Love and Invitation 2/24/10 Connie’s blog

This is the last in our “Love and…” series, and I am just struck this week by the concept of the invitation.

When you begin a relationship with someone, it usually begins with an invitation.  “Hey, you wanna go hang out?”, “Would you like to go out to dinner?”.   The invitation is just the beginning.  It takes thought on the part of the inviter, but it also takes a decision on the part of the invited.

The Our Time Conference is about to begin, and the women are ready to gather.  Friends inviting friends, sisters bringing sisters, and mothers bringing daughters.  Our Time Women have found we get the best response to these things when we personally invite someone. People decide to accept the invitation out of their relationship with us, (and because as girls,  no one ones to sit alone, right?).

I believe God is always inviting us.  The Bible says He calls us by name! He invites us to begin a relationship with Him.  He invites us to His peace.  He invites us to a place where He can give us wisdom to fix the messes we’ve gotten ourselves into.

Ephesians 1:4 in the Message version says, “Long before he laid down earth’s foundations, he had us in mind, had settled on us as the focus of his love, to be made whole and holy by his love. Long, long ago he decided to adopt us into his family through Jesus Christ. (What pleasure he took in planning this!) He wanted us to enter into the celebration of his lavish gift-giving by the hand of his beloved Son.”

Think about that!  God, the Creator of the Universe scans the horizon of humanity and singles us out, one at a time, in each generation and invites us to be His friend. I used to think, eh, He doesn’t see me, I’m just one speck in a sea of millions.  But He did!  He saw me.  He called my name!  I get to hang out with Him and be His chosen friend.  Not just one day, but everyday.

He is calling each of us to draw near.  He is calling you.  Even in the busyness of your day.  Even in a crowd, He is calling your name.  He has His eyes on you, is watching over you, loves you , and is waiting for you to respond to His invitation.  Turn your focus toward Him today.  Say “yes God,  I am right here.”

Love and Obedience 2/17/10 Connie’s blog

How old are you, really?  I’ve known young people with wisdom beyond their years, and some elderly people who behave like children.  With each year of life we should gain wisdom.  Age is no guarantee of maturity.  Age does imply wisdom that comes from experience, and that should eventually form maturity in us. The dictionary defines maturity as full development; a perfected condition. In the language of finance, it’s a state of being due.

I found this verse written in my notes from 1993, Deuteronomy 6:3 “Be careful to obey so that it may go well with you and that you may increase greatly in a land flowing with milk and honey, just as the lord, the God of your Fathers promised you.”

In these notes I wrote about how thankful I was for the place God had brought me to and yet I so badly wanted more. “With God, there is always more.”  I think even in 1993 I felt an urgency about all God was promising me as His daughter.  I didn’t want to miss out on what I was supposed to do.

It’s one thing to do what you know to do, but maturity brings more knowledge. Maturity speaks of deeper understanding, and that naturally brings change.

The Bible says that love and obedience are connected. John 14 is the piece of scripture where Jesus tells his disciples, “if you love me, you will obey me.” He teaches us that though our obedience is never perfect, it is an essential part of our faith that springs from our love for Him.

Through all of our efforts to grow up and mature in Christ, I’m reminded of Samuel as he was talking to King Saul.  He said, “Does the Lord delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, (the translation of that to me, is good works, acts of kindness, giving to the poor) as much as in obeying the voice of the Lord?”  He said, “To obey, (to seek to satisfy the needs of people’s souls, in salvation, healing, bringing change), is better.”

The message version puts it like this: “Do you think all God wants are sacrifices- empty rituals just for show? He wants you to listen to Him! Plain listening is the thing, not staging a lavish religious production.”

We are discovering, it’s not about perfecting the art of looking like a Christian, but about proclaiming God’s greatness in all your life.

Is it possible that as we mature, we can begin to come into a more complete understanding of what obedience and love mean? To hear His heart, and not just His words?  As we love him more, we hear him better, and we can obey him more fully?

I think that when God requires obedience of us, it tends to pull back the layers of our hearts and expose what is deep down inside. We feel that exposure of the soul. Maybe you’ve felt a little raw as God is growing you up.  Maturity causes us to believe that when we respond to Him with all our hearts, all our souls, and all our minds, He responds to us with His presence and the fullness of all He is.

Your Stories

God is moving here at Capital Christian Center! The bible tells us in Revelations 12:11 that we overcome by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of our testimony. We want to hear your testimony, your story! Your testimony will bring encouragement, strength, and increase peoples faith. Please take a moment and share with us the miraculous things God is doing in your life!

