Currently I am reading the book And I Will Be Found by You by Francis Frangipane. One particular chapter has just blown me away. I still have trouble wrapping my mind around some of the truth found in here! You can read the entire chapter here. Here are a few quotes that particularly stick out:

• “Love Me where you’re at.”

• “‘Lord, is that all You want of me?’ To this He responded, ‘This is all I will ever require of you.’”

• “…and I was released from the false expectation of ministry-driven service. God was not looking at what I did for Him, but who I became to Him in love. The issue in His heart was not whether I pastured, but whether I loved Him. To love the Lord in whatever situation I found myself—even as a television repairman—this I could do!”

This is the first and greatest command—to love the Lord our God with all our mind, heart, entire being, and our might. Just to love. By simply focusing on loving the Lord, that gets us out of the way—in a good way. That allows the room for God to prompt us, move us, guide us, lead us, transform us, on and on, without us being in the way of His work. All of this because we are so engrossed in His love and loving Him that all else simply falls into place! It becomes a result of our love. We become so enamored with focusing on our exceedingly huge God that we aren’t trying to fiddle around with our issues. Then we turn around and POOF! (Ok, I realize that not all issues in our lives are short-term. However, the piece of the puzzle I am hoping to bring light to is to transfer your needs to God and focus on Him. By being consumed with Him you will be doused with the grace and everything you need to move forward in life with strength and joy.) I will never forget my time at a CRU (Campus Crusade for Christ) conference one year. Going into the conference I was struggling with various things. After a few days of giving so much attention to God, I returned back to normal life and was confounded! Those things that were tangling me were no longer there!

What I’m really trying to say here is that if we will just allow ourselves to become consumed with the diamond-like and infinitely multifaceted Being of our God, wherever on earth we may be, we can bring great joy to His heart.

I find Francis’ story so encouraging. Currently I am living life at home, working as a substitute teacher, continuing to hone my musical skills. Thoughts of ministry, service, and doing something bigger with my life have frequently passed through my mind. Francis’ story helps to bring peace to my current state-of-of affairs, and I hope it does for you too. For the three years Francis was working simply to provide for his family he had no titled ministry. He was not traveling all over the world. He was working a job, providing for his family. And yet in the midst of this utmost simplicity, Francis was drawing near to and loving the Lord right where he was. God still passionately loved him. He wasn’t sad or disappointed because Francis wasn’t out winning hundreds of thousands of souls. God loved Francis and showed Himself to him in the most ‘average’ and everyday situations. Such intense love can be found in this. A spark from this example has reignited my heart to love everyone I know the best I can.

By no means was any of this performance-based. My mind keeps on wanting to say, “But, wait!” No… I am learning to refuse the thoughts that I have to perform in order to keep God happy or be branded a better person, or more faithful, or whatever. We are called just to love. Only to love. Become to God in love. Let the scales fall away. Everything else will follow. Learn to dwell in God’s love.

Everything flows from Love itself! By providing for his family and loving the Lord in the midst of it, Francis was fulfilling his purpose at that time. Situations and circumstances may change, but our highest purpose and calling remains—to love the Lord your God with all of your heart, all of your soul, with all of your strength, and with all of your mind. This is a true purpose for us all.

From knowing first of all that we are loved and accepted for who we are, then we are empowered to go forth doing. The love of God frees us in our hearts, with purity of motives. Then we are equipped to love others with pure hearts, just as Jesus did as He walked this earth.

All else will fall into place.

Lord Jesus,
May we be like You as You walked this earth. Fill our minds and our vision with You, that we can simply allow You to work. Consume our hearts with Your love, that we may be totally and wholly freed of performance-based mindsets. May we be grounded in You, loving You absolutely anywhere we are, being set free from any limitations. Because of Your incredible love for us, we long to love you in return and bring glory to You in every thought, situation, and every action we take!
In Jesus’ awesomely wonderful name.
Amen.