I thought this was beautiful to mentally chew on the past few days. What a beautiful picture of true love. Isn’t this what we desire to the core of our beings? Isn’t this what we WANT to give?
This is God’s AGAPE LOVE vs even the best of human love:
Below is a my favorite excerpt from a book I just finished by Max Lucado called “A Love Worth Giving.”
“Our love depends on the receiver of the love. Let a thousand people pass before us, and we will not feel the same about each. Our love will be regulated by their appearance, by their personalities. Even when we find a few people we like, our feelings will fluctuate. How they treat us will affect how we love them. The receiver regulates our love.
Not so with the love of God. We have no thermostatic impact on his love for us. The love of God is born from within Him, not from what he finds in us. His love is uncaused and spontaneous. As Charles Wesley said, “He hath loved us. He hath loved us. Because He would love.”
Does he love us because of our goodness? Because of our kindness? Because of our great faith? No, he loves us because of His goodness, kindness and great faith. John says it like this: “This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us.” (1 John 4:10 NIV)
Doesn’t this thought comfort you? God’s love does not hinge on yours. The abundance of your love does not increase his. The lack of your love does not diminish his. Your goodness does not enhance his love, nor does your weakness dilute it. What Moses said to Israel is what God says to us:
The Lord did not choose you and lavish his love on your because you were larger or greater than other nations, for you were the smallest of all nations! It was simply because the Lord loves you. (Deut. 7:7-8 NLT)
God loves you simply because He has chosen to do so. He loves you when you don’t feel lovely. He loves you when no one else loves you. Others may abandon you, ignore you, divorce you, but God will love you. Always. No matter what.
This is His sentiment: “I’ll call nobodies and make them somebodies. I’ll call the unloved and make them beloved.” (Rom 9:25 MSG).
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Do you know THIS kind of love? If you do, have you had a taste of it and are left longing for much more?
I think this is where I find myself. Having drunk from the cistern many times of God’s unfathomable love…in all the ways He desires to lavish His love on me…I am always yearning for more. It is just a kind of love we cannot find in human hearts. We cannot even expect to find it in human hearts, nor make them feel bad if they cannot give it. It is impossible for us to love perfectly here on earth, but I truly want to learn from my Creator how to love as best I can. I want to love like Him. And I want to submit to love those people He is bringing in my life right now…my “oikos.”
Do you know what the most beautiful part of this message is to me? We can drink from the cistern of God’s love as often as we need or want to. His Word is full of His love, there are so many Godly books written about His love…and God brings beautiful people in our lives to show us here and there about His love.
In the book it asks you at the end, have you received enough love in your life to know how to give it? Perhaps we don’t receive the kind of love from this person or that person that we desire to have or even need to have from them….BUT I know in my life this has always been true: I’ve always felt God’s tangible hand of deep love on my life. It is the one aspect of Himself that he pours continually into me. It’s almost as if He knows this is what I need from Him more than anything else. Provision. Well, I have to trust Him. Protection, I pray often for. Healing, yes when I can tangibly see my heart or body needs healing, I pray. Strength, and courage…I pray daily for…But…LOVE….HOPE…..I cannot live without. I have to constantly walk through each moment of my days absolutely CERTAIN I am loved and there is HOPE in every area of my life because JESUS is alive!!!
Walking in Faith 