Steadfast part 2
I know the word "steadfast" has the word "fast" in it. But I think that might be one of those ironic things. Because, really, it's more of a "slow and steady wins the race" kind of deal. A "Rome wasn't built in a day" kind of thing. Love never fails, because love endures. Is what I'm trying to say. No matter what happens... God's love towards us is steadfast. Unmoving. Unshakeable. Nothing can separate us from the love of Christ. Nothing that happens, nothing that anybody else does, and nothing that we do. Nothing. God loves us. Period. Exclamation point. No matter what. No matter where. No matter when. His love for us is the Rock that everything else is built on. It's the Rock we can stand on. And when we stand on that Rock of love... we cannot be shaken. It drives me nuts that most of what I hear religious folk talk about is God picking us up and dusting us off. Which, listen, He will do. Over and over again as many times as He needs to. But I never hear anybody talk about how, rather than us falling in the first place, He can (and will, and wants to) keep us from falling. Look at Jude 1:24, "Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy." Exceeding joy. Connected to Him keeping us from falling. It's His genuine pleasure to keep us where we need to be. Where He wants us to be. Standing on that Rock. The storm comes, but it doesn't matter because our foundation is strong. Unshakeable. Steadfast. And because our foundation is solid, whatever we build will be solid. When you build ON love, WITH love, you'll really have something cooking. You'll really be building something worthwhile. But that's where I really wanted to get to today: Building. Because I always say, "If you want something different you have to do something different. Unless you're building something. In which case, keep up the good work." Baby steps are still forward steps. What's that quote by Martin Luther King Jr.? "If you can't fly, then run. If you can't run, then walk. If you wan't walk, then crawl. But whatever you do, you have to keep moving forward." It's not about how fast you go. It's about how far you go. And another old saying goes like this, "If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together." We're all in this together. "And if one prevail against him, two shall withstand him; and a threefold cord is not quickly broken" (Ecclesiastes 4:12). Or, "Many hands make light work." That might not be in the Bible, but it's pretty solid. I'm trying to say, when we're building... we can build together. We can help each other. We can run this race together. Both hand in hand, and as a relay race. Because if I do my part, and you do your part, chances are it will all get done. Things work out better when we work together. This is an US thing, not a me vs you thing. I can love you no matter what--I can be steadfast in loving--because God loves me no matter what--because HE is steadfast in loving US. He fills us up with His love and then we simply receive it and release it. We build on the Rock. We build RELATIONSHIPS and CONNECTIONS on the basis and foundation of LOVE!