September 8, 2017

If They're Gonna Know Us By Our Love... We Have Work To Do - A Five Minute Friday post.

I finally made it to the party for a bit last night and it felt good, and right, and a little like home! (If you are a writer and are looking for Community, check out #fmfparty on Twitter on Thursday nights!)

Here we go: This is a Five Minute Friday post, which simply means I set a timer and free write for five minutes flat on the one word prompt of: WORK

{GO}

I see the word prompt and my first thought is, "Well - we have a lot of that to do!"



I think of this world and how broken and divided it can be... how broken and divided it is.  I think of the words of Jesus in the Gospel of John:
"This is how everyone will recognize that you are my disciples—when they see the love you have for each other.” John 13:35 The Message
I think of how I wish this was true... of how I wish that 'they' could look at the Church at large and see by the way we love each other and Him that we are, in fact, His! 

That we are representing Him well in the earth!

I know... I do.  Just hang with me here.

I know that there is all kinds of drama and all kinds of controversy and so many different camps and different theologies and beliefs, but here's the thing:  
We are called to love.  

Not love in blindness and turning a blind eye (although I DO recall a charge to turn the other cheek!?) Usually the ones who point out that there is 'too much love' are the same ones who have a passion to 'correct' strangers without having a relationship with them. That's not love.  


But it's not love to never speak the truth either --however I believe that right is something we earn as we build friendship and community and we find that we may know a thing or two --but there are plenty of planks in our own eyes and oh how we need each other to speak the truth in love with each other, to each other, while being FOR each other!

Yes. This. 

We are better together
                    ...stronger, even.

I don't really think that we will be lined up and judged by having our theological ducks in a row.  I don't think it's our doctrine that is going to give us those crowns in heaven.

Nope.

It's the love.

It's all about the Love.

Always has been. 
      Always will be.



It breaks my heart to see the Church not only judging the 'unchurched' or lost... but it twists the knife to see us dismantling each other, blow by blow.  

We eat our young.  

I've read it somewhere that we are ONE Body... ONE Church... ONE Bride with ONE Bridgroom... ONE family, with ONE Father.

I don't know how long it's been since you have camped out in Matthew Chapter Five, but I highly recommend it.  

Also: 1 Cor 13.
                  Just sayin'...

I think if we would become skilled at loving each other the way God loves us, the world would come running... because, who doesn't want a good, good, Father like ours?

The love we have been given and are called to give away --it's not OURS (which is super limited and conditional) --it's HIS!!!



It's HIS Love we are called to (as my niece says) 'fling with reckless abandon' wherever we go!
"But now faith, hope, love, abide these three; but the greatest of these is love." 1 Cor 13:13
That word 'greatest' actually could be translated to read: eldest.  Yes - eldest... because Love came first.

It's always been Love!

Always has been. 
      Always will be.

{STOP}

I know there is a time and a place to have hard conversations... to have heart to heart interactions. (Rarely if ever is that the internets, by the way.)  

I know many who have trouble with the message of Love because it feels like too much grace.  (Funny how we never find too much grace when we are talking about our own sin?) 

I do know and love and believe the Bible... I just think we would be much better off, and be fulfilling our call in a better way, if we would focus on what we agree on rather than what tears us apart. 

One feels like Jesus... the other, not so much!  

I don't have to --or want to-- agree with you on every single thing.  How boring would life be if we were all alike? God created us in His image and yet each of us is uniquely designed and created to be one of a kind! 

I think He longs for a Family Resemblance more than cookie cutter followers.  He's always been after the heart... And if our heart belongs to Him, we are called to love and let His Mercy and Kindness do the heavy lifting. 

If 'they' are going to know us by our love... yeah... we have some work to do! 

The real work is making sure that heart of ours is still in His hands

If it is, we can rest assured that He is cleaning it and making it pure... that He is molding it and shaping it and making it new!

Love Wins... Let's let Him love us! Let's let Him do the work... while we let Him work in us and through us and let's be honest... sometimes in spite of us.

Let's purpose to love in a way that shines brighter than any darkness around us... that heals any brokenness... that binds up the broken-hearted and sets the prisoners free... let's love ourselves and our neighbors and our God with reckless abandon and trust that the Holy Spirit will sort it all out. Because It's always been Love!

Always has been. 
      Always will be.


Linking up with Kate Motaung and the #fmfparty Community today.  Five Minute Fridays gives us the chance to dive right in and share what He puts on our hearts! Click HERE to read what others have to say about: "WORK"
The FMF lowdown: The gathering happens on Twitter on Thursday nights & then we write our hearts out & hit publish all over the interwebs on Thursday & Friday (& sometimes on Tuesdays!) It's where we encourage & uplift... where we share prayer requests & praise reports... where we talk food & friends & we find support & kindred hearts. It's where we are reminded that life is good & God is good & we're not alone... & then we all write for five minutes flat, a flash mob of wordsmiths letting our hearts & our fingers do the talking tapping & we hit publish before we can second guess it all away. We'd love to have you join us!

