I was reading this morning in a devotional on the youversion app on my phone called “Gods word for every need”. The topic on this one was “The love of all Loves”. It continues through talking about the marvelous love the Father has for us and that this is the greatest joy we can have. I feel like this one is missed.
We go around trying to follow Jesus and we really can be intentional in our attempts at connection with Him and to seek out His mind and thoughts. But I think one item might be overlooked frequently. The Joy of knowing Him.
Sometimes we are so wrapped up in the struggle and attempts for connection that we forget about joy. The joy that knowing Christ is just in itself. We have been hurt by people, some even professing to following Christ along with us. We look at this as a failure by the process on some level. We love Jesus = we get needs met = no pain or sadness again.
This was never part of the story, not until we get to Heaven at least! When we feel pain, we somehow can translate that into the absence of God, that He has abandon us. Joy overflowing feels far away!
But what if it’s not our situation that creates joy? What if “blessings” are disguised as trials? Yuck!! Some of you are like ya, no…I’m out.
As we look at this season of Christmas time we are in, for many it is easy to feel the joy around us. Walk into a mall and you can feel the vibe. Although I am not sure if that’s real joy or if it’s anticipation and endorphins because of the amount of times you pulled your plastic out of your wallet, followed by the work out your getting toting all those bags around the mall. Is that joy?
In the beginning of this I talked about reading a devotional about the Love of God. The love of all loves. That joy or “high” your experiencing in the mall is going to fade – significantly when you get your statement followed by the bill. Your “love of all loves” is still here.
Your joy that can be present with you wherever your go, did not move. He is still waiting for you to look at Him. He wants to be present with you each moment of every day but you’re too busy getting wrapped up in whatever chaos your creating or is happening to you on this day.
Do you ever wonder how the apostle Paul managed to write those letters while chained between 2 Roman guards for like 2 years? Don’t you think His mental health was suffering? Was it? Mine would likely be! I can’t imagine being locked up, much less in a dungeon, chained to people, filthy, smelly…trapped. If your mind started to envision this, did you feel a little panic rising up in you? Me too!!
Do you think that Paul’s joy came from his surroundings or from a passion for God that was brewing in his soul? Do you think that if Paul had not felt Gods love for him on a deep level that he could have maintained this level of balance or calm… or do you think the crazy would have started to rise up?
This season has been a reminder for me of this intense love God has for us. Christmas… the birth of Jesus was the most loving act anyone could have ever performed for us/humanity. A love so great – a desire to save us. What we messed up, He wanted to set straight. He came to wrap his loving arms around you and the whole planet.
Christs birth was essentially a big hug from your father. He said, “I love you enough to provide a way back to me- A way for you to spend eternity with me”. It’s a fatherly embrace that maybe you never experienced from your earthly father. He came to rectify that. God did not abandon us, He came close, said “I want you” and wrapped His arms around you.
There are literally hundreds of verses about Gods demonstration of love for us –
But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
The Lord your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing.
See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him.
But you, O Lord, are a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness.
No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—
Last but not least –
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
Christs birth and then his death – the ultimate demonstration of love. It’s a hug…do you feel it?