What's love got to do with it?

Satan is trying to diffuse the biggest weapon God has placed in our arsenal. Love. Follow the link and read the following passage 1 Corinthians 13 but come back!!!!  Below are the first 3 verses.  Most of us skip those.  I know I did until God opened my eyes recently. 

1If I speak in the tongues[a] of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. 2If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. 3If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames,[b] but have not love, I gain nothing.

Many of us, who have studied and read these verses, begin at verse 4 with “Love is patient” stop at “Love never fails” and that is so true but God is giving us something so important in the beginning and the end of this passage.

1If I speak in the tongues[a] of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal.

Speaking in the tongues of men and of angels. Men (the world) can speak pretty words. They can entice, encourage, compliment, and give assurance. The tongue of angels, in my opinion, are “pretty words” music, poetry, praise and exhortation. Don’t we hear those things over and over again throughout the day? In the media, the songs on the radio or on our Ipod, the books that we read or download to our Kindle, the movies that we watch or rent from Red box. Over and over again our brains are saturated with beautiful words that sound like love, but do they contain love? And bring it closer, how much of what we speak on a daily basis contains love? The way you speak to your spouse or your child? What you mumble under your breath in traffic or waiting in line at the grocery store? Are you a clanging cymbal or do your words flow like a soothing breeze over the hearts of those around you?

2If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.

Wisdom, prophecy, understanding what is to come, discernment, and faith. All things that we can correlate with God and so many “see” as Christianity, but we can easily be misled. There have been many prophets, preachers, teachers and proclaimers of Christ who were “wise”, who had “faith”, but the only love they felt was for themselves. I am not sitting in judgment of anyone, that is not my place, but we must ask the question of our spiritual leaders and of ourselves, is our wisdom and prophecy and faith focused on furthering our own agenda or is it supported by a love for Our Heavenly Father?

3If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames,[b] but have not love, I gain nothing.

Surrendering my body to the flames? Sacrificing for someone or for a belief. Well, that should be proof of what a “good Christian” I am. No, it's not.

You can give all you have, but why are you doing it? We have to check our hearts and be honest with ourselves because God already knows your heart.  Are you “giving all you have” so that others will be impressed? Are you sacrificing and surrendering so that you can look like a “super Christian?” to those around you? Are you doing all that you are doing because you believe that you can be "good enough" that you can "give enough" or that your works will "be enough".  It's not good enough, you will never "give enough" and you will never be able to "do enough". 

I truly believe that the only way we can love, truly love the way 1 Corinthians instructs us, is to have God living in us and therefore through us.  We cannot do it on our own.  We don't have the strength, the power, the capacity to love, truly love.  But God does.  Watch this. This is from scripture, not embellished, not interpreted, just truth from His word.  He's talking to us.  The love that we are all searching for, it's here my friend. 



That is love. We will talk about the rest of this passage tomorrow.

Green-eyed monster

I don't know where this picture originated, if it's yours, please let me know!

I am an almost 40-year-old woman. I own my own home, have a job, a car, and can buy everything I need and most of the things I want, but I fall prey to the “I gotta’s” Have you ever experienced those? I see someone with something and “I gotta have it…” or I think I do. It can be an advertisement on TV or a post on someone blogs, or mercy, someones shoes I see at church and that green-eyed monster rears it’s ugly head and I buy into the fact that if I just have that I will be happy. Lies. All lies from Satan. Satan in advertisement? Yep. I’m taking a hard line on this one. God will provide for all our needs, but how much do we truly need and how much do we just “think” we need and why am I writing so much in quotation marks?

I can remember being a child growing up and there was a certain brand of tennis shoes that everyone else had (yeah, right,) but hey, in my world everyone else had them and my parents refused to buy them for me. I was growing so fast and money at the time was not plentiful. I had a perfectly good pair of tennis shoes, I didn’t NEED another pair and I certainly didn’t need a pair that cost such a high amount just for the label but in my mind, it kept me from fitting in. But I was the one who kept myself out of the “in crowd”. I was intimidated and overwhelmed and I believed the lies that I wasn’t cute enough, thin enough, funny enough, and most of all, not rich enough to belong to that crowd. Talk about being a self-fulfilling prophecy. I became obese, I became depressed, I became poor, not only in finances but also in spirit.
In the past 20 years I have discovered something very interesting. One of the girls I admired, who I am now close with, had the same insecurities that I did. I wanted so much to be her friend but just didn’t know how to do it. She has shared with me some of her own foibles and fears that wonder of wonders; they were so much like mine. It was just all in how we responded to those. She has always had a confidence and a sense of style that I have looked up to and I admire the woman she has become and consider myself fortunate to count her as a friend and I cherish the times we get to spend in our back porch conversations.
The friends that I did make in school, they are still around, but very distant, and that makes me sad. But God has brought women into my life that I don’t share a past with but I do get to share a future with. Women who are smart, beautiful, funny, inspiring, amd every single woman, no matter who she is, comes with battle scars, comes with insecurities, comes with her own set of fears.

