Fear No Fear

“And you shall love the Lord your God from your whole heart and from your whole soul and from your whole mind and from your whole strength.’ The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these” Mark 12:30-31 (LEB). Love plays the largest part of any following of God. If it wasn’t for love, none of anything would be. We wouldn’t have anything. We wouldn’t even BE. God SO LOVED us that He created us, gave everything to keep open the Way to a relationship with Him. He showed Mercy and gave us Grace. It is all about love. Yet so often we respond to the BLESSING. We want the stuff. We want a better life. In fact, if our life isn’t in a constant state of improvement, we tend to cry out to God about what the deal is. But it isn’t ABOUT the Blessing. It’s about love. Without love, nothing else matters. If we’re not following Him from love, trying to get near to Him because we love Him, and doing all the things we do because we love Him, then it is all pointless. A relationship with God WILL bring blessing and improvement in our lives – spiritually before physically and that can really alter our perception of what physical blessings are – but they are a byproduct of the relationship. They should NEVER be the goal. In fact, if you AREN’T seeing the Blessing physically arriving in your life, maybe you aren’t in the relationship with God you think you are. Maybe there’s an area in life where you aren’t fellowshipping in. Maybe there’s an opportunity (as there always is) to seek more of His face and let Him alter your perceptions about what is need, what is importance, and what is blessing. Because we NEED a loving relationship with God. That’s the ONLY thing worth it. That’s the ONLY thing that makes life abundant. Love. His for us and ours for Him. It is the absolute foundation for everything there is.