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Friday... Yes, it is personal but there is more to it.


Friday... Yes, it is personal but there is more to it.

Yes, our relationship with God is very personal. I love my time each day that I commune with God but I also love the time that I share from that time. There is definitely a love relationship with God but from that comes a love for others.

Here is what Paul says in 1 Corinthians 14. He has just shared the fact that love is greater than faith and hope. And he starts off this chapter in verse 1 (MSG) by saying, "Go after a life of love as if your life depended on it - because it does." So love is very important.

But he goes on. Verse 2 says, "Give yourselves to the gifts God gives you. Most of all, try to proclaim his truth. If you praise him in the private language of tongues, God understands you but no one else does, for you are sharing intimacies just between you and him." And those times of intimacy are very special and needed but they also can become very selfish and we can become very prideful. Look at me, God speaks to me. I am important to him. And that is so true but we need to see that it can turn into selfishness and pride. Yes we need those personal times but there is more.

Verses 1-3 in the Amplified Bible says it this way. "Pursue [this] love [with eagerness, make it your goal], yet earnestly desire and cultivate the spiritual gift [to be used by believers for the benefit of the church], but especially that you may prophesy [to foretell the future, to speak a new message from God to the people]. For one who speaks in an unknown tongue does not speak to people but to God; for no one understands him or catches his meaning, but by the Spirit he speaks mysteries [secret truths, hidden things]. But [on the other hand] the one who prophesies speaks to people for edification [to promote their spiritual growth] and [speaks words of] encouragement to uphold and advise them concerning the matters of God] and [speaks words of] consolation [to compassionately comfort them]."

Yes, it is personal but there is more to it.  God created us for a personal relationship with him which in turn means we are to (NLT) "strengthen others, encourage them, and comfort them." 

What personal word did you get today from your time with God and His Word? So who comes to your mind or crosses your path that needs it besides you? That is how God's Spirit works in and through us. So, always be open to strengthening others, encouraging others and comforting them by sharing those personal truths and hidden things that His Spirit has revealed to you. That's how he works.  

So, "Go after a life of love as if your life depended on it - because it does. Give yourselves to the gifts God gives you. Most of all, try to proclaim his truth." So, that is what I got from my personal time and felt led to share with you. Yes, it is personal but there is more to it. Yes, yes! #todaysbeginning

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