Known By Love
Known by love, love is the identifying mark of a follower of Christ. It is also something that I have been reading, studying, and learning about for over 15 years now. Fifteen years later, I still haven't begun to scratch the surface of God's love.
Over 15 years ago, I was given a devotional by a dear friend and a grocery bag full of magazines by another. Neither woman knew the other had given me any reading material at all, let alone that the devotional and magazines were both put out by the same ministry. Being an avid reader aka devourer of books, I curiously skimmed through both the book and magazines. The fact that both the books and magazines were from the same ministry definitely had my attention. What is God up to? Should I even be looking at these things? I've heard about this ministry.
Curiosity won over caution. (that's not uncommon by the way) I am so glad it did. The more I read, the more I wanted to read. Relief, jubilation, surges of thanksgiving rolled over me again and again and still again as the realization that other believers in Christ believed every word He said, just like I did. As a matter of fact, not only did they believe the Bible to be absolute truth, they were even more intense and radical about it than I was. That was saying something for I have had a lifelong love affair with God's Word for as long as I can remember. Not only did they believe every jot and tiddle, they encouraged me to read and memorize and do the same. Freedom, such freedom was discovered as the Sword of the Spirit, God's Word, cut bond after bond of religion. Deep longings that had always been within my heart were being satisfied and fulfilled as the Word of God, not the teachings of men, set me free.
Soon, my thirst for more teaching of the Word of God saw me scheduling time every morning to sit at the feet of Godly men and women via television. Some women needed their coffee, I needed my time with Jesus. Amazingly, my small children eagerly joined me in this aim and great quest. How it built this mama's faith to witness my little ones learning and willingly obeying God's Words for themselves, at such young ages too. The more of Christ's freedom the children and I experienced, the more our household was affected. The very atmosphere within our home was filled with an inexplainable peace. This peace was noticable as guests frequently commented on how peaceful our home was. Rarely did a visitor to our home not visibly relax upon entering.
The children and I weren't the only ones who hungered to experience more of God's power in our lives. My Beloved too noticed the difference. The difference was so great that before much time passed, the first thing he inquired of after arriving home was what new truths we had learned that day. Right in the middle of living life, our family found ourselves growing up together into the fullness of Christ. Physically times may have been lean, but spiritually and emotionally our entire family was getting fat, fat, fat on the richness of Christ, the Word.
All of a sudden, in the late 1990s, teachings on the love of God began to crop up here and there in various ministries. Within a few months, everywhere we turned (or so it seemed to us then - and now) someone was teaching and/or talking about the love of God. Talk about revolution! Oh my! there was a literal explosion of freedom as together we learned truths from the Word of God that had somehow escaped our notice until then. Romans 5:5 revealed that God's love wasn't something we had to conjur up or create within ourselves, it had been poured out in our hearts when we accepted the gift of salvation through Jesus Christ! It was already in there! We just had to begin walking in it. Walking in what? The Love of God. What is the love of God? We soon discovered that 1 Corinthians 13, the well-known "love chapter" wasn't a random piece of work for church children to memorize for points or awards; it was a description of God's Love and what it looks like in the life of a Christian. Scripture after scripture, life lesson after practical life lesson fell like rain on our hearts, and we soaked up the truth of the Word like thirsty sponges.
Over five years had passed by this time, and our family had moved not once, or twice, but at least three times. God had continued to lead us and teach us from His Word. My oh my how full and fat we were with the richness of God's Word. Not only were we still eagerly soaking up anointed teachings and messages from television, but we were also receiving faith-filled messages and teachings in church each Sunday morning. Better still, God had placed us smack dab in the middle of two cell groups filled with other hungry believers walking out their faith. We were literally surrounded by Christian families who also had small children. It was glorious! Blessing after blessing poured into our lives day in, day out. Our growing family was p-u-m-p-e-d-pumped with the love of God.
All the while the blessings poured, everyone in our family knew within our hearts that it was a temporary season. God had placed something bigger in our hearts. Where we were then, wasn't where we were going; nor was it where we would stay. How true that was. Within a short time, we found ourselves right back where we started. We were back in the same place our journey of faith began; yet this too we sensed was temporary, a mere stopping place on the road to God's place of choice. Did we have a dream? Had God given us a vision of where He was taking us? Yes, God had revealed bits and pieces of His plan, but the coming about happened as we took one small step of faith after the other.
Today, over 15 years and two more children later, our family is still growing in the love of God. It is truly a process, a neverending process. My flesh hasn't liked it, but that is ok. According to God's Word, I am to crucify my flesh. Freedom and peace are gifts given to us by Christ, and we don't take them for granted. We treasure Him, everything about Him. And the love, known by love, I pray that our family is truly, for real, known by Love.
