting the bible but its the only way to ensure clarity; God says in Deuteronomy 6:1-5 that we are to love the Lord our God as these are the commands, decrees and laws that He has directed that we learn. the passage concludes that we must love the Lord with 'all your heart, with all your soul and with all your strength'. Now go back to Matthew 11:30 which is stated above; 'My yoke is easy and my burden is light'. Hey this is meant to be easy for us people! If only we are obedient to God and put Him above all other things. Is this fair? Absolutely! Who actually did die for all of us? Jesus did. God's only begotten Son, sent down to earth to live as man and suffer death on the cross for us, so that we may live! God the Father had to make that decision that Jesus His Son face suffering, rebuke, persecution, judgement, and a horrific death just to save the lives of you and me. Jesus, the Son took up His cross for our sins even though He is sinless and innocent. Do we then still have the audacity to ignore the Lord and downplay His majesty and make Him 2nd best or nothing at all in our lives?
Our God is a jealous God which is why He commanded that we worship no other gods but He. Other gods can be just about anything or anyone that we set above God in our lives... This is where I had gone wrong. I had out myself above God.
But God is merciful and full of compassion. Several weeks ago the Lord spoke to me thru the word in 1 Samuel 12:14; 'If you fear the LORD and serve and obey him and do not rebel against his commands, and if both you and the king who reigns over you follow the LORD your God-good!' This was what I had to do to make all things right. I have started to meditate on the word and by the advice od my beloved pastor to all the Church was to right out our sins and come with them on Sunday so that we simply confess them repent for it and burn them! A renewal of sorts but this time straight from the heart!
