To love oneself isn’t a bad thing. It is loving yourself according to 1 Corinthians 13. This is not the kind of love the world has when they make loving the SELF central to all existence.
I’m not referring to that. The SELF is not the center. JESUS is the center, Jesus said, “Love your neighbor AS YOURSELF.” So if loving yourself doesn’t matter, then we won’t have much love for others. Right?
I mean, if you hate yourself or can’t forgive yourself or are angry at yourself or impatient with yourself, then you will also be these things to your neighbor and anyone else in your life, even your friends and family.
How can you love others without first loving you? We should love ourselves according to 1 Corinthians 13 – this is biblical. This kind of love is only possible through Christ by asking Him to help us understand this level of love, free of the human condition. This is attainable by the power of the Holy Spirit and keeping as close to God as we can,
Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails.
This level of love is attainable, but only with the help of the Holy Spirit. I pray we all gain a deeper understanding of this kind of love that never fails..
“Enoch walked with God, and then he was not, for God took him.”
I have been walking every day I can find the time and making the most of the pleasant weather. When I first started walking, I just threw on some flip-flops and headed out to one of the parks in town. My main thought was to get some sun and fill up my vitamin D tank. (Be healthy about it and don’t forget to grab some sunscreen to put on.)
But as the summer progressed, I found my walking had some beneficial side-effects. One particular benefit I wasn’t expecting was better posture. It just automatically comes with toning and exercising your core. Sitting behind a desk in an office all day is not good for the body. (or the soul for that matter.)
Getting Serious
I upgraded to some cushy walking shoes because my speed got faster and I went from leisurely flip-flopping for 30 minutes to walking at a faster pace for more than an hour. Any longer than an hour-and-a-half, and I’m feeling it in my back and hips. But hopefully I’ll build up endurance to keep it up for two hours. Then, if I can ever get my hands on a bicycle, I’ll switch over and cycle come Fall with its cooler weather. It’s been a fluid progression to start out walking like I was headed to the mailbox and my body increased in ability over the course of a month. Pretty cool how efficient and adaptable we humans are.
Just start, that’s all. Ten minutes, fifteen minutes. And before you know it, you’ll have your own little program going. The shoes I bought were cheap enough – nothing crazy – but importantly, they fit well and keep my knees from hurting. Good shoes will help you walk for longer periods of time without wearing you out.
Here’s a great article for beginners that goes into the specifics of walking on Very Well Fit And more info about shoes and such.
But the best benefit of walking, besides the sunshine, is it gives me time with God. I talk to Him, or pray to Him – really it is a conversation. If you’ve never had a conversation with God – like you would with a friend – I would encourage you to approach Him in this way.
God is Always Available
He’s not a God that is only accessible when we are in church, or quiet and in a reverent posture (whatever that means to you) but He is accessible at all times, in all situations. A personal relationship with God is like no other. He created you, He knows you like no one else ever will. He counts every hair on your head – that’s how much everything about you means to Him!
Enoch Walked With God
The Bible says Enoch walked faithfully with God for 300 years. Then I guess he got so close to Him that one day, God just took him. All other people were described as ‘died’ or ‘was laid to rest’, but not Enoch. He was just taken up to heaven it sounds like to me. Fascinating!
So, concerning these sunshine walks; maybe one brisk morning while I’m out talking with God among the cicadas songing in the trees, the sun shining, or the summer rain sprinkling and like that – “I was not, for God took me”….
Yeah, probably not but if nothing else, I’ll have walked and talked with a Friend who will never leave me, and that’s good enough for me.
Find your ideal park and get out there in the sunshine! Fill up your vitamin D tank, enjoy the extra benefits and let your body take care of the rest. You’ll feel much better, trust me : )
Let me be a seal upon your heart, Like the seal upon your hand. For love is fierce as death, Passion is mighty as Sheol; Its darts are darts of fire, A blazing flame. Vast floods cannot quench love, Nor rivers drown it.” ~Song of Songs 8.6-7
I wish I could speak more eloquently about this verse. Passion without God, to me, is a fire that will consume everything without mercy. It is ignorant of itself and has no proper direction. It’s a carnal love that excludes the spiritual aspect, and leaves only the fallen nature of human beings trying to connect to each other without the divine cords of God’s love leading them.
But when love and passion have God’s seal upon them, it’s like the fire which set the bush in the desert aflame, yet did not consume it. There is direction, hope, faithfulness and truth within the connection as well as an unquenchablefiery passion as fierce as death because the fingerprint of God is woven into it. Where there is wisdom and love, passion can exist without harm.
