What is the one thing that this world desperately needs?
Here are some lyrics from a song that was recorded by Diana Ross in the 60’s that might give us the answer… “What the world needs now is love, sweet love. It’s the only thing that there is just too little of.” Holley Gerth is a Christian counselor and life coach; she wrote in her book, You Are Loved, that women ask her every day, “Am I loved?”
Could it be that this same question has crossed your mind? Are you feeling stuck? Do you feel like something is missing from your life? Are you living less loved? Is there a disconnect between what is in your mind from what is in your heart--- between knowing and believing?
If Jesus himself were to walk up to you right now, offer his hand to you and ask you to dance, would you accept his invitation without any reservation?
[Question] Why can’t we allow ourselves to enjoy such an amazing opportunity?
So many of us feel disappointed and unsatisfied with our lives, and we tend to collapse into our beds night after night wondering if we have been good enough that day to warrant God’s love. We imagine God to be some sort of harsh judge weighing our worthiness on some supernatural set of scales, or else we think of God as some sort of Santa Claus who keeps a “naughty or nice” list. Neither is an accurate view of God.
[Question] So, what do you think God really wants from you?
The one thing that pleases God is faith. In his book, God Loves Me, Wayne Jacobsen writes, “God’s love is so simple; it seems like Christianity 101, but there is nothing deeper.” He also writes that, “Most believers would say that they believe that God loves them. They even sing about it and are comfortable in saying it, but in a practical sense, incredibly few believers live each day as if the God of the universe has great affection for them.”
[Question] Why do we live this way?
We live this way due either to our preoccupation with our sins or due to the doubts that we might have about God’s character and his promises. In our humanness, whenever things go wrong in our lives, we have to blame someone. Isn’t it funny how we usually hold God responsible? Actually, it’s not funny, as believers, we should know better. Sometimes we fall into our pits or cisterns that we have dug ourselves, and we see ourselves as a lost cause. Thankfully God doesn’t see us that way. He is a God of second chances.
Do you remember when you were younger playing a game where you would pluck the petals off a flower and say, “He loves me; he loves me not?” But now that you are older and wiser you know that love is not a game; it’s more like a dance. It’s a dance with the Lover of your Soul. Whether your life is as smooth as a waltz or as unpredictable as a Paso Doble, with every step you take, he’s got you. He created you to love you, yes you, with warts and all. Matter of fact, you could even say that he loves to love you. He’s madly in love with you. Due to the fickleness and selfishness of man, we are not only afraid to trust others with our hearts, but we are also guilty of projecting this same doubt and lack of trust unto God.
[Question] When did this pandemic of doubting God’s love begin, and what were the circumstances? It began in the Garden when Satan tricked Eve into believing that God was holding out on them. Interesting enough is that he still uses the same old tricks on us today. Maybe he continues to work in this way, because he knows that it works. He is the enemy of our souls, and he takes every opportunity to rob us of the very love we so desperately need, sometimes even before we are born. He can create caveats in our minds. Caveats are the “buts,” the excepts or the doubts that we entertain in our minds. To see if you are prone to doing this, fill in the blank to this statement, “God loves me, but I _______.” We can find a million examples of how we fall short of our expectations. Could it be that every example may be based on a false premise, and God doesn’t give a hoot about it anyway? Don’t get me wrong, we do make mistakes, and we do willfully choose to sin, but do you really think that this is a surprise to God? We need to consider each of these caveats, remember that we are forgiven of all sins, and send those condemning and destructive thoughts, the minute that they pop into our minds, packing straight from where they came from. We need to treat them like uninvited guests that have come to either rob you or freeload at the doorway of our mind. We should just slam the door in their faces and then lock the door. Don’t invite them in, and certainly don’t entertain them.
