today we come across a precious verse i've never noticed before. Luke 12:32 says "Don't be afraid, little flock. It brings God pleasure to give you the kingdom." how awesome is that?
first, it starts with the admonition that is repeated 365 times in the Bible - don't be afraid. i realized many years ago that what God wants from us is love - our greatest commandments are to love Him and to love each other. God IS love. I Corinthians 13 is all about how great love is. what i realized, though, is what the opposite of love is.
it seems like the opposite of love is hate. but it actually doesn't usually work that way. we all know of situations where you feel love for someone, and it turns to hate, and then back to love... it basically means you just feel very strong emotions about that person, and sometimes those emotions are good and sometimes they're not good.
but what prevents us from loving the way God wants us to isn't hate... or if it looks like hate, then that hate is a manifestation of something else: fear.
the greatest obstacle in our lives to love is fear. we're afraid of failure. we're afraid of looking stupid. we're afraid of being hurt. we retract our love from God and from others because we're afraid. this is why God tells us over and over and over in the Bible: "do NOT be afraid!" because if we lose our fear, we will learn to love.
then He calls them (and us) a little flock. such a term of endearment. showing how much He loves and cherishes us.
and then He says it gives God pleasure to give us the Kingdom. i looked it up in various translations to make sure the NLT wasn't giving me the wrong impression... but it's in all of them. God is happy to give us the kingdom. it brings Him pleasure... He delights in giving us the kingdom. what a great thought.
God, please take away my fear, help me to love, and i pray that Your kingdom will come in my life as it is in Heaven. amen.
2 comments:
Strange looking lilies, one of the most moving songs by a Christian singer ( in my opinion), is "Fear not my child". Listen to it again, it goes along with this reading today. The words are tremendous and are in accord these these verses.
With*
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