It makes me wonder sometimes if when Eve ate the forbidden fruit, and we became separated from our Heavenly Father, did we trade our compassion for conceit, did we trade our joy for jealousy, and did we trade our concern for contempt? Harsh words, but we did lose paradise. For me paradise would be where everyone would feel love; not only from God, but also from each other and where women wouldn’t have to work to overcome the walls we put up, but would instead build bridges to connect hearts to hearts.

“The rest of the story.”

Yesterday I talked about taking off our husband’s boots and giving him back the reins in the marriage. It is important for wives to submit to our husbands. That was a sore point with me until I read “the rest of the story.”

25Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her 26to make her holy, cleansing[a] her by the washing with water through the word, 27and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless. 28In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. 29After all, no one ever hated his own body, but he feeds and cares for it, just as Christ does the church— 30for we are members of his body. 31"For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh."[b] 32This is a profound mystery—but I am talking about Christ and the church. 33However, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband. (Ephesians 5:25-33)

First of all, friends we need to notice something right off the bat. God is giving men a lot more instruction then He gave women. Look back at Ephesians 5:22-24.  For WH's (wonderful husband) perspective on this, check out his new blog. But, back to the females perspective on submission and God's instruction for marriage.

22Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord. 23For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior. 24Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything.

Three verses, that’s it. Submit and why and then again, submit with an example. That’s it, straight to the point, there you go.

Look at what God is saying to the men and no, we aren't talking about the fact that men need more instruction then women.  (It's so hard to bite my tongue here, see I'm still struggling with some things.)

I am thankful God gives men examples and explains it thoroughly.  In order to do something well we learn by modeling behavior of someone who is already doing it right.  Women are going to submit to their husbands, their husbands are submitting to God, so God is leading by example, He is using this to teach men how to lead. 

Love, example of Christ loving the church, and how He loved the church, and then more instructions.  "Men are to love their wives as their own bodies." Our bodies are our temples, we are His masterpiece, and God instructs our husbands to treat us as if we were their own flesh.

God gives detailed instructions, to feed and care for, and to put aside other influences, and be united with his wife. A united front. Children are to submit to their parents, to fall under their authority, however, when a man is grown, and has a wife, how can he be the leader in his family if he is still falling under the authority of his parents? That does not mean we stop respecting and honoring our parents once we become adults and have families of our own, but how many mothers are still sitting in authority over their grown sons? How many fathers are still holding authority over their daddy’s girls? This undermines the foundation of their children’s marriage. No person can follow more then one leader. A woman must follow the leadership of her husband, for the glory of her marriage and her life, and a man must fall under only God’s authority and guidance.

Yes, submission is difficult, but God doesn’t argue the point or leave it open to discussion, ladies, you just do it, so that your husband can, in turn, love you as Christ loved the church, provide, protect, honor, feed and care for. I’m so thankful God opened my eyes to read “the rest of the story”. It’s a lot easier to trust and give my husband his boots back when I know that he wants to give me the love, honor, and protection that Jesus wants for his bride. When two people have God at the center of their marriage, it truly does make it so much easier. Believe me, I’ve tried to do it without Him and this way is much, much better.

Congratulations on the Celebration of the Creation of your Belly Button!

Today 13 years ago you, my sweet daughter entered the world.  Your birthday was wonderful and amazing but it was also difficult for me because for 9 months I had protected, and sheltered and provided for you.  You were a part of me.  I was only 3 weeks into my pregnancy when I found out that I would be a mommy.  From the moment there was laughter and joy and the 9 months that I carried you, even with morning sickness, and swollen ankles, it was one of the happiest times of my life

I saw you for the first time at 5 weeks gestation.  You looked like a smudge, we had no idea if you were male or female, but your father and I already loved you.  The first time I ever felt you move I was in the bathtub on the phone with one of my best friends, Judy.  She and I were talking and you moved.  It was amazing and Judy and I both cried.  You grew and did well, no complications, no problems.  You would get the hiccups and my entire stomach would jump.  Those 9 months were the most anticipated, anxious, exciting and wonder-filled times in my life and they were only a foreshadowing of the next 13 years to come.   

A few weeks later the doctors did another ultrasound and found out that you were a girl.  I had known your name since I was 12 years old and had seen the movie Somewhere in Time.  The female lead’s name was Elise McKenna and even though I said I would never have kids, if I did have a little girl her name would be McKenna.  From the moment the doctors said you were a girl, everyone then called you McKenna before you even breathed your first. 

On October 15^th, 1996 when I went into the hospital to have you was an exciting time, but it was hard.  Not just the labor and delivery, but giving you to the world, where I wouldn’t always be able to keep you safe, and protected.  Giving birth was the first step in letting you go.  Early in the morning of October 16th I watched as your father helped the doctor cut the cord  Your umbilical cord, what had connected you and I and had provided everything that you needed for the last 9 months and everything I took in, food, water, corn dogs (your father was wonderful about going to get me corn dogs).  I was very aware of what I put into my body for those 9 months, because I knew that cord connected me to you and that I was responsible for keeping you okay.  And as the cord was cut, the connection severed, it was the beginning of your becoming.  

