Hunh? Say WHAT? 
Hobble along with me thru the logic, alright? Kinda stunned me upon realizing it a week or so ago. Not as bad as being born, mind you. THAT shocked me so bad I didn't speak intelligibly for a YEAR (maybe still dont! :lol: ) This has only taken a WEEK. Still ...
God is Love, right? (1Jn 4:16) No matter HOW you write it or emphasize it, it's pretty powerful. GOD is Love. God IS Love. God is LOVE.
His life certainly showed it, flowing out of every pore in His body in healing and forgiveness and compassion. Why, even His ROBE was so saturated with Love that just touching its hem was enough to get a chronic illness instantly healed!
It was an intimate, one-on-one kinda love, too. Not some generalized “God so loved the world” kinda thang (with apologies to John.) He loved the individuals who made up the world, personally and intimately. Walked across a stormy lake in the middle of the night so one messed up dude (the demoniac) could get his head together and some clothes on. I think I’m a loving guy, but I ain’t NEVER done that!
Got Himself into all kinds of trouble with the Churchians of His day, too. Healing on the Sabbath, eating and drinking with the “wrong folks”. (“They’re just not in our class, Dear. Thank God!”) Eating unprocessed grain directly out of fields, and on the Sabbath to boot! Tweaking the Establishment’s nose every whichaway. (“Dude, where we gonna get the Infernal Temple Tax?” “Oh, pull it out of your fish!”)
Finally got Himself killed as the worst sort of sinner, and in so doing saved us all ‘Cause He IS Love. He doesn’t just embody it, He IS Love.
Which brings us to YOU!
You used to be Fear. You were born under sin, and that’s the lifeblood that flows from the devil. Fear.
But you have died to sin, and been reborn into the family of God, grafted into the Vine, and that which now flows through and out of you both is Love.
It’s the same love that emanates in giant tsunami WAVES off of the Father. Love for God, yourself, your family, love for “the world” of individuals whom God puts in your path.
Love brought whatever good relationships exist in your life, or are coming to it.
Are you married? If a fella, Love flowing through you SHOWS your wife or wives, children, and the world what God as Father, Christ as Lover are all about! If a woman, Love flowing through you shows your husband, your children, (potential) sister wives, and the world what Godly submission and the Community of saints means.
Heady stuff! Wild responsibility! Stunning honor! Overwhelming privilege! To actually BE the present human embodiment of Love to and in this world.
In one scenario, Love is befriending and lifting one beaten down repressed daughter of your Father into a much better place. It might even bring her into your family, as an example to the skeptical world around you that Love is SO MUCH MORE than their watered down Harlequin romances and TV shows and hot dates portray.
Embrace it, y’all. With tears and laughter and reckless caution. (Oxymoron? The Chinese say, “Make haste slowly”, and “Wait long, then move fast”. Fair enough.)
But emotions and feelings follow thoughts. Thoughts, believe it or not, are subservient to our will, our choice. You get to choose. Will you let the programmed examples, traditions and emotions of your Churchian past determine your thoughts, emotions, the actions which follow, and ultimately your life? Or will you choose to look to your Source, to Love?
With an eye and a heart overflowing with Love, the traditions and opinions of those who simply do not understand will melt in importance. What you’ll see instead is the Father’s eye smiling upon you as you think and feel and act Love to His children -- husbands, wives, kids, potential sister wives -- wherever that goes.
Hudson Taylor, a seriously effective missionary to China 100+ years ago said something like, “Let nothing come between you and Christ. That way, the greater the worldly pressures, the more they press you to His breast.”
The same goes for you in your marriage. Let nothing come between you. Let everything else only press you together!
An aside for wives dealing with fears regarding a new/additional wife: To your husband, his second wife is or will be BESIDE you, not between you. That’s the truest perspective. If the day comes that she is connected to him, it will be her own connection in her own place. She can NEVER be between you except in your minds. You are not replaceable. You can’t exit and have another take your place. Doesn’t work that way. She can only ever fill her own place, or not.
But all that is just side stuff. ‘Cause the main thing to remember is that you, my BF friend, are in Christ. Christ is in God, and God is Love. So are you. It is Love, (not the Lust of the world, btw, which is rooted in Fear) that is powering all of this. And …
You ARE Love!
