Earlier tonight, a girlfriend who is going through a rough time emailed me asking, "Is there really such a thing as unconditional love?". All I could tell her was YES. But the only unconditional love that exists is through God. No earthly man or woman, girl or boy can ever fully meet all our needs. Only God can. That is the only unconditional love any of us can ever know this side of eternity. While many of us are lucky enough to have a fabulous spouse or beautiful children who we feel like we love unconditionally...or who love us unconditionally...they still can't meet our every need.
And so...I found it fitting that when I opened the book tonight, I read the title to this chapter "When You're in Love". Don't ya love God's timing? I will be honest, as I read tonight, I was distracted thinking about my friend's current struggle & much of what I read was read through the eyes of that struggle. I'm not going to respond to the highpoints I'm posting below because I fear I'd give details of her situation and that's not for me to share. Instead, I will email her this post and pray that she (& all of you reading this) will glean from the wisdom in these passages from the book.
*Grandma Clara would kneel by her bed every morning & spend hours in the presence of the Lord, praying. Later in the day, just a glimpse of that corner of her bed would bring tears to her eyes in anticipation of sharing time with God there the following morning. Grandma Clara acted toward God the way we do when we're deeply in love with someone.....When you're truly in love, you go to great lengths to spend time with that person.
*If you could go to Heaven with all the friends you have on earth, no sickness, all the luxuries you desire, all the physical pleasures & no human conflict, yet without Christ, would you be satisfied?
*When we love Him, we're FREE. No burdensome list of conditions or rules to follow.
*Lukewarm living & proclaiming the name of God simultaneously is disgusting to God.
*When loving Him becomes an obligation, one of many things we have to do, we end up focusing even more on ourselves. No wonder so few people want to hear from us about what we ourselves feel is a boring, guilt-ridden chore!
*Jesus didn't only die to save us from @#!*% ; He also died to save us from our bondage to sin. John 10:10 says "I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full." He wasn't talking about the future. He meant NOW, in this lifetime.
*I need God to help me love God. And if I need His help to love Him, a perfect being, I definitely need His help to love other fault-filled humans.
*As we focus on loving Christ, loving others becomes more natural.
*John 16:33 "In this world you will have trouble, but take heart! I have overcome the world." Life isn't perfect when you follow Christ wholeheartedly; you will have trouble, Jesus says -- it's pretty much guaranteed. BUT He has overcome the world.
*There is nothing better than giving up everything and stepping into a passionate love relationship with God, the God of the universe who made galaxies, leaves, laughter and me & you.
*It sounds trite to say that our troubles on earth are 'light & momentary'. Yet God tells us we're getting the better end of the deal, that we really will be rewarded in a manner that far outweighs our current frustrations and hardships. (Luke 6:22-23)
*God is the only true Giver, and He needs nothing from us. But still He wants us. He gave us life so that we might seek & know Him.
*If you merely pretend that you enjoy God or love Him, He knows. You can't fool Him. Instead tell Him that He isn't the most important thing in your life and that you're sorry for that. Tell Him that you've been lukewarm, that you've chosen ______ over Him. Tell Him that you want Him to change you, that you long to genuinely enjoy Him.
You can be real with Him.
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