Freedom

Leviticus 26:13 I am your Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt so you would no longer be their slaves. I broke the yoke of slavery from your neck so you can walk with your heads held high.

God loved us, sent His son down for us and did that so He could break us from the yokes of slavery once again so that we can walk with our heads held high....Just ponder that for a moment.

You may be thinking to yourself ..but I wasn't a slave...weren't you? or for some of you it would be aren't you? Are you a slave to your own lusts? to your own wants and desires? Do you put them before God? Lets go through this...

Its the time of year for football games...do the games come before your worship to the Lord?
You were supposed to do some service for the Church, but there is a really awesome party...do you back out to go to the party?
You are on a dieting plan to lose weight and get in shape so that your body can be a temple to God...do you make excuses and make it what you want it to be based on your desires?
You are an alcoholic, a drug addict, addicted to sex, food, television, work....whatever it is..do you put those things before God?

If you could answer yes to any of that...you are a slave. You are a slave to those things and the only way out is to give that stuff up to God and accept Jesus as your personal savior.

He can break us from the yokes of slavery so that we can walk with our heads held high....

That is love my friends..that is grace and mercy and forgiveness and joy all wrapped into one pretty beautiful package ...are you going to throw it away?

Sharyl

First Love

Heart thudding, palms sweating, pulse racing, mouth dry...its HIM! Oh wow....you have thought about him, prayed about him..longed for him ...thought of every possible moment that you have spent together. You dream about him, watch for him, count seconds that your apart. You knew the moment you fell in love that your life would never be the same!

Guess what? We have all been there..through that life changing moment where we "fell in love". It just does something to you. It may or may not be "the one" but the emotions and the feelings that it conjures up are the same...but lets think for a moment...about real love.

The Bible says in 1 Cor 13: 4-8  4Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. 8Love never fails.

and John 15:13 13Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.

Jesus died for us on a cross...laid His life down for you and for me...for all the things we do wrong in the name of love. So lets go back for a moment...when we seek after God...when we put him first in our loves..do we get those feelings of love that come over us? We should...we should count the seconds we are apart, we should hold Him in our heart, we should long to be with Him!

He really should be our first love...and our other loves and passions should model THAT behavior. Our families our husbands (or wives if thats the case) Should be modeled after the time we spend with God.

Matt 6:21  21For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

What does that mean exactly? Well it means that what you spend your time on and thinking about ..thats where your heart is..thats what you value and what you love....

Are you spending your time with your God? Are you spending your time with your family? Or with your video games? your car? ....What are you showing that you love first?

Hard questions in the cold reality of the day....dare you to answer honestly....not to me or to anyone else...just to yourself...and then set it right if its not already. Take those corrective actions to make your love with God your first love. I know I will :)

~ Sharyl