Thursday, May 21, 2009

Indebted

"Oh, to grace how great a debtor daily I’m constrained to be; let that grace now like a fetter bind my wandering heart to Thee. Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it; prone to leave the God I love. Here's my heart, oh, take and seal it; seal it for Thy courts above."

From Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessings
By Robert Robinson, 1735 - 1790

I am indebted to you. Now and always. You are due from me a great sum. I cannot escape this charge, nor do I desire to do so. I must fulfill it with utmost diligence. It is a debt acquired from the contract given me by my heavenly Father. Part of His covenant with me. My faith in Jesus Christ requires I fulfill His will, which includes many sacrifices. Part of my sacrifice is to be delivered to you. It is one I must accept and pay for most gladly with a cheerful heart and all sincerity. To deliver to you this appreciation is a privilege. It is nothing less than an honor. To count it otherwise counts me disingenuous, selfish, unworthy, unholy.

And, oh, dear friend, that which I owe you is a forever pledge. It will never be stamped "paid in full," nor will the charges ever be cleared. It is an eternal debt. It is an account that grows in value. It accumulates interest rather rapidly. It seems that as I pay this fund, the obligation grows within me. The begetting of my due multiplies exceedingly over time. And the more I give, the more I desire to give.

And what I give has, contrary to this world's ideals, no monetary value. It is counted rubbish or indifferent by most, and the insistence of such obligation is likely considered a foolish due. One never understood by a godless world. One disdained on all accounts by the practicality of earthly principles. One grasped tightly only by those who revere their relationship with God and see Him in everyone and everything.

What debt could be so costly, yet deemed so foolishly? So complete, yet so unyielding? So misunderstood, yet so required? So eternal, so living? A true gift of life and sacrifice it is. Now and always, dear friend, the forever debt I owe you is love. Nothing more. Nothing less. I owe you love. It matters not who you are. It matters not what I desire. It matters not my feelings. It matters not our pride. It matters not where you are now, where you have been, or your place in Christ. It matters not anything, for in God's word, it is so poignantly stated, "Owe no one anything except to love one another, for he who loves another has fulfilled the law" (Romans 13:8).

It is God's will that I love you. To love you is my debt to you and to Christ. It is an inescapable ordinance. Our pleasing God is dependent on our obeying this truth. And our obedience must be done with our hearts, not only our minds. Remember what Jesus said to the woman at the well? Christ told her that the time would come when those who worship would do so in spirit and in truth, for the heavenly Father seeks such as those to worship Him (John 4:23,24). In Spirit and in truth. With all our soul and with His purity in our hearts. Such is worship that pleases God. He searches for such. Longs for such. He is pleased with pure hearts.

And a pure heart loves fervently and honestly. "Since you have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit in sincere love of the brethren, love one another fervently with a pure heart" (I Peter 1:22). Oh, may we grasp these words! Sincere love for others flows from obedience, honesty, and purity. Thus may we declare the agape love of God for others is His work within us by the Holy Spirit and must be shared and declared openly (Romans 5:5)! It is now and forever a part of our covenant with Jesus Christ, and through this manifest love, our testimony is sure (John 13:35).

It is my privilege to love you with the love of the Holy Spirit today. Now. . . always. . . in this world. . . in the world to come. Love will never fade away or whither, for God Himself is love, and love He will be forever. The love He has placed in our hearts is just a tiny fraction of Himself He has shared with us and commands us to share with others. And this debt of love is not to be esteemed lightly; neither is it meant to be a burden, as true love, the agape love of God, pours from our hearts without restraint because of Christ's grace in our hearts and lives.

Oh, how I long to forever embrace this forever love! I do not want to let it go! Please join me today in seeking God's grace for a pure, obedient heart, so we may find the fulfillment of His love in us and give it willingly to those around us. You may ask today, "What evidence is given for love?" Or, "How do I know that I have the love of God in my heart?" Love, indeeed, is found in humbly doing for others, having a servant's heart. And love is a part of God that begets many other attributes. To know these well, refresh yourself with I Corinthians 13.

To be His disciple is our greatest calling! And others will know Him through our love for Christ and those around us. "By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another" (John 13: 35). But please remember, it is God's love, wrought in our hearts through His Holy Spirit, that does the work. We are simply His channels. The available ones through whom His river flows. Yes, no glory is ours, only His and His alone! What an awesome challenge and opportunity today! To know Him and have His love glorified in our lives, ministering to the needs of those around us. Dear friend, let us make His love known today.

