[Faith-talk] FW: [URCTCPrayerGroup2] Center your life around God by Gloria Copeland

[Eric Calhoun]

Original Message: 
From: Donna Kiser <kiserdonna5 at gmail.com>
To: URCTCPrayerGroup2 at yahoogroups.com
Subject: [URCTCPrayerGroup2] Center your life around God by Gloria
Copeland
Date: 
Fri, 11 Mar 2011 13:31:15 -0500

*
Center Your Life Around GodGloria Copeland

Love (God's love in us) does not insist on its own rights or its own way,
for it is not self-seeking.

- 1 Corinthians 13:5, The Amplified Bible

God doesn't just love the lovely. He loves the unlovely too. No matter
how
bad, mean or ornery someone might be, if they'll turn to Him, He'll
cleanse
them and forgive them. He'll let them partake of the sacrifice of His
Son,
Jesus, so they can have a new life in Him.

That's the way God loves us, and that's the way He expects us to love
each
other. In 1 Corinthians 13, He gives us a detailed description of that
kind
of love. That description is especially good in The Amplified Bible.

According to the Bible, that kind of love is the distinguishing mark of a
Christian. It's God's love that sets you apart. You and I have a high
calling. We're called to live a life of love just like Jesus did.

Does that mean we'll have to die like He did? Literally speaking,
probably
not. But we will have to die to our own selfish tendencies and desires.
We'll have to stop centering our lives on what we want and what we feel.
We'll have to stop looking out for ourselves all the time. Walking in love
means we lay down our own rights and look out for the other person's
rights
instead.

I realize that may sound tough, but it's actually the surest way to be
wonderfully blessed, because when you walk in love, God takes care of you!
You could never take care of yourself as well as He does. The Bible says,
"The eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show
Himself strong in behalf of those whose hearts are blameless toward Him"
(2
Chronicles 16:9, The Amplified Bible). So when you walk in love, you can
rest assured He will see to it that you prosper in every way.

Not only that, when you stop being selfish, you'll be a happier person.
When
you're self-centered, you're always thinking about yourself. You're
always
thinking about someone who did you wrong...or how much you have to do.

It's impossible for a selfish person to stay happy for very long because
everything centers around him. We're not made to live that way. We're not
big enough or powerful enough for everything to center around us. The more
we keep our minds on ourselves, the easier it is for the devil to upset
us.

But praise God, you've been born again, you've been delivered from
selfishness. It's lost its dominion over you. You don't have to center
your
life around yourself. You have the power to center your life around God
instead. You can keep your mind on obeying His Word and living a life of
love! He will take care of everything else (Matthew 6:33).

Scripture Reading: Ephesians 4:1-3

[image: Donna - Cardinals in Autumn BG.jpg]
*
-- 
*God is our Refuge and Strength, a very present help in trouble. Psalm
46:1*