The heart of the matter is always a matter of the heart.
“If you love me, you will keep my commandments.” Jn 14:15 ESV
IF. What a tiny little word with such amazing power! If you believe, you will live forevermore. If you do not believe, you won’t. Simple. God’s way is very simple, but this does not mean it is easy. As I am always reminding us, it is Pride, this MMI mentality, that causes all our problems. If I think life should revolve around me, and if you think it should revolve around you…you can see how quickly problems arise, right?
But what if we all believed that life should center on the One Who created Life? What if we all would choose to humble ourselves and choose to surrender to the God of the Bible, who loves us so much, He chooses to never leave us nor forsake us, even when we are acting like a spoiled, selfish child, instead of His beloved, holy child? Everyone choosing to follow the one true God instead of all our own individual desires? Would that unify us? Would the problems in this world begin to diminish so much that they disappear?
I mean, if we all would surrender our heart, submit our souls and simply obey God’s command to love Him and love one another, then wouldn’t life be the utopia we all really desire? Hmmm…only IF we choose to believe in Jesus and continue to lean on Him, so we can obey. This is the plan…but it is only heaven on earth if everyone is on the same page, choosing to believe the same thing. Thus the world filled with conflicts and divisions we have this side of Heaven…ahh, but on the other side, well that is why Jesus called it Paradise! Let’s keep working this through…
Join me in memorizing 52 verses this year:
January: 1- Jn 3:16; 2- 2Co 5:17; 3- Jas 2:26; 4- Eph 2:10
February: 5- Jn 10:10; 6- Ro 6:23; 7- Rev 21:4; 8- Php 4:13
March: 9- 1Pe 5:7; 10- Jn 8:32; 11- Dt 30:19; 12- Jn 3:30; 13- 2Chron 20:3
April: 14- 2Chron 20:12; 15- 2Chron 20:15b; 16- 2Chron 20:17
May: 17- Ro 8:28; 18- 1Co 13:13; 19- Php 2:12; 20- Mt 5:4
June: 21- Lk 23:42; 22- Jas 4:7; 23- Pr 22:6; 24- Mt 5:3; 25- Jn 14:6
26- Jas 2:19
27- Dt 31:8
28- Jn 14:15
<>< Peace, Diane
