Cup of Empowerment 2/27/12

In this world of “drive-by” shootings and vandalism, the evening news rarely reports on stories I call “love-bys”… and yet they are actually happening. I love it, and I know it pleases the heart of our Husband! 

Throughout the Word, we are told to ‘love one another.” The word “love” used here means “benevolent love,” or “love in action.” In 1 Corinthians 13, the “Love Chapter,” the King James version uses the word “charity” instead of simply “love.” Charity, or agape, is so much more than simply an emotion; it is also love expressed literally, or piety, as “love in action”. The chapter proceeds to tell us how to actually demonstrate love and how to put on an attitude of love. It ends with “Love never fails”! It never ever fails…never! That means it always works. It will accomplish the will of heaven in others’ lives and in ours! 

I had heard about this occurring one day at a Starbucks in northern California city where individuals who caught this concept paid for the person’s order behind them. It continued for SIX hours! Now THAT’s what I call a progressive “love-by”! 

The Lord had been teaching me about “love-bys” in fast food drive-throughs, and I have been excited to participate in releasing the love of God on unexpected individuals. Ideas continue to flow. Just recently the Lord gave me an opportunity where I purchased a gift card at Walmart for the cashier to use on a single mom, along with her babies, who was in the line behind me. I asked the cashier to share the gift card, but only after I left.

The other day as several of us were sharing additional ideas of “love-bys” to release the love of God, one lady suggested paying for the toll for the car behind us on the road into West Virginia. (I had just experienced going through the three tolls leading into South Charleston at $2.00 per toll, so I understood what she meant. And they don’t accept credit card payments, only cash, so if you approach a toll unprepared, you are stuck!) “What a great idea” I exclaimed, I could hardly wait! The three tolls awaited me on my return trip home. I was excited to have three future opportunities to tap into His love and sow into other lives! 

When we invest into others’ lives, not only are we helping them, but we also have greater authority to pray into their lives. So when you sow, please add prayer to sow further into their life! And it is an opportunity to come against the spirit of mammon, which attempts to sabotage our finances. Each time I do a “love-by”, I get freer and freer, and the other person receives more LOVE!  

Several days had passed and I was on my way home through West Virginia, I had been listening to my teaching CDs and after I passed through the third toll; only then did I realize I had not paid attention to my assignment from earlier in the week. I was so upset and repented to the Lord that I had forgotten and missed my opportunities to perform my “love-bys”. 

Wouldn’t you know it, as I turned off the exit to gas up my vehicle, a frustrated and embarrassed lady pulled up alongside me with her teenage son in the car? She exclaimed she had just spent the last of her cash in filling up her gas tank only to realize she didn’t have enough money ($6) for the tolls they needed for their trip to Charleston. Isn’t that beautiful that the Lord provided a second chance for my “love-by”? As I handed her the toll money, I shared with her and her son what I had prayed and that they were an answer to my prayer! I was able to bless them and open up to greater freedom for myself! Isn’t God good?  

At the beginning of this year, as I prayed for individuals and businesses, the Lord spoke to me. He said, “Unless my people get into the stream of benevolence, they will not survive the financial pressures ahead. If they do benevolence, not only will they survive, but they will thrive!” 

I encourage you to look for ways to bless others. Watch for opportunities to do “love-bys”! Look for the widow and the fatherless and ways to invest into their lives. Pay for the little family behind you in the McDonalds’ drive through, and tell the cashier to let the people know they are blessed! Or look for the one God highlights in the restaurant and pick up their tab! Leave big tips for your waiters and show the love of God in the way you treat them! Oh, it is so exciting!   

Continue to pray for He’s My Husband International and Anna’s Gate as we reach out in benevolence to the world. We, you and I are giving hope to so many! Check out our ministry projects on our website and see what the Lord leads you to cover in prayer, calling forth the strategies we need to release the love of God! They are “love-bys” around the world, and it will cause us to thrive spiritually and financially…What a way to live!  

Lovingly,
CarolMarie 

He’s My Husband International
www.hesmyhusband.com