Resting

2016 was a burn out year. Sacrifice proceeds success and boy were we successful! Mission trip, fundraisers, new members, interviews, national recognition, global contributions and a stellar fashion show... we were certainly busy! (Praise God!)

But, what comes up, must come down. And as we are entering this new year of 2017, The Lord, in His gentle way, has given us a new and fresh vision for this year: Rest.

In our busy and ever moving society, we tend to see this word, "rest", as a lazy term. To rest means to pause, to not do, to wait. We get anxious in the waiting and restless in the resting, but sometimes, that is the most dire state of being in order to hear more clearly from the Lord.

"Be still and know that I am God"! ~ Psalm 48:10

To know means to trust, to place one's belief in and to have confidence in. In our resting, we can have confidence that God is preparing our hearts for something great that only He can give. But we cannot expect to receive that vision if we are always busy.

Last year, was certainly full of success for us and no doubt, this year will be also. But success requires following the Lord (Proverbs 2:7). He is our guide to do what is right and fruitful. His voice is required to make sure we are following the paths to prosperity that He has purposed for us. And so, as we wait patiently on the Lord, we will be taking a look inwardly this year- focusing on our inner man, our personal relationships with God and with each other. We will be seeking the Lord for His voice, for His instruction and for His blessings and for the opportunities that He has in store for us.

I think we all need a good rest from time to time. We all need a little "me" time and we all need a lot of "God" time. When we spend ourselves on Him and place ourselves in dependency to know His desires and follow His instructions, we will not need to worry about the outcome. 

More of God and less of us!

Happy New Year to you all!

-Katrina McCain + Pearls of Hope

The Greatest Commandment

If love is free, then why is it so hard to give? If love is so necessary, then why do we struggle to show it?

During our study of Crazy Love, we are being challenged with questions such as these, but not just in the pages of the book. We are experiencing it in our lives. We are being challenged by unkind co-workers, family members that have hurt us in the past, friendships that have created unfair accusations and relationships that have produced disappointments; sometimes, we even struggle with loving ourselves.

For me, I know that a topic is necessary when not only life produces opportunities to practice the topic, but also when the Holy Spirit presses upon the heart of our ministers to expound even further on the topic. God is moving and flowing in our Bible study and He has allowed situations of life to show up in our midst, to challenge us to not just discuss truth, but to practice and live it out!

Yesterday, apart of the sermon that I received in church expounded on the woman with the alabaster box (Luke 7:47). In these verses of scripture, Jesus exclaims that in order to love much, we must understand how tremendously we have been forgiven. "A person who has been forgiven little shows only a little love". In other words, Love reflects forgiveness. If I feel as if I'm not "that bad", or if I dwell on always being a victim... if I feel as if I've done nothing wrong, if I cannot see past my own circumstances and not accept the reality that ALL HAVE SINNED, then it is difficult for me to show compassion and mercy on others. How can I love those who are imperfect if I do not identify myself with imperfection? Jesus explains that this is not possible.

As Believers in Christ, we must understand that all sin requires forgiveness and that forgiveness is the ultimate act of love. Jesus forgave my sin because of His great love for me, I must forgive others because of my great love for Christ. In his book, Francis Chan goes to explain that loving people can be very difficult, because it goes against our human nature, so we must pray that God equips us with Love for others.

In the Gospels, Jesus declares that the greatest commandment is to Love God with all that we have and all that we are, and then to Love others. Why is this the greatest commandment? It's because is the most difficult and most selfless act of obedience. Loving God and loving others is the most powerful act of dying to self. As Children of God, we must extend great love to others because God has extended such great love to us. This goes hand in hand... when I love God, I can love others, When I love others, I am loving God. If this were easy, it wouldn't be the greatest commandment. But thank God we have a helper... the Holy Spirit, who gives us the strength that we need to accomplish all things, for the glory of God, through His son, Christ Jesus!

Go out and love, my sisters!
~Pearls