14 comments:

  1. "But please remember, it is God's love, wrought in our hearts through His Holy Spirit, that does the work."

    To that I say "Amen"!!!

    That means I lay down my desire to take a bow, or ask that people send me money to "perform" on their behalf. He is such a good God, and such an effective Savior! Let my boast rest there. I glory with you in that love, and in that cross!

    Fabulous post!

    Kathleen

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  2. You write so very beautifully. Thank you.

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  3. Dearest Andrea,
    You have such a beautiful blogspot. The pictures you use are so pretty and pleasant.
    The picture of the Guardian Angel watching over the children in the sidebar of TAKE COMFORT is a personal favorite. I have a print of this sweet illustration in my home.

    This post is beautifully written. What you have said is something I will meditate upon the rest of this week and I know when I hear this scripture about love or read it, I will think of you and this lovely post!

    I haven't had my tea today. I think we need quiet time everyday.

    God Bless you,
    ~Deanna~

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  4. Eloquently written, my dear. How I love God's love, to receive it and to give it, it's all about Him.

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  5. I have always loved singing "Come Thou Fount". Your message of love is so true...when I was away from God, He spoke to me many , many times through those who where channels of His love. Many blessings to you, Andrea!

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  6. Yes, as Deanna said above, this is something to be meditated on. I heard something around Easter time about "Who do people see when they look at me ~ do they see me and the 'good' things I do and praise me, or do they see Jesus when they see me and the good things I do and praise my Heavenly Father? I hope others see Jesus and give Glory to Him! I look into the mirror each day and pray others will see My Saviour reflected in me!
    "They will know we are Christians by our love."

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  7. Dearest Andrea,
    What a lovely space you have created! Peaceful, meaningful and inspirational. Thank you for visiting my blog! There is so much energy and creativity in blogland. Thank you for the inspirational beauty of your posts. A true treasure in blogland. Merci et que le Seigneur Jésus Christ vous bénisse, Madame!

    (Thank you and may the Lord Jesus Christ bless you, Madame)! Anita

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  8. Come Thous Fount of Every Blessing is one of my favorite hymns... and what a timely post this is. We can owe so much to other people in terms of time, money, favors, promises waiting to be kept... and how freeing this verse is, to owe no one anything but love.

    Thank you for another lovely post, Andrea.

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  9. I cannot love another, even really like another, in the way that God's desires without his Spirit within. On my best day, it's usually all about me. I daily pray for his love to replace my bent toward selfish living. He's always so faithful to provide; I, however, am not always so faithful to receive.

    I, too, pray for an undivided heart that pours the love of Jesus onto everyone who passes my way.

    Blessings to you this weekend. Graduation to arrive in the morning. How I'm longing for the strength of God to walk it through with any measure of grace.

    peace~elaine

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  10. Simply excellent, Andrea!!! ;)
    Thank you for these words that lifted my
    soul with great joy!!!!!

    Many Blessings~ Jenny

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  11. Andrea,

    How true are these words! I feel compelled to share a story that has happened over the past few weeks in my life. At work recently a co-worker, who I do not have the best of relationships with, took it upon herself to go to my supervisor with false information which led to some undesirable results. Her supervisor who knew the truth stood up for me but implemented the consequences all the same. This left me dejected and hopeless. I prayed and continued to read from Proverbs looking for a way to heal the anger and hurt as I have to work with this person. Finally the answer came and I followed. Sir Arthur once said 'Where there is tea there is hope.' I brew a carafe of tea every morning to take with me to work. I happened to know that this person also liked tea so I offered her a cup one morning. This led to ongoing tea each morning which seems to have softened the harshness between us. Even though we still do not agree on many things the harsh feelings seem to have faded away. Mix God's love with tea and things get better:) If we could all just learn to trust and obey Him the world would be a much better place.

    This is a beautiful post! I loved it!

    Blessings,

    Kim

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  12. Dearest Andrea,

    We love because He first loved us! A love that requires no payment...it is a gift that was freely given and so much greatly appreciated.

    My love for others come because He lives in me! When I do for others, it is with the prompting of the Holy Spirit that guides me and shows me ways that I can be of help.

    Thank you so much dear friend, for you wise words that fills all of us with a great deal of encouragement and brings us back, always to The Father!

    In His everlasting Love,

    lady m

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Thank you for visiting. I cherish your thoughts. You are special to me, but most of all, you are special to God, who loves you with everlasting love. May your life be swept into His joy and peace.

In the Wonderful Love of Christ our Savior,

Andrea