I LOVE YOU BIG

Copyright©2016 Daneille Gray Snowden

2016

"I love you BIG!" A heart felt quote I stole from a good friend of mine. I tell my friends and family; my heart is SWOLLEN with God's Love and can't help but to love BIG! 

_______________________

 

As a child of God; striving to not only draw close to Him but to be like Jesus we come about this 'BIG' heart love honestly:

 

"For out of His fullness (abundance) we have all received [all had a share and we were all supplied with] one grace after another and spiritual blessing upon spiritual blessing and even favor upon favor and gift [heaped] upon gift."  John 1: 16

____________________

 





Learning to love beyond myself was not instantaneous (although I do believe in some cases it can happen as we are adopted as children of God). Truthfully, it can only be amazingly accomplished by the Grace of Jesus and the Work of the Holy Spirit.

________________________

When I was first married, (as a Christian young lady); I had to learn sacrificial - 'selfLESS-serving-love' toward my husband as he did for me. It was a daily pursuit as we had to learn to bite our tongues and thus serve one another. Laying down our lives and our wants for the other.

_________________________

Then kids come along...wow! And when they were babies, we found them quite demanding of wants and needs too! The big thing is; we have this 'BIG' love in our hearts for them. We WANT to provide, protect and care for them. Yet, again it takes laying our own fleshly needs and wants down for our children.

_________________________

 

GOD DID THAT:





John 3:16

“For God so [greatly] loved and dearly prized the world, that He [even] gave His [One and] only begotten Son, so that whoever believes and trusts in Him [as Savior] shall not perish, but have eternal life."

 



Painful situations in my life have come (through-out the years) as my BIG heart gets stepped on, poked at, misunderstood and eventually broken. The heart (emotionally speaking) is such a powerful and vital part of life. Without it, life would indeed be empty. Would you agree? My heart feels a little stepped on presently and as I ponder this the Lord told me;

 "Imagine how I feel when my BIG heart is stomped on, poked and broken?" The Lord went on to say; "People misunderstand my Word, and or become angry with how the Holy Spirit is leading. They choose to become angry, or resistant and eventually ignore me completely."

 

____________________________________

 



I bowed my head low and prayed; "Oh Lord, I first ask for Your forgiveness of the times I have done this." Then God just stirred deeper in me stating; 

"This is where the church is -- I have so much planned for their lives, wrote it all out in my Word. Some have chosen to walk away completely. Others have tried to re-write what is plainly written. I send my Holy Spirit through various sources (My chosen instruments) to tell them How much I truly love them and all I have purposed for their lives. 

Yet, they have 'unfriended' me. My heart, my BIG heart hurts."

___________________________________



We all have sung the chorus; 'To Be Like Jesus' - as a servant of our Lord, it should be our heart's cry. 

When we do, we must know to be like Him is to not only to walk holy and righteous but also to LOVE BIG! In so doing it's also being well acquainted with His hurts...His sufferings!

 Philippians 3:10

^"And this, so that I may know Him [experientially, becoming more thoroughly acquainted with Him, understanding the remarkable wonders of His Person more completely] and [in that same way experience] the power of His resurrection [which overflows and is active in believers], and [that I may share] the fellowship of His sufferings, by being continually conformed [inwardly into His likeness even] to His death [dying as He did];"

_____________________________________

 

Are we willing to continue to love BIG, even though there is suffering involved? That is an answer only you and I can give. But, allow me to add; as long as we are FULL OF JESUS, and long to continue to serve Him in completeness; we will not be able to do anything else but to LOVE BIG!

_____________________________________

 



I can tell you from years of experience, I have had my moments I would rather just walk away and not feel the aches of being hurt when my love is twisted around and truly misunderstood. And, quite frankly, I have done this...walked away. Yet, praise the Lord - someone was praying I know that for sure! That, eventually I decided this has caused a distance between me and my Lord. I want to be ONE with Jesus. Thus, I knew the fear of being hurt AGAIN AND AGAIN AND AGAIN... would have to flee. I cannot have a 'precedence' first before living our a life of LOVING OTHERS.

 

Join me will you, LOVE BIG for Jesus!

 

 

[I dedicate this post to Darlene Cordova Rouse; who inspired me by always saying; "LUV U BIG!"]

 

 

I also dedicate this to my husband who has taught me selfless love, as well as my 3 children: Nathan, Felecia & Tabitha.

My own parents exhibited this first in my life; without that I am not sure where I would be. 

 

WHEN JESUS MARVELLED

 

copyright(c)2015 Daneille Gray Snowden

2015 

WHEN JESUS MARVELED

 

                                                           By Daneille Gray Snowden

 

Matt. 8:10 "When Jesus heard it, he marveled,..."

