To Know Him is to Love Him and to Love Others

A short time ago I had the privilege of hearing Wes Hall speak.  He said something that I wondered about and something that has inspired me to write once again.  He said, “John 17:26 is one of the greatest prayers in the Bible.”  Well, I recognize John 17 as being the prayer that Jesus prayed for the eleven who were with Him before He went to the cross.  I also think that John 14 through 17 are some of the most important words that Jesus spoke, since they were His last teaching/prayer before the cross.  He didn’t have an audience of 5000 that night; He had an audience of eleven.

John 17:26 is the end of His prayer to His Father.  Jesus said, I have made You known to them, and will continue to make You known in order that the love You have for Me may be in them and that I myself may be in them.”  Jesus told them that if they have seen Him, they have seen the Father.  Everything He did was revealing the Father.  Notice that as the Father is made known, the love that He has is made known!

Someone once said, the great commandment must precede the great commission; i.e. we must love God and love others before we go into all the world and preach the gospel.  God is looking for a generation of lovers.  He is looking for a generation that will be so in love with Him and in love with others that they will lay down everything and anything to know Him more and to carry that knowledge and love into the world.  It is from that place of knowledge and love that we are equipped to go.  If we go into all the world before we know Him; before we know His love and His goodness and His grace, we will carry a message of servitude and we will miss the greatest place of relationship: the position of bride, son/daughter, and friend.

God has taken us into the wilderness (Hosea 2) to shift us out of the position of servant and into the position of Bride!  He is looking for a generation that will love Him.  He is looking for a generation that will say “no” to the distractions of the world and fight to know Him; a generation that wants more of God, whatever the cost; whatever the price.

Does it sound costly and uncomfortable?  It is.  But nothing will ever satisfy the heart more than knowing Him and knowing the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge.

I will end with this prayer from Ephesians 3:14-21: For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name.  I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen

Hanging Out with God

This has been a crazy year and a half.  It began in August 2010: my mother-in-law passed away suddenly of a brain aneurism; my father-in-law was left dependent and destitute and Scott and I became his caretakers; we began to drive to Huntsville once a week to take care of him and remodel his entire house and get it ready to sell; we moved him to Nashville; within 2 weeks time several marriages very close to us fell into turmoil; before we could rest from the traumas around us, my mother became ill and had to move to assisted living; all this time was during my daughter’s senior year and all that comes with that season; my daughter graduated and the day after we got home from moving her to California; my mother went into the hospital and her health began to decline rapidly; I spent 5 to 6 days a week with her for 5 months, then on January 13, 2011, my mother went to heaven.

After her funeral I came home.  All was quiet.  As I met with the Lord I felt Him calling me to a season of rest.  I set apart days and times on my calendar that I would turn of the phones and close myself away from everything but God.  When I began my season of rest, I began to seek the Lord.  “So, God, what are we doing today?”  The answer came back, “We’re just hanging out.”  I wrestled with what this meant… do I read my Bible, do I pray, do I worship, do I intercede for others, do I fast and seek your will in ministry… what do I do?!?”  His answer came gentle and unchanging, “Rest. We’re just hanging out.”

After 2 weeks of this, I began to question God: “Lord, what am I supposed to do?  If I just hang out with You, my mind will wander.”  “That’s ok,” He said, just lay down on the sofa in My presence and let’s hang out.”  “But Lord,” I responded, “If I lay down on the sofa, I might doze off.”  “That’s ok,” He said, smiling, “we’re simply hanging out together.”

Then I began to think about my godson, Garrett; he’s 7 years old.  When I go to his house to visit, he comes and sits in my lap or as close to me as he can possibly get, and just remains… usually for the entirety of my visit.  I realized, he has no agenda!  He’s not thinking, “I am going to learn so much by sitting with Miss Denise.”  He’s not strategizing how his time with me is even developing our relationship or intimacy.  He just longs to be with me and as close to me as he can possibly get and he has no agenda.  His agenda is love.

We, as God’s people, are guilty of taking our time with God and turning it into a time that will produce fruit in our lives or in the lives of others (especially those of us in ministry).  Graham Cooke said, “You can end up with a great working relationship with God, but a lousy friendship.”  So, for the past 9 weeks God and I have been hanging out!  No Agenda!  He wants us to know Him.  He wants His sons and daughters to know His love.  He longs to just hang out with us and reveal His heart to us.  If that never resulted in ministry… is it enough?  We know the truth that as we get to know Him we cannot contain His goodness; but what if He said I just want us to hang out from now to eternity… period.  Are we satisfied?  Let it be so.

At our church we have this phrase about “those who God misses most”.  Typically we are referring to the lost sheep or the prodigals.  But what if it’s us?  What if we have become so consumed with “doing” for God, that we have missed just simply crawling into His lap just to love on Him?  What if we are the ones that God misses most?  May you crawl into His lap today with no agenda.  I pray that as you do His love would be released over you.  I pray blessings of peace and joy and healing and grace and the knowledge of Him over your heart and over your life.