REJOICE!

Philippians 4:4-5 

"Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near."

Philippians 4 has been my life chapter for literally the last year and a half. For my discipleship group we are going over this chapter this week. I have been reading it every day and really trying to take in a little bit each day. Yesterday, the section above really got me to thinking....

Do I rejoice, I mean truly rejoice about my life??? So often I get caught up in life's struggles and circumstances I forget to rejoice. Does this verse say... "Rejoice if you feel like it" no, it simply says "REJOICE IN THE LORD ALWAYS."

I have also been reading the book So Long Insecurity by Beth Moore and in one of the chapters, I really liked this passage:

"God has entrusted each of us - male and female- with a brief measure of time on this planet, and each season is meant to be lived abundantly, effectively, powerfully, and pricelessly. It's our right as His prized creation..."

 I want to choose today to stand firm and consciously choose to live an abundant, effective, powerful, priceless, joy-filled, Christ-filled life. It may not always be easy, but Jesus is more than enough to rejoice over!

Isaiah 61:10 

"I delight greatly in the Lord;

     my soul rejoices in my God.

For he has clothed me with garments

            of salvation

     and arrayed me in a robe of righteousness."

REJOICE!

Blessings,

Kate

TRUTH AND LOVE

 Recently I have been thinking about and challenged to start a blog (thanks Vanessa). The main purpose of this blog is going to be to share the amazing ways God is working in my life and challenging me to be a living example of HIS love, trust, and faith. None of this would even begin to be possible without God's amazing work in my life. I am a continued work in process and will continue to be. I would hope and pray that any words of wisdom I share would be an encouragement to anyone reading this and would literally be God inspired.

Now on to what I have felt God laid on my heart several weeks ago and what I am just now getting around to sharing... TRUTH AND LOVE! In my discipleship group we have slowly read through 1, 2, and 3 John. I had never taken the time to slowly read through and process these amazing books of the Bible. Several things in particular that stood out to me were the many times that truth and love were mentioned together. 

2 John Verses 2-3 "Because of the truth, which lives in us and will be with us forever: 

     Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and for Jesus Christ, the Father's Son, will be with you in truth and love."

After reading this verse and many other verses with the same theme, I decided to dig a little deeper into the meaning of these words....

LOVE: 

• Presented in Scripture as the very nature of God
• The Bible makes the unique revelation that God in his very nature and essence is love
• All human love, whether Godward on manward has its source in God. Love in its true reality and power is seen only in the light of Calvary.

TRUTH:

• An integration of character, and an adherence of virtue
• The concept of truth is assumed to be derived from the character of God, and is the exact opposite of the concept of lying.

So what does this mean when we put these two words together??? 

1 John 4:16 

"And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him."

Not only is God love but He is also truth. The very definition of both the words truth and love, are the essence and character of God. I don't know why, but by digging deeper into this was such an amazing revelation for me. After coming to a better understanding of this, I feel like the Lord is challenging me to be better about living my life with Jesus's truth and love in my life. 

1 John 4:7 "Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God."

Philippians 4:9 "Whatever you have learned or received or hear from me, or seen in me - put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you."

Without God's love and truth and peace illustrated in my life, there is not way I could ever show love, truth, and peace to others. That is why I want to put into practice all of the truths and beautiful insights I have learned and received from Jesus. This is my challenge right now and I hope inspiration for you as well.

Blessings,

Kate