Unfailing Love
God has had me on a quest of sorts for quite some time. The quest has been to "redifine" Love. The word "love" for me has been well, shall we say, a little jaded, and has caused my heart to grow on many occasions cold. Not always, and not to everyone, but moments of sarcastic roles of the eye and gestures of "gagging" have been known to be part of my response to the idea, the word, the concept of LOVE.
Since beginning this quest the Lord has taken me to some interesting stories in Scripture. I expected and planned on beginning my quest in the "LOVE CHAPTER" otherwise known as I Corinthians 13. But He hasn't taken me there at all... not even near it. He's taken me on a journey of looking at Hosea and Gomer, David and Bathsheba, Abram and Hagar, God and the Israelites, Jacob and Leah... not Rebecca, but Leah. He's taken me to stories of great tragedy like Noah's day and the destruction of the entire earth save Noah's family. (did you know that the Bible says that the waters rose 28 FEET above the HIGHEST MOUNTAIN PEAK!!! Sorry little side note there)... Then to Mary Magdelene and Jesus... and 1 John. Every story... every chapter He has led me to shows love as UNFAILING. There are many other things descriptions and definitions He's given me along the way, but unfailing is the one that keeps coming back.
I come from a loving family. My parents, siblings, we all love each other... I am far away from them and therefore have less contact than maybe is desired on both sides, but I know that I am loved. And mom and dad, if you are reading this... thank you for that. But lets face it... human love fails. Even the best relationships fail in some way. I think that is part of what God is teaching me... human love will fail. His love does not.
This weekend our pastor is speaking on Love as a character trait, not an action, not a choice, but as part of who we are... who we are defined as. "put on love" "without love we are a clanging gong"... That the plumbline or measuring stick that God will use with us in not how many times have you read through the Scripture, or how many people did you "save", but rather "What did you do with the love I gave you... did you accept it, and did you give it away?" I've always been bothered by that, because Love was such a weird word for me and I didn't know how to accept it or give it away for real.
We all have our "love ya" and "praying for you" kind of love that we throw out there quite randomly and sometimes carelessly, but to truly love, sacrificially and unconditionally and without fail... now that is a whole other kind of love.
I'm in the book of Psalms in my 90 day through the Bible campaign, and "unfailing love" comes up again and again and again. I'm reading the NLT this time around, and it's everywhere. When God spoke to the Israelites from Genesis right through to the end of 2 Kings he refers to his love for them as Unfailing... Job calls His love unfailing... JOB! David understood it too. You see it in the narrative of his life as he quietly took care of his sheep and worshipped the Lord on the hillside, to when he was anointed King and waited years before that came to be truth, how he refused to harm the Lord's anointed while fleeing from the same man, how he ruled and worshipped before the Lord with humility and recognition that he was nothing without God, and how somehow he knew that even in the gravest of his sin, adultery and murder, he could throw himself on God's mercy because he knew that God delighted in him and His love would not fail him.
Acts 2:25 says "And David said of the Lord, He is always in my presence and is at my right side so that I may not be shaken" David knew God's love to be unfailing.
Last Sunday, God ministered this truth to my heart through the words of a song... " I believe that You're my healer, I believe You are all I need. I believe that You're my portion, I believe You're more than enough for me... Jesus You're all I need" What he spoke in those words was unfailing love. He showed me I am not too much for Him, and He is MORE than enough for me.... Unfailing Love.
The beauty of this quest to "redefine" love is that God is showing me His love is "redefining" me.
Since beginning this quest the Lord has taken me to some interesting stories in Scripture. I expected and planned on beginning my quest in the "LOVE CHAPTER" otherwise known as I Corinthians 13. But He hasn't taken me there at all... not even near it. He's taken me on a journey of looking at Hosea and Gomer, David and Bathsheba, Abram and Hagar, God and the Israelites, Jacob and Leah... not Rebecca, but Leah. He's taken me to stories of great tragedy like Noah's day and the destruction of the entire earth save Noah's family. (did you know that the Bible says that the waters rose 28 FEET above the HIGHEST MOUNTAIN PEAK!!! Sorry little side note there)... Then to Mary Magdelene and Jesus... and 1 John. Every story... every chapter He has led me to shows love as UNFAILING. There are many other things descriptions and definitions He's given me along the way, but unfailing is the one that keeps coming back.
I come from a loving family. My parents, siblings, we all love each other... I am far away from them and therefore have less contact than maybe is desired on both sides, but I know that I am loved. And mom and dad, if you are reading this... thank you for that. But lets face it... human love fails. Even the best relationships fail in some way. I think that is part of what God is teaching me... human love will fail. His love does not.
This weekend our pastor is speaking on Love as a character trait, not an action, not a choice, but as part of who we are... who we are defined as. "put on love" "without love we are a clanging gong"... That the plumbline or measuring stick that God will use with us in not how many times have you read through the Scripture, or how many people did you "save", but rather "What did you do with the love I gave you... did you accept it, and did you give it away?" I've always been bothered by that, because Love was such a weird word for me and I didn't know how to accept it or give it away for real.
We all have our "love ya" and "praying for you" kind of love that we throw out there quite randomly and sometimes carelessly, but to truly love, sacrificially and unconditionally and without fail... now that is a whole other kind of love.
I'm in the book of Psalms in my 90 day through the Bible campaign, and "unfailing love" comes up again and again and again. I'm reading the NLT this time around, and it's everywhere. When God spoke to the Israelites from Genesis right through to the end of 2 Kings he refers to his love for them as Unfailing... Job calls His love unfailing... JOB! David understood it too. You see it in the narrative of his life as he quietly took care of his sheep and worshipped the Lord on the hillside, to when he was anointed King and waited years before that came to be truth, how he refused to harm the Lord's anointed while fleeing from the same man, how he ruled and worshipped before the Lord with humility and recognition that he was nothing without God, and how somehow he knew that even in the gravest of his sin, adultery and murder, he could throw himself on God's mercy because he knew that God delighted in him and His love would not fail him.
Acts 2:25 says "And David said of the Lord, He is always in my presence and is at my right side so that I may not be shaken" David knew God's love to be unfailing.
Last Sunday, God ministered this truth to my heart through the words of a song... " I believe that You're my healer, I believe You are all I need. I believe that You're my portion, I believe You're more than enough for me... Jesus You're all I need" What he spoke in those words was unfailing love. He showed me I am not too much for Him, and He is MORE than enough for me.... Unfailing Love.
The beauty of this quest to "redefine" love is that God is showing me His love is "redefining" me.
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