That’s One Big Heart!!!
Boldness is one of those words/concepts that I’ve been stuck on lately. I pray boldly, asking God to bless me bigtime!
Something pretty strange happened to me just a few days ago… maybe you remember a while ago I wrote about “the ahhh haaa moment?” This was something really crazy that happened to me a while back… one of those “it could only have come from God moments” … there have been others, too, and I’m sure that you have some as well…
So… yep, I had another recently…
this time God gave me the go ahead to use my own judgement and make an important decision… ok yep, related to the HB! So, what happened? I guess it was kind of silly really because I think God pretty much knew what I was going to decide anyway. But I don’t want to belittle this in any way, because, to me, it was HUGE! For over a year now, I have felt like God has been leading me and showing me the way… He showed me His will for me down a very specific pathway. While difficult at times, He has asked me to be patient and wait… WHAT? Oh please Lord, not that one… I really don’t like to wait… just get on with it already, right? Hmmm… guess again… P-A-T-I-E-N-C-E is a part of being a Fruity 1, so if you’re in tune with the Holy Spirit you can wait… and then wait some more! Yea, ok, Â I know, whatever… I agree it’s still sucks to wait…
Well, I did wait and something else happened along the way… God is working one of His great miracles!
So I decided to share this today because I thought it may help someone else figure out the whole God thing and free will and all… this verse sets the tone and puts it all in context…
Little children, let us love, not in word or speech, but in truth and action. And by this we will know that we are from the truth and will reassure our hearts before him whenever our hearts condemn us; for God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything. Beloved, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have boldness before God; and we receive from him whatever we ask, because we obey his commandments and do what pleases him. 1 John 3:18-22
This tidbit starts with an IF…
Well, actually the second part starts with Beloved… Ha! Which should be comforting in any event. 🙂
On to the if…Â IF our hearts do not condemn us…Â WoW… that’s a big if… and that’s between just me and God… Yep, He knows! Everything!! It seems like trouble is potentially brewing whenever we get on this heart topic… so guard it already!
Ok then, back in the groove…
What to do? Get it right… as in my right standing with God. If it’s not in the right place I need to put it there… pronto… like promptly right about now! Then I have to stay super sticky with it… then you know what? SAKES ALIVE all that clean living is about to pay off! I know this for a fact as the “if” statement is followed by an inferred “then” statement… we find… you got it… BOLDNESS before God. Dude, that’s huge because He will lead us down the straight and narrow to the land of milk and honey… Honey… yep, there’s the Capital H! Get it while the gettin’s good Sonny! Now that’s some good BBQ!!
If we’re going to go to Mojo’s instead and devour the tasty onion rings… the other Gadzooks would be copious amounts of love… you know what this is all about… read it and savor… it’s patient and kind… it does not envy or boast, it isn’t proud, rude, self-seeking and it is not easily angered. It keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices in the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, and, yep, always perseveres! Love… why wouldn’t we want everybody to know… share… and feel this emotion?
Truth…Â I want to live… love… learn… and leave a legacy (RIP Covey!) in the green light (though that Red Light Therapy seems to be working miracles on my youthful spirit 😉 )… yes, the green light of the truth. Remember from Ephesians, amongst the armor we have the belt of truth… buckle up! The truth is uber important here and really matters…
I know I’m completely rambling on now… but in full form so I’ll just keep rolling with it…
Action…Â Oh Sweet Baby Emma (that would be my granddaughter!) I have come to love action/adventure… yep, in real life just a wee little bit… and in a good movie… so… anyway… the nuts and bolts of this one are right here baby… Action means I’m going to make something happen. That’s right… why wait when you’ve got the green light from our Lord and Savior? Get on it my friend and make something happen!
And by this we will know that we are from the truth and will reassure our hearts before him whenever our hearts condemn us; for God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything. So what’s THAT all about? The truth speaks volumes… it’s larger than Wikipedia! If we feel like what’s in our hearts is amiss… the truth will set us straight… for God knows everything… anyway 😉
And now what may seem like a twist…
I really prayed about this “will” thing again and talked to God about it… like I said, He knew what I was going to do before He allowed me to make up my own mind. I have to chuckle about this because I already knew what I wanted… and that, in this circumstance, fell perfectly in line with God’s will for me too… but do you know the first thing I did when He gave me the freedom to choose? lol… I prayed about it 🙂 Does that sound crazy to you? Oh gosh, sure I had a few other thoughts too… but I really wanted to know what He thought…
My will fell perfectly in line with His… I believe because I want to live for Him. Does that make any sense? I hope so but I don’t know. I am sticking with my direction of committed, unwavering and patient unconditional love. Why? Because I believe this is worthwhile… pure… and a blessing from above… and that living my life for God is a worthy thing to do. Plus I found exactly what I have been looking for. I decided a while ago that doing my best to live His way… living my life for Him was the best way to go. While you can expect that I’ll never ever be perfect… I think we should always try to be authentic!
That’s what I think this is all about… finding boldness before God… love in truth and action. We get to live in His light… in His glory… not because we just ask… because we are obedient and do what pleases Him. It’s really all about Him. I know that makes me want to please him, for sure!
Finding boldness before God… in truth and action.
The Q: Have you ever felt that God asked you to do something big and bold? How did you respond?
nice work my friend…very nice…
We are still recording our album for free. (our church has a state of the art recording studio)…
and we are almost done but it seems it’s a long stretch still…
and i can hear God say…hey come on son…you put everything in your path you need…get on with it…he know it will get done…he also knows how much laziness can creep into my body…lol…
Thank you Arny… lemme know when this album is out, I know I want to get a copy!
Lazyness? Arny, you can’t be lazy if you read through the longest post I’ve ever written… my goodness, I thought I would loose everyone for sure with that burly post!!
Chris! I have always been of the theological bent that–as long as what we want to do is not evil or against what scripture teaches us, then God is probably OK with it. That helps a lot in every-day decisions and trivial matters. But now I have a verse to back that up: “…if your heart does not condemn it.” Thanks so much for that.
As for God asking me to do something–yes, the whole writing, blogging, marketing, technology thing. My first response was, uh, God, I can’t possibly (whine, whine, whine) but ultimately and actually fairly quickly I learned (am still learning) to step out in faith and trust that He’ll provide me with the “how to” to follow His Will. It’s very cool when (always) He does provide.
Thanks chris.
Carol, that is an excellent point and I’m glad you brought it up! Whenever HB and I talk about this that’s what she says too… that if we stick to what scripture says and steer clear of evil that is going to keep us on the straight and narrow. I also find in my daily walk that I have to make decisions on the fly… I can’t stop and pray about everything, and then wait for an answer, right? When this happens, we have to use our judgement and moral bent to do what is right… just… and fair! I believe that He wants us to do this, and is proud of us when we do!
btw, I’m glad He’s leading you to write!!