LOL: COMPELLED

Memory/Meditation Verse: For Christ’s love compels us, since we have reached this conclusion: If One died for all, then all died. ~ 2 Cor. 5:14 (HCSB)

LOL: Living Out Loud. This is where God has me. This is where my heart remains fixed. This is where our blog journey continues.

There remains an uncertainty in this "Living Out Loud". As much as I would like to be in the know of what I am specifically called to Live Out Loud for, like a mission, a project, a vision, the clarity of such a thing is not there. The clarity I do hold is that Living Out Loud right now is about the day-to-day walk of obedience of willingness.

In a church service this weekend our pastor spoke of our memory verse above and I was draw to one word...compel. What drives you to do what you do? What motivates you to complete a task or to give of yourself? What compels you in life?

Webster defines the word compel as "to drive or urge forcefully or irresistibly; to cause to do or occur by overwhelming pressure".

Do you know what it is to be so compelled that it overwhelms your thoughts, your heart, your living? When one knows they are called for something greater than their present, they are driven to seek that purpose. The Holy Spirit will show you God's plan and purpose when you walk closely with Him, seeking Him with a hunger and thirst that can not be quenched by one simple act such as attending church alone. You have to seek Him by communicating with Him continually, reading His Word, memorizing His Word, reaching out to others in His name, fasting, praying...the list goes on.

Many are the plans in a person’s heart, but it is the LORD’s purpose that prevails. ~ Prov. 19:21

His purpose...the end result. For most of us, it is that end result, the completion that compels us. This is good. Yet the memory/meditation verse above is a reminder of what is to compel us in our every day living...Christ love. That alone should be enough to compel us to live with His purpose in mind, not our purpose, our wants or our desires...His purpose, His wants and His desire for our life and His kingdom.

Do you see God in your living? Is God honored by your living? Is God glorified by your giving? Is your success measured by God in the same way you measure it? Do you seek daily God's direction and control in your life? Are you positioned minute by minute to act on his promptings?

There is an old expression that states, "Don’t be so heavenly minded that you are of no earthly good." God compels us to move on something, to act on His behalf and sometimes we get so lost in the spiritual we miss the mark. Religion can be like that. So many rules and practices that one is not able to reach out "in His name" and minister to others, let alone reflect His presence in their life.

Living Out Loud for His purpose. That is what I desire. Like Paul in Acts 20:22 I am compelled to live out loud for God, to give out loud for His kingdom, not knowing what lies ahead for me.

"And now, compelled by the Spirit, I am going to Jerusalem, not knowing what will happen to me there..." (NIV)

Even so, I want to be able to live out loud spiritually on this earth for His good. Touchable. Believable. A living example of what God can do with a broken life compelled by His love and healing.

Living Out Loud ~ Pamela