WHAT’S LOVE GOT TO DO WITH IT?

It’s Sunday morning in America and in churches all across the land pre-christians have chosen to accept God’s gift of grace.  Kneeling beside these God-seekers at the altar some well intending brother or sister whispers in their ear, “we have all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God, and the wages of sin is death.  God gave His only Son so that whoever believes in Him will be saved.  This is God’s gift to us, eternal life.  So if you confess that Jesus is Lord and believe that God raised Him from the dead you will be saved.” This is all in accordance with God’s word. Then this “new Christian” will be “discipled” on how to become a “good Christian” with a list of “do’s”: do pray, do attend church, do study the Bible, do be water baptized, do follow church doctrine, do fast, do tithe, do serve in the church, etc., and a list of don’ts”: don’t commit fornication, don’t drink, don’t smoke, don’t dance, don’t cuss, don’t gamble, don’t watch movies, etc.  These lists will vary depending on the Christian denominational “flavor” involved; they may be formal statements or verbally transferred, but the point is the same. These lists become formulas for the new convert’s discipleship -- the way to live the Christian life. And when they don’t work -- when life gets tough, and it will -- they are told to try harder, pray more, study more, be more faithful, serve more, give more, etc., as if God is displeased and man’s self-righteous works will appease Him.

Laying aside the question of who actually chooses who at salvation, what is missing here is the main point. There is no mention of the most basic, most fundamental and certainly the most central theme of the whole bible: God wants to have an intimate relationship with man!  We have condensed the self declared God of love into a set of tenets, “do lists”, and “don’t lists” -- formulas for Christian living. Discipleship is a courtship between The God of Love and the object of His affection... Man, a love story in the making. We have missed what Christ declared as the Greatest Commandment, to love God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength, which is impossible outside of intimate relationship. The heart that loves God will align itself with the heart of its Beloved: Out of this intimate relationship righteous works will flow empowered by love as we seek to more fully know and be a delight to the Great Lover of our Soul. To miss this, is to miss the whole enchilada! So, what’s love got to do with it? Everything…

“BUT THE GREATEST OF THESE IS LOVE”

DRAWN AWAY

We sin, when we are drawn away by our own lust... Lust is the bait, and ensnared by it. Lust appears as a thought tossed into our head by the powers of darkness who have been studying mankind collectively from time eternal, and each of us individually from birth. They know what will entice each of us to sin. When we dwell on the thought, and think or do things that support or enhance the thought, we only add fuel to the fire of lust.

“But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death.” (James 1:13-16) Notice the eight steps outlined in these verses: (1) Tempted: A soliciting thought appears. (2) Drawn Away: Our response fuels the thought, dragging us away. (3) Desire: Lust, strong longing for something.  (4) Enticed: Baited and ensnared by lust, as our will weakens. (5) Conceived: Taken hold of and controlled by lust. (6) Sin: Consummation of desire, missing God’s mark. (7) Fully Grown: Habitual, to bring sin to maturity. (8) Death: Separation from God, the fruit of habitual sin.

All sin is premeditated... a planned event, an informed path willfully traveled. The step from desiring a drink... to sitting in a bar ripe roaring drunk does not happen instantaneously, and there are many steps from seeing an attractive woman to ending up in the back seat of a car with her on some deserted rural road... committing adultery. Ditto the steps from “wanting” things to creating idols out of our possessions, our bodies our intellect, our job, our hobbies, etc. Likewise the steps from “pleasure” to pleasure seeking, becoming lovers of pleasure, are many. Temptations come in many colors, and we will all be tempted. The critical step is step two, Draw Away, how we respond to the initial temptation. If we fondle and caress it, focusing our mind and thoughts on our desires... we become Dead Men Walking! But, if we set our mind on things above, we can bring the tempting thought into captivity into the obedience of Christ.