Not only does the enemy use lies to control us, but he loves to use fear to motivate us. It’s true that fear is a great motivator; ask any parent. (Sorry, Mom and Dad.) But as children of God, we were not made for fear. Fear stifles rational thinking; it plays havoc on our emotions, and it forces our wills into submission. But there is an antidote to fear, a much more effective form of motivation, and that is love. Neurologists have done studies on the effects that love has on the brain, and they have found that daily doses of this crazy and amazing stuff actually changes not only the physical and chemical makeup of the brain but can have positive, long range effects on the lives of their patients. This is proof of what it says in the Bible that “you will be transformed by the renewing of your mind.”
Don’t you wonder what our lives would be like if our churches would actually preach more about this crazy love of our Abba Father and our newness in Christ instead of filling us full of information on how sinful we are and how serving makes you a better Christian. First of all, we all sin, but we are new in Christ, and his resurrection power and grace changes us from the inside out. And second of all, don’t get me wrong, serving is a noble cause; we are called to love others and help those in need, but burn-out will occur if you are not filling up your love-tank regularly. Only God can fill that up. Service flows naturally out from a heart that is filled with love. This needs to be megaphoned to the point that it really soaks into our souls. Hebrews 3:9 says, “…for it is good for the heart to be strengthened by Grace…”
God has called us to a ministry of love. Jesus said, “I give you a new commandment: that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, so you too should love one another.” “We were made to glorify God, to reflect or to cast back his more excellent image. The only image that man has seen of God was Jesus. The devil does not want us to reflect that image; it’s so dangerous. He wants us to believe all his lies and the lies we tell ourselves about ourselves. He wants us to curse or condemn ourselves, just as he is cursed. He wants us to be obsessed with our sins wondering if we are either too bad to be forgiven or if God really does forgive. If we “buy in” to this type of thinking it will lead to self-condemnation and eventually defeat. That’s why God says that we need to “renew our minds” to the truth. We need to walk in the newness of life. We are not the same anymore; we are new. You do yourself and others an injustice by wearing a mask or hiding behind a veil, thinking that you are not good enough. There is a glory in your precious face---a glory that reflects his grace. It says in Galatians 2:20, “I have been crucified with Christ, and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me, and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.” (Her Treasures-A Life Brand New, page 135)
It says in Ephesians that his love surpasses all knowledge. In other words, even the smartest guy in the room just doesn’t get it. Andrew Farley said on one of his radio broadcasts, “We only need to look to Jesus to see what God is truly like.” He loves us simply because it gives him pleasure to do so. Love is what drove his mission here on earth. (See Luke 4.) I John tells us that, “it’s not that we love him, but that he first loved us.”
We cannot comprehend this crazy love of God. It has been so ingrained in us that his love is dependent on us and how worthy we are to receive it. But the truth is that it has absolutely nothing to do with us, and we have to come to grips with that. It is a gift from a Holy God who expects no offering back, it’s unconditional---with no conditions attached. Our only responsibility is to simply to receive this crazy gift from our Abba with thanksgiving. It doesn’t get any better than that.
Here’s an idea… “instead of focusing on our inadequacies and “Am-I-doing-enough-to-be-loved,” thoughts, why not spend more time dancing with him and let our hearts and minds be washed with his love. It says in John 15:9, “Just as the Father has loved me, I have also loved you; abide in my love.” Abide is the key word; it implies letting go and giving up control to just “Be still.” (Her Treasures-A Life Brand New, page 159)
Jesus was a man of passion, and we need his crazy, passionate love desperately. He knew why he was here. He never doubted his father’s love. He saw value in everyone and died for you even when you were the most unlovable. He made you alive to God and a partaker of his divine nature. He must think you are pretty special. Come and dance with him and let his crazy words of love wash over you.
Beloved,
“My love for you is patient.
I will always treat you with kindness.
I will not act unbecoming toward you.
I seek only what is good for you.
I am never provoked to anger.
I do not take into account wrongs suffered toward me.
I do not rejoice in unrighteousness,
I rejoice with the truth.
I bear all things, believe all things,
Hope all things and endure all things that concern you.
My love for you will never fail.
(“A Love Note from Abba” / Personalized from I Corinthians 13)
Comments