Motivation from Love not Obligation

Lately, I've been hearing a lot of sermons/conversations about David and his journey on earth. There is a lot to be learned about David. He is a lot like us, but at the same time, he was highly regarded by Christ. The Lord's favor was on David, there is no doubt about it. Yet, we also know that David committed both adultery and murder. Umm, excuse me? A "man after God's own heart" that committed murder? Really? When I think of the worst action possible, murder is pretty high on that list. It makes you stop and think. And it makes you realize how much Christ loves us and how huge His grace is. He was able to forgive David for MURDER. Like literal murder. Like I just killed someone murder. Can you comprehend that? You must. Because its true. "Nothing you can do will separate you from the love of Christ." Do you really believe that? It's easy to recite that verse and to pretend to believe it. But do you really believe it? Do your actions prove that you believe in God's grace?

If so, I think you should feel completely overwhelmed, humbled, amazed. And I realize that its hard to "feel" things sometimes (after all, I understand what it's like to be completely numb), but when you truly grasp the picture of God's grace, it is really astounding. You should feel in-debt to Christ, but not guilty. You should feel like you owe Christ your life, but not be motivated by that debt. The LAST thing Christ wants us to do--in realizing the picture of His grace, is to be motivated by a feeling of obligation. He doesn't want us to do work for His kingdom, because that is what we are SUPPOSED to do.

Think about the times when you know someone has done something for you--maybe given you something or did something for you--because they felt like they had to. It doesn't feel very special, does it? Yes, you appreciate what they did for you, but at the same time, you kind of feel cheated. "Oh gee, thanks for inviting me to your party ten minutes before it started because you knew I found out about it!" That's like a slap in the face! You'd almost rather never have been invited in the first place, because then it wouldn't hurt so bad. Think about how Christ feels when we do things out of obligation. It sucks times a thousand.....We couldn't even comprehend the pain and disappointment.

Let's face it, we are pretty awful people. We deny Christ every single day. We choose other things over him, several times a day. We spend all our time, efforts, emotions on things of THIS world. God is lucky to even get a 15 minute block out of our day. Sure, not all of us are like this, and that's pretty stinking cool, but for must of us, if you stop and think about where all your efforts are going, its elsewhere. I don't mean to say this to make you dwell in your shortcomings, rather to show you much you need Christ and how much we don't deserve His gift. Realize your awfulness and then realize how AWESOME God is for loving you like that!

It's a hard balance to find: motivation by guilt and motivation by love. Trust me. I know. I spent the majority of my life--lets say up until I was about 19 years old (and sometimes have to fight it now)--acting out of fear and guilt. I spent time with Christ, went to church, led a small group, etc because I feared that Christ was going to take something away from me. I did things for His kingdom because I would spend hours feeling guilty if I did not. My heart was completely in the wrong place. Praise the Lord that I was able to realize that and break from that mindset. Yes, we owe Christ our life. Yes, we are dead without Him, but that doesn't mean that we are obligated to love Him. That's why you have the ability to RECEIVE the gift. You don't have to accept a gift. It can sit on your top shelf, unopened, collecting dust. Our hearts should act out of love and gratitude. We should feel so overwhelmed with love that we can't help but speak of His name! We can't help but burst forth with songs of praise because He is our maker and has rescued us from so much pain!

In the end, nothing that we could ever do would even come CLOSE to paying Christ back. So, don't even try! Instead, spend your time and energy loving Christ and loving His people. Spend your time learning as much as possible about Christ and let Him mold your heart. Listen to Him. Talk to Him.

I'll leave you with a pretty cool quote: "God loves you the way that you are, but he refuses to leave you that way."

God loves you in your sin, in your shortcomings, in your selfishness. He loves you, even when you have murdered someone. He just does. It's simple. BUT he refuses to let you remain that way. When you enter into His presence, God is LONGING to change us. He is overcome with excitement with what He wants to do with our life. We just have to let Him.

--Erika

Broken

     My heart is heavy tonight. After a long (and amazing) conversation with Adam, I am just so much more aware of how prevalent broken relationships are. Marriages and relationships (friend and romantic) are definitely one of Satan's biggest targets. I really believe this. Just look at the divorce rate for America. Outstanding. Ridiculous. But so, so painful. My art aches for the relationships I see around me that are just broken. Plain and simple. They are lacking. I want so badly to "fix" the problems, but I can't. I can only pray and believe that Christ will heal them. More specifically, for healing for those two halves of the relationship. Broken people make broken relationships. It is only through Christ that relationships can be made whole. 

     But what does that even look like? What does it mean for Christ to live in our relationships? What does it mean to let Christ "heal" us? I know it starts with an open heart and A LOT of prayer. It has to be fueled by hope and belief that Christ will prevail. I know it takes determination and a heck of lot of perseverance. It takes the realization that we are broken, and acknowledging that the only hope comes from Christ. It teaks us releasing control over what we want our relationship to look like and allowing Him to lead. Wow. What a huge step!! I struggle with this everyday!! Letting him lead. I can only wonder how frustrated He gets with me each day!! Often, I don't even THINK about who is guiding my steps, I just do it. I am a hot mess, Jesus!!! Most importantly, it takes us stopping and listening for His will. The Lord often speaks in a gentle whisper. A whisper that gets easily overpowered by our daily lives. 

    Sorry if this post seems jumbled, it's just what is on my heart at the present moment. This fact has tugged at my heart strings for quite some time!! I wish so badly for relationships to be perfect and whole and complete this side of Heaven. But at least it's something we have to look forward too. God promises our bodies will be whole and complete, and I personally believe that relationships are not exempt from this fact!! I have faith that they will be "revamped" as well!! Praise the Lord!!