Who Has Your Life?

John 15:13

Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.

My husband and I watched Act of Valor last night. Wow! What a movie. It is a film about  an elite team of Navy Seals, whom embark on a covert mission to recover a kidnapped CIA agent. Without revealing too much about the movie, there is a powerful scene where a Lieutenant literally lays down on a grenade to save his fellow comrades. He literally throws himself on top of it, and loses his very own life at the chance another might live. This man was on a promising course, living a very blessed life. He had a wonderful wife and unborn child waiting for him to return home safely. But, his honor would not allow him to place his own life above the lives of his men. He had a responsibility and chose not to lose even one of his men. He lived out the very character of Christ. 
Before Jesus was crucified, and freely gave up his own life, so that we could live he prayed this prayer for us, his disciples:

'I have revealed you to those whom you gave me out of the world. They were 
 yours; you gave them to me and they have obeyed your word. Now they know that everything you have given me comes from you. For I gave them the words you gave me and they accepted them. They knew with certainty that I came from you, and they believed that you sent me. I pray for them. I am not praying for the world, but for those you have given me, for they are yours. All I have is yours, and all you have is mine. And glory has come to me through them. I will remain in the world no longer, but they are still in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name, the name you gave me, so that they may be one as we are one. While I was with them, I protected them and kept them safe by that name you gave me. None has been lost except the one doomed to destruction so that Scripture would be fulfilled.'

This is how we must live - by laying down our lives for our friends. And it is easy to do when you recognize these simple truths - a)Life on earth is temporary and it is not our own  b)Our life has been bought by Christ and because of Him, it is eternal. The Lieutenant in the movie knew that this life was only temporary. This life and all this world offers really isn't true living at all. We must run this race with one prize in mind - spending eternity with Jesus. He is the only one worthy. Losing our life in Him is the only way we will ever really find it. 

In Matthew 10:39, Jesus spoke these words...
"Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it."

 

Love - for His glory.

John 13:34 (MSG) Let me give you a new command: Love one another. In the same way I loved you, you love one another. This is how everyone will recognize that you are my disciples---when they see the love you have for each other. We are recognized as Christians by our love toward one another. Wow! Lately, love has been all tat is on my mind. Am I loving like Him? Are my actions showing love? There is such a burden on me to love others; first to love the Lord, then to love others how He has loved me. I can't stop thinking about it, and I know it is because He wants me, first, to do it, and, second, to exhort others to do it. The gospel of John, also, goes on to say that the world will know His glory when we (His children) become one. We have to love in order to be one. Love conquers ALL. It breaks down walls and fuses us together as the body. In John 16, the bible talks of childbirth. It says we forget about any anguish or pain the moment we see new life. I believe it's that love for another human being that covers all. We immediately love that child and that love conquers! Love has the power to change everything. It gives you supernatural strength to forgive, endure, suffer, whole being patient and kind all the while. That's His love, all for His glory! And love is not just for our own family, friends, or people we enjoy sharing our love with. It is for ALL. There is no such thing as an unloveable person. That person that challenges you and rubs you the wrong way - love is for them, too. The person who makes you feel awkward and uncomfortable - love them. Listen, when you allow Him to reign in your heart, love is easy. He will do it all for you and , eventually, it will just be who you are. 1 John 3:18 (MSG) My dear children, let's not just talk about love; let's practice real love. This is the only way we'll know we're living truly, living in God's reality.