Good morning, world. Things are looking pretty good from the front porch of my farm in Virginia today. It’s a new day of a new week, and I was chomping at the bit at daybreak to see what God has for me today. A hot cup of coffee and a blanket served to warm my body on this cold day, and time spent reading my Instruction Manual warmed my Soul. Every thought and every Word I read this morning pointed in the same Direction…the Message of Love. Before I knew it, I was overwhelmed with Love for the One who died for me, and I found myself asking for Forgiveness for a Heart that sometimes finds it hard to love the ones who go against me and my God. I was taken to the Spiritual Woodshed over and over again as my Heart was examined, and I felt so ashamed until I confessed my wrongs that I couldn’t confess them fast enough! It’s not easy to face our own sin, and it’s certainly not easy to be shown what the Heart looks like from where the Most High God sits, BUT it’s all part of the Growth Process, AND it’s the Only Way to find His Favor. Isn’t that the way you feel, too?

There’s no excuse for a Child of the Living God to withhold Love…EVER…even (especially) from our enemies. The flesh wants to give the world a piece of its mind as if spitting out insults somehow makes a difference – but those insults don’t hurt the one we hurl them at – they are wrongs against the One who died for us instead.

Some people are on a Spiritual pedestal in their own minds and they “justify” every insult they spit out because of it. One “bad” experience in a retail store and they go off with their hair on fire…” in Jesus’ name” – as if they’ve given the approval to hate and hurt. They spit out threats and insults, and they spread gossip like wildfire to as many people who will listen as if they’ve been given the green light to singlehandedly reconcile the wrongs. But no matter how hard they try, or how bad they look to a lost world, vengeance will never be theirs. Lots of people are caught up in politics these days, and they’ve convinced themselves that their insults are somehow helping God make things right. But the only thing that EVER makes things right is Love. It’s “the greatest of all” and it’s the ultimate disarmer of evil. Just a few Words about Love and the mention of the name of Jesus Christ makes every demon in Hell shudder. It’s the ONLY thing that matters in the Bigger Picture, and although it’s not easy to love the “unlovable,” – it IS possible IF we see them the way He sees us.

I got taken to the Spiritual Woodshed this morning with a Message that I didn’t see coming, and NOW all is well with my Soul. I know that there is “no good in me apart from Him,” and it’s only by His Grace that the Price has been paid for my wrongs. As David said, “His Mercy endures forever,” so the way I see it is that if the “Great I am” can have mercy on me and love me just as I am, then certainly I can do the same for others.

The Author and Perfector of my Faith gave me a chance to make things right that I didn’t even realize were wrong until He got a hold of my Heart one more time this morning. I’m grateful that things have been reconciled (again) while I still have time to make things right before I draw my last breath. Today I choose Love, no matter what, and no matter how I’m treated or how I’m wronged because LOVE is the only thing that matters in the Bigger Picture. After all, it’s the Greatest Gift of all.

How about you?