SIN IS A PLANNED EVENT

AN INFORMED PATH WILLFULLY TRAVELED

THORNLAND: THE NORMAL CHRISTIAN LIFE

Saints, we all must go through the thorns; it is part and parcel with spiritual transformation -- our wilderness experience -- but we are not supposed to live there. Thorns are tools of deception, and deception is, literally, mental blindness. The thorns of this world create toe-holds in our heart, places we have given to the enemy... doors of access. At first we struggle, then we acquiesce, then we embrace our love for “other things”, the things of this life. It is, ultimately, our lust that bates and ensnares us. This is how we fall away... one thorn at a time, till we are so thorny we no longer perceive God. “Those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh” having an earth-bound mindset, what the Apostle Paul called walking according to the flesh... carnally minded and under the law of sin and death:  The Sower Parable (Matt. 13:22; Lk. 8:14; Mk. 4:18, 19; Rom. 8:1-11) describes four specific categories of thorns:

“Desires For Other Things”: “Other things” here are not Kingdom things.  This is materialism warring to draw our desires away from spiritual things.  “Desires” is the Greek word eipthumia and means to desire greatly, longing, lust and strong passion in the mind... a lusting mindset. In (1 Jn. 2:16) it is the lusts of the “eyes”, “flesh”, and “pride” in opposition to Jesus’ command “do not love the world or the things in the world” (vs. 15).

“Deceitfulness Of Riches”: Wealth and the power it produces are addictive.  “Deceitfulness” is the Greek word apate and means deceptive, seducing propensities which induce to sin and lead to disappointment. Remember the camel and the eye of a needle: This is talking about a real camel and a real sewing needle.  

“Cares Of The World”: “Cares” is a synonym of the Greek word for worry, the   most prevalent sin of the 21^st century church. The anxiety of worry brings disruption to mind, heart, soul and spirit, driving away the peace of God, and causing sickness and disease. Worry is unbelief pure and simple, and habitual worry is to treat our Savior’s sacrifice as a common thing, insulting the Spirit of grace.

“Pleasures Of Life”: “Pleasures” is the Greek word hedone which means sensual pleasure, physical gratification, enjoyment, lust, and in a broader sense the desire for pleasures.  James speaks of our “desire for pleasures” that war in our bodies (James 4:1-3), and Paul speaks of the ungodly in the last days as “lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God” (2 Tm. 3:4), showing pleasure seeking to be enmity against God.

Thorn cluttered hearts divide our mind, distracting us from God’s purposes while leaving us worried, unstable and anxious. Thorny hearts may have good intensions but they are deceived, thinking they can co-habitat -- abide in Christ and abide in the world -- the very thing Christ died to save us from.  Thorns “choke the Word”, suffocate the Christlife within...

The “Thorny Heart” is a picture of twenty-first century Christian life... fruitless Self serving lives enamored with life in this world. Saints are not supposed to stay in the thorn bushes, but merely travel through them, being in the world but not partakers of the world. The only antidote for “thorns” is transformation, the willingness to die to Self submitting to Christ’s Lordship, and be renewed in mind... reflecting the passionate desires of God’s heart. Christlikeness, the goal of all true saints, is an outward reflection of an inner reality, a replacement process where we reckon bits of our Self nature dead and Christ replaces those pieces with bits of His nature. A heavenly mindset keeps this goal in sharp focus while giving no “place”, or toe-hold, for thorns or any “lusts” to spring up in our mind.  People of “One Thing” have made God the centerpiece of their heart... their mind... and their existence. “Come out from among them and be ye separate.” People of One Thing no longer dwell in Thornland!

