What Matters Most

Is any love really more important than the love that Christ has for us? When we act toward others out of anything other than the love of Christ, we fail. Despite our attempts to "get it right,"we are incapable. This being the case, here is my prayer for you this Valentines' Day:

     "I pray that out of His glorious riches He may strengthen you with power through His spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with the saints, to grasp HOW WIDE AND LONG AND HIGH AND DEEP IS THE LOVE OF CHRIST, AND TO KNOW THIS LOVE THAT SURPASSES KNOWLEDGE- that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.
     Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us, to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever AMEN!"
Ephesians 3: 14-21

This weekend, my heart worshiped.  I long for the day that every person in the room at Florida Bible Church cannot contain himself at the thought of our God's greatness. To grasp His love for us would be to lose control and fall before his feet in worship or to laugh out loud and dance in His presence. His love never fails. Are we listening to Him? Are we drawing from Him? His love never fails!

God has been speaking to my heart about faith. what is faith? "Faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see." (Hebrews 11:1) I HOPE that hundreds and thousands will find their way into our church to meet Christ and have not seen it happen. I HOPE that we need another building to contain the people who come to know Christ and join us to worship Him on Saturday nights and have not seen it happen. BUT I have FAITH and pray believing that God will bring those who need Him across our paths. We must be prepared to let God's love flow from us to them. Whether we are called to love them in our daily lives or as they enter our place of worship, we need to pray believing that GOD WILL USE US. This phrase crossed my mind over and over as we worshiped on Saturday evening, "God, we need a miracle; God, we need a miracle; God, we need a miracle." We need to have FAITH. This prayer of faith says it best:

     "Is any one of you in trouble? He should pray. Is any one of you happy? Let him sing songs of praise. Is any one of you sick? He should call the elders of the church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer offered in FAITH will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise him up. If he has sinned, he will be forgiven. Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.
     Elijah was a man just like us. He prayed earnestly that it would rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years. Again he prayed, and the heavens gave rain, and the earth produced its crops."
James 5: 13-18

God will send the rain when we are prepared to handle it! Are we ready for the crops that the rain will produce?  Are we ready to reap the harvest? Are we ready to pray believing that God will send a miracle on our behalf? Are we ready to love the ones that He sends our way? After all isn't that what this life of a Christ follower is all about? What matters most? "Faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love." (I Corinthians 13:13)