John 7:9-11 As The Father Loves... (Click here for readings)We have just read (or heard), without a doubt, the greatest commencement speech or farewell speech ever recorded. Christ said to His disciples, "As the Father loves me, so I also love you." Do I grasp what this means? Take a few moments to contemplate the meaning of these words: Like the Father loves me (a love fully immersed in Love and beyond all human limitations), I love you (God loves me as he loves his very own son). Who could ask for more? Who could ask for a more perfect love? Christ loves me as He loves the Father and the Father loves Him. What is this love? Unconditional, unrelenting, unquestionable love. Love that endures all time, bears all things. Love that is piercing and painful, burning yet unconsuming; love that is selfless. This love is True!! What is the difference between kindness and love? Kindness does not worry about the eternal salvation of the other. So kindness avoids causing pain. Love worries about the salvation of the beloved and is willing to accept and endure pain and suffering if that is what it takes for the conversion of the beloved. The Lord loves us as the Father loves Him.
Last night I was discussing atheism with a so-called "atheist". I reminded her that atheism does not offer the world any ideals to life. The Christian knows what it means to love, "to lay down your life for another." This person reminded me of how Christians and others who believe in God have killed in the name of God. I reminded her of our founder, Jesus Christ. I said to her, "If a Muslim slit the throat of an infidel, they would be considered a good Muslim by Islamic Law. If a Christian slit the throat of an evil man, they would be considered a bad Christian by Christian Law. If an athiest slit the throat of a human being, they would be considered hungry by natural law." Christianity does not teach us how to survive but how to live, and to live means to love.
The Lord loves us as the Father loves Him! He tells us this so that our joy may be complete - that Christ's joy may be in me! Heaven completes our joy. Heaven is our final resting place. This world is not home, it is an inn and we are pilgrims. Our joy continues to ellude us in a culture that continues to worship tolerance, pundits, and gallop polls. And yet, the Christian continues to send shock waves throughout the empire when he/she stands up for God.
I heard today that a famous TV sports anchor, Damian Goddard, was fired for defending true marriage. He had sent a tweet defending a friend who was defending true marriage. He wrote nothing offensive, vulgar, or obscene. He wrote, "I completely and wholeheartedly support Todd Reynolds and his support for the traditional and TRUE meaning of marriage." He was fired soon after that. I love what he said immediately after that, "It is times like these when I am so thankful for my Roman Catholic faith. I would be completely lost without it." He told a local newspaper, "In terms of what I said, I stand by it. I'm a devout Roman Catholic. It's not about hate at all!" I love it!!! It's not about hate at all. It's about love and truth, the two and only true God that is able to unite all mankind.
"As the Father loves me, so I love you. Remain in my love!" Yes sir!
“Like the Father loves me (a love fully immersed in Love and beyond all human limitations), I love you (God loves me as he loves his very own son). Who could ask for more? Who could ask for a more perfect love? Christ loves me as He loves the Father and the Father loves Him. What is this love? Unconditional, unrelenting, unquestionable love. Love that endures all time, bears all things. Love that is piercing and painful, burning yet unconsuming; love that is selfless. This love is True!!”
ReplyDeleteThe love of The Father: That seems to be the ultimate love. I did not know I even needed it until this past year. But I have been seeking it my entire life. I have been seeking the love of ‘a’ father as well. It was like I was on a quest for something that I would only know when I found it. How do you ‘know when you know’? You feel it, sense it and yet you can still be mistaken or even fooled. You can be fooled out of circumstances or your own desire or need. You can be fooled because you’ve been seeking something you never experienced before and you don’t know what it truly is. You just found something that feels right, feels good, feels safe, feels secure, and feels sincere so you accept that this must be ‘it’. You get comfortable with it; you believe you’ve found it, so you quit looking.
Then it is withdrawn and you try everything to get it back, but all attempts not only fail, but put enmity between you and what you believed was real.
The rejection rips out your heart and reminds you of how very mistaken, stupid and naïve you had been.
It’s interesting how the mind works. It will believe whatever you tell it is true, it doesn’t have to ‘be’ true. It just has to believe it’s true. So when something that seemed real is taken away, there is real grief, just as if it were true. That’s why trusting someone makes us so vulnerable. We lay down our defenses and open the door and give them free reign to our most precious possession, our very heart.
I wonder if that may be why it is so easy to detach your heart from your body and give your body away while holding on to your heart. The physical body heals so much faster than the heart. It’s a flesh wound compared to a wound that cuts to the core of our being.
I was sidetracked by the pain, disappointment, humiliation, grief… for a while but inside of that suffering, I found the REAL thing, which I may not have found if I hadn’t mistaken what I did find for the real deal.
How could one have a clue what God the Father’s love is or even feels like if they have never even experienced the love of an earthly father? Maybe He allowed me to be fooled so I would know the real thing when I found it.
I know,”all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are called to his purpose.”
He does not waste one opportunity to show us that He is God, our Father in Heaven who allows us to suffer ‘a little while’ so we can live in His Love for eternity.
Yes, I know what time it is. I’m in Shreveport where there are 24 hour casinos and one 24 hour adoration chapel. Guess which one has the most empty parking spaces? I hate looking for a parking space!
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