2/3/25

I love my Lord and my Savior!

There is so much hurt in this fallen world it is easy to lose focus on God and to lock our eyes in on the awful hurt. This morning I was reminded of this. After several days of sickness, I had hopes of waking up feeling fine that was not the case. However, it wasn't just my hurt that I woke up to. I received a call that a dear sister in our church had lost her husband. For the next hour or so my focus was not on God but on the hurt of this world. I finally had a moment of clarity and I went into some time with the Lord. I was amazed at the clear and peaceful words He spoke into my heart as I prayed. He took me to a verse that I would like us to look at today. 2 Thessalonians 3:5 NASB95 May the Lord direct your hearts into the love of God and into the steadfastness of Christ.

I pray this for us all who are focused on hurt today.

May the Lord God please direct, guide, and, when needed, carry our hearts.

The heart is the center of our being. The seat of feelings, desires, and passions (e.g., joy, pain, love, desire, and lust). The seat of thought and understanding. The seat of the will and the religious center to which God turns, which is the root of religious life, and which determines moral conduct. (TDNT)

God, please carry/direct and guide this center of our being into the LOVE OF GOD. The agape of the Lord. The place of unconditional love where no created thing can separate us from You and Your love. When sickness and death attempt to turn our focus and drag us out of this place of comfort and peace, remind us that You have guided us into Your Love, and nothing can remove us!

Remind us, Lord, as you did me this morning, that we are in the steadfastness of Christ.

Christ's steadfastness is the ability to stand and persevere. It is to remain and endure amid all opposition. Jesus could have just spoken the word and come off the cross. He could have appealed to the Father and received 12 legions of angels. He spoke in the garden and they all fell to the ground. Yet with all this power He instead held back and stood steadfast on the cross. It wasn't the nails that held Him on the cross it was His steadfast love for us!

It is with that same steadfastness that the Lord God our Savior directs our hearts into God's agape love.

So, as hurt draws our attention, let us not forget our God, who guides and directs us into the center of His love, which provides peace when the world's hurt surrounds us.

2 Thessalonians 3:5 NASB95 May the Lord direct your hearts into the love of God and into the steadfastness of Christ.

Love Bro. Scott