Thoughts for Life: LOOKING FOR LOVE IN ALL THE WRONG PLACES

LOOKING FOR LOVE IN ALL THE WRONG PLACES

Mary Southerland

Facts for the Journey

"Stress happens ... a lot. In fact, stress seems to be a constant companion in many of our lives. Yes, we live in a world filled with people and circumstances that seem to feed stress. But I believe much of our stress is the result of an innate quest to love and be loved. The problems come when we look for that love in all the wrong places.

There is only one right place where we can find true love – in a personal relationship with God through His Son, Jesus Christ.

It is really very simple. When we know God, we will know love. When we experience His unconditional love, we are then freed to love ourselves and to love others.

I have personally discovered that it is downright frustrating and completely impossible to live the Christian life when you are not a Christian. I tried.

For years I desperately struggled to be a Christ follower with only head knowledge of who God was and wanted to be in my life. The result was a pitifully shallow existence with stress and frustration as my constant companions.

I grew up in a Christian home, attending church just about every time the doors were open. I sang all of the right songs, spoke all of the right words, and did all of the right things in front of all the right people. I fervently prayed that my works would validate my faith, and desperately hoped that by following the rules, I would please the Ruler. It was not until my first year in high school that the spiritual integrity of a dynamic youth pastor made me hunger and thirst for something more.

I wanted to know God.

I desperately wanted and needed to experience the unconditional love of God.

During a Saturday evening church service, I sat in my usual spot with the rest of my high school friends, clutching the back of the pew in front of me while wrestling with God over the condition of my soul and my eternal security. I was an active church member, a soloist, and the pianist for our worship services. I even directed a children’s choir.

I was a fake! How embarrassing to walk down that aisle, admitting to everyone that I’d been living a lie!

My mind argued that I knew all about God – and then the deeper truth of that argument hit me. Yes, I knew about Him, but I didn’t know Him.

God’s perfect love settles for nothing less than an intimate and loving relationship with His children. That night I met God. I surrendered all that I knew about myself to all that I knew about Him.

The course of my life was changed forever, but I quickly discovered that my problems did not magically disappear. I still had to deal with stressful situations. The difference was that God’s love preceded me. His power and strength surrounded and sustained me as I lived each day. And that made all the difference in my stress-filled world.

Knowing we are loved fosters contentment and peace in our hearts, and when our hearts are filled with peace, there is little room for stress."

The Lord is my shepherd (Psalm 23:1, NKJV). It is suggested that we read this everyday for a month!

Prayer for today:

Father, thank You for the peace that comes from knowing You. Help me remember that no matter what comes my way, You are with me. When I am tempted to worry, give me the strength to choose faith over fear. Teach me Your ways, Lord, and empower me to walk in them. In Jesus’ name, amen."

Encouraging words:

"Thy word have I laid up in my heart, that I might not sin against Thee" (Ps. 119:11)

"The Word of God has great power in itself. Used effectively, it brings victory to the child of God. As a matter of fact, lodged in the heart of the believer, in itself it becomes a power for holiness. Our Lord said to His disciples, "Already ye are clean because of the word which I have spoken unto you" (John 15:3).

The Apostle Paul, led of the Holy Spirit, spoke of the church as having been "cleansed. . . by the washing of water with the word" (Eph. 5:26).

If there is in our hearts any aspiration for holiness--then we can be absolutely sure that the Holy Spirit will lead us to make much of the Word of God. No one who has at his disposal the blessed Book of God and who neglects that Book can be a strong, holy Christian. Surely it must have been this conviction which caused D. L. Moody to inscribe in the front of his Bible, "This Book will keep me from sin, or sin will keep me from this Book."--William Culbertson

Church Notes:

We Came from Dust

God made a way for redemption from our sinful condition, caused by Adam's rebellion in the garden of Eden at the beginning of creation.

He remembers that we are dust, and have various seasons of hardship to work through to provide for our needs and for others.

Labor is good, a gift from God.

Until we return to dust in our death, our realistic view of labor is that we're called to labor and sweat, or starve.

It's easy to slide into apathy, but remembering our Perfect example of a man, Christ Jesus, we're to be faithfully calling on Him for forgiveness from sin, and to have the strength to labor until He comes again in the clouds!

I pray today that you will let Jesus do the “heavy lifting” for you. He carried mine. It was heavy for years. I pray that you will let Him take your heavy burdens. That you will heed His words found in Matthew 11:28-30 “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

Today's hymn #154- Burdens Are Lifted at Calvary