God’s Love_

Awakening to the sound of the woodpecker pounding on our metal gutter at 5:30 a.m., I rose to enjoy a cloudless morning and chorus of birds outside.

I turned on my iPod and listened to Kim Walker from Bethel Church in Redding, CA singing:

“Oh how He loves us, how he loves us so. He is jealous for me. If love is a hurricane I am a tree, bending beneath the weight of His glory…”

The passion and fervency of heaven comes through this song. The Holy Spirit speaks through it to me, again. If a man wants a glimpse of heaven’s love, or more specifically, a jealous God’s love, where would he look? God has made the young woman and the stout buck to be wired for love. Hormones are at their peak. Minds at their sharpest. Lives are waiting to be written. There is eager anticipation of the future and a desire to forge forward… in companionship. Physical beauty and attractiveness are at their highest level. The flexibility, creativity, the ability to step out of the box of the familiar, the desire to engage and be engaged, the wild and crazy, the serious and substantial, are all present. And for love, to what end would one be willing to run? It is the strangest mix and strongest balance of both love given and love received. Not too much expression to appear presumptuous and insensitive, but not too little that my intention and desire would remain hidden. The pace is set by the one with the most trepidation. The idea that my love could be received and needed by another is incredible. The idea that another finds value in me! and could love me and accept me is even more astounding. Once the ice is broken and the pursuit begins, love is a discovery. Who are you? What are your values? Who are your friends? What are they like? What is your family like? Your relationship with your mom? Dad? What is your history? What are your dreams? Your ambitions? Let us run and play together that I can see the wonder of a person that God created in you. I want no stone, no detail, left unturned. I am absolutely taken with you. Your love is intoxicating. My head swims and swoons. My knees are weak. All of my desire is for you. I want to be with you. Always.

Let’s make a commitment: we will run after each other for the rest of our lives. We will let love speak in every experience we have from today forward. We will let storms rock us and age take its toll, we will raise the fruit of our love together pouring into our offspring the love we have for each other. In them we will find the seeds of our person that were hidden, dormant or buried, and  learn of each other afresh, seeing each other in their eyes and experiences.

And when the passion has finished taking our breath away, our physical response will be replaced by the deep understanding of the incredibleness of it all: our Lord has been manifested in the flesh and has lived with me all these years and loved me with the unfolding of each other. What I thought would be unlovely and would try to hide has snuck its way out, only to be found in cherishing acceptance, as though my secret was kept only to reveal a new level of vulnerability and acceptance which in itself has resulted in new levels of passion and incredible love.

Oh the love of the Father for us, that He would design such a thing for us to know His love for us.

LOVE

The most important thing on earth, according to Jesus, is:

Thou shalt love the Lord thy God–with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind:  38 This, is the great and first commandment.  39 The second, like it, is, this: Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. Matt 22:37; Deut 6:5

To love is our greatest duty. What is it? How do we do it? Kim, in her spontaneous exhortation at the end of the song declares: “You would know if you’ve been touched by the love of God because you’d never be the same. You’d never be the same.”

And we have known and believed the love that God has for us. God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in him. 1 John 4:16

1Cor 13 gives us a description of what love looks like. Whatever it is, it deals with the core of who we are as individuals. The idea that loving our neighbor is only bringing a dinner over to a needy family because we are on the schedule for the compassion ministry this week is an insult. The love of a maid for her prince describes a portion of the passion included in love — a portion. It is about relationship at its core.

It is about God calling: “Samuel, Samuel,” or about the Father meeting and disclosing His plans for Sodom to Abraham, or sending Nathan to David and spilling God’s heart all over the place. It was about Elohim meeting Isaac and confirming his word.

And the LORD appeared to him the same night and said, “I am the God of your father Abraham; do not fear, for I am with you. I will bless you and multiply your descendants for My servant Abraham’s sake.” Genesis 26:24

And to Jacob:

Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land; for I will not leave you until I have done what I have spoken to you. Genesis 28:15

Love with individuals is a progressive expression. When out and about or in the workplace it’s as simple as acceptance of another. Inclusion, hearing, responding, interacting, teasing, fellowship, more inclusion, value, esteem, commitment, preferring another, self- sacrifice, and ultimately, laying down our life for our friend.

Learning about love

The first interaction we have with love is in our relationship with new life. We are helpless, and the father gives us a mother. We have all that we need for the season. We learn love from others, from family, mom, dad, then from our friends, then our lovers. The expression of love toward us is out of our control. We could be quite convinced, or abused.

Love is aggressive, pursuing, persistent, seeking.

Love must be expressed. It is impossible to love without expression. Pure feelings of love are not consummated except with action. Something must come from me. Love is energy, a verb.

Hurt creates barriers to true love. Love expressed does not have to be earth-shattering for it to carry the truth of its message. We only have one life to lay down for another. A kind word, a God-inspired gesture all speak to the same end. But to one who is hurt, it may not be received — since hurt results in a callousness and natural protection. The ground in which the seed of love is to be planted finds the ground hard where hurt has first visited. Jesus, heal the hurt. Restore the tenderness, sensitivity, humility and the willingness to believe again. Plow up the heart to receive your expression. Love is jealous. It will pursue. God’s love heals.

Knowing or receiving love is different for everyone. To some it is drawing close and embracing. To another, their mind must be convinced of love in a different way; through quality time, gifts received, being affirmed. The natural way I give love is the indicator of how I receive it. So giving and receiving in the natural is a good way to qualify our mate, but is impossible method with which to love others effectively. Heavenly love must be supernatural. He places the type of expression in us that will fill another’s bucket. Our choice to “love our neighbor” is first to acknowledge the requirement then to let the spirit determine the expression needed. Otherwise we will get worn out expressing it to another who has no capacity to receive it in the human context in which I offer it. It must be a spirit transaction.

What are the ways I may learn about His love for me personally? God’s love speaks through ordinary earthly relationships:

• The love, acceptance, devotion and affection of my wife and my lover
• Acceptance and commitment of my friend. Ones who know me and still love me
• The connection and interaction with a father. My father. My heavenly father. His fatherhood. His lead. His knowing, wisdom, and care
• Inclusion in His body. Co-laboring; fellowship; shared experiences; shared destiny; and a shared journey.

A shift from performance-based relationship

My view of love is being rocked. I’m beginning to understand that it is not based in my performance. It is in “being.” From and to our being flows his love. I have long looked at my life and its value in terms of service I offer. If I do right, I am accepted. Like the Major League Baseball player with a batting average that will keep him on the team. “If my heart is committed and on track my service will reflect this.” I am only as loved as my service and contribution.

There is a reason it is taking so long for God’s love to penetrate my soul, and I deeply respect that reason. It’s not because He is slow. It’s about me getting it right. How can He release me as I am asking if I reflect a gospel that is works-based and lodged in world values? If I hold tightly to my record and performance, I miss the fundamental ingredient in my Savior’s love for me. I need the love of God to rock my world. I need a recalibration of my heavenly GPS, a system reset.

Amazing grace, how sweet the sound…

Re-purposed from a May 17, 2009 journal entry