As you prepare for a journey whether by whimsical impulse packing or systematic processing in a checklist, your heart races for the adventure ahead. It could be a few days or months that you’re gone; either way it is exciting to go out in pure adventure. It’s even more exhilarating when you step out into the unknown when God has called you to where He has called you! Living by faith and not by sight, you step out into His Will for your life!
Knowing what you need is essential to carry out this mission. You need the necessary tools and items to accomplish God’s given task. As you tap into the Holy Spirit and let Him lead you into what what you need to pack, it comes to you through love in what what you wear and how to carry it. It’s beyond clothes in a backpack…It’s His heart for the lost.
What we need to clothe ourselves with is that same love that God lavishly pours out upon our lives! (1 John 3:1) The immeasurable depth of love that called us to His heart, for it wasn’t the nails that held Him on the cross…It was His love for you! (Romans 5:8)
“Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.” Col 3:12-14
“Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the flesh.” Ro 13:14
But how do we wear love? At times it can seem difficult but love is so much more than a feeling, it is also a choice. Jesus tells us to love our enemies (Matt 5:44). We cant do that if it’s just a feeling, it comes down to a choice. How we choose to carry these virtues, like how we choose a certain backpack for our clothes, we have to choose the right one. To carry the love that flourishes out in true beauty is accomplished by choosing the cross and carrying it.
“Then he said to them all: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will save it. What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit their very self? Whoever is ashamed of me and my words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of them when he comes in his glory and in the glory of the Father and of the holy angels.” Luke 9:23-26
Let us begin every day with purpose–that God gave us another day on this earth to bring glory and honor to His Name. Let us begin to see our everyday life as the mission to spread the glory of our Magnificent God. Wherever the Holy Spirit leads us, let us rely on Him to touch lives! I love you all!!
