Affection
[uh-fek-shuhn]
"a disposition or rare
state of mind or body that is often associated with a feeling or type
of love."
Wikipedia
"fond attachment,
devotion, or love: 1. the affection of a parent for an only child, 2.
Often affections. a. emotion; feeling; sentiment; over and above our
reason and affections. b. the emotional realm of love: a place in his
affections." Dictionary.com
"tender attachment:
fondness" Meriam Webster
It can be found in a tone of
voice, a touch, or a manner of addressing someone. It can be
displayed in any number of ways. It causes people to do all kinds of
things. It has motivated people to accomplish tremendous things at
times and yet, still others have suffered horribly for the want of
it. If it's real, it can be priceless and in it's true form it can't
be purchased. Shared mutually it tends to act as a binding agent that
cements people together and gives life to relationships. Shared
singularly, or from only one person in a relationship between people,
it can breed heart ache, jealousy or resentment among other things.
Most people tend to thrive
on affection and possessing it in its purest form, some are driven by
it to serve others selflessly. Lives have been sacrificed because of
it and some have endured the unbearable because of its power. But on
the other hand, people without any affection can be cold, bitter
people who tend to dote on themselves or are withdrawn.
So, why would a man who's
past would show him to be a daring, strong, battle scarred rough neck
choose to talk about affection? Because by His grace, I've come to
realize that we were created because it exists. From the moment our
God designed to form us in the wombs of our mothers, it was with the
purest affection that He created us and from that moment until the
moment of our leaving this earth, we have the choice to answer it.
Affection
is a by product of love. Love is who our God is. It's love that
created us. So if manly men tend to get squeamish at the thought of
those words, they really need to think about it. There are people
following our Lod's commandments and tennets because they were told
to. If I serve Him only for that reason, then I really have not
formed a love relationship at all (remember that God is love). That
is an empty form of service - it's called duty and if it were true of
me, I would desperately need to repent. If anything, I would have
only formed a religion by that kind of service. One possibly
motivated out of the fear of what the consequences are if I don't
serve Him - it completely misses God's greatest desire that motivated
our creation. I would liken it to holding one's hand out to receive
the promises of God while holding back the required payment that has
to be rendered in order to receive them. In my own mind it's no
wonder that some fail to receive what they have such great
expectation for. Given the core of the whole of what God has said to
us - it only makes sense. If I suffer troubles in my own life, it's
due to the complications and consequences of my own actions. Never
because God has failed to deliver on a promise that He's made and so
anxiously desires to bring to bear in my life.
True love and affection
breed loyalty, respect, obedience, and a deepening desire to please
toward the object of their focus as they grow. They create growing
devotion and cement a Holy relationship with God The Almighty when
they are answered in kind. He's given us so many opporunities for us
to show that we truly do love and have affection for Him because He
desires so deeply for us to succeed. For example: God certainly
doesn't NEED our money. What would the holy and righteous God of
creation need with such a worthless device of men? But by creating
the requirement for tithing, He created an opportunity for us to
prove the fruit of what we say. Some may view it as something that
somehow provides an opportunity to bless other men. But the truth is
that the giver, by following the opportunity to demonstrate their
love for God opens the door to the storehouses of heaven just a
little bit wider by demonstrating their love for Him in their
obedience every time they tithe. His promises remain stored up for
each of us until we respond by proving our love and affection for Him
and activate those promises reserved for those who will answer with
what His heart really desires - to love Him back.
There's proof of the way
that these things work in the history of the children of Israel. When
they honored His love for them, He blessed them lovingly. When they
were unfaithful to His love, they suffered. His promises have always
been prefaced with something. If my people will .... If they (you,
he, she), then I will... .
The truth is that He's already done more than enough to desrve our
undying love and affection for eternity. But His promises demonstrate
His heart, His desire, born of His unfathomable love for us to do
even so much more ... if we will just respond and fulfill His
greatest desire.
He loved us first and He
loves us most and this first life is an exercise to determine who
will respond to His affections and join in right RELATIONSHIP with
Him. Anything else completely misses the point and not only breaks
His heart but stirrs His jealousy and anger. If our love is the
point, and I am wholly convicted that it is, then there are some who
are by their own choice, are useless to His objective. I am no ones
eternal judge, but I have reason to believe that those are some who
might need to be afraid.
What was it that made King
Josiah of Judah so worthy of the Bible's honorable mention of Him in
the following way?
2
Kings 23:25 NLT "Never before had there been a king like
Josiah, who turned to the LORD with all his heart and soul and
strength, obeying all the laws of Moses. And there has never been a
king like him since."
Likewise, what was the
reason that our Father God is fond of Israel's King David even though
he bore imperfections? The answer to both was their heart toward God.
They answered His love and affection with their own hearts. Both did
great things in their service to God, but what cemented the bonds
between them and the Father was not their deeds, but the love and
affection for their God - The motivation that led them to do the
great things that they did. Josiah's heart was broken when he
realized the true state of Judah's failures before God ... and he
responded not only in word, but proved it by his deeds. David's
loving praises in the Psalms were a product of the love and affection
his heart held for his God. Though his service was not perfect, his
deeds in general proved to our Father the truth of his desire and
words.
There are so many many
things we can learn from our Lord if we submit ourselves completely
to his instruction. But until we've given ourselves to study the
whole of His Word and seek the Holy Spirits' interpretation, we may
only see part of the picture. Men may choose to argue over portions
of scripture and indeed at times in history such arguments have even
led to wars. But His word has never changed - only men's
interpretations amongst themselves. Sometimes the interpretations of
the Holy Spirit require our quiet patience to hear, but the spirit of
our Lord is always the same. At times, rather than arguing with one
another, our time would be so much better spent selflessly searching
the Lord's heart in a spirit of humility and submission. I say this
because He hasn't changed and neither have His standards or His
teachings and what's most important is whether or not we as
individuals respond to HIM according to His hearts' greatest desire.
Not whether one or the other is right between us in argument. So if
men were to truly devote themselves to truly knowing God's heart
well, listening to the voice of the Holy Spirit and following it,
there couldn't be much to argue about.
Our affections toward our
God are the key to having the life that our Lord God intended for us
all along. Without them, we are the ones who suffer and cause His
heart to suffer along with us. We in a sense are punishing ourselves
and denying God's pupose for our creation. If this is true of you,
then please, please, please repent and get it right. You're missing
so much and depriving Him of what He so richly deserves and desires.
You will NEVER regret it. It's what you were born for. It's the only
thing that will fulfill the deepest needs of your heart. I pray God's
richest blessings to be on the readers of this writing and the Holy
Spirit to be upon you in great measure to speak often to your heart.
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