Sunday, April 28, 2013

Reflections April 28, 2013 "Hold On To Love"


Reflections April 28th, 2013
Hold On To Love”
But now faith, hope, love, abide these three; but the greatest of these is love.” 1 Corinthians 13:12
Scripture Reading For this Week: Genesis 1;2; Song of Solomon; John 3:16-17; John 17; 1 Corinthians 13; Galatians 5:22-23...
How can I possibly explain how much I love the Lord? I don't believe I have the vernacular to do justice to what my heart and spirit hoards for the Father. I love Him. I love Him with every fiber of my being. Every single molecule. His love has set me free, and I never want to let go of Him. No matter what comes at me in this life; I will hold on to love.
I declare and decree that this week's Reflections will be a continued source of encouragement for your heart, mind and soul. There may be some things that have caused you to draw back and not to love freely or unconditionally; but now is the time to get back in and love unconditionally. No longer will you let go of love, but you will hold on, give love and receive the love you deserve.
What a powerful revelation the Father blessed me with concerning love. How can I even begin to tell you? I guess the best way is to just show you; through my actions, through my writing, through my service to the Father on a daily basis.
Do you know how powerful love is? Do you understand how love can change things? Unconditional love? God love? God? Oh my dear friends, when I understood that God is love and that He has created in me that same love; a part of Him is in me—I cannot begin to tell you how that revelation changed my life, and how I love and receive love.
It is a given that in this lifetime we are going to be hurt, disappointed, and discouraged. It will come. Yet, we cannot allow those things to stop us from loving unconditionally. Many of us love, but we love with conditions. This was not always the case. When we come into this world, all we know is to love unconditionally as a child, until we grow up and begin to experience life and put into practice what we've been taught. Taught through others actions; mimicking the way others loved around us.
The only way to know how to love, to love unconditionally, is to be intimate with the Father; to understand how He loves and to know what it is He desires from us. Any other kind of love is temporal. It will not last or stand the tests and trials of our lifetime. It holds restraints and has conditions upon it.
However, the love of God—God Love—is refreshing, liberating, unconditional, mind and heart changing, and it is everlasting. Don't get me wrong; I am not saying that we will not experience hurt and disappointment while loving unconditionally, because we will. That being a part of life in this earth. But, we can triumph over those hurts, and love freely without having to contort ourselves into someone we do not know, filled with bitterness, regrets, carrying countless baggage, and never trusting anyone. That's not Christ! That's not God Love! That is a prison sentence. God has set us free from that. And we can live and love without any strings or conditions attached.
So can we agree that in this life we will experience disappointment and hurt? But can we also agree that we can will also experience the joy and gift of love when we love God's way? We cannot allow unconditional love to slip from our spirits because we have been hurt. No matter how many times it has occurred. I know: easier said than done. But I don't believe so. Not when you allow God that place upon the throne of your heart, and you begin to love as He loves. When you allow the Father to teach you how to navigate and how to love as He does.
I learned a valuable lesson. I came to the understanding that many of us have allowed the way we love to be shaped by our experiences with others. And because of this, we hinder and short change ourselves when it comes to giving and receiving love. We punish others for the missteps and hurts caused by another.
When you are hurt, you cannot allow it [hurt] to change your love. Love should be unconditional. When hurt or disappointed, there is the tendency to alter how we love, and not allow the next person in our lives to experience that unconditional love. Instead, we bring judgment and fear and baggage from the past. This can keep us from the wealth of blessings that God has for our lives. Do not allow the pain and heartache and disappointment from previous relationships; whether it's romantic, friendships, or even a relationship with a church—to change how you love and receive love. Allow God to guard your heart, as you continue to love unconditionally.
Again, in this life, there is going to be sorrows, heartache, pain, disappointment. But there is also triumphs, joy, peace, and yes, love. We mustn't allow the hurt we have experienced today to dictate how we love tomorrow. We find this especially in romantic relationships. We get hurt by someone we loved deeply. Because of this, we may find that we are not willing to love as freely; finding ourselves placing conditions on our love. If the person does this,or if they say that, then it's over. We hold them to a standard created by the actions of another. In this instance, we never get to truly know or even love this person or receive the love they have for us, because it is tainted by the hurt and disappointment from previous experiences.
The same thing can be said when we go to churches. I don't know how many stories I have heard, and can testify to myself, where someone has been hurt by people in the church. They find themselves going from church to church; eventually giving up on on any fellowship with a local church body. Why? Because as soon as we see anything resembling what we experienced, we are out the door! Is that fair? Did we sit down with the Pastor and discuss our experiences? Did we allow God to bring healing to our hearts? Dis we allow ourselves time to even heal before moving forward? Probably not.
When it comes to love—unconditional love—we need to hold on and never let it go. It makes all the difference in our experiences. It makes the difference in how we interact with others, how we see ourselves, and how we not only give love, but receive love.
1 Corinthians 13:4-8a “Love is kind and patient, never jealous, boastful, proud, or 5 rude. Love isn’t selfish or quick tempered. It doesn’t keep a record of wrongs that others do.6 Love rejoices in the truth, but not in evil. 7 Love is always supportive, loyal, hopeful, and trusting.8 Love never fails!”
I decree that the spirit of peace and of prosperity has found permanent rest in your lives: spiritually, physically, emotionally, mentally, socially, and financially. Let love reign. Let God be all up in your space, loving on you and teaching you to love. Hold onto love and never let it go. No matter the circumstances or situations, love will always and can always endure. You are Blessed. Now go...and Be a Blessing!
©2013. Ruthe McDonald. All Rights Reserved.