“COME OUT FROM AMOUNG THEM, AND BE YE SEPARATE”

HOLE-HEARTED FELLOWSHIP

The Greek word koinonia, translated “fellowship”, carries a very strong sense of fellowship, and is greatly maligned by churches today.  Koinonia means: “a relationship between individuals which involves a common interest and a mutual, active participation in that interest and in each other.”  In the New Testament koinonia is translated “fellowship” and used to denote our fellowship with Jesus four times, our fellowship with God three times, our fellowship with other disciples four times and our fellowship with the Holy Spirit twice.  Koinonia is also translated “communion” twice in First Corinthians 10:16: “The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ?  The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ?”  During communion we are fellowshipping with the blood and body of Christ: the relationship is between the assembled believers, the common interest is our relationship to our Savior, remembering His blood and His body, and we are mutually and actively participating in that interest, and sharing it with each other. 

In koinonia, we fellowship with God and we share that fellowship with other believers who are fellowshipping with God.  Fellowship actively engages both the physical and spiritual realm, but since contextually the common interest is always God, the core, the essence of fellowship is always spiritual.  When Luke says in Acts 2:48 “they continued steadfastly (i.e., to persist obstinately in) in the apostles doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and prayer”, he is not talking about some secular hobby, activity or interest for koinonia is always God centered.  True koinonia in the body of Christ will always have a vertical (God) and a horizontal (other believers) component.      

The twenty first century church equates size to both satisfying the great commission and evidence of God’s blessing... as if getting a lot of people into a building meant something. The dynamics of size are suffocating to true fellowship, leaving a hole in the heart of the church. Small groups... man’s creation, are substituted for koinonia in an attempt to appease man’s need for fellowship. But fellowship without the vertical component... without God centeredness is not fellowship at all and will not satisfy the hungry heart.  

“FOR THIS IS THE WILL OF GOD”

This phrase appears only three times in scripture, giving clear indication of God’s expectations:

“Worry always, pray occasionally, in the good things give thanks; For this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you." (1 Thess. 5:16-18) Wrong! This may very well be how some saints profess their faith to the world, but it is not the will of God. We are to be joyful, glad-hearted and happy continually. We are to be unceasing in prayer, praying perseveringly. And we are to be thankful and give thanks to God for everything -- no matter what the circumstances may be – be thankful, for this is the will of God for all who are in Christ Jesus.

“For this is the will of God, your prosperity: that you should enjoy life’s pleasures.”(1 Thess. 4:3) Wrong! Many saints have bought into the misplaced love of “Your Best Life Now”, but it is not the will of God who warned the desire for riches and worldly pleasure would suffocate our faith. We are to be consecrated, separated and set apart for pure and holy living, abstaining and shrinking from all immorality. We all should know how to possess, control, and manage our own body in consecration and honor, separated from the glitter of the world.

“For this is the will of God, that you should take good care of Self, ignoring the needs and criticism of men, for you are free to live as you choose.” (1 Peter 2:15-17) Wrong!

We are to be consumed with doing good, living good and honest lives as servants of God. We are to show respect and bestow honor on all people, love the Christian brotherhood and reverence God always, recognizing our freedom in Christ is the liberty of bondservants… love-slaves of the Most High God. In this way we silence the ignorant charges and ill-informed criticisms of foolish people who attack us for our faith.

If we are actually going to live God’s will we will need to change, change dramatically, for it is impossible to live out the will of God with our old nature, Self, running things.  We must quit being conformed to this world -- fashioned after this age and adapted to its external, superficial customs – and be transformed (changed) by the entire renewal of our mind: In short we must let the Holy Spirit make our mind new again with the mind of Christ. When we put on the mind of Christ – His nature -- we will be able to prove for ourselves what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God, even the things which are good and acceptable and perfect in His sight. (Rom. 12:2) Living the will of God is Christ in me, living out His life through me. Nothing short of this will please the Father.

LOVE-SLAVES OF THE MOST HIGH GOD

LIAR… LUNATIC… OR LORD…

The Bible is emphatic about one thing: Jesus is either a Liar, a Lunatic, or Lord! The specific claims recorded in the Bible as spoken by Jesus Himself declare He is one of these three, Liar, Lunatic, or Lord. Jesus claimed to be the Son of God who came to earth to die in substitution for sinful man that those who believe might be reconciled to Father God. Now either he was a Liar... deceiving, knowing full well this was not the truth, a Lunatic... delusional in believing as true that which was not true, or Lord... the living truth demonstrating the greatest act of love the world will ever witness.

