Heb 10:24 And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works
Yes, I'm coming back to this because we generally don't think much about provoking someone to love and to good works.
The word provoke has taken on bad connotations. When we think of provoking we think about teasing, instigating, getting people to do things that aren't good. Provoking someone to react in a bad way. We generally just don't usually hear the term in this way- 'He provoked me to do good.' We do however hear this. 'He encouraged me to do good.' The word is provoke and that means to incite and again we do not think good things when we think about inciting. We think about inciting to anger, inciting to riot, we don't think about inciting to love and good works. But we HAVE to think about it because we are told to consider one another and in that considering we are to PROVOKE to love and to good works.
Incite to do good.
Incite to love.
We know what it means to provoke to do bad we're good at that aren't we? We know how to get on each others nerves easily. But we need to know how to easily provoke to good.
Ask yourself right now, when is the last time you provoked someone to do good, to love?
I know people who seem to do it all the time. Their lives are spent seeking to do good for others and encouraging others to do it as well. These people are living closer to God than most because they are loving! And we are called to LOVE!
We are NOT called to be loved, but to GIVE LOVE.
We've gotten things so screwed up, and it's been screwed up for so long that we honestly believe we deserve love and all that we imagine comes with it. We deserve it and if we get it then maybe, just maybe we'll give it too.
We believe we are owed love. That being loved by others is our RIGHT and if we aren't loved then something is wrong somewhere, with others maybe or more often than not we internalize not being loved and believe that the fault lies with us, that there is something wrong with us and that's why we aren't loved. We look for a superficial love, our society has made that superficial love all important, more important than the real love that God intended. The truth is we should LOVE FIRST and if love is returned than praise GOD, but if it's not we can't let that dictate our ability to LOVE.
We need to provoke each other to love.
I need others to provoke me to love, and I need to provoke others to love. When we provoke and are provoked to love we are being surrounded by love, aren't we?
Yet I have no guarantees that anyone will provoke me to love especially this day and age. I'm not guaranteed to have anyone poking at me mentally, emotionally telling me daily to love, to love, to love, to love…..loveeeeeeeeeeeee! And I do have someone a principality, a power in SATAN who will constantly do all he can to keep me from loving, or wanting to love in anyway, even in the smallest ways. Sometimes those small ways mean a lot and Satan hates all love because he knows where the REAL source of TRUE love is, and he hates God.
LOVE.
It's such a simple answer, but it means so incredibly much!
GOD'S LOVE.
True love, unlike the perverted love that we know so well.
We are never deprived of GOD'S love and yet how many people long for love- that hollow, poor excuse for love that Satan has introduced and that He withholds and destroys all the time? People long for it, they ache for this love, they die for this love, they kill for this love, they do crazy things for this love, and yes, at times they do wonderful things for this love. That love can only destroy because it's NOT God's LOVE, the true love that we need so desperately, the love we truly should be longing for. We can find God's true love in His Word and know it's revealed perfectly through the love of His SON, the Sacrifice.
God please provoke us to love, YOUR LOVE. Please Lord help us to provoke each other to YOUR true love and through that- good works. Please LORD all in YOU, all THROUGH YOU!
In YOUR LOVE!
By YOUR GRACE!
YOUR MERCY!
Yes, I'm coming back to this because we generally don't think much about provoking someone to love and to good works.
The word provoke has taken on bad connotations. When we think of provoking we think about teasing, instigating, getting people to do things that aren't good. Provoking someone to react in a bad way. We generally just don't usually hear the term in this way- 'He provoked me to do good.' We do however hear this. 'He encouraged me to do good.' The word is provoke and that means to incite and again we do not think good things when we think about inciting. We think about inciting to anger, inciting to riot, we don't think about inciting to love and good works. But we HAVE to think about it because we are told to consider one another and in that considering we are to PROVOKE to love and to good works.
Incite to do good.
Incite to love.
We know what it means to provoke to do bad we're good at that aren't we? We know how to get on each others nerves easily. But we need to know how to easily provoke to good.
Ask yourself right now, when is the last time you provoked someone to do good, to love?
I know people who seem to do it all the time. Their lives are spent seeking to do good for others and encouraging others to do it as well. These people are living closer to God than most because they are loving! And we are called to LOVE!
We are NOT called to be loved, but to GIVE LOVE.
We've gotten things so screwed up, and it's been screwed up for so long that we honestly believe we deserve love and all that we imagine comes with it. We deserve it and if we get it then maybe, just maybe we'll give it too.
We believe we are owed love. That being loved by others is our RIGHT and if we aren't loved then something is wrong somewhere, with others maybe or more often than not we internalize not being loved and believe that the fault lies with us, that there is something wrong with us and that's why we aren't loved. We look for a superficial love, our society has made that superficial love all important, more important than the real love that God intended. The truth is we should LOVE FIRST and if love is returned than praise GOD, but if it's not we can't let that dictate our ability to LOVE.
We need to provoke each other to love.
I need others to provoke me to love, and I need to provoke others to love. When we provoke and are provoked to love we are being surrounded by love, aren't we?
Yet I have no guarantees that anyone will provoke me to love especially this day and age. I'm not guaranteed to have anyone poking at me mentally, emotionally telling me daily to love, to love, to love, to love…..loveeeeeeeeeeeee! And I do have someone a principality, a power in SATAN who will constantly do all he can to keep me from loving, or wanting to love in anyway, even in the smallest ways. Sometimes those small ways mean a lot and Satan hates all love because he knows where the REAL source of TRUE love is, and he hates God.
LOVE.
It's such a simple answer, but it means so incredibly much!
GOD'S LOVE.
True love, unlike the perverted love that we know so well.
We are never deprived of GOD'S love and yet how many people long for love- that hollow, poor excuse for love that Satan has introduced and that He withholds and destroys all the time? People long for it, they ache for this love, they die for this love, they kill for this love, they do crazy things for this love, and yes, at times they do wonderful things for this love. That love can only destroy because it's NOT God's LOVE, the true love that we need so desperately, the love we truly should be longing for. We can find God's true love in His Word and know it's revealed perfectly through the love of His SON, the Sacrifice.
God please provoke us to love, YOUR LOVE. Please Lord help us to provoke each other to YOUR true love and through that- good works. Please LORD all in YOU, all THROUGH YOU!
In YOUR LOVE!
By YOUR GRACE!
YOUR MERCY!
No comments:
Post a Comment