Over 15 years ago, I was given a devotional by a dear friend and a grocery bag full of magazines by another. Neither woman knew the other had given me any reading material at all, let alone that the devotional and magazines were both put out by the same ministry. Being an avid reader aka devourer of books, I curiously skimmed through both the book and magazines. The fact that both the books and magazines were from the same ministry definitely had my attention. What is God up to? Should I even be looking at these things? I've heard about this ministry.
Curiosity won over caution. (that's not uncommon by the way) I am so glad it did. The more I read, the more I wanted to read. Relief, jubilation, surges of thanksgiving rolled over me again and again and still again as the realization that other believers in Christ believed every word He said, just like I did. As a matter of fact, not only did they believe the Bible to be absolute truth, they were even more intense and radical about it than I was. That was saying something for I have had a lifelong love affair with God's Word for as long as I can remember. Not only did they believe every jot and tiddle, they encouraged me to read and memorize and do the same. Freedom, such freedom was discovered as the Sword of the Spirit, God's Word, cut bond after bond of religion. Deep longings that had always been within my heart were being satisfied and fulfilled as the Word of God, not the teachings of men, set me free.
Soon, my thirst for more teaching of the Word of God saw me scheduling time every morning to sit at the feet of Godly men and women via television. Some women needed their coffee, I needed my time with Jesus. Amazingly, my small children eagerly joined me in this aim and great quest. How it built this mama's faith to witness my little ones learning and willingly obeying God's Words for themselves, at such young ages too. The more of Christ's freedom the children and I experienced, the more our household was affected. The very atmosphere within our home was filled with an inexplainable peace. This peace was noticable as guests frequently commented on how peaceful our home was. Rarely did a visitor to our home not visibly relax upon entering.
The children and I weren't the only ones who hungered to experience more of God's power in our lives. My Beloved too noticed the difference. The difference was so great that before much time passed, the first thing he inquired of after arriving home was what new truths we had learned that day. Right in the middle of living life, our family found ourselves growing up together into the fullness of Christ. Physically times may have been lean, but spiritually and emotionally our entire family was getting fat, fat, fat on the richness of Christ, the Word.
All of a sudden, in the late 1990s, teachings on the love of God began to crop up here and there in various ministries. Within a few months, everywhere we turned (or so it seemed to us then - and now) someone was teaching and/or talking about the love of God. Talk about revolution! Oh my! there was a literal explosion of freedom as together we learned truths from the Word of God that had somehow escaped our notice until then. Romans 5:5 revealed that God's love wasn't something we had to conjur up or create within ourselves, it had been poured out in our hearts when we accepted the gift of salvation through Jesus Christ! It was already in there! We just had to begin walking in it. Walking in what? The Love of God. What is the love of God? We soon discovered that 1 Corinthians 13, the well-known "love chapter" wasn't a random piece of work for church children to memorize for points or awards; it was a description of God's Love and what it looks like in the life of a Christian. Scripture after scripture, life lesson after practical life lesson fell like rain on our hearts, and we soaked up the truth of the Word like thirsty sponges.
Over five years had passed by this time, and our family had moved not once, or twice, but at least three times. God had continued to lead us and teach us from His Word. My oh my how full and fat we were with the richness of God's Word. Not only were we still eagerly soaking up anointed teachings and messages from television, but we were also receiving faith-filled messages and teachings in church each Sunday morning. Better still, God had placed us smack dab in the middle of two cell groups filled with other hungry believers walking out their faith. We were literally surrounded by Christian families who also had small children. It was glorious! Blessing after blessing poured into our lives day in, day out. Our growing family was p-u-m-p-e-d-pumped with the love of God.
All the while the blessings poured, everyone in our family knew within our hearts that it was a temporary season. God had placed something bigger in our hearts. Where we were then, wasn't where we were going; nor was it where we would stay. How true that was. Within a short time, we found ourselves right back where we started. We were back in the same place our journey of faith began; yet this too we sensed was temporary, a mere stopping place on the road to God's place of choice. Did we have a dream? Had God given us a vision of where He was taking us? Yes, God had revealed bits and pieces of His plan, but the coming about happened as we took one small step of faith after the other.
Today, over 15 years and two more children later, our family is still growing in the love of God. It is truly a process, a neverending process. My flesh hasn't liked it, but that is ok. According to God's Word, I am to crucify my flesh. Freedom and peace are gifts given to us by Christ, and we don't take them for granted. We treasure Him, everything about Him. And the love, known by love, I pray that our family is truly, for real, known by Love.