There are many folks who are not comfortable calling Jesus a Liar or Lunatic, who are equally uncomfortable calling Him Lord, which has such an “I’m the Boss” ring to stubborn stiff-necked people who want to be in control. They want to fill in the right side of the equation by calling Him a “Teacher”, “Rabbi” or “Prophet”, or simply a “Good Person”, anything to get around the dreaded word “Lord” and its inevitable implications of sovereignty, authority, power and control. But Jesus’ own words demand we limit the equation to one of these three choices: Jesus = Liar, Jesus = Lunatic, or Jesus = Lord.

Now some will refuse to choose, as if indecision can save them from the truth, but Jesus said: “He who is not with Me is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me scatters abroad.” Notice the two fold commitment demanded by our Lord. Anyone who isn’t “with Me”... definitely on My side, is “against Me”... opposes Me. And, he who “does not gather with Me”... work with Me to advance My Kingdom by gathering in lost souls, “scatters abroad”... works against Me by drawing people away from My Kingdom. With God there is no neutral corner... no place of safety without commitment. With God no commitment is commitment... the wrong commitment.

So we... every person to ever cast a shadow on planet earth, are confronted with a threefold choice of who we believe Jesus is, Liar, Lunatic, or Lord, where indecision is a losing option. I did not write this for those who believe that Jesus is a Liar, Lunatic, or anything else but Lord, for their fate is sealed. No, this is for the benchwarmers, who are trying to hide behind indecision, fearful of commitment to Jesus as Lord while knowing He is not a Liar or Lunatic. My message to you is simple... Don’t be deceived... It simply won’t work... You can’t hide any longer. God’s Grace is here for you now... today, but it will fade as your indecision turns into blind deception, and you will be lost! The Father is calling you today... right now... to proclaim Jesus as Lord of your life... Lord of ALL...

CALLING ALL BENCHWARMERS

VERSES WE WON’T FIND POSTED ON REFRIGERATOR DOORS

Though the fig tree does not blossom and there is no fruit on the vines, Though the olive crop fails and the fields provide no food, Though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the stalls, Yet I will be jubilant in the Lord, I will rejoice in the victorious God of my salvation. The Lord God is my strength, my personal invincible army; He makes my feet like the feet of deer, And enables me to walk over my “mountain” of trouble and suffering, And to make spiritual progress. (Hab. 3:17-19) When adversity finds our address, and it will, it is time to put our praise on, to “Count it all Joy” and rejoice in the Lord. To be “Jubilant” means to feel and express great happiness, to be  overjoyed, exultant, triumphant, joyful, ecstatic, rapturous… We are talking about all out unrestrained uninhibited worship here. This is how we tap into the invincible strength of our victorious God: The joy of the Lord is our strength. We make the journey through trouble and suffering -- we climb the mountain of Bad -- in order to make spiritual progress.

Consider the work of God; for who can make straight what He has made crooked?  In the day of prosperity be joyful, but in the day of adversity consider: surely God has appointed the one as well as the other... (Ecc. 7:13-14) God appoints both prosperity and adversity, and we can’t change the crooked... the adversity, only God can change His “work.”

Shall we indeed accept good from God, and shall we not accept adversity? (Job 2:10) “Adversity” is from the Hebrew words “ra/raah” and means “the entire spectrum of bad.” God appoints both good and bad.

He knows the way I take, When He has tested me, I shall come forth as gold. My foot has held fast to His steps; I have kept His way and not turned aside. I have not departed from the commandments of His lips; I have treasured the words of His mouth more than my necessary food. (Job 23:10-12) God’s testing produces good, for only gold that is smelted – purified by melting – is minted!

