Crazy Kind of Love

This past weekend I had the privilege and honour of being the keynote speaker at the Blizzard Youth Conference at Muskoka Woods.  

 It was EXTRAORDINARY!  

 I was responsible for four keynote addresses (to 400+ youth) and two smaller sessions. It was an intense 40 hours that was both exhilarating and exhausting ;)  

 Our big session times included games, music, message, team challenges, and all sorts of surprises. The energy was palpable and just built over the weekend!  We gathered together for meals and snacks, and had great conversations. There was even time for snow tubing, cross-country skiing, volleyball, or basketball!  I opted for the nap ;)

 It was a powerful time for our youth as well. Thank you to our leaders, Tyler, Emma and Laura for guiding them, loving them, praying with them, entering into deep conversations with them, and just being the hands and feet of Jesus. It was a beautiful thing to witness!  

 In our second session together I spoke about the crazy, radical love of God.  I based the talk on the parable of the prodigal son, but we focused on the older brother. Check out the story.

 The older brother was angry that the father celebrated the prodigal son’s return.  He was thinking, understandably, that “I have been here all this time, and that son of yours takes off and squanders all the money, drags our name in the mud and instead of punishing him, you celebrate? You throw him a party? What about me? I am the good one! You don’t throw me a party.”

 Somehow I get that!

 What the older brother forgot and what I forget so often is that the Father’s love has nothing to do with WHAT we’ve done and everything to do with God — our Heavenly Father wanting to be WITH us. 

 “‘My son,’ the father said, ‘you are always with me, and everything I have is yours. But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’” (Luke 15:31-32)

 Here’s the thing. God’s desire to have intimacy with you has nothing to do with WHAT you have done or WHAT you will do. Nothing.God just wants to be with you no matter what and that is a crazy, radical kind of love!

Letting go!

You may have heard the story of the man who complained to his friend about his wife.  He said, “every time we have an argument, my wife gets historical!”  

The friend responded, “you mean HYSTERICAL don’t you?”  

The man replied, “No, I mean HISTORICAL. Every argument we have she always brings up the past.”

Forgiving is one thing and forgetting is quite another. Perhaps we may not be able to forget but I think there are things we can to do to forgive and liberate ourselves from anger and bitterness.

So here are 5 ways to forgive and let it go:

1. Pray. Pray not only for yourself but pray more importantly for the person who offended you. Check out Matthew 5:44

2. Let go of Resentment. I love the fabulous Carrie Fisher quote: "Resentment is the poison you swallow hoping the other person will die." Recognize that when you choose not to forgive someone, you are not only hurting yourself, you're also giving this person control of your emotions, and who wants to do that??  Check out Matthew 18:21-35.  The commandment is clear:  you must forgive! 

3. Make a choice.  When you respond with hate to hate, anger to anger, bitterness to bitterness, you are ironically becoming part of the problem. Choose to resist becoming like them and instead put in the conscious effort to remain a loving, soulful, happy person.  Check out Matthew 5: 43-48.

4. Let go and Let God.  Contemplating revenge? The best kind of revenge is living a successful, happy life. If you train yourself to consistently be more loving in thoughts and actions, you will attract more positive people and positive results.  I say let it go and let God avenge you!  Check out Romans 12:19.

   And finally,

5. Count your Blessings.  When you are tempted to focus on all the ways the world has done you wrong, count your blessings instead.  An attitude of gratitude goes a long way in forgiving those around you and keeps you focused on the ways God has, and continues to bless you.  Check out Psalm 31:14-18.

Grateful in all things

In a cold dark jail cell, away from friends and family, he sat.  Every sound reminded him of his fate.  The chains that cuffed his ankles and wrists cut into his flesh with every move. He had been unjustly accused, and treated brutally. If ever a person had a right to complain, it was this man. But instead of complaints, he offered words of praise and thanksgiving to God, saying:

Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. (Ephesians 5:19-20, NIV).

If you haven’t figured it out already, the man was the Apostle Paul. 

Imagine, thanking and praising God in all things. Clearly, for Paul, thanksgiving was not just a once a year celebration but rather a daily, moment by moment reality. His attitude changed his life and made him grateful in every situation.

It’s hard to fathom being grateful in a jail cell, or after hearing hard news, or experiencing the loss of a loved one, or losing a job. The pain of a particular event or circumstance can eclipse the blessings of God. If we are honest, so many of us also forget to be grateful in the everyday mundane things of life too. But we are reminded by Paul, to be:

grateful in all things.

Regardless of what’s happing in your life at this moment — good, bad or mundane — God has blessed you in numerous ways.  

Take a moment and think about the material blessings that God has given you, and the people in your life, and think about this: even in the midst of whatever is going on in your life today, God is near.  God knows what you are facing and God promises to never leave you. God promises to help you. And that is definitely something to be grateful for!