love is an umbrella

just a bit from my time with Jesus this morning...

"because to make YOU the center means letting go of control and my will...and surrendering to YOUR control and YOUR will. it means loosening this death-grip on me...and resting in the grip You took on death...and crushed...and in turn took a grip on me-so that i could die to myself and come alive in You...and take hold of real life.

humility.
honor.
love.

love is the umbrella that humility and honor fall under.
it is the glue that holds it all together.
it is the river from which everything else flows.
the source from which everything else comes.
it is the outflow from letting Christ be in me-because HE.IS.LOVE.
without love, nothing else matters-it's all a futile effort of performance and approval.
when i don't "feel" love/loved, i resort to earning it-which exerts more strain and heartache because i feel the need to prove something-to God and others.
i feel like there's something more that i can give-instead of realizing that all that's worth giving is Jesus.
and i can't even give Jesus if i haven't taken time to RECEIVE Him...and receive FROM HIM-receive who He is, what He's like.
how can i be like someone if i don't take the time to get to know who they really are?

and what's more beautiful and meaningful than giving?

because every time i try to give what i don't have, i'm actually trying to get something i don't need.
satan tries to convince me that the more i get-from trying to give what i don't have-the happier i'll be.

but JESUS says: "the more of ME you receive-and then GIVE AWAY-that's when joy becomes your heartbeat."

joy is a result of giving myself away-
dying to me, my flesh, my desires and living in who Jesus-HIS heart, HIS desires.

"...for the joy set before Him, He endured the cross, scorning its shame." (Hebrews 12:2)

JOY was set before Jesus...but the only way He could get there was enduring death...the ultimate act of obedience to His Father.

and what is obeDIEnce, but DYING to ourselves and coming alive in what God has called us to?
that's when JOY comes to life.
that's when LOVE comes to life.
that's when i begin to see that it's really not about me and what i can get and hold onto.

it's all about JESUS, what i receive from HIM-and then give away."

*Colossians 3:12-14*
*Romans 13:14*
 *Philippians 2:3-7*
*1 Corinthians 13*