Proverbs 22:10, Drive out a scoffer, and strife will go out, and quarreling and abuse will cease.

Luke 6:27-28,  “But I say to you who hear, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you.”

Genesis 12:3,  “I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”

I prayed years ago for God to fill me with Him and for Him to help me become all He created me to be, not having a clue about the lessons I would have to learn and what that really meant to be full of Him.  To truly be filled with God, I need to be completely empty of self.  It truly is something we must do daily and something we learn to grow in as we grow.  We can’t be consumed with our current situations filled with what we want and feel we deserve, and be full of God.  You can’t fill a jar that already has “stuff” in it until you take the stuff out, you can only partially fill it.  I never fully realized how much self we have in us.  Even the kindest of people sometimes want revenge on an extreme level or want what they want without any regard for anything or anyone else.  We are called to always love like He loves, Forgive like He forgives, Give grace like He gives grace, and have the heart to serve in order to bring glory to God. If we want a closer walk, If we want to be full of Him then we must choose to empty ourselves of self and allow Him to fill us even in those areas that are most difficult to let go of.  It is a tall order, one that we will each keep learning day by day until we see Him, but it is a journey that He calls us to take.

If you are struggling just keep in mind that even when you are going through the “fire” there are blessings, whether something you may learn or some random blessing, but don’t miss out on it.  My thought is:  “While you are in the ‘fire’ don’t miss out on baking the bread!”  When we go through the fire, we can spend that time wallowing in self-pity or we can take the time to grow and allow God to use us.  If like Job you would like to “come forth as gold” after having been through the fire then you must allow the lessons God allows in your life to refine you and allow Him to mold you into all he created you to be.  

God is always good!  He is patient beyond my understanding with people because it is not His will that anyone should die and go to Hell!  He wants us to have His heart for people and that doesn’t come at a small price!  God is always there!  He loves you!  You matter to Him and you are precious in His eyes!  He has promised to do what He sees as best and one of the strongest ties of any relationship is trust.  We must learn to trust Him with it all and as we do it will become even more clear that His best is yet to come.