Heartbroken: Jesus is the Cause and the Cure

I bet you all though I was done talking about LOVE!!!  Love is the most important thing to me!!  My prayer to God has always been "Lord, break my heart for what breaks yours".

Filling the Void

To be Loved

To be Accepted

To be Recognized

Why do we crave love so much???  Love is always the solution to the problem.
What is our motivation to seek things we think will make us happy?  Busy lives, pets, drugs, alcohol, pushing others away?  When we do these things how long does this satisfaction last?  What do we do next when that thing doesn't work?  When we seek to fill this huge void with temporary fixes it is like we are seeking a superficial high to feel like we matter.

When did we first notice this void in our life?  It can be like a trickling effect of unrealistic expectations on other humans.  Humans are not perfect yet we expect perfection especially from close people to us like our parents.  We are constantly expecting a certain perfection.  One of my most favorite quotes to prove this point is from C.S. Lewis:

“My argument against God was that the universe seemed so cruel and unjust. But how had I got this idea of just and unjust? A man does not call a line crooked unless he has some idea of a straight line. What was I comparing this universe with when I called it unjust?”

We have this expectation of perfection and seek this perfection in our lives but there is only one man who can fill this and that is Jesus.

This void is also our greatest inherent desire which is to be LOVED.  When I say Love I mean it on much more than just a physical level.  This desire can only be remedied by Jesus!

We know we need love to survive like we know we need air to breathe and a lack of love results in feelings of rejection, depression, sickness, lack of motivation to do anything, suicidal-no reason to live, alone, and worthlessness.

We determine how loved we are by the physical evidence of the way others show that love to us.  It also determines if we love others and furthermore, it determines if we respect others.

As Christians we are loved!  We have been set apart because HE loves us.  He wants us to seek Him so that this life is nourished.  We will always be lost unless we depend on God to quench this thirst. We are seeking a big streak dinner--when it's only prepared by God.  He can satisfy this desire to be loved at such an extreme level it can only be felt by the heart.

Christian Unity

Do we speak about Christian unity as passionately as Paul did in the New Testament?  I am sure we can agree the answer is NO.  If struggles in life are getting more severe and more common our passion to live out Matthew 6:33 should be as well.  

But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well."  -Matthew 6:33

Paul addresses Christians as Brothers and Sisters and that is how we should treat one another.  This unity was created when Jesus died on the cross and His blood was shed.  Not only was the relationship between Christian and God changed but also the blood washed away the separation between Jew and Gentile and we became one body.  

By the precious blood that Jesus poured out we did not become friends with one another but instead we were united by our Heavenly Father as true Brothers and Sisters.  That is why even when it comes to gifts that God gives us it is a demonstration of the special task of one part of the body.  

As Brothers and Sisters we all share the same troubles and the same blessings.  Paul is a wonderful Brother who has encouraged us to live boldly for the Lord.  He was willing to struggle, to be in severe pain, to be in prison, and to die to glorify our Lord.

"He must become greater; I must become less."  -John 3:30

There are times when we forget God's promises or what He rescued us from and our Brothers and Sisters can remind us.  They can remind us to seek the only one that can save us from the smallest things to death.
"This is what the Lord says: “When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will come to you and fulfill my good promise to bring you back to this place.  For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you.  You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.  I will be found by you,” declares the Lord, “and will bring you back from captivity. I will gather you from all the nations and places where I have banished you,” declares the Lord, “and will bring you back to the place from which I carried you into exile."  -Jeremiah 29:10-15

One of the hardest tasks with the issue of christian unity is how different we feel from the rest of society and sometimes within our own family.  However, no matter how different we think we feel we must keep our focus on our purpose which is to glorify our Heavenly Father.  It is because of Him that we are united and we must not get confused in small issues that derail us from the task at hand.  Paul even warns us that there will be things that will try to confuse us.  The enemy will try to drive a wedge between Brothers and Sisters knowing what your weaknesses are.

With that diversity that God created in us He also created us to desire likeness.  The likeness of being loved, being noticed, being accepted, and to seek help.  Our desire to be noticed has already been fulfilled because God has set you apart from those people who are not children of God.  My Brothers and Sisters you are already special and noticed!!

God has created us to 1) love Him and 2) to seek out others in fellowship.  One of the most important aspects of fellowship is what I sum up as kindred spirits.  No matter how smart we think we are, we as Brothers and Sisters all fall to the same things.  However, because God created us to be in relationship with one another we can encourage one another when we do fall.  Through this relationship with our Father we are apart of 1 body.  It is further proof of God's love for His children when we know of someone who went through a similar struggle.  It is even more telling when we find another person who has an experience so close to yours you know it is God pointing out that you are not alone.  

