Be Loved?

You know, never does the Bible tell us to "be loved by other people."

  it tells us to love the Lord and love our neighbor.  In the words of one of my mentors, "love up and love out."

Man the Bible tells us that God loves us. So why are we running around looking for love from other people? We think that His love isn't enough.  If we believe the Bible, then looking for love elsewhere is a contradiction.

We are supposed to be love to other people.  That takes some personal sacrifice because a lot of times people are hard to love.

We are Christ's people to love. He sacrificed His life for us because He loves us, and believe me His love is way more than enough...

There was a time in my life that I really relied on the love that one particular person had for me.  This person would do anything for me. It really became unhealthy because they would idolize me, and I would idolize everything that I could get out of that person.
I was really focused on manipulating the relationship so that I could gain whatever I wanted out of it, and man I looked like the happiest most fortunate dude on the block.  That was just a facade though because on the real I was never satisfied --always looking for the next thing that I wanted.

The Lord ended up showing me that I was being a huge jerk.  He made it clear that I needed to stop all the nonsense and get myself focused on Him only.  That can sound like a noble calling or revelation, but I was anything but noble.  I did not want to give in to God's will at all. It took me months to work up the courage to make this decision that would shift my life completely into an unknown place, and I was mostly scared that I would be lonely.

I remember praying over and over again for wisdom to know if I really had to stop that relationship in order to do God's will, and then I prayed for strength to go through with it.  I remember pleading with God to comfort me, be there for me, and not leave me hanging in the aftermath.

He was there for everything I needed Him for and more.  Man He just scooped me up, and to be honest I've never felt like He let go of me since. I know He's got me.  (I've felt distant a times, but never felt let-go-of or not-loved)

After experiencing His love and being focused on only needing Him, I can firmly tell you that there is nothing else you need as far as being loved.

And He totally showed me so much grace because He blessed me with another chance with someone else who made my wildest dreams seem tame.  

You see it really is true that when we mess up it's because we are living like we need God and _____(something else) to be happy, satisfied, or complete.

It's God and nothing else.

Faith that God is enough.

FAITH

OBEDIENCE

GOD.


alot of you are living with things or people that you need to give up --and you know you need to give them up, but you're scared.
i know you are because i've been there, and i was scared. I know it's not easy (i don't want to sound like a prick).
but i promise you that it's worth it to give them up.  He says that whoever loses their life for Him, will find life.

lose your life and start over. it's better when it's His way.

Who am I?

My life has drastically changed over the course of 1 week.  I'll give you a time line of how it went down:


Tuesday. February 22, 2011: Completed my coursework to receive a degree from Louisiana Tech in Family and Child Studies, and interviewed for a job at Dillard's.
Wednesday. February 23, 2011: Job hunted.
Thursday. February 24,2011: Met my oldest brother's girlfriend for the first time and got to see my friend Mary who came in from Juneau, AK.
Friday. February 25, 2011: Set up chairs and tables for Saturday, and went to my rehearsal dinner at Squire Creek. I spent most of Friday surrounded by my brothers, all 10 of them.
Saturday. February 26, 2011: Became the husband of Polly Thomas Pendergrass.
Sunday and Monday. February 27 and 28, 2011: HONEYMOON. new orleans. *Adult rated content*
Tuesday. March 1, 2011: Became the proud uncle of Luke Tyrus Pendergrass at 5:21pm.


This morning I was thinking about who I am in relation to other people. Here's where this train of thought lead: Who am I?

I am Andrew Mark Pendergrass.
Husband of Polly Thomas Pendergrass
Son of Tyrus Lamar Pendergrass and Patricia McKinney Pendergrass.
Son-in-law of Tom Thomas and Barbara Thomas
Grandson of Tyrus and Darlene Pendergrass and Joanne and George McKinney.
Grandson-in-law of Mom and Pop Bond and Pa Joe and Granny.
Brother of Tristan Pendergrass, Jeremy Pendergrass, Christian Dunn, Elzie Hollins, Craig Turner, Nathan Welch, Michael Plette, Steele Shippy, Tyler Wallace, and Matthew Cassity. (and yes, we all look alike)
Brother-in-law of Seth, Kristen, Scott, and Phoebe Thomas, and Emery Pendergrass
Uncle of Seth Aubrey Thomas Jr. and Luke Tyrus Pendergrass.
Big Brother of Sutton Davison, Kyle Johnson, Young William Stagg, Steven Turner, Josh Garmon, Kevin Prater, Daniel Shaw, and Matt Nelson.
Body Guard of Chris Hanchey

Member (not technically) of Crossroads Church
As I type this I just got a job. So ...Employee of Squire Creek (for the third time).
Resident of 109 S. Sparta in Ruston, LA
Future resident of Juneau, Alaska and Branson, Missouri (not at the same time).

my life has truly truly been blessed by God. I would without a doubt never have been born if it were not for Him working in my Dad's life.  So since I absolutely owe my very own existence to Him....

I ask the question again, Who am I?

A debtor of God?

No, my debt was paid with Jesus Christ's blood.

Who am I?

I am a Slave of Jesus Christ.