IT'S A LOVE THANG!!!

I am skilled at conceiving a detailed plan. I have been gifted with an ability to see the broad scope of a task or goal, while at the same time I am able to recognize the small intricacies that are fundamental to the success of the overall vision. This is not to say that I am perfect in this function but rather to say that my gifting tends to be focused on the vision and the details that must be accounted for to accomplish the goals the vision encompasses.

What I am not good at is accounting for the humanity of the individuals on whose shoulders the performance of the tasks necessary to the carry out said vision rest. I am marvelously patient to perform tedious chores to further the cause, but sadly impatient with the human nature of the people with whom I endeavor towards vision fulfillment. In essence I have patience with those things that I can control but a decided lack of forbearance with the intimacies of human make up, such as emotion, fatigue, unwillingness, disparaging points of view, lack of faith, strength of conviction, and so on and so forth. To control our nature is the great struggle of our days, and only one man has fully overcome himself. I find this to be unworkable.

In science a theorist will conduct an experiment to evaluate a hypothesis. The scientist will set up a control group where all the variables of the research are regulated. In the control group the outcome is predetermined. Based on the scientist’s knowledge, foresight and execution the result is known. Synchronously the scientist will run the same experiment but with a specific variable left to nature. In this second sample the outcome is unknown. The hypothesis will be challenged by the results of the second analysis. I am a big fan of the control group. I like the order in it and the way it shines when the light touches it. To me the control group is a fabulous work of art, the other more chaotic experiment; not so much.

We my friends are not the control group. I know this probably comes as a great shock to you but we do unpredictable and random things. We respond to the strangest stimuli. For example why is it that even though I know its bad for me and my mind screams no, no, no I will eat ice cream until I vomit. Or how is it that I am so attracted to the treasures of this temporary life but it requires great discipline for me to pursue the truly priceless abundance that is available.

This really bothers me, and I suspect it bothers God quite a lot too. In fact He has sent countless prophets to His people to combat this human tendency. The fact of the matter is though that if we were all robots we would have run out of oil long ago, plus the flood would have been even more detrimental than it actually was, just think about it.

So what is it that holds this whole reckless, largely out of control existence that we call life together? What is it that helps me to relax and patiently put away my frustration when the emotion of the moment overrides the common sense of me or the one I am engaged with? What is the driving force that makes God continue to send out the prophets, to continue to talk us down off the ledges we make for ourselves and then precariously balance upon, miles off the foundation of the governing principals He has provided for us?

John 3:16 (The Message)
16-17"This is how much God loved the world: He gave his Son, his one and only Son. And this is why: so that no one need be destroyed; by believing in him, anyone can have a whole and lasting life. God didn't go to all the trouble of sending his Son merely to point an accusing finger, telling the world how bad it was. He came to help, to put the world right again.

Foundation principal number one, it takes love to move the Kingdom of God forward. Yes it is basic and we all know it. It is not some startling new revelation that God is just now gifting us with. Love is foundational.

I recently read a book by Phillip K. Dick. It is a sci-fi work titled “The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch”, one of the most thought provoking pieces of literature I have read in a long while. In the book Mr. Dick raises the idea that we are all confined or made free by the way in which we view God. This is not a direct quote but rather a summary of some of his discussion. He then goes on to examine the supposition that not only is God the creator of the universe and the governing principals of it but He is also subject to the principals that He put in place to govern His creation. Upon further thought and consideration I would put it another way. It is not simply that God is subject to the principals that are in place governing creation but rather that these principals flow out of who He is.

So when we practice love in what we do, we are practicing God in a sense. When we allow love to guide our actions and decisions we allow God to guide us. If we are to build a foundation on Christ and He came as an act of love then it follows that we build on the Rock when we build on love.

I pray that God would be practiced more and more in our lives. I pray that you experience God through the love of those around you, both in your families and in the strangers that you meet today. May God find a willing conduit for love in you and may the ways in which you express Him have a profoundly deep impact on those who receive. Lord we ask that you deliver us from any attitudes, beliefs and habits, that we have that are not rooted in the founding principal of love. Have your way in us so your way comes to others through us. In the name of the Christ you gave in love we ask it.