With this we must remember what God commands us to do.  God commands us to do many things but the one thing that stands out is to love others as God has loved you.  God created all of His children to be different but we feel the same, struggle the same, and the solution is still the same.  

Furthermore, God did not just want us to get married to have one close relationship.  He wants us to be united with all of our Brothers and Sisters.  We suffer very specific things for a special reason and there is no mistake with God in control.  In the same way we search for reviews for mechanics we also search and respect others who have been through a similar or exact struggle.  God will use your pain and struggles to encourage someone else.  

Sometimes when our Brothers and Sisters sing or talk about Jesus you can hear the condition of their heart.  When they speak they may say things that our own spirit recognizes and springs to attention knowing exactly what they are talking about.  It is in this recognition that if our heart did not know the words to say before it knows it now.  
We may even feel we know our Brothers and Sisters even better because of the Holy Spirit speaking through them to you.  Which further edifies the reason behind christian unity.  God loves YOU!!

As God's children we are predestined, called, justified, and glorified.  It is only by God's authority these things can be true.

"And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters.  And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified."  -Romans 8:28-30 

Home

As I have written before we have only lived in Colorado for a few months now.  So I was recently asked if it feels like home now.  Home is such a dedicated feeling.  It describes where you consider your roots to be planted.  Where you find comfort. 

I don't view comfort like most people view it.  Comfort to me is in the challenges in life because in the challenges lies my Savior, my Redeemer.

What is home?  According to the dictionary it is your permanent residence.  If I base my answer on if it feels like home here in Colorado I would have to say no as I would any place you could name in the world.  That being said Colorado is my favorite state in the United States and one of my favorite places in the world. There are many beautiful places to live here on earth but our surroundings can be deceiving.   Take a tropical island for instance.  You may be surrounded by what society calls perfection (beaches, warm weather, mountains).  What happens if you strip away your physical environment?  What is left? 

Now you may think I am over analyzing the subject of home and perhaps I am but I believe everyone longs to have a place to call home.  I have never found a place on earth (including my hometown) where I feel yes this is my home. 

Heaven is my true home and that is the place my soul longs for.  I am glad I feel the way I do.  I have certain roots planted here on earth but I never want to get so comfortable that I feel that this is my permanent residence.  Nothing on earth is permanent.  My life experiences have proved that.  My heart is focused on my heavenly Father and where He resides in Heaven is the place I consider my home.

"When they want to convince you that earth is your home, notice how they set about it.  They begin by trying to persuade you that earth can be made into heaven, thus giving a sop to your sense of exile in earth as it is. Next, they tell you that this fortunate event is

still a good way off in the future, thus giving a sop to your knowledge that the

fatherland is not here and now. Finally, lest your longing for the transtemporal should awake and spoil the whole affair, they use any rhetoric that comes to hand to keep out of your mind the recollection that even if all the happiness they promised

could come to man on earth, yet still each generation would lose it by death, including the last generation of all, and the whole story would be nothing, not even a story, for ever and ever." 

-The Weight of Glory (C.S. Lewis)

The Desire to Belong

As I read "The Inner Ring" a speech by C.S. Lewis I felt a kindred spirit with one of my favorite authors.  He touched on a major desire planted in all our hearts.  That desire is to feel like we belong.  I've been meditating on this subject for quite some time.  I have noticed how often people want to make connections with others.  I see it a lot with my job as we are in the business of helping others.  At times I talk to people that just want to tell you their story.  They just want to feel like someone cares about what they are dealing with.  It is with this deep desire to feel like we are "in the know".  As Lewis points out it is good to feel that you are "in the know" as it builds fellowship and connections with our fellow brothers and sisters.  We were created for relationship. 

I've lived in Colorado now for two months which has been a radical change from the tropical island we were on.  From a lush tropical landscape to a high desert climate.  I can imagine Adam and Eve felt the same as they walked out of the Garden of Eden.  They walked away from what they knew into unknown dangers and obstacles.

I have moved a lot throughout my life because I love change.  I don't like to get comfortable and laxidasical.  I love change because it always presents new challenges for me to be better.  Because of my desire for change I haven't felt really tied or close to a community in a long time.  For the first time in a long time it is nice to see people I know in the grocery store and for them to remember my name.  I value that sense of belonging.  Especially as I get older it is becoming more important.  My heart burns for that desire to be fulfilled. 

Our society has been engrossed with the idea that because you have been to places so radically different from where you grew up, that somehow equals success.  As I'm sure we have all heard someone say, "Wow he/she is really going places".  Where is the value in going to these places?  Is it to pride ourselves on tropical islands or obscure cultures?  Somehow the unfamiliar has become a pursuit.  That being said I like to experience the unfamiliar but I think we have to look at our motive for this pursuit.

"Is it for His glory or for yours"?