The “work of God”, no matter how we view it, has a divine purpose, our transformation. God appoints… ordains, both good and bad -- willing good and allowing bad – bringing balance to the extremes in measured proportions unique to each saint. You see, God is at work in each of us, willing and working in us of His good pleasure… our perfection. The brightest prosperity – prosperity of the spirit – is found during our darkest adversity as the indwelling Spirit of the living God molds our carnal nature into the beautiful nature of Christ.   We should therefore rejoice, and “Count it all joy.” What God has done… He has done best!

CONSIDER THE WORK OF GOD

SEEING GOD

(“See”, from the Greek word eido, means to perceive, experience, know…)

Some behold God where countless others look and don't see God at all. David was that kind of man. Where his presumptuous priest and his scornful wife could only see a gilded box and frenzied crowd, he could see God. This has to be deepest reality, to see God, glimpsing what remains after all else is shaken out and burned. We tend to respond to the breaking in of “deepest reality” in many ways, resorting to bureaucracy, policing, aloofness, scorn, pride, false humility, ridicule, or... some of us may just dance!

I know a lady who dances in church. No matter what style of music, no matter what song, no matter how much those around her disapprove, no matter how hard or easy her life has been -- scorned or loved, entertaining or envied -- she worships with all her might, her face upturned and radiant, her arms spread angelic... cruciform, an instinctive gesture of relinquishment and acceptance, her body alive with God hunger. She dances because she sees God. Right there in the midst of a multitude of people preoccupied with Self-life, anxious to get through the service so they can go home feeling good about themselves, this lady finds the table God has prepared for her in His presence, and surrounded by the enemy, she dances...

Uzzah was presumptuous: Our role in worship is not to keep the Almighty from mishap or embarrassment. He takes care of Himself. Any kind of God-handling is risky at best and deadly at worst. Michal was scornful: Our role in worship is not to keep ourselves from embarrassment, to protect our death-grip on prideful propriety, prescribing etiquette that maintains our dignity at the cost of honoring God. Worship is for God... not us, and without passion leads to barrenness. Between these extremes... between death and barrenness, in a steep narrow place, David found God’s table and David danced, a little bit of Shimmy, a little bit of Twist and a whole lot of Locomotion, David leaped and twirled in wild‑limbed abandonment. There’s something about seeing God during worship that can drive even a king to “get down.” Undignified? Well... yes. Repulsive? To some... to the ones who only see God on walls under glass, framed and hung. But isn’t this the point?

Worship is all about Seeing God... His Presence... His Face, perceiving and experiencing God... beholding God. Christ rent the veil of separation on the cross, creating a doorway of opportunity into God’s holiest place, His presence. Sometimes we never find the veil, other times we find the rend and peek through. But there are times when we pry the rend apart stepping through the veil into Him, and we dance or pogo or go prostrate or wave or vibrate or sob or run or shout…The exuberance within will demonstrate when we truly See God, producing energetic and prolific manifestations flowing out of bodies not yet fully equipped for divine engagement...

Worship still resides in that steep narrow place between the presumptuous -- those who want to protect God from mishap or embarrassment, and the scornful -- those who want to protect the dignity, sanctity and propriety of worship with watchwords like modesty and moderation, who in reality are protecting themselves. Both want to legislate worship, but worship is a dicey thing, always wanting to push beyond man’s opinions and is, by its very nature, well… freestyle. As long as scriptural propriety is maintained, whether one backstrokes, breaststrokes, dog-paddles or just floats is between them and God. The living water of God’s corporate worship-pool should provide the freedom to splash around without legislating how to swim; even a half-naked king should feel welcome. And somehow, in the unfathomable mysteries of God, our flailing about in His worship-pool ascribes and declares His worth – the true meaning of the old English “weorthscipe” from which we derive the English word “worship” -- and brings delight to the Father’s heart. Go figure that one out!

