Be Loved, and Love

Over the past few months, God has been teaching me about love, specifically His love and how I should love others. His love is amazing, unending, and unchanging. And He wants me to love the people around me with HIS love. In our society we seem to think that first we must love others, and then we will be loved. “Love and be loved.”

 

God, however, is the opposite. He beckons to us to come to Him and drink in His love. First be loved, and then love others. We can’t truly love others until we have the love of God in us. Trying to love others from within ourselves is like trying to pour water out of an empty pitcher. You might get a drop or two, but not enough to fill a glass and not even close enough to quench your thirst. We can’t love the way God wants us to, not on our own. We have to soak in God’s love, knowing and remembering that His love is deep and perfect, before we can begin to love others.

 

I read this in a devotional called Daughters of the King a few days ago, and it caught my attention:

“The love of God is deep. His love is wide. His love is high and it is long. God’s love is not far-fetched or something that you cannot totally wrap your heart around. It is not incomprehensible or unable to be fully received. Rather, it is something that God intended for us to comprehend, to eagerly take, to seize, and possess as our very own. We receive it into our lives, so that we can freely give it away. If you’re not full of the knowledge that God loves you, you won’t have anything to pour out into others. If you only believe God loves you when you perform well, and only when you live right, you won’t have anything to pour out on those who aren’t performing well or those who aren’t living right. What you receive for yourself is what you will ultimately give away. In a world that struggles with the idea of a loving God, amid all of the destruction and evil, you must have a firm understanding of God’s love. You must be rooted and grounded in it, so that you can effectively share His love with others.”

 

“I ask him that with both feet planted firmly on love, you’ll be able to take in with all followers of Jesus the extravagant dimensions of Christ’s love. Reach out and experience the breadth! Test its length! Plumb the depths! Rise to the heights! Live full lives, full in the fullness of God.” Colossians 1:12-14 (AMP)”

 

We must be ROOTED in God’s love. It must be our foundation. If it is, then and only then will we be able to effectively share God’s love with the people around us.

 

To be totally honest, I have a hard time loving people sometimes. Some days it is just really hard, and it’s easier to go through the day in my own little world. I tend to have a “grit my teeth and love” type of mentality. But God is slowly and surely chipping away at that tendency in my life, reminding me and teaching me that I can’t effectively love others without Him. God used a book by Max Lucado, A Love Worth Giving: Living in the Overflow of God’s Love, to really start whispering to me about His love for me, and to show me that the way I love others needs to change.

 

Lucado writes:

“Could it be we are missing a step? Could it be that the first step of love is not toward them [the people in our lives] but toward Him? Could it be that the secret to loving is receiving? You give love by first receiving it. ‘We love, because He first loved us’ (1 John 4:19 NASB). Long to be more loving? Begin by accepting your place as a dearly loved child. ‘Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us’ (Eph. 5:1-2 NIV).” (Lucado, p. 9)

 "God loves you. Personally. Powerfully. Passionately. Others have promised and failed. But God has promised and succeeded. He loves you with an unfailing love. And His love—if you will let it—can fill you and leave you with a love worth giving. So come. Come thirsty and drink deeply.” (Lucado, p. 14)

 God loves me. And He loves you. Deeply. Greatly. In a way that no one else has or ever will.

 Drink in His love.

Be drenched in the downpour of it.

Soak it in.

And then, give His love away.

 

Because God’s love is the only love worth giving.

Substitutes

“Sin is a substitute for what God really wants for you.”

 

I heard this on the radio a few days ago, and it caught my attention. When I choose sin, I’m choosing something that is a substitute for what God has for me. He has a plan and a purpose for me (Jeremiah 29:11) and He wants me to have REAL life… Life to the full! (John 10:10) But when I choose to sin, I’m actively choosing a substitute in place of the greater things that God has for me. God wants me to choose to live the life He has for me.

 

“Today I set before you life and death. Choose life.” –Deuteronomy 30:19 (paraphrased)

 

God knows what is best. He is our Heavenly Father, who knows each of us better than anyone. And because He knows us, and because of His love for us, He truly wants what is best for us. He does not want us to settle for the substitutes of sin… He wants us to choose HIM instead of our own desires, His will and plan for us instead of sin.

 

God wants us to live focused on Him, not on the substitutes. Jesus came to give us life, real and full.

 

Choose the life God has for you…. Life to the full! John 10:10

Tis so Sweet

The week of Christmas was a little rough for me. I had been sick for over a week, and it didn't feel like I was going to be back to normal anytime soon. I was a little stressed and worried, and I knew that my perspective needed to change. God began speaking to me through Jesus Calling by Sarah Young, which is a daily devotional written from the perspective of Jesus talking to you and me.

God wants me to trust Him, in everything. Three days in a row God reminded me, through Jesus Calling, to trust Him.

"How much better it is to walk close to Me, depending on My strength and trusting Me in every situation." -Jesus (Young, 378)

"I am your Refuge and Strength, an ever-present Help in trouble. Therefore, you don't need to be afraid of anything." -Jesus (Young, 379)

"Trust Me with every fiber of your being!" -Jesus (Young, 380)

Jesus is calling out to me, saying "Trust Me, Jenna. I love you." 
"Trust Me, Jenna. I am your Refuge." 
"Trust Me, Jenna. I am your Strength."

He's calling out to you, too!

It's really easy to say that you trust the Lord, but it's another thing when you must trust Him actively.

A few days after Christmas, I flew from Chicago to New Orleans. I'll be honest, flying scares me and I tend to be stressed/worried about it. This time, however, I knew that Jesus was telling me (and had been preparing me the week beforehand for it), "Trust Me, Jenna with this situation. Give your fear to Me. Trust Me, my dear child."

Once I was sitting on the plane waiting for the takeoff, I started thinking that it would be nice and I'd feel a lot better if my boyfriend was with me. If I could just sit next to him and hold his hand, I'd feel safe. Then God whispered to me, "Aren't I enough? I'm with you, always. Never will I leave you, never will I forsake you. Sit with Me, my child. Hold My hand." (Joshua 1:9, Psalm 73:23) So I did.

Then God brought the song "Tis so sweet to trust in Jesus" into my mind,  so that it replayed over and over and over again in my head during the flight. For one of the first times in my adult life, I truly felt that I chose to trust God instead of my fear. And God met me where I was and filled me with His peace and joy. He sat with me and held my hand. This might seem trivial, because it was just a flight, but it was a big deal to me and a big step of faith for me. God meets us where we are, and cares about the things going on in our lives. For me last week, it was flying. For one of the first times in my life, I wasn't filled with fear while flying. I was filled with God's peace.

Trust is hard. It is a battle that must be fought daily. I hope from this day forward that I will ACTIVELY trust God with every ounce of me.

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding." Proverbs 3:5

Don't lean on your understanding, or on your fears. Trust is a decision. A daily, hour-by-hour decision. It means giving your fears to God, instead of holding on to them. But it is worth the effort. Choose trust.

Walk through each day holding onto God's hand, whispering "Jesus, I trust You."

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart."

"When I am afraid,
I put my trust in You.
In God, whose word I praise,
in God I trust; I shall not be afraid.
What can man do to me?" Psalm 56:3-4