This is about my love for my God and the people of His heart's desire (whom I
love also in Christ's heart) and my brokeness over the love relationship that I
know could be theirs if only their perspective were the same as His...
Love is a word that's used carelessly by some at
times in our day. It's meaning on occasion even being perverted to be used as a
substitution for the word lust. But love in it's true meaning is a very powerful
thing when shared between two people. Real love between a man and a woman can
become a sacred thing as each honors their commitment to the other not only in
deed, but in spirit also in a marriage relationship. It becomes the binding tie
that leads each to seek the affections of the other and also to seek to meet the
needs of the other selflessly. As each moves to fulfill the needs and desires of
the other, it becomes a rewarding cycle of offering and receiving between them
that perpetuates itself to grow constantly stronger between them. As each
partner seeks to selflessly meet the needs of the other, they find their own
needs met by the object of their affection. It becomes a sacred relationship
wrapped in trust, faithfulness and loving tenderness.
But if one of those people betrays the love of the
other, the fury and the brokenness that ensues can quickly turn the relationship
into a devastating war zone filled with anger, jealousy and even hatred. There's
a phrase that speaks to the result of such betrayal: "hell has no fury like a
woman scorned". But I would suggest that the fury of heaven will show itself to
be far greater still in the day of judgment and for the same reason ...
If you've made honest effort to study the Word of
our Lord, then you should have a pretty good idea of our Father God's heart and
affections toward us. You should also realize that His purpose in creating us
was for Himself - because He desired to have a relationship with us. Not for our
own pleasure or so that we could engage in a lifelong treasure hunt on earth. So
anything that violates the trust, faithfulness and loving tenderness of the
relationship He created us for has the ability to provoke a similar response to
our scorn... from God Himself.
In broken relationship there's often much deep
pain, anger, grief ... and jealousy. Jealousy has become a word often used with
disdain. The words "You're just jealous" or "I don't like it when you act
jealous" would seem to give jealousy a negative meaning. But in the right
circumstances jealousy can be righteous and well deserved. If you're not sure
about that, consider Exodus 20:3-6:
3 "Do not worship any other gods besides me. 4 "Do not make
idols of any kind, whether in the shape of birds or animals or fish. 5 You must
never worship or bow down to them, for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God
who will not share your affection with any other god! I do not leave unpunished
the sins of those who hate me, but I punish the children for the sins of their
parents to the third and fourth generations. 6 But I lavish my love on those who
love me and obey my commands, even for a thousand generations.
I'm one given to believe that we can learn much of
our God by His design not only from His word, but also by our experiences in our
surroundings here on earth. I believe that the things we experience in
relationships amongst ourselves can teach us things that can reflect truths
about our relationship with our God. If for example, you've felt the pain of
rejection or the unfaithfulness of someone you've loved, then you have a basis
to begin to understand in a smaller amount how He feels in a similar situation
... with you and me.
If you've ever had occasion to feel the
insensitivity or unfaithfulness of another, take the pain of that moment and
multiply it by the generations of a thousand years or even five thousand and you
will begin to understand the depth of His love, undying hope and faithfulness.
From the beginning of man's infidelity in the garden of Eden until now, the
collective weight of the pain of man's transgressions against the God who
lovingly created him have been felt by the heart of the very one who's loving
imagination conceived of him. But in His pure holiness, righteousness and
perfection He patiently bears the pain and suffers to persevere to love us still
...
Where is the righteous response of men to the
faithful love of God's heart toward them? Is it in the hollow words recited in
moments of obligatory worship or in the quiet moments of honest tears of
brokenness for the offenses to a heart that desires only to love us? Is it in
the deeds of men whose motivations honor themselves among men or in the selfless
acts of love toward another whom God cherishes when no one else knows? Is it in
the insensitivity of those who know, but choose to ignore God's wooing or in the
hearts of those willing to bear the disdain of any man to reveal the depth of
their love and tender adoration for Him? We know the truth...
Whoever we may have become in this life, whoever
we claim to be, whatever we claim to live for, we were created for one purpose and
born into a marriage contract to become the bride of Christ. This is why you
live. Anything outside of that focus and priority in our lives and any other
worldly care, desire or distraction has the potential to lead us into peril as
the children of Israel found out:
Ezekiel 6: 5-10, 5" I
will lay your corpses in front of your idols and scatter your bones around your
altars. 6 Wherever you live there will be desolation. I will destroy your pagan
shrines, your altars, your idols, your incense altars, and all the other
religious objects you have made. 7 Then when the place is littered with corpses,
you will know that I am the LORD. 8 "But I will let a few of my people escape
destruction, and they will be scattered among the nations of the world. 9 Then
when they are exiled among the nations, they will remember me. They will
recognize how grieved I am by their unfaithful hearts and lustful eyes that long
for other gods. Then at last they will hate themselves for all their wickedness.
10 They will know that I alone am the LORD and that I was serious when I
predicted that all this would happen to them."
... this being the righteous reaction of the God
who created them for Himself and who warned them before hand ...
"I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God who will
not share your affection with any other god! I do not leave unpunished the sins
of those who hate me, but I punish the children for the sins of their parents to
the third and fourth generations."
They were told the truth from the beginning. They,
as we, were warned. The prime directive, priority and goal of every life that
He's created was revealed...
... and when we honestly begin to respond, the
cycle of true and faithful loving relationship has its everlasting reward by HIS
faithfulness to respond in unennding return...
If your love, knowledge and understanding of His
heart doesn't move you to depths that disregard the limitations, obstacles and
hurdles that the enemy would use to limit your response to the heart of the
loving God who created you for Himself, (fear of reproach or disdain, worldly
intellect, laziness, etc), then I ask you to consider how well you really know
Him. The marvels of His love and grace are beyond any joy, any hope, any peace
and any other pure and holy thing we could ever find in anything else. If you're
not experiencing it for yourself in your own life, then I would suggest that
you're missing out. If this is the case, I would ask: have you responded to Him
with deserved passion? He's already made the first move. Your honest and sincere
response is the key to beginning the eternal love cycle with Him in true
relationship.
Given that the Word of our Lord says in Romans
1:20 ...
"From the time the world was created, people have
seen the earth and sky and all that God made. They can clearly see his invisible
qualities -- his eternal power and divine nature. So they have no excuse
whatsoever for not knowing God.",
... I would say in addition that knowing Him, we
have no excuse for our failure to seek Him out to respond to His great heart.
The truth is plain and simple:
We were created for Him, by Him ... and outside of
Him everything else is meaningless. We have a sobering and fearful choice to
make in this life to either respond to His love - returning it in the wonders
and joys of everlasting relationship with Him - or to suffer the wrath of His
jealousy.
This is His sovereign perspective ... and our
eternal choice - made now and demonstrated in the moments we walk the face of this
earth...
I may not know you, but I know Him and I know His
heart for you. Because I love Him and am tender to the desires of His heart, I
love you also. So I ask you in sincerity, please, if you don't share an honest
relationship with Him - for His sake and for yours ... make it real whatever the
cost!!!
Comments
Post a Comment