{"id":15771,"date":"2013-11-19T00:01:55","date_gmt":"2013-11-19T06:01:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/?p=15771"},"modified":"2013-11-20T17:47:03","modified_gmt":"2013-11-20T23:47:03","slug":"love-always-protects","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/2013\/11\/19\/love-always-protects\/","title":{"rendered":"16 Day Love Challenge: Chapter 12 &#8211; Love Always Protects"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"http:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/11\/16daylovechallengealwaysprotects.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-15799\" alt=\"16daylovechallengealwaysprotects\" src=\"http:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/11\/16daylovechallengealwaysprotects.jpg\" width=\"421\" height=\"388\" srcset=\"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/11\/16daylovechallengealwaysprotects.jpg 421w, https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/11\/16daylovechallengealwaysprotects-300x276.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 421px) 100vw, 421px\" \/><\/a>On its face, it seems rather simple \u2013 we all want our loved ones protected, right? \u00a0I can definitely say that I am protective of my friends and family \u2013 physically and spiritually. But I have tried to take the \u201cLove Challenge\u201d outside of just my immediate relationships and think bigger each time, so it begs the question: if I am to be loving to <i>everyone<\/i>, how do I protect someone I don\u2019t even know?<\/p>\n<p>To make sure I understood what it meant to protect, I once again sought the definition of the word.\u00a0 As I looked into its meaning, and tried to focus on how I could embody this characteristic in my life, I began to get emotional. To <em>protect<\/em> means \u201cto keep safe from harm or injury\u201d (Google Dictionary); however, another source says further \u201cto keep someone from being harmed <i>or lost<\/i>\u201d (Merriam\u2013Webster Online Dictionary).\u00a0 Synonyms of <em>protect<\/em> include: save, shield, hedge, shelter, guard.\u00a0 Any of those words look familiar?\u00a0 Perhaps because in many passages in Scripture, Jesus is described as being any and all of those things for us.\u00a0 So, to get this straight \u2013 if we are showing love to others, we are to save them from being harmed or lost.\u00a0 Sounds a lot like what is at the heart of the Great Commission, if you think about it<strong><em>. Love always protects.<\/em><\/strong> \u00a0To get to the meat of this one was actually a little challenging for me, sisters.<\/p>\n<p>It still seems a bit hard to grasp&#8230;how can I <em>protect<\/em> the person that cuts me off in traffic? The person who is in front of me in line at the grocery store? \u00a0How can I <em>protect<\/em> the person at work who is intent on undermining me?<\/p>\n<p>Here are a few things that I was shown:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><b>Guard your tongue<\/b>. \u00a0Proverbs 18:21 tells us that \u201cthe power of life and death are in the tongue.\u201d \u00a0There are many more Scriptures about guarding our tongue and watching what we speak, but let me try to be more specific.\u00a0 What comes out of your mouth when that person cuts you off in traffic? Be honest, sisters. \u00a0Are you speaking <i>life<\/i> or <i>death<\/i> over that person? I\u2019ve started trying to pray in those situations that God will watch over the reckless driver and keep him from bringing harm to him and others on the road. What we<strong> say<\/strong> holds spiritual power, sisters!\u00a0 Guard your tongue and choose to speak life over a situation or a person.<\/li>\n<li><b>Intercede. <\/b>Prayer seems to be a natural partner with guarding our tongues.\u00a0 However, I am asking you to take prayer a step further.\u00a0 I am suggesting that if you want to protect someone that you not just pray for them, you intercede for them.\u00a0 To intercede means that you plead someone\u2019s case \u2013 almost like a lawyer.\u00a0 In Exodus 32 we see that Moses has been in the Presence of God for so long that the Israelites decided to worship a golden calf. God is so angry that He told Moses He was about to destroy everyone and start over!\u00a0 However, the Bible says that Moses sought favor from God and pleaded with Him to spare their lives&#8212;and God relented. Live on a street with crazy neighbors?\u00a0 Pray that God reveals Himself in such a way that they come to know God. Pray for our nation. \u00a0Have a friend or acquaintance that refuses to acknowledge God and ridicules you on top of that? Don\u2019t be angry or offended \u2013 pray that they come to know the truth \u2013 you may be the only person praying on their behalf!<\/li>\n<li><b>Be merciful. <\/b>\u00a0There is a particularly sobering passage (at least it is to me) in Jude \u2013 in verse 23. \u00a0Jude says \u201cBe merciful to those who doubt; snatch others from the fire <i>and save them&#8230;<\/i>\u201d (NIV). Sisters, let me plead with you \u2013 <b>show mercy to all<\/b>. As believers, we have no right to be self-righteous \u2013 the only reason we are saved is because Jesus showed mercy to <i>us<\/i> \u2013 extend it to <i>everyone<\/i>. How can you practically show mercy? Can you donate to a food bank? Give a homeless person a blanket? Can you hold your tongue when you\u2019d really like to give someone a piece of your mind? Can you forgive? Can you reserve judgment? Donate your time? Can you step out of your comfort zone and ask God to show you what it <i>really<\/i> looks like to be the \u201chands and feet\u201d of Jesus \u2013 <b>and then act that way<\/b>?? Would you allow God to open your heart to love someone (anyone!) in such a selfless, potentially heartbreaking way that you \u201csnatch them from the fire??\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Will YOU be protection from harm?<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Let\u2019s pray<\/span>:<\/p>\n<p>Dear God, I have been challenged so much and in so many ways.\u00a0 Help me, God, to dig deeper. Help me to love more fully. Help me to see all people as You would see them. Thank You, God, for being my Protection, my Shield, my Rock and my Fortress. Thank You for sending Your Son to die for me to protect me from evil and your angels to stand guard around me. I want to live my life in such a way that I protect and guard not only those that I love, but those You put in my path. Help me to decrease so that You may increase in my life. Help me to walk in love all of my days!\u00a0 I love You, Lord!\u00a0 Help me show it. In your Son\u2019s name we pray, Amen.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>On its face, it seems rather simple \u2013 we all want our loved ones protected, right? \u00a0I can definitely say that I am protective of my friends and family \u2013 physically and spiritually. But I have tried to take the \u201cLove Challenge\u201d outside of just my immediate relationships and think bigger each time, so it [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":132,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[8],"tags":[4346,4347,4528,4530,1287,425,436,4533,4529,2035,554,4532,4526,620,4531,697,724,791,4525,4524,816,4424,3474,4527,1073,1141],"class_list":["post-15771","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-womens","tag-16-day-love-challenge","tag-cherie-zack","tag-control-your-tongue","tag-exodus-32","tag-gch","tag-girlfriends-coffee-hour","tag-god","tag-hands-and-feet-of-jesus","tag-intercede","tag-intercession","tag-jesus","tag-jude-v-23","tag-keep-safe","tag-love","tag-merciful","tag-moses","tag-online-bible-study","tag-prayer","tag-protection","tag-protects","tag-proverbs-1821","tag-rebecca-lecompte","tag-robin-caddell","tag-save","tag-tongue","tag-womens-online-bible-study","entry"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p39pHp-46n","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15771","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/132"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15771"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15771\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15854,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15771\/revisions\/15854"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15771"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15771"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/girlfriendscoffeehour.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15771"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}