Ernest Smith

It’s “Guest Blog Wednesday” and for my guest blogger this week, I have asked Pastor Chris Russo if he would would be willing to share what God has placed on his heart.  Pastor Chris is a good friend who I have had the privelege of working alongside for the last few years.  Chris has challenged me in so many areas and is truly an example of a man seeking the Lord’s heart.

Enjoy!

What’s going on everyone? My name is Chris Russo and I serve alongside Pastor Ernest at the Long Point Campus. I have worked with Ernest for a long time and I can truly say that God has used him to impact my life. Ernest has a love for God and for people that is both inspiring and challenging at the same time. I would definitely incorporate this blog into your weekly personal growth regimen as I can personally testify that Ernest practices what he preaches.

I was recently in a meeting with a guy who was trying to challenge me in the way that I approach my relationship with Jesus. This guy asked me what I thought my primary purpose was in life. It was a big question for a regular morning meeting so I kind of bumbled through my answer. He then proceeded to ask me what felt like an even bigger question. He asked me what I thought God’s reason was for creating me. To say that I was a bit stumped would be an understatement.

This wiser Christian then proceeded to point me to the truth that my primary purpose is to love God first and then love my neighbor as myself. I thought that was a pretty basic point because in Matthew 22:37-39 Jesus states that those are the two greatest commandments. What took me by surprise was what he said next. He pointed to the fact that in 1 John 4 it is written that we are able to love because God first loved us. If we can only love God and others because God first loved us, then we must be able to receive God’s love in order to fulfill the two greatest commandments. All of us a sudden my primary purpose becomes learning how to receive and rest in God’s love. As I’m able to receive and rest in God’s love, I will then be able to fulfill the two greatest commandments an overflow of the love that I’m receiving from God.

How are you when it comes to receiving God’s love? If I came up to you and told you that God loved you deeply, would that move you? If not, why not? Most of us live in a world where the amount of love we receive is based on our own achievements. If we do a really good job, then we get a lot of love and if we do a bad job then we don’t get much love. The challenge with this system is that God doesn’t work that way. God loves you exactly as you are and doesn’t love you any less or more when you succeed or fail. Most of us don’t know what to do with a love like that so we keep on treating God and others the way that we have always known. We keep working hard hoping to receive love from God and others.

We must learn to receive and rest in God’s love. Maybe for you this looks like daily getting alone with God and thanking him for the love that he has for you. Maybe for you this means reading through the gospels and simply pondering daily the love that Jesus showed in giving his life for us. Maybe for you it means processing with a close friend what hinders you from receiving God’s love. One thing is for sure and that is that love is hugely important to God. He wants us to love him with everything that we have and to love others as ourselves. We can’t do these things if we are not receiving and resting in God’s love for us. My prayer for all of us is that we would learn to receive God’s love so that we can pour it out to God and those around us.

Thanks guys!