Love
the Lord – In His Word 1-21-21
It
was pleasant to come across this study on love, I had just read a chapter or
two on it and shared with a mentee about how much love was my one word for my
life as a child. So, when I found it, I had to reshare this one! I am not sure
when I wrote it but I hope you will find it a great read for this 21 daily read!
Last
week we spoke about love, which it is, not just what it is. So now that we know
what, whom, and where it is…what do we do with it?
Let’s
look for the answers… In His Word!
Gideon
replied, "If now I have found favor in your eyes, give me a sign that it
is really you talking to me. Please do
not go away until I come back and bring my offering and set it before
you." And the LORD said, "I will wait until you return." Judges
6:17-18 (niv)
In the
morning, O LORD, you hear my voice; in the morning I lay my requests before you
and wait in expectation. Ps 5:3 (niv)
I wait
for the LORD, my soul waits, and in His word I do hope. My soul waits for the Lord
more
than those who watch for the morning --Yes, more than those who watch for the
morning. O Israel, hope in the LORD; For
with the LORD there is mercy, And with Him is abundant redemption.
Ps
130:5-7 (nkjv)
And being assembled together with them, He commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the Promise of the Father, "which," He said, "you have heard from Me; for John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now." Acts 1:4-6
But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life. Jude 20-21
Many
years ago, as a child I began a quest to wait for love. I looked for love
everywhere, especially on St. Valentine’s Day. To me it seemed as if a
Valentine meant someone loved me. Of course, as a child we have only a small
concept of what love truly is, in fact as adults we have a small concept of
love, real love. We see fake love on
television, in movies and hear about it in ‘love songs. We hear all kinds of
love quotes, love poems and yet the one that stands out in today’s world is one
I have heard and read lately that says, ’true love waits’.
These three words have one meaning in the world, but a completely different meaning once you know what real love is! And now we do! We know that God is love. So, you may be asking what does waiting have to do with it?
One day in July, in 1987 a 24-year-old woman was standing on a pier in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. She had been waiting for seven months to see the sailor who was on a ship near by, but she had to wait for him. She phoned his ship an hour ago and they said he was not there. Then again, she phoned and he was at church. She had been waiting so long to see this man, she had come to the realization that she was in love with him, always had been from the day they first met. She waited to tell him of her revelation. She had so much love in her heart she was ready to run down the pier and shout to the world that she loved him but…she waited for the perfect moment.As
you can imagine her heart was ready to burst out, but she was uncertain of what
she might receive from his end. You see, he also had been writing to her for
seven months with out sharing any mention of loving her. He too was waiting to
see if she loved him as much as he loved her.
It
took them a whole week more before they exchanged the words ‘I love you’, yet
when they were spoken it was as if they both knew they had waited more than
seven months to hear those words, for it was a lifetime!
Just
as these two lovebirds waited eagerly to hear the words, I love you, so does
our Father in heaven.
As
a mother of three growing children, I look for signs of love. I wait eagerly
for the moment one of my children will come to me throw their arms around me,
or crawl up on my lap and say, “Mommy, I love you!” In fact, one of my most
precious memories is of a time when I was pregnant with my second child. My
first child had the chickenpox. Now you know that means a lot of comforting for
a parent but add to that the fact that I was pregnant out to here and stressed
about the idea that the baby could contract the pox, and well you can see I
might not want to get too close. Still, he was my baby boy! He was only two,
and he needed his mommy. While I was holding him trying to help him rest and
lower his spiking temperature, he opened his little eyes and placed a tiny hand
on my right cheek. Looking into my eyes he said the words I will always relish,
“My sweet, sweet Mama, I love you so much!” Then he drifted off to sleep.
Jesus said that to the Father when He died for us. He knew that it was not his will but the Father’s will that must be done. When He prayed in the garden of Gethsemane, we can hear it in His prayer…Jesus waited out of love, to do what the Father asked of Him.
We
need to wait to hear the words of Love the Father has for us. We have heard
that when we wait on the Lord, in His presence is fullness of joy. That joy is
in the Love of God, for you!
It
is in the peace that passes all understanding. It is in knowing that you are
loved in such a way that nothing you do can ever change the love He has for
you. When you wait, for the Lord’s presence, you can show the love you have for
Him in return.
He
loved you first, He waited for you first too!
He has been waiting since you were born for you to reach out to Him and
tell Him you love Him. To listen to His words of love, and instruction, and
then to do them! He tells us over and over in the Word of God to wait. 97 times
in the niv version, 106 in kjv. Though not each of these is relevant to you
waiting personally on the Lord in your life, it has the word that many times
and I think that should tell us something, don’t you?
Waiting
is not just sitting there in a waiting room chair reading a magazine. Waiting
on or for the Lord is more than that!
W- Worship Him while you wait patiently on your knees, or wherever you
are. Tell Him how much you love him. He longs to hear your words of love, has
been waiting all your life for this moment. He has loved you for so long and
wants to let you know that He loves you too!
A-
Accept
that God loves you! Yes you, in the state you are in today, in the much and the
mire, or in the castles you have built for yourself. He loves you, but He wants
you to accept His love before He knows you absolutely love Him.
I-
Into
His presence is where you need to come, go, run and remain! He is waiting for
you to draw nigh to Him. Jesus wants you to remain in His presence for a while,
after all how would you feel if your child or loved one ran up to you hugged
you quickly and ran off? That is what it is like when we do a short time in
prayer and run off to our day. You feel cheated out of their love, or like it
was put on hold. God wants you to spend time listening to how He loves you, not
just to say, “Yea me too!” and then not enjoy His company. Remember He has been
waiting for you forever!
T-
Together
Time-Trust Him with your heart, your life, your time. Spend time in His
presence, trusting Him with all your hearts desires, pains, struggles. He has
been watching you flounder and only wants you to give it up to Him so he can
fix it! He has seen your victories, helped you anonymously, and now He wants to
rejoice with you! Trust Him with your dreams for tomorrow, for He will give you
the desires of your heart. Because He loves you, you have found favor in His
sight.
Dear
Heavenly Father, thank you for waiting for me. I love you! I need you! I am so
grateful for you being in my life, and for all those you have sent to me in my
life to share You with! In Jesus name, help me to spend more time enjoying your
presence today and every day. Amen.
Suggested
Readings;
Monday:
Romans 8 (all)
Tuesday:
Luke 12 (all)
Wednesday:
Judges 6:1-40
Thursday:
Jude- 1-21
Friday:
Titus 2 (read it again this week and think on waiting this time)
Weekend Readings; Read the complete story of
Gideon in Judges, begin at Wednesday’s reading and keep reading. (All)