Labour of Love

From the fall out in the Garden of Eden, to Israel, to Jesus' disciples, and yes, to you and I; it is obvious that he chooses quite the broken vessels to bring forth his redemptive life. His love is labored. It reminds me of his perfect illustration of the bride of Hosea. She repeatedly rejects, hurts, refutes her husband's love, and yet he remains dedicated to her. Love does not come without cost, without a price, or without labour. God doesn't fall in and out of love with us, he chooses love despite what we deserve.

So often I feel way underserving.  I am undeserving.  That's the point of his amazing grace!  I am often hit hard with how difficult it can be to love--to love the body of believers--It's easy to love the lost or the "just beginning" or those in which you don't feel should be accountable to knowing truth. It is way more difficult for me to choose love for believers who I feel should know by now how to love and respond in a Godly way! So in my frustration of their choice to choose fleshly responses, I often feel myself responding in the same flesh of "me"--anger.  Responses are everything.  And I often see the ugliness of myself apart from God. What an Artist that he can make the ugliest places in our heart mold into something of beauty! Only Him.

He, therefore, Is is my Rock. My unmovable and unshakable foundation that harnesses in my explosive emotions and brings me into his arms and takes the blindfold off. I open my eyes to an entirely different looking world. A world, in which, the daily battles...the frustrations with Christ-followers, the injustices or the frustrations of others becomes clear for what it is: Warfare.  The truth is that the choice is ours. We can enter into the fight on our own, apart from God or alongside him. We can choose our humanity or we can choose to step back and bring it all before the throne.  I don't know that intercessory prayer can be overstressed as an essential weapon that we must carry with us and sharpen daily. It means constant conversing with our Father, consistently and fervently inviting him into each and every battle so that we know how to fight, when to fight, when to let him fight for us, and who it is we are fighting.
--"For the battle is not against flesh and blood, but against the principalities and rulers of this 
world"--

What is it, then that prevails against such evil? It is Love. My God is love...and every time we choose to respond in accordance with this love, we break down the defenses of evil and open the door to transformative justice...we illuminate grace. That is living out the kingdom here on this earth.