How does Jesus spell love?
R. E. S. P. E. C. T.
Respect for His Word, respect for the way we talk to Him, and respect
for the way we relate to and treat one another. The Lord recently opened my
eyes to how I sounded when I responded to a directive He gave me—something I
really didn’t want to do. I struggled for some minutes before I said, “Okay,
Lord, I will do it because I love you, but I’ll reserve this certain time frame
for myself.”
Often, the Lord speaks to me in my thoughts when I’m
doing my hair or makeup. A day or so later (probably when I was doing my hair),
I thought about what I’d said to Him and how it sounded. I told Him I was sorry
for being disrespectful and self-willed, and I prayed, “Father, I would like to
have that certain time for myself. May I? Is it okay with You?” Immediately, I
sensed His pleasure and a smile on His face at my change of attitude. I still
don’t have an answer, but that’s okay. I don’t (yet) know exactly why He asked
this certain thing of me. And I don’t have to know why before I can obey. It was
the first time in my life that I actually heard the Father’s voice in my
spirit. I knew it was Him. And I told Him because I love Him, I will obey. (I am not at liberty to disclose more of my lengthy story here.)
That morning I prayed, “Lord, let Your kingdom expand
greatly in the earth today! Let Your kingdom expand in my heart!” Then I asked
Him what was on His mind that I could
pray about. The thought came that He wanted His people to respect and honor Him,
and not go their own way. So I prayed for all of us, His redeemed, that we
would respect the Lord and honor Him from our hearts. I thought of the
scripture in Matthew 15:8 that says, “These
people draw near to Me with their mouth, and honor Me with their lips, but
their heart is far from Me.”
I prayed, “Lord Jesus, deliver us all from attitudes
of pride—from thinking we will do what we want, go where we want, when we want.
Deliver us from the pride that closes us off to Your fellowship.”
I thought of the scripture in Revelation 3:20 that says,
“Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the
door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me.” (When I was
growing up, my parents’ living room wall had a picture of Jesus knocking on a
door.) I used to think that scripture
referred to those who are not born again, those who need to come to Jesus for
salvation. But the Holy Spirit has shown me that is not the case. Jesus desires
fellowship with those He redeemed with His precious blood.
Recently I read somewhere that water typifies the Holy
Spirit. Water always flows to the lowest level: it never flows uphill. Just so,
the Holy Spirit will not flow where there is pride—an exalting of self. No
wonder God said He resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble. I Peter
5:5-6 reads, “. . .and be clothed with humility, for God resists the proud, but
gives grace to the humble. Therefore, humble yourselves under the mighty hand
of God, that He may exalt you in due time.”
Lesson learned.
You did well on this test, Elaine. Father God is proud of you.
Copyright
© 2016 Elaine Beachy
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