They placed you in my arms, and I looked into your eyes and while all the love in the world welled up inside my heart, I did the only thing I could think of to do, and I stuck my tongue out at you.  And our relationship has been that way ever since.  I love to hear you laugh, I love to surprise you (which I know you hate but I can’t help it) and I have loved watching you grow and become.   I looked through photographs last night and in so many you are standing with your arms wide open, wanting to hug the whole world. 

 God gave me such gift when He blessed me with you and He knew you even before I did.  He loved you before I did and He loves you now even more then I will ever be able to. 

⁵ "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you,

before you were born I set you apart;

I appointed you as a prophet to the nations."  (Jeremiah 1:5)

Those who have heard my testimony know that it wasn’t until I had you that I could even grasp how it was possible for my heavenly Father to love me.  The cord between you and I might have been cut, but McKenna, you helped reconnect me to the supplier of all my needs and you continue, as you grow and become, to amaze me at the young woman I see before me. 

You don’t need me to feed you food anymore, you can feed yourself.  You don’t need me to hold your hand as you walk, you have that all figured out, and you have a passion for solving problems and helping others, and a heart that grows bigger the more people you meet. 

All of this in order to become the woman of God He created you to be.  So while you grow up and further away from needing me, please my blessing, grow in your love of God, deepen that connection with Him and allow His hand to hold you. Anytime you feel lost, or alone, or the world gets you down pray to Him but remember your belly button and know that before you breathed your first, you were loved, you were wanted, and you were celebrated, and not just by me, your daddy, and your family, but my darling, by the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords, your heavenly Father and keep those beautiful eyes on Him.

I pray that you and He will ALWAYS have that connection no matter where you go or what you do.  Don’t ever cut the cord that exists between you and God and never grow up away from Him but keep growing, keep embracing the world, keep that giving heart but no matter what, keep your hand in His, no matter what your age. 

I love you and thank God for the gift of you. 

Happy Birthday Boo.   

Love,   

Mom

Great Expectations

My WH and I had a great conversation a few nights ago.  We were talking about DD’s birthday, God, my upcoming surgery, God, our home, God, my speaking and ministry, God, do you see a theme here?

I posed the question to WH, “Do you think God is ever disappointed in us, like a father when his child doesn’t do as he wishes?”  And my WH, he truly is wonderful but I think the “W” could also stand for wise, stated,

“No, God doesn’t get disappointed because He already knows all that is going to happen, God has no expectations, therefore He cannot be disappointed.” 

To say that I was gobsmacked is an understatement.  (Don’t you love that word?).  How much of my life revolves around my expectations and meeting other’s expectations?

I have expectations of my husband, my daughter, my family, my God’s Girls (bible study group), my friends, my church leaders, my work, and even strangers that I meet.   When those expectations are not met, it sets up a series of events where disappointment, frustration, and anger can move in.   And how many times do these problems occur because the other parties were unaware of your expectations?  I cannot count the times I have gotten upset with WH because he didn’t do something that I expected but never thought to relay to him.  He loves me enough to be able to read my mind, right?  He should just know what I need…(yeah, doesn’t work friends, stop it and just ask for what you need/want, our husbands really appreciate that.)

But God…

God only requires one thing from each of us. 

ONE THING. 

For us to live our life every single day for His glory. 

Mark 12:28-30 (New International Version)

The Greatest Commandment

 ²⁸One of the teachers of the law came and heard them debating. Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer, he asked him, "Of all the commandments, which is the most important?" ²⁹"The most important one," answered Jesus, "is this: 'Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one.^[a] 30Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.'^[b]

That’s it?   Yep, that’s it…Wow, think about all that encompasses though. 

And what about our expectations of God? 

1. Do you expect God to give you everything you want? 
2. Do you expect Him to make your life easy? 
3. Do you expect Him to pour His blessings down on you just because you say you believe in Him? 

And what happens when we do get sick, or we lose our job, or someone dies, or someone hurts our feelings, is that’s God’s fault because He didn’t met our expectations?  

I’m learning that my heavenly Father only wants me to have one expectation and it is truly a great one.  

That He will always love me.  No matter what came before or what is in the future because that is what He promises to each and every one of us.  NO MATTER WHAT.

I am to live every day for His glory and to accept every day that God loves me. 

Two very brief statements that require an entire lifestyle change, a thought process shift, and 100% trust. 

How does a life look that is living for His glory?  Look at how Jesus lived for understanding and the perfect example.

How do you accept that God loves you?  By finally opening the door in your heart that he has been knocking on.  You know that nudge that you have been feeling is not imagined or make-believe.  It is real, it is Him, and it’s time to stop looking at everything else and having great expectations of man to fill up that empty spot in your heart because only God can fill it. 

You accept it by saying,

Dear Jesus,

I realized that I’ve sinned and I need you. Please forgive me. Thank you for
dying on the cross and for rising from the dead. Come into my heart and save
me. Thank you for giving me eternal and abundant life. Help me to live for
you the rest of my life.

In Jesus name,

Amen.

If you have just prayed this prayer for the first time, let me know.  You can send me an email at Leigh at leighfrance dot com.   Also, tell someone you know personally: a Christian friend, co-worker, or neighbor. This will be as exciting for them as it is for you.