Love and Presents 2/10/10 Connie’s blog

Did you watch the Super Bowl last Sunday? My team won! Woohoo! Us girls at Capital Christian Center have become quite fond of the fluer de lis because we know it represents strength and courage; we all need more of that!

However, I found the advertising to be a bit disturbing. How the world views the polarization of the sexes right now made me sad. The next day the entire media establishment was appalled by the degradation of both sexes shown in the commercials. It should not be that way!

God made both sexes to compliment and serve one another, not to be in competition for value.

In the house of God, it is so different! I love that the Bible says, “He sets the lonely in families”; It says, “a man is valued by what others say of him”; it says, “we were taught by God to love one another”.

Did you know we have dozens and dozens of men who support and love the women of our church? They set aside their own schedules and agendas to give.  Their encouragement and support are truly gifts to us.  Their demonstration of love is a present to us.

We have men who are buying matching shirts so that they will look sharp at our conference. They give their time and talents to make our event unforgettable.

We have men designing and hanging decorations for us that will take our breath away.

There’s another whole team of talented guys who have been planning and rehearsing songs to perform for us at the after party. This is a gift of love to us!

I know that there are women who walk through life feeling as though they are alone. Uncared for. Average, non-special, women making their worlds run. Keeping the kids fed and in shoes and in school. Women fill a lot of roles and it’s easy for them to feel that nobody sees.

But…When they pull into the parking lot at God’s house however, they are suddenly surrounded by a whole host of men who support who they are. They help communicate God’s value upon them. Women fill a unique role, and they are not only valued by God, they are created to add value to all the others in their world.

When we put God’s word into practice, we become gifts to one another. We are blessed and privileged to do life together.

1 Corinthians 14:12 says, “try to excel in gifts that build up the church.”

What is love without presents? I encourage you to remember that love is made tangible when attached to a gift. So give your gift freely, love generously, and be thankful for the presents God hands you every day.

Love and Validation, 2/3/10, Connie’s blog

Do you ever think about what it means to be a friend of God?  I do.  I wonder all the time.In the book of James, it says that Abraham was credited as being God’s friend.

Within the context of human relationships, in order to become someone’s friend, we must spend time with them.  We must ask questions, and listen for the answers in return, to really understand the heart of a person.  Is that what it takes to be God’s friend too?

What does it mean to really understand that you are loved by God and to love Him in return?  Does it mean we are thankful when He meets our needs?  Does it mean we choose to be obedient to Him?  Does it mean we place Him first in all our decisions?  I think it does mean those things, but also much more.

If we look at this scripture in Psalm 37:5-6 it says,

Open up before God, keep nothing back;
he’ll do whatever needs to be done:
He’ll validate your life in the clear light of day
and stamp you with approval at high noon.

It says that we share our whole heart with Him, holding nothing back.  We aren’t afraid to give Him our dirt and our secrets and our desires.   (As if we could hide them from Him, anyway.) It means we trust Him to accomplish His will in our lives, even though we aren’t perfect, and we will never deserve His grace.  It says he’ll validate us.

“Validate”.  That word reminds me of going to the city, and parking in a big highrise structure, enjoying shopping from store to store, and then when I go to lunch, I suddenly remember to I ask the girl at the desk, “do you validate?”  She stamps my ticket and makes it ok for me to be there, and it doesn’t cost me a thing!

I know it may seem like a ridiculously simplistic analogy, but when He validates us, He makes it ok.  His grace and mercy in our lives don’t cost us anything, although it cost Him everything.

I don’t know about you, but I not only approve of my friends, I promote them.  I work hard to help them succeed.  It makes me happy when they do well.  I’m learning that it is the same way with Jesus.  I am striving to be His friend, and He cheers me on.  He wants to see me succeed, but so much more importantly, He wants to spend time with me.  He created me to be in relationship with Him. To know Him…    The way Ephesians 3 describes knowing Him:

¹⁹[That you may really come] to know [practically, ^[a]through experience for yourselves] the love of Christ, which far surpasses ^[b]mere knowledge [without experience]; that you may be filled [through all your being] ^[c]unto all the fullness of God [may have the richest measure of the divine Presence, and ^[d]become a body wholly filled and flooded with God Himself]!

I suppose the first step to actually knowing Him is wanting to know Him.  I do. I want to know Him. I want to love Him more.  This being February, the month where thoughts turn to love, I have decided to dedicate my thoughts and more time to understanding what it means to know and love my Heavenly Father.  After all, I am His and He is mine.