More and more often, I find myself putting my hands in front of me, palms up and open. It is a kinesthetic reminder to myself to live with open hands. When God first talked to me about open hands, He used them in the context of loving other people. Since then, He has shown me that living with open hands is His way.
Psalm 145 says: The Lord always keeps His promises, He is gracious in all He does. The Lord helps the fallen and lifts those bent beneath their loads. The eyes of all look to You in hope; You give them their food as they need it. When You open Your hand, You satisfy the hunger and thirst of every living thing. Living with open hands is God's way. He loves us and provides for us with open hands. (See the first "open hands" blog for more.)
The other day, while I ran, God talked with me about forgiving with open hands. Forgiving and letting go. The Bible is filled with admonitions to forgive others just as God forgave us. If we refuse to forgive, we become obsessed with our hurts. As we cling to our hurts, they begin to possess us. Please believe me, as hard as it can be to forgive, especially when our hurts become a part of us, it is worth it! Forgiveness gives us freedom to live with open hands!
Open hands can receive from God and from the people in our lives. I can't imagine taking a cup of coffee offered to me by my husband with closed hands...nearly impossible! Only my open hands can receive the gifts offered to my by those who love me. Only my open hands can receive the gifts offered to me by the God who loves me.
Open hands are in position for prayer. The book of Acts records numerous times when the disciples prayed for people and laid hands on them...open hands required. The Psalms and Paul's letters to Timothy suggest prayer to God with hands lifted up to Him...open hands. I often pray with my hands folded together, but now they will be open. Open to worship, pray, and receive.
As much as I would love to be able to say that I live with open hands, it is not my human state. It is hard for me to let go. Fear says letting go will lead to hurt and abandonment. Well, fear is a liar. Fear comes from the devil. (I've written many blogs about my battle and victory over fear, but that doesn't mean that the devil doesn't keep trying to paralyze me with it!)
The bottom line for me is trust in God. Do I trust Him with my family, my friends, my future, my hurts, my heart...so that I can open my hands and stop clinging? That's a hard question and one I must ask myself daily, sometimes hourly. Trusting God requires knowing God and knowing that He is trustworthy. Trusting God requires spending time with Him. I'm building trust so that I can live with open hands.
Thursday, June 27, 2019
Monday, June 17, 2019
overwhelmed by love
I am convinced that our lives would be radically changed if we allowed ourselves to be overwhelmed by the love of God. Love and relationship are what God is all about! 1 John 4:8 comes right out and says that God is love. We are tremendously loved, accepted, and wanted by the God who created us, but the enemy does his best to convince us otherwise. It's all part of his plan to keep us separated from our Father God. Sin was part of that plan too, but God so LOVED the world that He gave His only Son as the once and for all sacrifice that bridged the separation caused by sin. (John 3:16) God made a way for us to have relationship with Him, and He did it because He loves us.
Even when we have accepted God's gift of Jesus, the devil doesn't give up. He lies to us and puts us in fear and tries to persuade us that we are unloved by our Creator. We aren't the only generation to fall for the lies. The Apostle Paul wrote to the church in Ephesus, "Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in Him. Your roots will grow down into God's love and keep you strong. And may your have the power to understand, as all God's people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep His love is. May you experience the love of Christ though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God." (Ephesians 3:17-19) And in Romans, Paul wrote, "I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God's love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow-not even the powers of hell can separate us from God's love. No power in the sky above or in the earth below-indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord." (Romans 8:38-39)
I'm certain that the devil lied to Paul, using his past against him. Paul had killed Christians before he became one. Paul was shipwrecked and imprisoned more than once after He became a Christian, and I bet the devil used those times to tell Paul that God didn't love him. But, Paul allowed God to overwhelm him with love, even when he was in prison. Paul was CONVINCED of God's love...not only for himself but for all Christians...and that includes you and me!
More and more often, the prayer of my heart is, "Show us Your love, God. Overwhelm us with your love." I am certain that He will answer!
Even when we have accepted God's gift of Jesus, the devil doesn't give up. He lies to us and puts us in fear and tries to persuade us that we are unloved by our Creator. We aren't the only generation to fall for the lies. The Apostle Paul wrote to the church in Ephesus, "Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in Him. Your roots will grow down into God's love and keep you strong. And may your have the power to understand, as all God's people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep His love is. May you experience the love of Christ though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God." (Ephesians 3:17-19) And in Romans, Paul wrote, "I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God's love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow-not even the powers of hell can separate us from God's love. No power in the sky above or in the earth below-indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord." (Romans 8:38-39)
I'm certain that the devil lied to Paul, using his past against him. Paul had killed Christians before he became one. Paul was shipwrecked and imprisoned more than once after He became a Christian, and I bet the devil used those times to tell Paul that God didn't love him. But, Paul allowed God to overwhelm him with love, even when he was in prison. Paul was CONVINCED of God's love...not only for himself but for all Christians...and that includes you and me!
More and more often, the prayer of my heart is, "Show us Your love, God. Overwhelm us with your love." I am certain that He will answer!
Saturday, June 1, 2019
open hands
Put your hands in front of you where you can see them. Are they open? Are they clenched in tight fists? Are they somewhere in between? Several months ago, God started talking with me about loving with open hands. He showed me my own hands, open and palms facing up (in human anatomy it's called supinated), and He said, "This is how I want you to love."
In my usual style, I've been slowly processing that...thinking, talking, and asking questions. I think I am starting to understand what loving with open hands means. The opposite would be loving with clinging hands that hold on tightly to the people we love. Clinging hands are fearful...afraid of being hurt, rejected, or abandoned. Clinging hands are controlling. Clinging hands put us AND the people we love in bondage. No one is free to be himself or herself. No one is free to love. And no one is free of fear.
God loves us with open hands. He wants us to enter His embrace, to love and to be loved, but He gives us freedom to choose. He gives us grace to come back to His open hands each time we go our own way. He doesn't cling or control us. In John 13:34, Jesus said to his disciples, "Love each other. Just as I have loved you, love each other." Jesus loved His people with open hands, allowing them to make their choices and make mistakes, but He always received them back with open hands. He is our role model. He wants us to choose to be more like Him.
Open hands allow us to give and receive love. Open hands give freedom. Open hands are trusting. Open hands are a sign that we are living in the perfect love of God which expels all fear. (1 John 4:18) Jesus lived and died with open hands, loving us into eternity. I want to be more like Jesus!
In my usual style, I've been slowly processing that...thinking, talking, and asking questions. I think I am starting to understand what loving with open hands means. The opposite would be loving with clinging hands that hold on tightly to the people we love. Clinging hands are fearful...afraid of being hurt, rejected, or abandoned. Clinging hands are controlling. Clinging hands put us AND the people we love in bondage. No one is free to be himself or herself. No one is free to love. And no one is free of fear.
God loves us with open hands. He wants us to enter His embrace, to love and to be loved, but He gives us freedom to choose. He gives us grace to come back to His open hands each time we go our own way. He doesn't cling or control us. In John 13:34, Jesus said to his disciples, "Love each other. Just as I have loved you, love each other." Jesus loved His people with open hands, allowing them to make their choices and make mistakes, but He always received them back with open hands. He is our role model. He wants us to choose to be more like Him.
Open hands allow us to give and receive love. Open hands give freedom. Open hands are trusting. Open hands are a sign that we are living in the perfect love of God which expels all fear. (1 John 4:18) Jesus lived and died with open hands, loving us into eternity. I want to be more like Jesus!
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