Further to my previous post, I really want to emphasise how love is the very first thing on God’s agenda – every single moment.
This is the Father’s heart.
People don’t come to Jesus in a true and passionate way through fear. There is no example of Jesus terrorising people with fear tactics to make them fall at His feet. He was harsh with the Pharisees because they knew exactly who Jesus was, and they didn’t like it, and He was warning them of their fate to come in the destruction of Jerusalem in 70AD (Matthew 24).
The rest of the time, Jesus showed nothing but love and compassion for people and honour and submission to the Lord God – our Heavenly Father.
The Hebrews in the desert didn’t want God to speak to them personally so they asked Moses to tell them what to do with a list of rules instead (Exodus 20:18-19). Hence came the Mosaic Covenant with all of the laws. God wanted one to one relationship with His people but they wanted to keep Him at arms length because they were scared of Him. Keeping in mind they had just seen the most amazing miracles eg. rescue from the mightiest civilisation in the then known world, the Red Sea parting so they could cross over on dry land, protection from the heat by day with a cloud and the cold at night by fire, food from Heaven, water from a rock, and they never had to buy or sew new clothes because they didn’t wear out. Unbelievably amazing!
This same God who was and is so incredibly powerful, beyond any imagination, wanted a personal, intimate and deeply loving relationship with every single one of these people …. and they rejected Him. Because of the stipulations of the covenant that the Hebrews requested that was common at that time, God was no longer able to have the relationship He so desperately desired. He was now a type of ‘destroyer’ and ‘punisher’. This is absolutely NOT what God wanted – AT ALL! He was held and bound by the covenant that the Hebrews wanted. This is why God may seem like an ogre in the Old Testament. He was bound to keep the law of the covenant. Remember, He will not override a person’s free will. So it really didn’t work out so good for the Hebrews.
But ….
Good News!
It wasn’t working for God either so He set another plan in motion. The plan that He prophesied through the prophets of long ago. That plan was and still is … Jesus.
You and me no longer live under this Old Covenant (which was called a Vassal Covenant). This covenant had everything to do with you act right, you were blessed. You mess up, you were cursed or put to death. Aren’t you glad you didn’t live then? I sure am. We now live under grace.
The book of Hebrews speaks of the ‘Better Covenant’ that Jesus brought with Him to establish, when He came to earth as a baby. It wasn’t fully instituted until the Old Covenant was completely annihilated in 70AD when the entire Levitical priesthood was demolished along with the temple in Jerusalem.
In short, this means that you and me no longer have to live by the law. We are free to have a personal and deep relationship with the Creator of the universe. How amazing and incredible is that!
The one commandment we have from Jesus now is:
“This is My commandment, that you love and unselfishly seek the best for one another, just as I have loved you.” John 15:12 (AMP)
That’s it. All hatred and evil would end if every person just did this.
God’s very first priority is loving you!
Think about it. The One who knows all things, created all good things, loves all mankind, longs for and desperately yearns for a one on one relationship …… with YOU!
It truly doesn’t matter what you have done or what you will do, God’s first priority is loving you. He cares more about what is going on in your heart, right at this moment, than He does about the sin you committed 20 years ago, 5 minutes ago, or the sin that you are planning right now. Sin comes out of a wounded heart and He wants to heal it.
Think back to a time when you were desperately in love with someone and you knew that they felt the same way about you. You wanted to spend every waking moment with them. You couldn’t wait to hear their voice, have their arms around you, just to be in their presence. You wouldn’t even dream of doing anything intentionally that would hurt them.
It’s just the same with you and your Heavenly Father. He loves YOU so desperately and when you learn how to receive that love, you don’t want to sin because it hurts you but more importantly, it hurts Him. Receiving love is all about deciding that you want to take it. For years I pushed this amazing love away because I saw that I didn’t deserve it and I couldn’t believe it to be true. But when I stepped out and said, “God, I’m not sure how to do this but I choose to receive Your love today.” Now, I didn’t get a shower of the ‘liquid love’ that I hear so many speakers share about. For me it’s the process of getting to know God as He truly is – LOVE.
He wants to love you today.
Don’t resist Him any longer. Step forward, put out your hands and tell your Heavenly Father that today you have decided to receive His abounding love for you. No longer will you push Him away. Let Him rejoice over you and love you as only He knows how.
Join with me in this process of discovering the deep, profound and exquisite layers of God’s love for His children – for you.
I’ll leave you with this verse from Zephaniah 3:17(NLT):
“For the Lord your God is living among you.
He is a Mighty Saviour.
He will take delight in you with gladness.
With His love, He will calm all your fears.
He will rejoice over you with joyful songs.”
May you know, with all of your being, the Father’s love for you today.
(Photo Credit: www.pexels.com)
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