Passion can be disastrous when separated from God – after all, God is love which is gentle, patient and kind. Passion is hollow, draining and dissolves into lust without the protective seal of the Holy Spirit. But a union solidified with God’s love is satisfying and transcending when God is understood to be the giver of it. Love fulfills it’s purpose when God is invited into a union. Then the passion, the fire and all that comes with it can be experienced with trust, happiness and freedom because there is no fear of harm in it.
The above verse from Song of Songs is written by the Beloved, in-other-words, the woman. A beautiful expression laid down into scripture as a means to understand Jesus’ love for His Church. The Holy Spirit used a woman’s sentiment to express this love – I find that powerful and beautiful.
Featured Image taken at the Cincinnati Art Museum exhibit: “No Spectators: The Art of Burning Man” 2019
Don’t wander in the Desert, move through it to get to your Promise Land.
Want to wander around out there and die of exhaustion? Of course you don’t. The key to not fainting in the desert is to remain faithful to God in seasons of discomfort.
Sometimes life just isn’t fair. I mean, don’t we all think that sometimes? And isn’t ‘fair’ relative? Right, well before getting too upset that you could be doing so much more if only, I’d advise anyone feeling the pressures of life to not complain to God about it.
Israel did that and lived to regret it. After being delivered out of the hands of their Egyptian oppressors, they grew tired of following God in the desert and started complaining. They wanted meat to eat, not the same old manna day after day – you know, that got boring!
I can relate partially. It’s hard when you have to walk through the desert or wilderness in order to make it to your Promised Land. Whatever your goals or dreams may be, you’re going to hit rough patches, character building seasons (that go on and on forever!!) and believe me, I understand.
It’s like ‘let me shed another tear to put in the bottle He keeps with my name on it’ (you do know scripture tells us He collects all our tears in a bottle…I’ll write about that sometime). Be encouraged, this season in the wilderness won’t last forever. And it will make you stronger and build more character than one could imagine.
Another awesome truth to know is this:
The quicker you submit to God’s will and be faithful in the season He’s taking you through, the more expedient your journey will be to your Promised Land.
I can complain, not going to lie. But refocusing that energy into something more positive gets me moving forward and keeps me from reaping the consequences of whatever I’m tempted to complain about. It makes me stronger and builds my endurance in difficult times. Let me get back to the illustration..
So God was feeding Israel with manna from heaven which was sort of like bread they would pound into cakes and boil or cook over a fire and eat. Day after day after day, the same stuff – it’s just like life sometimes, whatever it is we’re doing that makes us weary — diaper after diaper, dirty socks-wash-pickup from floor-fold-wash again, baby puke, (lol, the struggle is real though I wouldn’t personally know. I deal in feline coughed-up fur balls which are pretty gross) pushing papers, fixing computers, answering phones day after day after…
Ooo, don’t complain. Because sure enough, God will hear it. And He heard Israel and called Moses into a meeting. He told Moses, I’ve heard the complaining of the people that they want meat, so they will get it. They will eat meat until it’s coming out of their eyes, ears noses…. (whew, don’t make God angry). So God brought the people quail, and they journeyed out and caught it, loads of it! But there was also another consequence…
Numbers 11, specifically 31-35 but the chapter gives you a good idea of the problem at hand.
But while the meat was still between their teeth and before it could be consumed, the anger of the LORD burned against the people, and he struck them with a severe plague.
While the meat was still between their teeth…for sure, if we skirt the edge of God’s plan for our lives, when we get what we think we want , then even before we can satiate our appetite with it, there will be consequences to bear. If we shortcut the path God has laid before us, we will not be ready for what we want. We won’t be ready for our dreams and our visions.
Let’s understand a couple of things here:
God still feels the same way about sin, He just deals with us differently now than in the Old Testament due to the work of our Savior Jesus Christ. His mercies endure forever~
God will always give us reprieve in the desert that does not bring sorrow with it.
The blessing of the LORD makes a person rich, and he adds no sorrow with it.
And here’s is how you get the blessings of God – remain faithful through the difficult times, knowing with surety that God will deliver you from distress.
One of the most powerful verses in scripture on deliverance is also one of my favorites and one that I have used to build my faith and receive the promises of God for my life. So I’m here to tell you, this works and is powerful if you only believe!
“He is wooing you from the jaws of distress to a spacious place free from restriction, to the comfort of your table laden with choice food. Job 36:16
So beautiful, so lovely and filled with power to deliver. God’s word never returns to Him void. Because it’s truth. But we must remain faithful. No shortcuts — or what was supposed to be our victory will end up a pile of ashes and we might even find we get burned in the process.
Stay true and fixed on God’s word. You’ll get there, one faithful decision at a time~ Until God delivers us and sets us free from our distress~
