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             the Duffy's
            Flames from the Fire: The Joy of Being Inconvenienced 12/16/2008
            1 Comment
             

                  I want to share something that I think is crucial to our spiritual growth as Christians: it is good to be inconvenienced.
                 I think this is biblically sound, was evident in the life of Jesus, and is the yearning of a heart that loves Jesus and desires to serve as a result of that love.
            In 1 Thessalonians 5:3 Paul writes,"and we urge you brethren, admonish the unruly, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with all men."
                 Furthermore, In Philippians 2:4, Paul says, "do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interest of others. Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus."
                 Let's pursue the attitude of Christ Jesus, that we will empty ourselves and be filled with His love, so that we may pour His love on even the most undeserving, needy people. God has given us an anointing to love people who bother us the most. Jesus Christ in our hearts is this anointing. We have the authority, power, strength, to love people who are difficult to love. This kind of genuine, self-sacrificing love is not a product of human nature. Our human nature is selfish and does not want to be inconvenienced. The love that is joyfully inconvenienced is the supernatural evidence of heart that is being transformed by Jesus Christ Himself.
                 I think that many of us do not know what makes us truly happy. It is so easy to reject situations that are not perfectly tailored to our schedule, our needs, our desires, our kinds of people. We do not want to be put out by others. We love our free time too much. We do not want to be hungry, uncomfortable or tired for the sake of someone else being benefited. I think that everything we do should be for the benefit of others. Either we are a servant or we are selfish. Is it possible that the very things that we avoid out of selfishness, are the things that we would truly enjoy doing-if only we would do them? I think so.
            David wrote in Psalm 37:4, "delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart."
            Let's not use this scripture as springboard to call everything that we want 'a desire of our heart', that God is expected to give to us. When a person delights in God, they become delighted by what God is delighted with. They take joy in the things that God wants. When you get closer to God and go deeper into His heart, His passions become your passions. When you have Godly passions, you will have Godly desires.
                 Godly desires are like flames from a fire. We fall more in love with Jesus and become more delighted with him, and this cultivates a fire of love. The flames from this fire, are the Godly desires that rise up out of us. These flames will change everything they touch. In the same way, if we act on those Godly desires that are raising up in our hearts, people who we reach out to, cannot help but be changed by such a radical love. Without the fire, the flames could not exist. Without delighting ourselves in God and having a love life with Him, we do not cultivate godly desires.As the fire gets bigger, so do the flames. As we fall more in love with Jesus, our Godly desires increase and become more prominent and urgent to us.
                 Let's fall more in love with Jesus and follow Him into the most inconvenient, annoying situations. Let's cultivate a burning love for God that will produce flames of Godly desires. We cannot go low enough in humility. We cannot be inconvenienced enough, for it is in those inconveniences, that we discover His anointing to love, and our passion to love Him.

             


            Comments

            Shannon MacKenzie
            12/20/2008 12:15

            Hey Mrs. Duffy, thanks for that word. Very fitting for our times and a situation I'm currently experiencing. Prosper in the Lord and on this earth. ~Shannon

            Reply



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