“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. ~ John 3:16
My son recently experienced the birth of his first child. He said he felt things he’d never felt before when he held his baby girl in his arms for the first time. After clearing my throat and brushing away my tears, I replied, “So, daddy, you’re feeling things you’ve never felt before. I still feel that way when I look at you today. It is why being a father changed my life forever and brought me all the way home to my Heavenly Father. Now, looking at my granddaughter brings new feelings I’ve never felt before.
What a perfect way to end my brief Sabbath rest! Much of the time was spent in reading, listening, thought, and prayer. I contemplated my life stage and my future. I considered my personal and professional vision and mission. While many things were left unresolved, a few became crystal clear. Chiefly, the nature of our LORD and His Kingdom.
“I just can’t stop looking at her. She’s so perfect” said my son. That is how God the Father sees us in the light of His Son, as difficult as it may be to believe. We are like a baby in the arms of a devoted father. We can not give anything to deserve His love. The mere fact that we rest safely and helplessly in the Father’s love gives Him joy.
I realized again that my career, denominational matters, church administration, governance, doctrine, and leadership do not matter more than resting in the Father’s love. Nothing I own, control, or do is as important as joining the LORD in whatever He is doing. The work of the Church is really very simple, albeit very difficult for most persons. “Love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your mind, and with all your strength, and love your neighbor as yourself.”
One cannot truly love someone whom he does not know. My son is memorizing every aspect of his infant daughter’s nature. He knows her scent, the rhythm of her breathing, and delights in her tiny cooing voice. It is the same sort of relationship that the LORD desires with us. We can know the LORD that way too! He invites us to experience His heart, mind, and strength through His Holy Spirit.
Therefore, ask the LORD to break your pride and selfishness and release the Spirit in you. The Father loves you so much! Stop living like a human-doing and start living like a human-being, knowing that it is in Him that we live and move and have our being. My son holds his infant daughter and feels a connection that he’s never known. “This is a unique creature with a soul and mind like mine, but separate. Yet, she is flesh of my flesh and bone of my bone” he might say.
In the Father’s eyes we are created and known in a similar way. We are redeemed and recreated so that we can be an eternal companion, even bride, to the Son, who is one in being with the Father. We live for this and nothing else matters so much.
If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing. 1 Corinthians 13
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