Glimpse of Heaven

Deuteronomy 6:5 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.

I'm looking at each of these separately today. "With all your heart" In a world where I am continually pulled in all directions and I am busy with the hustle and bustle of daily life, I think I can get caught up very quickly and not use my whole heart for loving God. I maybe justify that by saying that those things I am loving have been given to me by God and so, therefore, I view it as an extension of loving God. I guess there would be some truth to that, but my barometer for whether or not I am loving the gift or loving God is how tightly I am holding onto that gift. If I have a death grip on the gift from God, my love is not an extension of my love for God. It is me giving a part of my heart to love, rather than being an outpouring of the love of God in me. "With all your soul" maybe seems a little easier to do because I see my soul as the eternal God-connecting piece. It's easy to love God with all of the part of me that He has complete control over anyway. "With all your strength" is a little more difficult to grasp. For me it is surrendering all I can do, the skills I have and the talents I've been given, in order that God may be the strength in my life, not just the source, but the actual strength that is in me. It is a journey to love God with all of our being. But ah, what beauty to behold in the moments when we love God with all of our heart, soul, and strength and we get a glimpse of heaven!

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Blessed Assurance

Romans 8:38-39 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth , nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. This verse just makes me want to shout, "AMEN!" But isn't it frustrating how Satan knows exactly where to hit us to make us doubt? And then he is so good at kicking us while we are down. I, unfortunately, had this experience very recently. I was feeling a little worried about a particular situation and then Satan pounced and made me feel like an enormous loser. He was feeding me lies that he knew I would believe, because they are the same lies I always fall for. Thankfully, I was able to spend some time with God in quiet solitude. I was reminded that no matter what Satan throws at me, I will never be separated from the love of God because I have Christ Jesus...

Mercy and Compassion

Jude 22-23 Be merciful to those who doubt; snatch others from the fire and save them; to others show mercy, mixed with fear--hating even the clothing stained by corrupted flesh. This is something I have struggles with, loving those who frustrate me. How can we be merciful to those who are "corrupt" without being judgmental? It is definitely not our place to judge one another, it is our place to love one another. Sometimes loving the people who are rude or cruel is the hardest part of being a Christian. My humanity would like to judge people for their behaviors and choices and lash out at them. I believe we are only able to show true mercy and compassion for others when we accept these for ourselves from Jesus and then He lives them through us. Allowing God to change our hearts in order that Jesus' mercy and compassion shine through is a journey. It's not always easy. On those difficult days, I remain quiet and ask God to love on me, so I...

His Strength

Psalm 100:5 For the Lord is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations. I was prompted to read this verse and it was perfect for today, of course. All of Psalm 100 is praise to God. For me today, I am praising God because He was faithful in something He had revealed to me a while ago. Let me explain. Have you ever asked God for His strength? Not just strength, but His strength. This is something that I was prompted to do about a year ago, not to just ask for strength in general, but to specifically request His strength to be given to me. I know it sounds a little like a bit of rhetoric, but keep reading. In requesting God's own strength, I have noticed something tremendous has happened each time. When God bestows His strength within me, it is so much more than just endurance. His strength comes with clarity of mind, lightening of the spirit, and a depth of inner joy that cannot help ...

Abbie Coffey

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