Irvine :)

That's where I am right now! I've been in Irvine for two days now, and it's been so good. Tonight was the summer Bible study with those Navigators who are still in the area for the summer. We were a good-sized group tonight, eight people, who got to share about our weeks and delve into the chapter of study for the week: John 14. So I have to be honest--I actually didn't do the study or even look at it until like an hour before the meeting, but it just so happened that one of the verses I was memorizing this week was John 14:21--

"Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him."

So that is what I've been thinking about this week. That's what it means to love Jesus! First, to study his Word, finding out what pleases Him and writing that on my heart, and second, to actually do what pleases Him!

One thing that was really tough for me this week was seeing someone I love not do this, yet feeling like it was not my place to correct them or point out their sin to them, and not knowing how to love or serve them in that circumstance. This was really burdening me through the week, and tonight, after reading and discussing John 14 with the Bible study group, I finally feel like I understand a little better how I can love and serve this person! And I once again feel what only Jesus can give us: "Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid." :D

What I finally felt I understood about how to serve this person was this:
A friend of mine told me the other day, "Everyone wants to serve, but nobody wants to be treated like a servant."
That was so me this week. I realized that the reason I felt I didn't know how to love this person was because they seemed to me to be seeking to be served, which made me resistant and unwilling to serve them. In other words, they were in a sense treating me like a servant, and although I wanted to serve them, I didn't want them to treat me that way. I was definitely sinfully judging them. Ouch.

Another passage that I read a few days ago was Hebrews 12:2-3
"Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the trone of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart."
If Jesus endured such opposition from sinful man, then I should do the same and still continue serving out of love. This has been so encouraging to me, and yet it was exactly what I didn't do this week. I am such a sinner! So thankful that "if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness"! Praise God.
Jesus said, "I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father." !!! Jesus says that if I believe in him, then I have to serve like he served, pray like he prayed, love like he loved, sacrifice like he sacrificed--I have to walk like he walked if I claim to live in him (1John 1:6).

And all this I want to do with thanksgiving, for "surely I have a delightful inheritance" (Ps.16:6b). "Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, for our 'God is a consuming fire'" (Heb.12:28-29).