BLESSED ARE THE PURE IN HEART

FOR THEY SHALL SEE GOD

PURPOSE DRIVEN LOVE

From beginning to end it’s all about love. God loves us to much to leave us the way we are, so He gives us His Spirit to manifest His nature in us. The Apostle Paul called it being “conformed into the image of His Son”... to be so molded and shaped inwardly by the implanted Christ-Life that our outward expression becomes a reflection of His life. Much like the sun reflecting on the water, we reflect the derived likeness of Christ: From a transformed heart we express His nature in our thoughts, words, and actions. Only in Christlikeness can we truly love with agapao love and fulfill the two great commandments to love God and love others. I don’t think God is much concerned with what label we impose upon ourselves, whether we are a vanilla or chocolate denomination, movement X or independent Y, the only real abiding issue before our loving Father is how much do we resemble His Beloved Son. This God of love, who paid such an unthinkable price to draw us to His side and release His DNA in us: Do you really think there is anything more important to Him then to form His Son in us, to see the nature of Jesus take root and blossom in His blood bought children. Nothing can separate us from His loving work in us, willing and doing His good pleasure in our lives... nothing but our volition! Nothing but our conscious choice to maintain Self on the throne of our heart... to refuse to align our heart with His heart... to willfully choose lovers less wild...

It should not surprise us that the narrow straight way to eternal life is difficult and wrought with trouble, adversity and pain – in a word, bad -- for these are the Grace-Builders that enable the crucified life, that in death of Self Christ’s new life might spring forth. The roaring lion still prowls earth but he must make a road trip to the throne of God before he can devour anything... before he can so much as touch a numbered hair. God allows in His wisdom what He could easily prevent in His power. Job understood  the “givings” and takings” of the Lord, accepting both good and bad providentially, with “though He slay me” trust, and never sinned with his lips by blaming  God, (Job 1:21-22; 2:10; 13:15). Job understood... we need to understand also. The Master Potter’s love is released in the creative pressure of His hands... ever molding... always shaping, nothing in our life is without purpose, for God never wastes bad. We need only gaze upon the baffling, horrendous cross of our Savior to understand we are Bone of His Bone and Flesh of His Flesh: We are Baptized into Christ... baptized into His death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in the newness of His resurrected life... conformed into Christlikeness. God never said it would be easy, but He did say we would not have to walk this way alone...

“FEAR NOT, FOR I AM WITH YOU”

MUSINGS ON DYING

Death, for a saint of the Most High God, is merely stepping through the door connecting time to eternity... into the waiting arms of our Lord. Death is never a defeat or a loss for the sovereign God takes His children home at a time, place and way of His choosing. Only our Lord and Savior has conquered death... has put death in its grave. Only our Lord has the keys to death... only our Lord.

          Yes, we pray for the healing God to heal, the protecting God to protect, the providing God to provide, but sometimes God has other plans... as testified by Paul. God doesn't make all things good… God makes good from all things (J. Chandler). Death is the destiny of all human kind, and saints are appointed to die once, so... unless we FLY, we will die. When God intervenes with healing or some supernatural intervention that allows a saint to escape death we should rejoice, but when He takes a saint home we should rejoice much more... with joy unspeakable. We make far too much out of the time, place and way of death...  “The secret things belong to God.”

The powers of darkness are soundly defeated every time a saint goes home -- regardless of when, where or how – for their fate is irreversibly set, their doom is sealed, their only solace, however meager, is how much company they will have with them in their eternal torment. The cross did not take the life of our Lord, He lay His own life down. God is sovereign: Scripture states no sparrow falls to the ground without the Father’s knowledge and consent; they are not forgotten, uncared for or neglected for they are in the sight, literally the presence, of God.  And this must of necessity apply to man, for we “are of more value than many sparrows.” God, and only God, can authorize the passage of a saint’s soul and spirit through the doorway of time into eternity. Death for a saint is simply God calling them home to be with Him: God lays their physical body down to await the resurrection, and welcomes their soul and spirit into His eternal presence. No, there is no victory for the powers of darkness in a saint’s death, only resounding defeat...

