“Let Brotherly Love Continue…”

I have never been less aware of my single status or more aware of how loved I am.

First thing this morning I had such a blessed time with Jesus and in the presence of God. I never thought it would go this way, but lately I have been studying love – perfect time of year isn’t it? But today I was studying on what it means to truly love God. What does that look like? What does it mean?

John 14:21 say this: “He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him.” 

That is what it looks like to love God. Throwing off the religious mind-set that makes the Word of God a book of rules and thus a duty to abide by, we then can see that when we abide in love, we then have a desire to obey the commands of God.

And just what are His commands? Matthew 22:36-40:

“36 ‘Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?’ 37 Jesus said to him, ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. 38 This is the first and great commandment. 39 And the second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. 40 On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.” 

Summed up: Love God and love people.

No sooner had I finished my Bible study this morning to get ready for school than I find this gift on my doorstep!

 

A rose and chocolate. I was pleasantly surprised. Attached to the rose was a sweet note and this is what it said:

“Brittany, We are giving you these gifts on this special Valentine’s Day to honor you. You are such an amazing, beautiful, and loved woman of God and it’s a privilege to be considered your family. Love, Your VSOM Brothers   Hebrews 13:1 – “Let brotherly love continue.”

Being single on valentines day does not exclude you from being loved or being special. God touched my heart this morning, and then my amazing and thoughtful classmates, my VSOM brothers gave an expression of their love with this sweet surprise. (I call bragging rights, we have the best guys!) This day has been most incredible. Our corporate prayer time at school this morning carried a sweet atmosphere of God’s love and I finished the day off after school with a dear friend at the Prayer Center. It has been a beautiful day filled with love. It’s not about the gifts, but about living out the love of Jesus – which is truly living out the Jesus that is in us. How can you express that love to someone this week?

To My VSOM Brothers: Thank you for your thoughts, your gifts, your prayers, and all the ways that you express your love each day. Thank you for living out the love of Jesus, by which your loving us shows a great deal of how much you love Him. You are amazing and anointed leaders that exhibit godly character and I am so blessed to have you in my life. I am proud to call you family. I love you all and you are dear to my heart! Bless!

A Living Revelation

I can’t get away from the truth impressed on my heart that to NOT daily live out the revelation of who God is that He has gifted to us, is to deny Him and the work that He has done in our lives. 

We must deny ourselves to live Him out:

• Deny ourselves of the fleshly desires
• Deny ourselves a victim’s mentality
• Deny ourselves “stability” and “Security” by the world’s standards
• Deny ourselves pride
• Deny ourselves the mentality that something is owed to us

 

To not do so is foolishness. It is like being served platters of fresh fruit and either ignoring it, or admiring from a distance the beauty of how they are arranged and what they look like – and then proceed to eat junk and trash like you always have. Sure, the fruit is nice to look at, but there is no benefit and no change if you don’t eat it but let it sit and rot. What use is it then?

What I’ve learned: You must partake of the revelation that God has given to you of Himself. It must become a part of you. But in order to do that, you have to make room for it first. You need to give up the junk to make room for the fruit. We have a responsibility to carry out what God has given to us of Himself. Too often we confess with our lips what God has done in our lives, but deny that very part of who He is in us by our deeds. 

 

– If He really redeemed you ~ live as the redeemed daughter that you are.

– If He really healed you ~ live in the health that He supplied.

– If He really restored you ~ live as whole.

– If He really revealed His faithfulness to you ~ live as faithful.

If you really believe in the revelation that God has given you, then live it. To not live it out each day, is to deny Him and the work that He has done and is doing in your life.

To be the hands and feet of Jesus is to live out His character that He has revealed to you. It is so humbling just to think that He reveals himself to us, and yet He is the great creator of all things, He is the great I AM, and He wants to reveal Himself to you. This is so humbling.

Reflect: What has God done in your life? Are you living that out today? How can you live out the revelation of who He is that has been gifted to you?

 

21 Days of Never-the-Same – Day 20

As I have been studying the Proverbs 31 woman verse by verse, I will admit, I cannot read that passage and not think of my mother.

Two verses that I really want to highlight on are 27-28:

“She watches over the affairs of her household and does not eat the bread of idleness. Her children arise and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her.” (NIV)

My momma is always doing something. She is actively involved in our lives on a consistent basis (that includes even my brother and I who are away at school). With 5 kids that cannot always be easy, but she does an amazing job.

My momma has many fine qualities and is a woman of character. When I think of my mother, the first thing that comes to mind is her strength. She is always like a rock in the storm. She has a strength about her in all she does. She tells you like it is. And she’s grounded. Momma is solid and is a woman of virtue.

Something that really blesses me about my mother, is the love that she and my dad have for each other. There is no better team, and no greater gift that my siblings and I could be given than that.

Even this being said, I feel like I cannot adequately describe my mother. I can never thank her enough for everything she’s done and for everything she is.

The worth of a mother goes beyond what words can describe. 

I am beyond blessed with the mother that God has given to me. I am proud to be my mother’s daughter.

Beyond that, as I have grown, my relationship with my mother has changed in many ways…it has had its stages, but what comes out of it is more than my mother being my mother –  my mother has become a friend. And I am so amazingly blessed to have her.

Thank you, Momma for all you do and all you are to me. Your worth is far above what can be expressed. I love you dearly.

 “Many women do noble things, but you surpass them all…” (Prov. 31:29)