... the "unconditional love" miracle

unconditional love.

no conditions.

patient

kind

not envious

not boastful

not proud

not rude

not self seeking

not easily angered

keeps no record of wrong

doesn't delight in evil

rejoices with the truth

always protects

always trusts

always hopes 

always perseveres...

there

that's unconditional love

that's agape love

that's the way our Father in Heaven loves us

that's how we need to love one another

not just husband and wife

everyone

that has been my prayer, this is what I am asking God to help me be better at, every single day

so lately... I have realized something ( I can be quite slow at times ... )

when you are asking God for something, you better be ready for it.. yup

I think, we ask, and we mean it, we sincerely want to be better at those things He wants us to do..

what I did not expect, even though He has shown me this before in other areas..duh.. I am really slow, is that He does not just magically drop some "love unconditionally" potion on me and ..tada.... I am this amazing unconditionally loving person...

not at all..

unfortunately.

instead, my most loving Father, who is so very committed to making me more like Him, I love Him for that :) creates the scenario that allows me to practice this..

the situation where, because apparently I have conditions ( don't be fooled by my kind face ;) it hurts to love, where the decision to love anyways - doesn't come easily... where it takes a choice and an action to follow, because let me tell you.. the feelings so most definitely want to run the opposite way... ( the heart is wicked, didn't you know ? )

when, even though you are hurt, disappointed, misunderstood and plain "didn't sign up for this" you have to forgive, and PURSUE the one who did the hurting in the first place....

when extending respect and acceptance is a pure act of obedience, because, let's face it, nothing is worth disobedience and the consequences that will so inevitably follow.. ( learned that the hard way )

that's what you get for asking God to change you and help you to love unconditionally, the way He, the Creator of the Universe loves me.

sounds like a bad deal, but, far from it, it never is with Him.

because that's how you can see Him at work, and be part of it.. how exciting is that...

Happy Valentine's Day <3 p="">

... standing firm means being obedient???????

love when we can take part in the Worship service, singing in a spontaneous choir or sharing a verse of scripture that is especially meaningful like last Sunday...

I have so many to choose from but I chose this one:

You do not need to fight in this battle, stand firm, hold your position and see the salvation of the Lord on your behalf, oh Judah and Jerusalem ( or personalized as I like it : oh Miriam )

Do not be afraid, do not be dismayed. Tomorrow go out against them and the Lord will be with you!

2 Chronicles 20:17

having had to hold on to this one in rather scary situations like coming back from rushing to Switzerland to be with family when my mother so very suddenly passed away in April of 2016,  having "violated" my immigration status by leaving the country - how could I have not gone - God was indeed faithful and all He wanted me to do was to stand on His promise... and not be anxious...

the immigration process was complicated by this quite a bit and for sure delayed a long time, but, what we feared the most, me not being allowed back into the country, did not happen.
I saw the salvation of the Lord on my behalf!!!!

another time when because of business done in my name a long time ago,  I potentially could have lost all I had, the Lord once again went before me and blew my mind by the salvation I was able to see on my behalf....


but, since the Word of God is indeed living and active, sharper than a two edged sword and piercing to the division of soul and spirit ( and does it ever... ) there this morning, praying and reflecting on a conflict that's been going on for a while... He, my most precious father and king, showed me something new...


yes, this is an amazing promise God made to His people, and to me, but all of a sudden I realized something that I hadn't seen before...

standing firm... and so far I thought that meant to stand on the truth that God keeps His promises and to trust Him ( which it for sure means ) in this newer scenario it meant something a bit different, a bit more personal...

standing firm means not wavering, not moving away from what is God's will, His good and acceptable and perfect will... His will, that is the very best for me...

His will is revealed to me in His Word, and really, to me anyways, it basically means His will for me is to be obedient... to His will... to what He told me.

so when it says respect your husband, put him first right after God, then that's what I need to stand firm on.

and when it says do nothing out of selfish ambition or conceit and count others more significant than yourselves... then that's what I have to stand firm on.

when it says look to the interests of others and not only your own.. then that's what I have to stand firm on

when it says forgive like your Father in heaven has forgiven you, then I need to stand firm on that...

when it says as far as it is up to you, pursue peace, then I need to stand firm on that.......

and then, because He is faithful, and merciful and gracious and in His purposeful goodness has chosen me to be His, then I see the salvation of the Lord on my behalf...
and for that I will praise Him forever and ever, Amen