I'm also linking up with the lovely writer communities linked below:










Kelly Balarie for #RaRaLinkUp


Lori Schumaker for #MomentsofHope










Barbie Swihart for #Glimpsesofhisbeauty
















Jennifer Dukes Lee for #TellHisStory












A COUPLE OF YEARS AGO, THE LORD SPOKE TO ME AND THROUGH ME REGARDING SABBATH REST AND I TURNED MY 31 DAYS SERIES INTO AN EBOOK ON AMAZON.  IF YOU ARE FINDING YOURSELF IN NEED OF REST (WHICH --WHO ISN'T, REALLY?) CHECK OUT THIS SHORT, DAILY DEVOTIONAL  31 DAYS OF RESTING IN GOD ...IT'S EASIER/HARDER THAN YOU THINK!  

YOU CAN PURCHASE IT BY CLICKING HERE OR GRABBING IT FROM THE SIDE BAR TO THE RIGHT IF REST IS SOMETHING YOU KNOW YOU NEED, BUT JUST KEEP PUTTING OFF! 


24 comments :

  1. Hello, neighbor! I *love* where you went with this! <3

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yay! Look at us... communicating in all the ways today! I LOVE that you are my neighbor! xoxo

      Delete
  2. Work to show our love for Him, and each other. Yup, lots of that to do.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Amen! Glad that we are in it together, Carol. Working and Loving and releasing the Kingdom!

      Delete
  3. Yep love wins....especially God's love! We went in similar directions once again. Why does that not surprise me? We do indeed still have work to do.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Love is hard work. And our best work will be love. I think love is resurging in Christians because we have been without it in many areas, truly. It is not an overgeneralization. Love does win. Thank you for saying so.

    ReplyDelete
  5. It is all about the love, karrilee. And the hardest of conversations are the ones we have in the mirror...Bible in hand.

    Yeah. Tough.

    #1 at FMF this week.

    https://blessed-are-the-pure-of-heart.blogspot.com/2017/09/your-dying-spouse-360-faith-and-hope.html

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. So true, brother! So true! I love the visual and the importance of both the mirror AND the Bible in hand. If we just look in the mirror, we can fool ourselves or succumb to the enemies lies --but armed with Truth, we can let Love do the work --in us first, and then through us to others!

      Love you, Andrew!

      Delete
  6. Karrilee, I'm so glad I came here tonight! What a beautiful post and full of truth. Yes, we are called to love, not necessarily to agree on everything. That's the beauty - we are all unique and diverse and have so much to give - So let's love and do the work together! :) Blessings to you, dear sister! xo

    ReplyDelete
  7. So good. I quit going to church about 2 years ago and have not looked back.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, Melissa! It's so hard when we experience this LACK withIN the church. I know we had our own years where we were on the outside, without a place to call home. So I get that... I actually LOVED those years - for the most part! Of course, I'm praying that you have or find community in real life --whether that means in a church on a Sunday, or over coffee on a Thursday! We ARE the Church, but I know for us during those years 'outside' --we still had fellowship and we were growing and loving God... but oh how I missed the corporate worship and belonging to something bigger. (We always belong to Him... that is never in question! But you know what I mean!)

      Love you, friend! xoxo

      Delete
  8. Karrilee, this is so right-on and beautiful too. I have thought about how we treat others and how we do not, how we love without meaning it...and on and on. Your words speak to me this day. The work is to love from the heart of Jesus and then it is not work to me. Hallelujah! I, too, pray for the love of Christ to indwell each and all of us.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Amen! Yes - I love what you said... when we work to love from His heart, it actually doesn't feel like work at all!

      Delete
  9. This is so good! Especially: "The love we have been given and are called to give away --it's not OURS (which is super limited and conditional) --it's HIS!!!" He continues to show me how much HE has to offer if I will receive HIS love for those around me! Blessings to you!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Right? It's not always easy --but it is always best! #LoveWins

      Delete
  10. Karrilee, I love this! Sometimes we can forget just how important love is, but in reality the only reason we love is because He first loved us! We can speak the truth, but truth without love is just harmful. It's so important to grow a love for all those around us. Thank you so much for sharing, I'm visiting you today from #TellHisStory Linkup.
    PS.. if you are looking for another place to link to on Thursday's I would love if you would consider joining my new linkup #TuneInThursday - it opens Thursday 3am PST and runs through Sunday night.  you can find it at debbiekitterman.com/blog  (Please feel free to delete the link if you think it inappropriate).

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Debbie, thanks so much for stopping by and for seeing and knowing and living out the truth of the importance to Love! (And thanks for the invite and heads up on your link up! I'd love to join!)

      Delete
  11. Beautiful post, Karrilee! Unity in essentials takes us a long way in walking in love.

    ReplyDelete

Thanks so much for stopping by! I always love to hear your thoughts! Remember to: Speak Life - Be Love - Shine On!
~Karrilee~

Blog Archive