In order to thrive in life, there are two things that are non-negotiable. If we can learn to strive for and rely on the Lord’s grace for these two things, our lives will be abundantly blessed and thriving!
Are you willing to do what it takes to get to your thriving life with Christ? I am!
The Old Testament is filled with hundreds of laws that God’s chosen people (the Jews) were supposed to obey. God intended for these laws to bring his people closer in relationship with Him. Yet, they failed.
In their inability to obey these laws, God sent His son Jesus, to bring grace and mercy to all people (you and me!) so that we could have an intimate personal relationship with Him. So instead of having to walk the tight rope of hundreds of laws, Jesus sums it up for the “religious” folks (the Pharisees and others) and says in Matthew 22:37-39:
“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.” This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”
In Luke 10:28 Jesus follows His words with:
“Do this and you will live.”
Which One Do You Need Work On?
The fact is that I have got the first commandment down. I love God with all my heart, my soul, and my mind. I am absolutely consumed by Him.
That’s an awesome feat to accomplish. Except for the fact that it’s so easy for me to love Him. He’s perfect. I can trust Him with anything. I know that He has my best in mind. I can trust Him with my finances. He won’t hurt me. I believe Him. He’s perfect.
Now comes the difficult part. I am supposed to love my neighbor as myself. Wow! That’s not easy. Why?
My natural personality is to be alone. I might be a strange duck but I like to be alone. (Probably because I am fairly safe – emotionally – when I’m alone.)
Before I met Robert, I had no problem sitting at a coffee shop alone. Watching musical productions by myself. Going to be the movies alone. Shopping alone. I am one independent bird. Therefore, this call to obedience is not natural for me and my personality. But praise Jesus because He allows us to live supernatural lives!
There’s More For You
Even though I have grown leaps and bounds in loving people and having been blessed with an overwhelming amount of friendships, there’s more. The Lord is revealing to me that there are more people to love.
This excites me because over the last couple of years, I have never laughed so much and enjoyed such rich and deep conversations with friends. I have met many other new friends that have blessed and enriched my life! The Lord sure knows what He’s talking about!
Throughout my 21 day spiritual fast the Lord is drawing me into places with other people where I have the opportunity to love.
I listened to Banning Liebscher (the leader of Jesus Culture) share his heart about community in a recent sermon. I related with his journey. He teaches an awesome message about the importance of community and people. If you have a moment, listen to his message and be delighted in where the Lord is leading you.
So in order for us to live abundantly blessed lives, let us focus and strengthen our ability to do two things: love God and love people!
What do you need to work on today? Loving God? Loving people? Or a little of both? 🙂
Jamye Sack 
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