Hobble along with me thru the logic, alright? Kinda stunned me upon realizing it a week or so ago. Not as bad as being born, mind you. THAT shocked me so bad I didn't speak intelligibly for a YEAR (maybe still dont! :lol: ) This has only taken a WEEK. Still ...
God is Love, right? (1Jn 4:16) No matter HOW you write it or emphasize it, it's pretty powerful. GOD is Love. God IS Love. God is LOVE.
- God IS Love. He is the Root.
- Jesus is in God, the Vine. It logically follows that He must also BE Love.
His life certainly showed it, flowing out of every pore in His body in healing and forgiveness and compassion. Why, even His ROBE was so saturated with Love that just touching its hem was enough to get a chronic illness instantly healed!
It was an intimate, one-on-one kinda love, too. Not some generalized “God so loved the world” kinda thang (with apologies to John.) He loved the individuals who made up the world, personally and intimately. Walked across a stormy lake in the middle of the night so one messed up dude (the demoniac) could get his head together and some clothes on. I think I’m a loving guy, but I ain’t NEVER done that!
Got Himself into all kinds of trouble with the Churchians of His day, too. Healing on the Sabbath, eating and drinking with the “wrong folks”. (“They’re just not in our class, Dear. Thank God!”) Eating unprocessed grain directly out of fields, and on the Sabbath to boot! Tweaking the Establishment’s nose every whichaway. (“Dude, where we gonna get the Infernal Temple Tax?” “Oh, pull it out of your fish!”)
Finally got Himself killed as the worst sort of sinner, and in so doing saved us all ‘Cause He IS Love. He doesn’t just embody it, He IS Love.
Which brings us to YOU!
- You are in Christ. You are a branch. Christ’s life flows through you now. It logically follows that you also ARE Love.
You used to be Fear. You were born under sin, and that’s the lifeblood that flows from the devil. Fear.
But you have died to sin, and been reborn into the family of God, grafted into the Vine, and that which now flows through and out of you both is Love.
It’s the same love that emanates in giant tsunami WAVES off of the Father. Love for God, yourself, your family, love for “the world” of individuals whom God puts in your path.
Love brought whatever good relationships exist in your life, or are coming to it.
Are you married? If a fella, Love flowing through you SHOWS your wife or wives, children, and the world what God as Father, Christ as Lover are all about! If a woman, Love flowing through you shows your husband, your children, (potential) sister wives, and the world what Godly submission and the Community of saints means.
Heady stuff! Wild responsibility! Stunning honor! Overwhelming privilege! To actually BE the present human embodiment of Love to and in this world.
In one scenario, Love is befriending and lifting one beaten down repressed daughter of your Father into a much better place. It might even bring her into your family, as an example to the skeptical world around you that Love is SO MUCH MORE than their watered down Harlequin romances and TV shows and hot dates portray.
Embrace it, y’all. With tears and laughter and reckless caution. (Oxymoron? The Chinese say, “Make haste slowly”, and “Wait long, then move fast”. Fair enough.)
But emotions and feelings follow thoughts. Thoughts, believe it or not, are subservient to our will, our choice. You get to choose. Will you let the programmed examples, traditions and emotions of your Churchian past determine your thoughts, emotions, the actions which follow, and ultimately your life? Or will you choose to look to your Source, to Love?
With an eye and a heart overflowing with Love, the traditions and opinions of those who simply do not understand will melt in importance. What you’ll see instead is the Father’s eye smiling upon you as you think and feel and act Love to His children -- husbands, wives, kids, potential sister wives -- wherever that goes.
Hudson Taylor, a seriously effective missionary to China 100+ years ago said something like, “Let nothing come between you and Christ. That way, the greater the worldly pressures, the more they press you to His breast.”
The same goes for you in your marriage. Let nothing come between you. Let everything else only press you together!
An aside for wives dealing with fears regarding a new/additional wife: To your husband, his second wife is or will be BESIDE you, not between you. That’s the truest perspective. If the day comes that she is connected to him, it will be her own connection in her own place. She can NEVER be between you except in your minds. You are not replaceable. You can’t exit and have another take your place. Doesn’t work that way. She can only ever fill her own place, or not.
But all that is just side stuff. ‘Cause the main thing to remember is that you, my BF friend, are in Christ. Christ is in God, and God is Love. So are you. It is Love, (not the Lust of the world, btw, which is rooted in Fear) that is powering all of this. And …
You ARE Love!
