More Love

Abide:  "meno" - to stay in a given place, state, relation, or expectancy

 Wouldn't it be wonderful to go about living in a state of companionship with Jesus?  It would be like walking moment by moment under the influence of the Holy Spirit who is inside. But there are things that compete with that life, aren't there?

God once gave me a vision in my mind of sitting around a campfire with Jesus and other disciples.  But as I contemplated and enjoyed the scene, I saw myself get up and sneak away from the group.  I prayed about that picture because it shocked and bothered me!  It was such a comfort to think that I had a place with Jesus around that fire.  Why would I do that? Obvious to me now, is that sneaking away was the result of idols in my heart calling me away from Jesus’ side where I really wanted - and needed - to be.

 

A friend at church once talked about needing to get “more love inside” before she could face a problem that she was sharing with us.  The statement stuck with me even though I wasn’t sure what she was talking about at the time!  But that is what I am saying now.   Even though I loved belonging in that group around the fire with Jesus, something was drawing me away.  I didn't realize it, but it was going to be His love that would enable me to release the things that caused me to leave my abiding place with the Lord.

God's lavish love created beauty !

Our Father promises to change our hearts not just modify our behavior.  He wants a relationship so he gives us a new heart (Ezekiel 36:26) and changes our behavior through love.  He doesn't use shame to motivate us or expect us to try harder to change.  It is Jesus’ love that builds the trust that allows us to submit to whatever needs to be done to help us abide more consistently.  Love leads us to surrender our idols and our whole selves more and more.

He did that for me and He’s still doing it!  In His good, gentle, gracious, wisdom He loves me and corrects me in ways that only make me want to surrender more.  What's at stake is more than campfire camaraderie and more than snuggling in a cozy little cottage.  It’s freedom that affects everything because I’m not alone or on my own.  Instead of trying to keep all my balls in the air, or ducks in a row, or wits about me, I can rest in the shadow of the Almighty, trusting him to cover me with his feathers and command his angels concerning me, rescue me, protect me, and satisfy me – showing me His salvation. (from Psalm 91:1, 4, 11, 14, 16)

morning sun on the Navajo desert

The picture of sneaking away helped me to see what God saw happening.  His love enabled me to let go of what I was depending on to receive what He wanted to give me.  It isn’t my work that changes me, but His love that overcomes the fears I am trying to deal with in my own way.  He is so good, so gentle, so gracious.

“And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge – that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.”  Ephesians 3:18b-19