Thursday, April 11, 2013

Something's On My Mind

There has been many things on my mind lately; things that I have been occupying much mental space and time.  Before I know it, the minutes and hours have passed, and I STILL have these things on my mind.

Have you ever been there? Where you lose track of time because of the things that are heavy on your mind? What do you do? How do you deal with those things? How do you address them, and move forward without losing hours of your time?

I know that when things like that enter my mind, I have to take a step back and really address what it is that is going on inside. I realize that something taking up that much time, is not solely in my mind, but has made it to the core of my heart.

Two nights ago, I was up working late; writing, editing, researching. And in the midst of my flow, my heart grew heavy and thoughts began swimming quickly through my mind, and I felt the ache in my heart flutter, as my mind thought on each and every black son.

Woosh! The thoughts came rushing in like a heavy wave; one right after the other. My mind could not stop from thinking on the state of our young black children; especially our sons. Everyday I am hearing a tragic story concerning one of our youths. Please don't get me wrong: I also hear and relish in the good that I hear also. However, my heartaches for those who have someway fallen through the cracks. Those young boys and men who didn't get their opportunity and was robbed. Those young black men that were lied to, and had their innocence stolen.

I am tired of seeing our children not make it to adulthood. I'm tired of the prisons filling with our best and brightest. Yet no one knows this, because so many were never given the opportunity to make another choice. They didn't know there was another choice.

Yes. This is on my mind, and what we should do. We cannot continue to abandon them, or act as if they do not exist. There has to be a change. A change in our behavior, in our actions, and our reactions. 


My Black Son, My Black Son

My Black son, My Black Son
Where are you going, what have you done
I see your face everywhere I go
I hear your cries and the pain you cannot let go

My Black Son, My Black Son
Where are you going, what has been done
Who lied to you, and led you astray
Who made you feel less than, when you are so much more than

My Black Son, My Black Son
Where are you going, what are you doing
Who placed death into your hands, who told you that's what makes a man
Who was it that rob you of your youth, and questioned your manhood

My Black Son, My Black Son
Where are you going, what is going to become
Your legacy, your mark upon this earth
You have power, God given power
Your past, your failures, your trials and tests
Do not determine your worth, but add to your growth and strength

My Black Son, My Black Son
Strong and Majestic, Called and Chosen
My Black Son, My Black King

Copyrighted ©2013 by Ruthe McDonald. All Rights Reserved.