Strong part 1
I think sometimes we let "the way of the world" seduce us. We take things as Hollywood presents them to us. We don't put a lot of thought into what really is. Strength, for example. Which is where I'm going to spend the next few days. Because sometimes the strongest thing you can do is... nothing. Turning the other cheek takes immense strength. Especially when our "natural" reaction is to retaliate. And I put "natural" in quotation marks because our new (TRUE) nature is the love nature. Our true nature is not the carnal, beast nature. But we've come to believe that we're "only human." That we can't control the things we do. Guys... self control is a fruit of the Spirit. Really, it is. But we let "common knowledge" dictate to us. Look at 2 Timothy 2:1, "Thou therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus." That's where this Rant series is coming from. That's the verse that sparked in my heart. Be strong in grace. Grace, of course, being number 5485 in Strong's Greek Concordance and meaning, "graciousness; especially the divine influence upon the heart, and its reflection in the life." And to me, being gracious is just being nice. My dad always said, my whole life, "You can never be too nice to people." And I know a lot of times I've fallen well short of that, but when you truly begin to understand that you are loved--and what it means to be loved--its easy to be nice. To everybody. Even though it seems like the more you love, the less you are loved. Because love doesn't do what it does in order to get something. Love does what it does because it has something to give. And giving without expectation--especially without expectation of getting anything--that's strong. That's being strong in grace. Letting the divine--God... love--influence your heart. Letting God love the hell out of you and loving the hell out of everybody you come into contact with. Now, despite what Hollywood would lead you to believe, strength is not about getting revenge. It is about forgiving and forgetting. It is about, really, turning that other cheek. So don't take it personally, even if it is. "But as for you, ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive" (Genesis 50:20). When you're strong in grace you can let things play out. You can let people be who they are without trying to change them. You can love them anyway. Love them no matter what. Because, really, it doesn't matter how they intend things. What's that old saying? "It doesn't matter what tomorrow brings, when you know the One who brings tomorrow." Something like that. It doesn't matter if people are trying to harm you, because God means it unto good. "And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose" (Romans 8:28). All things work together for good. But you have to be strong enough to endure to get to the good sometimes. Not all the time, and I might touch on that tomorrow, but sometimes you have to go through "this" to get to "that." That's strength. Tough times don't last, right? But tough people do. So keep that head up. Be strong in grace. Be strong in the divine influence (LOVE) on the heart and its reflection in the life!