 

WOW! Can you imagine that? Having Jesus looking at you, then at those all around, saying; "...Verily I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no, not in Israel?" His emotional reaction stated in the same verse- HE WAS MARVELED at this man! I want that, I want to be THERE; in the place where my walk of faith, my words and actions that Jesus' [My Lord & King!] would be marveled at! How about you, are ya with me? Let's dig in and take a look at how this man MARVELED God (the Son).

____________________ 

To be 'marveled' means causing wonder, admiration, or astonishment and in the Greek: thaumazó (thou-mad'-zo) it is defined as: admire, and to be amazed.

 ________________________

 

I want to with all my heart; for my God to admire me and be astonished! Yet, this is NOT what this man...this Centurion was setting out to do. Not at all! He was in a place of desperation; but also REALIZATION of Who Jesus is. A centurion is a soldier over a hundred soldiers. He was a comptroller of the town and well respected in this position. An officer of this stature was; "...chosen by merit, and so were men remarkable not so much for their daring courage as for their deliberation, constancy, and strength of mind." [M. Henry] Think on this, in comparison to all of us today; he had it all! He had prestige, respect, money, authority, intelligence and power. So many of us today, that is how SUCCESS is measured; isn't it? So, if we reach success, especially to this level will our mind & heart set be brought to humility on the behalf of others? This is where this leader was, his heart was broken for his servant who was struck with an awful disease of palsy. Palsy then was a type of paralysis either resulting from a stroke, bells palsy or something that caused numbness. It was looked at as impossible to cure and likely fatal.

 

________________________

 

Yet, he somehow knew of Jesus and recognized him for WHO HE WAS! Seeing that; this leader (the Centurion) came to Jesus; beseeching him. He recognized that Christ commanded respect because he recognized the true LEADER of the universe!

 "He owns Christ’s sovereignty, in calling him Lord, and referring the case to him, and to his will, and wisdom." [M.H.]



 By 'beseeching' Him, the Centurion became a beggar. 'This is the only instance of one that came to him for a servant: Lord, my servant lieth at home sick.' A humble heart was in this man; simply because He knew Who Jesus truly was (& is today). When we SEEK Jesus, read His Word...dwell in His Presence; we too can have our hearts melted to the place of being humble intercessors and servants of the Most High!

 

__________________________

 



This humility, (self-abasement) had energized the Centurion's 'readiness' to come to Jesus and heal his servant. "Lord, I am not worthy that thou shouldest come under my roof." (Matt. 8:8) This act, was an evidence of his faith in Christ.

 

How about us, what is our outward state on the behalf of others...even one's we consider our inferiors (which we shouldn't)? Are we or do we come to God-- with great desperation plus humility for their lives?



 

"The more humility the more faith; the more diffident we are of ourselves, the stronger will be our confidence in Jesus Christ." [MH]

___________________________

 



This centurion man believed in Christ's power to heal, so much; that he felt that there was no need of  physical contact. He believed that the power of Christ knows no limits!



 

Jeremiah 23:23 "Am I a God at hand, saith the Lord, and not a God afar off?"

 

____________________________

 



NOTE: A Centurion's word was LAW in this time period. It was called, dictum factum; "Well-disciplined soldiers know that the commands of their officers are not to be disputed, but obeyed."

Thus, this man believed the same format...what Christ Jesus would say as the LAW of the Universe it shall be done.

Back in v.7 "I will come and heal him;" Expressing here,  FAVOR gained from Jesus to this soldier. Jesus was astonished by Him, (not surprised though) but marveled! How? v.8 "The centurion answered and said, Lord, I am not worthy that thou shouldest come under my roof: but speak the word only, and my servant shall be healed."

 

___________________________

 



HIS FAITH  was great and excellent, rare and uncommon, and Christ spoke of it as a wonderful thing, to teach us what is to be admired. The Centurion was not an Israelite; yet he was being honored by Jesus the Son of God.

In the next few verses Jesus gives a 'talkin to' to the Children of Israel; where much more is expected. "But, there was no greater faith like this gentile's (non Israelite) seen in all Israel." Saying simply; it's the GRACE of God that searches the heart of ALL MAN (regardless of background).

 

_____________________________

In application; as I stated in the beginning ... we would love to be one that MARVELS God! We have seen here, it's not about us at all! It's humility, and having THE HEART AFTER GOD ON THE BEHALF OF OTHERS! [All as we have seen in the actions of this Centurion man.] PtL!

 

Let's cry to God, for the souls of all man/womankind: who is dying and going to hell. For those who are lost..living in hopelessness; living in darkness.

All for the lost, sinners, the homeless, our family, friends, co-workers, peers, neighbors, leaders and so on.

Please: BESEECH...BEG...seek after the GOD OF THE UNIVERSE...for their lives!

I guarantee you, as you do the Lord will see your hearts and truly be MARVELED!