love
"By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another." John 13:35
The Father has been speaking great lengths to me about love the past few weeks - the love of God, love in the church, loving one another, love for Chris, love for my friends, etc. Two weeks ago Chris handed me a book written by Craig Kinsley. I immediately wanted to read it, although I had no idea what it was about. I don't know Craig personally, but wish I had talked to him more the night he prophesied over my life at a Tuesday night prayer meeting in Jackson. Craig spoke into me that night. It almost felt unreal. But it was so amazing. So I began to read this book and was loving how much truth was in it. It's hard to find books with pure truth sometimes. When I finished chapter three I thought there was no more to be said; that this book or any book could not express anything greater than what this man had just written in this chapter. It was the best chapter I have ever read in my life. The title: All You Need Is Love. Craig's book is called Dancing Elephants.
Here is a little bit of my underlining that took place:
"It is not our love and passion for God that tells the world we are His, but our love for each other and the people around us."
"Can you imagine how different things would be if we actually loved each other; a reality in which a stranger on the street was as Jesus in our eyes? Can you imagine the way the world would see us if we were not fighting a war of theology and theory but a war of love? Can you fathom a future in which each and every one of us believed everyone else to be the greatest creation that has ever been; a future in which a gay person was not seen as being a gay person, but just another person deserving of your time and interest? A time in which our gatherings were not only focused on our love for God, but loving one another in a way that is completely void of selfishness and self-promotion?"
"This is divine love. This is a love that will drive you to do crazy things and a love that doesn't make sense. It is offensive in its simplicity and unwavering in the midst of great conflict. It isn't normal. In fact, it's really weird."
"Divine love is untamable. It is wild and cannot be controlled. In fact, it controls you."
"Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for whoever loves others has fulfilled the law. The commandments, "You shall not commit adultery," "You shall not murder," "You shall not steal," "You shall not covet," and whatever other command there may be, are summed up in this one command: "Love your neighbor as yourself." Love does no harm to its neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law." Romans 13: 8-10
"Through love we take on the nature of the Lover."
"Love creates the nature of Jesus within us."
It is really so simple. All the questions we have to or about the Lord are summed up in love. We try so hard to make it some complicated thing, because we seem to think since God is so big that he must be complicated too. He's not. He is love. I'm getting to know my Father more and more each day and each day is more and more about love. If we simply loved one another; a true love; a genuine love; a sincere love. What if we loved with a free love? One that people did not fear. What if we loved so sincerely, that people did not seek acceptance or feel the pressure of being perfect? What if we loved with a selfless love at all times? Would people be more encouraged to seek Love?
The Father has been speaking great lengths to me about love the past few weeks - the love of God, love in the church, loving one another, love for Chris, love for my friends, etc. Two weeks ago Chris handed me a book written by Craig Kinsley. I immediately wanted to read it, although I had no idea what it was about. I don't know Craig personally, but wish I had talked to him more the night he prophesied over my life at a Tuesday night prayer meeting in Jackson. Craig spoke into me that night. It almost felt unreal. But it was so amazing. So I began to read this book and was loving how much truth was in it. It's hard to find books with pure truth sometimes. When I finished chapter three I thought there was no more to be said; that this book or any book could not express anything greater than what this man had just written in this chapter. It was the best chapter I have ever read in my life. The title: All You Need Is Love. Craig's book is called Dancing Elephants.
Here is a little bit of my underlining that took place:
"It is not our love and passion for God that tells the world we are His, but our love for each other and the people around us."
"Can you imagine how different things would be if we actually loved each other; a reality in which a stranger on the street was as Jesus in our eyes? Can you imagine the way the world would see us if we were not fighting a war of theology and theory but a war of love? Can you fathom a future in which each and every one of us believed everyone else to be the greatest creation that has ever been; a future in which a gay person was not seen as being a gay person, but just another person deserving of your time and interest? A time in which our gatherings were not only focused on our love for God, but loving one another in a way that is completely void of selfishness and self-promotion?"
"This is divine love. This is a love that will drive you to do crazy things and a love that doesn't make sense. It is offensive in its simplicity and unwavering in the midst of great conflict. It isn't normal. In fact, it's really weird."
"Divine love is untamable. It is wild and cannot be controlled. In fact, it controls you."
"Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for whoever loves others has fulfilled the law. The commandments, "You shall not commit adultery," "You shall not murder," "You shall not steal," "You shall not covet," and whatever other command there may be, are summed up in this one command: "Love your neighbor as yourself." Love does no harm to its neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law." Romans 13: 8-10
"Through love we take on the nature of the Lover."
"Love creates the nature of Jesus within us."
It is really so simple. All the questions we have to or about the Lord are summed up in love. We try so hard to make it some complicated thing, because we seem to think since God is so big that he must be complicated too. He's not. He is love. I'm getting to know my Father more and more each day and each day is more and more about love. If we simply loved one another; a true love; a genuine love; a sincere love. What if we loved with a free love? One that people did not fear. What if we loved so sincerely, that people did not seek acceptance or feel the pressure of being perfect? What if we loved with a selfless love at all times? Would people be more encouraged to seek Love?
WOW! That is great. Gave me chills the entire time I was reading this post. It is so incredibly true that if we focus completely on loving each other, the Lord, and ourselves the world would be a completely different place. I love you Erin :)
ReplyDeleteThis is a great post, and the book sounds like a great book. Care if I use some of this in a radio devotional I produce?
ReplyDelete