Friends' Favorites - Make Every Effort

For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But whoever does not have them is nearsighted and blind, forgetting that they have been cleansed from their past sins.
Therefore, my brothers and sisters, make every effort to confirm your calling and election. For if you do these things, you will never stumble, and you will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. 
2nd Peter 1:5-11 NIV

God is NOT a god of half-measures. Jesus didn't go halfway to the Cross. He wasn't half crucified. He wasn't half-raised from the dead. There are no half-measures of grace or mercy. And we are called to be like Him.

I was a little surprised by the number of Scriptures that encourage us to make every effort. Just to offer a few...

Make every effort to enter through the narrow door, because many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able to. Luke 13:24 NIV

Let us therefore make every effort to do what leads to peace and to mutual edification.

Romans 14:19 NIV

Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will perish by following their example of disobedience. 
Hebrews 4:11 NIV

Make every effort to live in peace with everyone and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord. 
Hebrews 12:14 NIV

So then, dear friends, since you are looking forward to this, make every effort to be found spotless, blameless and at peace with him. 2nd Peter 3:14 NIV

God doesn't hand out half-measures and He does not want half-measures from us, either. What does Jesus say is the first and greatest commandment? (Matthew 22) Jesus replied: Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment...So let's use all of our heart, our soul and our mind and make every effort to do exactly that.

Prayer:

Father,
           Help us to focus all our efforts on loving You and becoming like You. Help us, God. We can only do this through You; with Your power. In Jesus' Name we pray. Amen

A Silly Measure of Love

For I wrote you out of great distress and anguish of heart and with many tears, not to grieve you but to let you know the depth of my love for you.
2nd Corinthians 2:4 NIV

There have been so many songs written about love that I think it would be nigh on impossible to count them all. And so many supposed definitions with feelings ranging from angst and anguish to zest and zeal, from selfish to self-less. If we haven't seen or done it all, we've at least heard about it all.  

When I was younger, we used to ask, "How much do you love me?" when we wanted something or wanted someone to do something for us.  Enough to bring me something from the other room? Or drive to the store for me? Or whatever the want was at that moment. A silly measure of love.

Paul's love was so deep that many people did not understand it.  He cared enough to confront sin in the lives of those he loved, risking their anger, the loss of their return love. Sometimes it is beyond difficult to offer a loving correction knowing that you may lose that person's affection, but Proverbs 27:6 reads, Wounds from a sincere friend are better than many kisses from an enemy. It is a depth of love not easily measured. 

It was true then. It's true now. People do not like to be told what to do period, let alone what they are doing wrong. They definitely do not like to be confronted with their sin! But if you truly love someone would you tell them? How much do you love me? Maybe it's not so silly, after all...

Prayer:

Father,
          Help us to love beyond ourselves. Beyond our own selfishness. Help us to love others as You love us - to always, ALWAYS be motivated by love and not manipulation. In Jesus' Name we pray. Amen.

Half Measures

And you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength.’ The second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.' No other commandment is greater than these.
Mark 12:30-31 NLT

As we read through the Bible, it becomes crystal clear that God is NOT a God of half anything. We, as followers of Jesus Christ, must guard against half-measures and "good enough". Think about that for a moment because those are sub-standards. It amounts to settling for less than the best. 

What if we only received half measures from Christ? For instance, what if we are half forgiven? What about half redeemed? What if He only loved us in half measure - enough to come to Earth and teach us, but not enough to go to the Cross?

He gave His all. He gave His best. Why do we think we can do less and get away with it?

Prayer:

Father,
          Forgive us for giving You less than our all. Reveal to us where we are lacking in You. Holy Spirit, teach us, we pray. In Jesus' Name. Amen