Hello, Daughter of God! Do you know that you are delighting the Lord today, in this very moment? Well, you are! Isn't that just so amazing? You are delighting God because He created you for His delight. He gave you life so that you would be a beacon of light for Him upon this earth! God, in all of His kindness, has chosen YOU to give this day to. Many have lived before you and passed on, many will come behind you, but TODAY is YOURS!!!
That's how we need to live, knowing that we only have life because it's God's kindness to give it to us. When God created man, He called them good. In Genesis 8:1 it says that the Lord looked kindly upon Noah, despite the worldly perversion. God is the only one Who can give life and Who takes life, it all lies within His authority. So let's make the most of the life that God has for us! And when I say that, I don't mean that it's time to fulfill our bucket list of things that we want to do. I mean that it's time we live this life as God has intended that we live. Our life is His, we need to live it His way.
1 Corinthians 6:19
Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is within you, whom you have [received as a gift] from God, and that you are not your own [property]?
Such a sobering scripture! What a great reality check! If you listened to this week's podcast, you've already heard my message on the scripture above, so I won't repeat myself - but wow! We often think that our life is our own, to do with as we please. To come up with our own goals that we want to achieve. We want to be remembered after death and often want to "leave a legacy." And that is all so worldly! God gave us life for His delight and so that we would serve His purpose. It has nothing to do with us at all. Scripture is very clear; we are the property of God! And that is oh-so GLORIOUS!
God loves the things that are His. God protects the things that are His. God blesses the things that are His! When man decides to assert himself and take something over, God will take His hands off of it (for a time.) But for us, as we submit and surrender to the ways of God, He is hands-on! He will never leave nor forsake us! And in this crazy world, it's a HUGE bonus to have God on our side. God can bless us despite what transpires in the world. God can flourish us amidst a famine because He is God and He will make sure that His children are taken care of! Our God is a kind and loving God!
Luke 6:35
But love [that is, unselfishly seek the best or higher good for] your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return; for your reward will be great (rich, abundant), and you will be sons of the Most High; because He Himself is kind and gracious and good to the ungrateful and the wicked.
Yes - Jesus is kind to the wicked. Jesus is gracious to the ungrateful. And since we are a reflection of Him, we need to be the same. It's not easy in this crazy world, but when we practice being kind to people who are unkind, and we watch how God uses that kindness, then we get to see God move. And the more we see how God moves, the more we want to see Him move. We get addicted to watching and waiting for God to show up as only God can. That hunger for watching God move should never leave us. When we are kind, it disarms others. Anger doesn't disarm people, but love and kindness sure do. We need to be an army of kindness, taking away the weapons of others!
Colossians 3:12
So, as God’s own chosen people, who are holy [set apart, sanctified for His purpose] and well-beloved [by God Himself], put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience [which has the power to endure whatever injustice or unpleasantness comes, with good temper];
We are God's chosen, we are sanctified for His purpose. He is in control, He is protecting us because we are His treasured possession. We are a part of His army and He has issued us a standard uniform that we all must wear which includes kindness. The scripture above tells us that kindness has the power to endure whatever injustice might come. God doesn't allow injustice indefinitely. In His army we all have our own part to play, our own job in the army and if we don't do our job it weakens the entire army. Our focus needs to be on our job, which is to be clothed in kindness, and allow God to do His job, which is to ensure justice. Justice comes in His timing because He's the only One qualified to know when it's time to take out the enemy.
The movies have always spun the narrative that a weak person, who gets made fun of, and kicked when they are down, should strengthen themselves to rise up, be courageous, and fight back. But God doesn't ask us to fight back. He asks us to be kind. He asks us to turn the other cheek. He instructs us to do things His way and trust Him. And that only seems hard because for most of our lives we've been instructed to do otherwise. But God has a reason for His ways. God's ways are designed for us and our best interest. And His ways are the only ways that actually bring Him glory. I want my life to glorify the Lord!!!
We can trust God's ways and we can trust His timing. His ways are the only proven ways. His ways have never failed, not once. And if we want to make Him proud, we need to live by His ways. Let's cloak ourselves in kindness and allow God to sort out the rest. Who's with me?