(P.S. If you did not read the prior blog with the dandelion photo, read that one first. Then this one will make even more sense.) What if You Do Not Feel the Love of God?
Every human being can find
fulfillment in the love of God. We do not need to depend on other people for
our validation. What if you do not feel the love of God; how can you feel it?
There is no path to follow, or certain steps to take to earn God’s love. His
love is a free gift.
One
way to feel God’s love for you is to feel love for God. God longs for us to
love Him in complete surrender, without any limits or hesitation. Surrender
means to give up, to relinquish, to yield and to capitulate. There is no
self-effort involved in surrendering. Surrender is actually the opposite of
control. It means to sit back, throw up your hands and give up all of your
control to God.
So, how do we connect with God? It is quite simple,
really. Begin each day by sitting at His feet, loving Him and learning from
Him. Still the chaos in your body and soul - your thoughts and emotions. Take
your focus off of the demands of your day and talk to God about your cares and
concerns, listen to Him as He instructs you with His wisdom, read His Word and
meditate on what you read, praise Him for His work in your life and wait on
Him.
The
Gospels tell us two commandments that are considered the greatest of them all.
“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all
your strength and with all your mind”; and then, “Love your neighbor as
yourself” (Luke 10:27, Mark 12:30 and Matthew 22:37). Jesus tells us how to love
the Lord completely and unreservedly; then He gives us two commands in one
phrase: "Love your neighbor as yourself."
Love
is more than a feeling. It is also an action. Once we love God, we turn this
same spiritual love towards our self and everyone He brings into our lives.
Jesus points out in this phrase that there is no way we can love other people
if we do not first love our “self”. I am not referring to self-centered,
selfish love, but to regarding our “self” as having worth and value in Christ,
because God and Christ first loved us.
God’s unconditional love is constant and it makes
room for mistakes. Once we see our self as God sees us, then we can love
our self as He loves us. Only then can we love others in the same way. God did not spare Himself
for us and He longs for the same total commitment from us toward Him.
God
desires for us to eagerly and unreservedly throw ourselves into His waiting
arms, to give up control of our lives and to completely surrender our life to
His will for us. In return, we enter into a union with the supreme ruler of the
universe who takes up residence within us. God gave us His all, and He wants
all of us. The smallest hesitation on our part wounds Him deeply.
One
of the biggest hindrances to our love for the Lord and to us feeling His love
for us is the “idols” in our life, which we cling to so desperately. Initially,
you may not even recognize them; however, as you sit quietly before the Lord in
prayer, He will make you aware of them.
An idol is anything that comes between you and your worship of
God. They come by many different names: success, independence, materialism, a
particular person and busyness name just a few. A friend pointed out to me that
self-reliance is one of the largest idols in many lives. Once we relinquish
each of them to God, we experience complete surrender.
As you leave this sacred place of daily quiet time
with God and enter into the routine of your busy life, continue communing with
God throughout your day and night. God never, ever leaves us (Hebrews 13:5). He
never slumbers nor sleeps (Psalm 121:4). His grace enables us to successfully
meet all of life’s demands as we accomplish them in Jesus’ name (2 Corinthians
12:9).
Prayer:
Lord Jesus, as we come to
truly know You, we find a warm, committed relationship growing between us that
is built on faith and trust. You prove to us all day long that You love us.
Help us to do the same for You. Thank You for giving Your life on the cross as a ransom
to pay the debts we owe. Help us to walk worthy of Your love as we live in Your
Spirit.
Thought for the Day:
God spends every second of His time showering us with abundant love. We
just have to take time to notice it. It
is not enough just to know that God loves you. It is a gift to be felt continually, moment-by-moment as we walk in His
presence and act on that love throughout the day.