First, let me say, this post is a little different than my normal posts where I share what is happening in the cities where we stay. Instead, I would like to share with you a topic that the Lord has pointed out for me to study. Second, this is a journey that began during the first week we were in India, which is about six weeks ago. It began during a conference where a guest speaker spoke to the team. This conference was called the Awakening Conference. I hope you enjoy!
Awakening was an amazing couple of days. Not only was it a time of refreshing in the presence of the Lord, it was also a time when the Lord confirmed what He had been teaching me. During the first week, I began a study of the word ‘foundation’ and how it is used in the bible. Here is the definition, I started with:
1. The solid base on which a secure structure may be built on.
2. An underlying basis or principle.
So my first question was how is my foundation built? Is it fully built solely upon the Lord? Or is there some of me in it? Psalms 127:1 “Unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it labor in vain.”So I can be busy having done or am doing all these great things, however, unless it was of the Lord it means nothing.
My next question was what should be at the core of my foundation? Quick obvious answer is God. Because God is the foundation but whats at the core of it? However, a couple days later as I was reading 1st Corinthians 13, (the Love chapter), the Lord began to point out that love should be at the core of my foundation – to love God, to love others, and to love myself. 1st Corinthians 13:13 “so now faith, hope and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.” His steadfast love has always been something I have stood on. However, now, as I read the bible the more I see why I need to build upon His love! Here are a few more scriptures I have been studying:
Love God
John 3:16 “for God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.”
Ephesians 3:17 – 19 “so that Christ may dwell in our hearts through faith – that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.”
1stThessalonians 3:5 “May the Lord direct your heart to the love of God and to the steadfastness of Christ.”
Romans 8:38 – 39 “No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us form the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Galatians 2:20 “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”
Ephesians 2:4 – 5 “But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ – by grace you have been saved.”
Love Others
1stCorinthians 13: 4 – 8 “Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude; it does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful, it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends.”
1stJohn 4:7 “Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God.”
1stJohn 4:21 “And this commandment we have from Him, that the one who loves God should love his brother also.”
John 13:34 “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another.”
Love Ourselves
Leviticus 19:34 “Treat them like native-born Israelites, and love then as you love yourself. Remember that you were once foreigners living in the land of Egypt. I am the LORD your God.”
Matthew 22:37 – 39 “And He said to him, You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and foremost commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
What if love was at our core? What if we acted in love to the people around us? What if love was our first choice? While I feel I have always been good at loving people, what if it changed from the love I have to the love of God moving through me? I began to think what if God’s love flowed so much through me that when I loved people they would feel God’s love?
God has shown me how important it is to have love at my foundation and to continually build upon it. The way I plan on building my love foundation is by reminding myself of Gods love and living out of the time I spend with the Father. I will be able to love others from the foundation of His love in me.
Needless to say the Awakening Conference touched me, spoke to me and caused me to grow in my walk with God. I will be using what I learned to show His love to those who are hungry in the days, weeks and months ahead.
