Love IS

On this day of hearts and flowers, one might think that I would have the decency to blog about passion and love. The truth is, just this morning, I was struck with a bit of an epiphany that has to do with the absence of such emotions. Don't get me wrong. I'm all for mushy love and tangible displays of emotion in the form of chocolate, flowers and old-fashioned sex! Valentine's Day has been one of my favorite celebration days because I love having an extra excuse to show my family and friends that I love them very much. Just two days ago, I was the recipient of such a display of love when the school secretary delivered a box of roses to my classroom. The beautiful flowers were from my beloved mom and dad! They made me feel very special and loved.

I also like the warm, fuzzy feeling I get when I read about God's love. "For God so loved the world that He gave his only begotten Son......" My moment of clarity has to do with God's love in particular. I've recently written about how we humans have this deep hunger to be loved and cherished and how God is the only One who can fill the hole that we each carry around inside of us. However, it hit me today that the truth about God's love is that it does not involve emotion of any kind. This fact makes it the best love of all! Simply stated:

God IS - therefore, Love IS!

I recently found this passage in Job 35:5-8 that reads:

"Look up into the sky and see the clouds high above you.
If you sin, what do you accomplish against Him?
Even if you sin again and again, what effect will it have on Him?
If you are good, is this some great gift to Him?
What could you possibly give Him?
No, your sins affect only people like yourself,
and your good deeds affect only other people!"

God IS, therefore Love IS!

Nothing I do for God OR against Him affects His love towards me! Wow! God's love exists despite me. I can rail against Him, curse Him, pound my fists against His chest and He will stand there calmly loving me. I can do mighty things for Him, live a life of service and sacrifice and He will stand there calmly loving me. God is not about emotion. He just IS!

This kind of love is very foreign to us humans. We live out our lives always searching for something to satisfy the deep hunger and need for love in our hearts. Sometimes that means we over medicate or go from one bad relationship to another. Sometimes we do find a satisfying earthly love, (I'm trying to throw some optimism in here! ) but invariably we continue to hunger and thirst for something that always seems to be just out of reach.

I am thinking that perhaps it would help if we could understand the truth of God's love just being something that simply exists with no strings attached. If there is nothing at all that I can do that will affect God's love for me, that gives me a huge sense of relief. I don't have to always be thinking that I might have some unconfessed sin that might separate me from Him or thinking that I SHOULD be doing something more for Him in order to be loved by Him. One of my worst fears has been that I might somehow disappoint God. But if God's love simply IS - then there is nothing that I can do that will disappoint Him!

There is peace in the knowledge that God's love is not emotional. It doesn't change under any circumstance. It is not fickle or varying in degree. It simply IS! Perhaps this truth taken into our hearts will ease our manic attempts to feel the emotions of human love. Enjoy the hearts and flowers. Enjoy those moments of passion and lovemaking. But rest in the knowledge that with or without those things, YOU ARE LOVED simply and always and that NOTHING you do or don't do will change that truth!!

Happy Valentine's Day!
Love,
lindylou

Who Will Fight For Me?

She comes into the world as a full blooming flower

With a heart thirsty for love from her very first hour.

But cold hands of neglect crush fragile petals of trust,
And a part of her withers and turns into dust.

Despite days of abandonment and fear in the night,
She thrives on dewdrops of hope and glimmers of light.

Yet, the tender, young blossom is locked in a tower,
Built with stones of distrust and a misuse of power.

She waits for a knight with his sword and strong might,
Who can break down the strongholds and make all things right.

"Won't you fight for me?" is the cry deep in her soul.
"Please delight in me, Rescue me. Help make me whole!"

A few brave ones attempt to tear down the thick stone,
But they soon get discouraged and she's left all alone.

Her cries go unheeded, no one answers her pleas.
She's wounded and bleeding and she falls to her knees.

It's then that she hears a strong voice from above,
It's a voice filled with promise and laden with love.

"Stop looking below for the answer to come.
Lift your face upward and look to the Son.

Yes, I will fight for you to My last dying breath.
Yes, I will rescue you with my life-giving death.

I'll continue to fight with My mind, heart and soul.
I'll delight in you, cherish you. I'll make you whole!"

So the beautiful rose turns her face to the sky.
She's found her prince charming, on Him she'll rely.

by lindylou

The Rest of the Story

"You looked like a queen, and so you were! Your fame soon spread throughout the world on account of your beauty, because the splendor I bestowed on you perfected your beauty, says the Sovereign Lord."

Ezekial 16:14

Here continues the story of a woman who, with no effort on her part and no credentials or illustrious pedigree finds herself the queen in the royal family of God! It was only because of God's splendor which He chose to bestow on her that she is considered perfectly beautiful! It is a wonderful reminder that it is ALL about Jesus and nothing about us! God bestows HIS splendor on us and declares our beauty to be perfect! How awesome is that?!

But here comes the rest of the story........

Despite being brought out of nothing into royalty, this once abandoned child who now stands as a greatly admired woman squanders everything and turns her back on the One who rescued her. In fact, most of Ezekial 16 is about all the terribly wicked and sinful things this woman ends up doing. She is even referred to as being worse than Sodom! It is a rather frightful and discouraging depiction of how low we humans can fall! And yet, there is such hope and abundant Grace in the ending of this tale:

"Nevertheless, I will remember My covenant with you in the days of

your youth. I will establish an everlasting covenant with you......

........and you will know that I am the Lord.

Then, when I make atonement for you for all you have done,

you shall remember and be ashamed and never open your

mouth anymore because of your shame,

When I forgive you of all that you have done,

says the Lord God."

(verses 60-63)

What wonderful good news! God's atonement was completed in giving Himself on the cross. He has forgiven us of ALL we have done or ever will do! All the pieces of this amazing story fit together to give us a picture of God's amazing redemption. He rescues us and perfects us and even when we reject Him, He continues to love us and stay committed to His promise to never leave us or forsake us. His atonement doesn't go away because we turn our backs on Him.

"We are saved by grace alone,

received through faith alone

because of the work of Christ alone

as revealed in the only infallible teacher of truth,

the Word of God alone!"

(D. Ford)

This Cinderella story, found in one Old Testament chapter is the gospel in its entirety. It is a wonderful truth that I want to hold close to my heart.