If There be Nothing Else

Misty Edwards- Eternity

If there be no other thing that we have learned let it be love. Love for Christ. Let us be a people that dream dreams of love and have visions of love. Let us be known by how we have love God, how we have sacrificed to minister to the heart of God; by how we have laid down our life so that His life may be made whole in us. But what is it to love God? John 14:15 says this: “If you love Me, you will keep My commands.” His commanded us to love God with all of our heart, mind, and soul, and to love our neighbor as ourselves. It goes in this huge circle: love, obey, love, obey, love, obey. Love. Jesus is the perfect example, the perfect fulfillment of this command. It is only we learn how to love God with everything that we begin to grasp the edges of loving our neighbor. To love God we place everything under Him, He is first, in everything. The first portion, the first priority, the first love, the first Father, the first Friend- we live to lay down everything to serve the heart of God. Then out of that overflow of God’s love in us we begin to serve others. We lay down our life for our brother following the example of our Father and Creator. If there is nothing else that we grasp, in this God thing, let it be love. If we became a people that truly loved with everything, relentlessly, passionately, to death, it would shake the foundations of the world and cause this world to tremble. Christ loved and He forever took victory over sin and death. And this love, this conquering love, is outside the bounds of time and lays the foundation for eternity. This love counts, it destroys every work of the enemy and establishes the Kingdom of Heaven on earth- it brings heaven down. Let us learn to love it is the plea from the heart of God- to love and conquer like Him.

Devotional for Knowing God

What does it mean to know the heart of God? Not just too simply recognize His heart, but to know, intimately. There are so many times in our Christian culture that we have settled for recognizing His face but not pursuing His heart. Perhaps that is why this culture cannot get past their own sin and recognize His love for them and His love through them. In our friendships and relationships we are not satisfied with simply knowing someone’s face. We seek time with them to know their heart and their emotions. We crave their affection and attention, and we do not think that this applies to our relationship with God as well. This passivity toward knowing God is the very reason many of us struggle in our relationship to Him. John 14:23-26 says this: “Jesus answered, "If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word. My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him. The one who doesn't love Me will not keep My words. The word that you hear is not Mine but is from the Father who sent Me. "I have spoken these things to you while I remain with you. But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit-the Father will send Him in My name-will teach you all things and remind you of everything I have told you.”  We are given instruction not just to recognize Him, but to know Him, and intimately love Him.  God wants us to know every part of Him- the Father, Son, and Spirit. It is not enough to know only the Son- the Son is the gateway into intimate relationship with the Father who then sends the Holy Spirit to empower and equip us into deeper intimacy with God. “If you know Me, you will also know My Father From Now on you do know Him and have seen Him.”- John 14:7. “And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Counselor to be with you forever.”- John 14:16. We were created to know God, to desire God, to pursue God, to long for God- He is the only one who satisfies this deep longing. My beloved, we must hunger. If we do not we will be too easily satisfied with just recognizing God.  Matthew 7:21-23 states, “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord!’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of My Father in heaven. On that day many will say to Me, ‘Lord, Lord, didn’t we prophesy in Your name, drive out demons in Your name, and do many miracles in Your name?’ Then I will announce to them, ‘I never knew you! Depart from Me, you lawbreakers!” Recognizing Jesus is neither the destination nor the final goal. Recognizing Him is the avenue the Father planned for us to enter into deeper relationship with Him and to share in His satisfying, rich, and passionate love. 

Send Me.

My beloved friends,

Isaiah 6:8- “Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying: Who should I send? Who will go for Us? I said: Here I am. Send me. And He replied: Go! Say to these people: Keep listening, but do not understand; keep looking, but do not perceive. Dull the minds of these people; deafen their ears and blind their eyes; otherwise they might see with their eyes and hear with their ears, understand with their minds, turn back, and be healed.”

We are a generation of deaf and blind people. We do not see anything, nor do we hear. We have shut our eyes to the vision of God; we do not see what He sees. The visions of humanity that burn His heart we have blinded ourselves too. We look upon sin and do not shutter, we watch people perish and do not groan. Where is the weeping of this generation for those that are murdering their spirits daily, where is the gnashing of teeth? My beloved it is time for the Bride of Christ to open her eyes and see all that He sees.

Proverbs 29:18- “Where there is no vision [no redemptive revelation of God], the people perish; but he who keeps the law [of God, which includes that of man]--blessed (happy, fortunate, and enviable) is he.”

We are a culture that is perishing, daily, hourly, and minutely. Where is our weeping for this?!

Even more, those who cry out for help reach ears that have chosen not to hear. We do not hear wisdom cry out from the streets, we do not hear life pour out from the city. My beloved we are deaf and blind.

And God still cries out, “Who shall I send? Who will go for Us?”

God, send me.

Ready to have a Holy Ghost Party!

I just love mustaches. Purple ones to be exact. 

Ceilings are meant to be enjoyed.

The wonderful women I am spending this year with.

Blogging

Never in my life did I think I would be a blogger. I’m not a person that thinks I have anything of importance to say, and it’s true. But there is something inside of me that has something of great importance to say and He has moved me to start something that is bigger than me. There is an unstoppable passion that is sweeping our culture- we are desiring for something more.

We want more freedom.

More entertainment.

More love.

More money.

More time.

More fun.

More excitement.

More….everything.

There are so many things that are filling our passion and desire, but we need more and more because it doesn’t last, it doesn’t sustain us.

Our culture needs something that satisfies us, and makes us long for more.

I want to share what I have found, what I have learned. I want to tell you about my life, and also pour into yours.

This is an invitation to a destiny.

I invite you to join with me in my path. To hear and read about my ups and downs.

Beloved, lets know God together.