“No one has seen God at any time. If we love one another, God abides in us, and His love has been perfected in us. By this we know that we abide in Him and He in us, because He has given us His Spirit”
1 John 4: 12-13 (NKJV
Do you have days that you feel like your cup is empty and you have no more to pour out? You are always giving pieces of yourself and rarely getting refilled. You care so much about everyone else but you are on the back burner, simmering away.
If you are simmering, who is watching the burner?
Days can seem to replicate themselves in your life, with constant running all over. Dishes upon dishes, errands galore, and little to no “you” time. You are most likely the one that is managing everything with help seeming so far away. Up early and to bed late with loads of busy in between.
You love the many people and priorities in your life, but it seems you are giving so much of yourself away you can’t get refilled fast enough. When you believe that Jesus is the Son of God, His love abides in you. He is your source of the love you share with other people. You are given it as a gift from Him, and His Spirit is within you.
Go straight to the source
In the times you need refilled remember that God’s love is inside you, and it’s the fountain of life. Its flow is endless and will provide you whatever amount you need. You have to get some alone time with Him so He can search your heart. You are a very special individual and He needs to have a relationship with you. Most likely there are many times when you need reassurance and guidance. The best way to get it is to go right to the source.
Quiet time with Him is more effective than any other task you perform in your everyday life.
I don’t mean to sound dismissive of the many priorities in your life that are extremely important. The point is, that you are the central force within those priorities, and if you are not filled with the fruits of His Spirit you will get burned out.
You and Him tackle life together, and you need each other. He needs you to spend time with Him so you can fulfill His purpose for your life. You need Him to teach you every day about how special you are and refill the love in your heart. The moment you get alone with Him you know it’s the right place to be. It’s like your spirit has craved that time and is finally satisfied.
He loves you so much He sacrificed His only Son so you could have blessings beyond what you can imagine.
When you start to get really stressed and overwhelmed, remember that you both have the same goal for your life. It doesn’t take a grand plan, just some alone time with Him to get re-centered. Wake up early one day before the kids go to school or go for a drive alone to the store. You’d be amazed at what 5 silent minutes will do, with your heart simply yearning for His.
Once your cup is filled with that love you are such a blessing to others… and God.
You work so hard to care for the people in your life and your engine runs on the love you have for them…. and maybe lots of coffee. His love is perfected in you, evidenced by the love you give out. Your source doesn’t grow weary or lose its impact, it only grows stronger and more powerful the more you give. There’s no guilt or shame, only encouragement and support. When you feel like you have to keep juggling or else everything will fall, that’s usually when He’ll want you to put down the balls!
How can you give love when you don’t feel worthy of it?
There isn’t anything you can do to change the love Jesus has for you. You may struggle with the pain that has occurred in your life, whether toward you or from you toward others. The more you read about Jesus and how absolutely pure He is, the more worthless you may feel because you are so far from His glory.
Maybe you don’t think He could ever love someone like you because no one else really has. Certain things you’ve done make it impossible for anyone to love you, especially Jesus. He sees what’s been done that no one else knows about. But that’s the best part! His love is not conditional. It exists whether you accept it or not. He loves you and has shown you the highest form of that love by giving His life for yours.
“Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in Him and He in God” (1 John 4:15)
Even if you don’t think you’re worthy, once you believe in Jesus and confess He is the Son of God He abides in you. Abide means stand or accept. He accepts you, stands with you, and loves you. It has nothing to do with you deserving it.
It’s a really difficult thing to grasp because we work our entire lives to be accepted. As a result of working hard we hope we aren’t rejected by people. It’s like we continuously study so we can make the A. If we don’t study we don’t get the A. In Jesus, He already got the A for us. If we want to know what it took to get there we simply accept Him and let Him guide us through the journey.
If Jesus already loves us no matter what, then what do we have to do?
If you don’t already believe He is the Son of God who gave His life for yours and was resurrected, then that’s a good starting point. You have to get to the bottom of why you don’t believe it. What has happened that has made you skeptical? I encourage you, that if you seek the truth you will find it. We are surrounded by a world that doesn’t know Him. Every day within that world seeing difficult, terrible things makes it so hard to have faith in a loving God if you aren’t filled with His Holy Spirit.
Seek the truth, you are worth it, and so is He.
If you’ve accepted Jesus, then your daily walk has so much purpose. We continually need His guidance to make choices every day.
Love, peace, joy, kindness, gentleness, longsuffering, goodness, faithfulness, and self-control.
Every time you exhibit those things you shine light into the world. You can make a difference in someone’s life simply by being kind. It also teaches you something about yourself. It’s sometimes a path of most resistance to show those fruits when everything in the world supports the latter. That is why He needs to walk with you.
He is the vine and you are the branch.
He gives you the fill you need to be able to share everything well. We will all give an account of our life and the choices we’ve made once we pass away. There is no expectation of perfection, but humble accountability can go a very long way in transforming the life you lead.
He provides you with a Helper for your daily walk. Read more about the Spirit of Truth here.