And we who are alive and remain: In our humanity we suffer the loss of a cherished loved one... we will miss them, but in our Blessed Hope we rejoice with an innumerable company of angels, with the festal gathering of the general assembly and church of the First Born... for another saint has gone home...

GOD DOESN'T MAKE ALL THINGS GOOD…

GOD MAKES GOOD FROM ALL THINGS…

GOD IS SEEKING WORSHIPERS

Worship, simply put, is to ascribe or declare value to something. God created man with the capacity and need to worship, so, by design, man is a worshiper: Whether we acknowledge our worship, understand that we are worshiping, or recognize the object of our worship as deity, we all worship something. We are by “nature” worshipers: the focus our worship takes will reflect our nature, the desires of our heart.

Worship does not always follow a prescribed formula within a formalized setting, and the object of our affection may not be a deity in the strictest sense of the word, but we all worship something.  Worship takes on many forms: We may worship at the altar of Self, our bodies, or other people.  We may worship money, our jobs, possessions or power, or control. We may worship hobbies, sex, drugs, desires, or thrills. We may worship ideals, goals, education, intellect, or we may worship pleasure in its many illusions of form.  And some of us worship the God who created the heavens and the earth.  But we all worship something!

Our character is shaped by the things we worship. If we worship the things of the world we will become like the world, but if we worship God -- if we ascribe and declare His worth -- we will take on the very nature and attributes of Christ. People who worship money become greedy.  Those who worship power become ruthless.  Men who worship women become lustful.  People who worship themselves become vain and arrogant.  But those who worship the living God become Christ-like, being “transformed into His likeness with ever increasing glory.”

God is seeking worshipers, delighting in those people who release the praises of the Holy Spirit. You see, the act of worship deifies the object worshiped. And God, who is a jealous God, will play second fiddle to no one… to nothing! What we worship is extremely important, for worship determines what we will become, chooses what image we will be made into: We become like the “god” we worship! This is why God is seeking worshipers... He wants us to worship Him so we will become like Him...

AND… AS WE BEHOLD HIM... WE BECOME LIKE HIM...

GOD IS LOVE

God is enthusiastically fervent in His pursuit of us, using love to capture our restless heart. His love is Compelling: It heals us, stripping away our pretense in restoration. His love is Enthralling: It captivates and commands us to be the same... to be loving. His love is Overwhelming: It is designed to overwhelm all things, especially fear, shame, and low self esteem. His love is Comforting: He rejoices over us with singing... lullabies of love, to quiet our worrisome heart.  His love is Faithful: His faithfulness abounds beyond our faithlessness, He simply cannot deny His love for us. His love is Compulsive: He passionately seeks those who seek Him -- drawing them like a human magnet -- allowing them to find Him -- rewarding their diligence by lavishing pouring His love into their heart. His love is Prodigal... Wastefully Extravagant: He abundantly and profusely lavishes His love on His undeserving children. His love is Unconscionable... Irrational:  His love exceeds the rational limits of human reason. His love is Sacrificial... Outrageous and Shockingly Sacrificial: He gave His Beloved Son for love of a world that hates Him. His love is Consistently Constantly Constant: When we do good He approves of us and when we do badly He accepts us. His love is never affected by our performance. His love is Passionate: A consuming fire overwhelming every willing heart in its path. His love is scandalous -- outrageous and shocking to the natural mind -- and never more than one heartfelt “yes” away...

Love is not simply God’s choice -- love is His nature -- God is Love.  His love is the first fruit of His Spirit in our life, the fruit from which all the other fruit-virtues flows. All the virtues of our Father, our Savior and the Holy Spirit – all the virtues of the Godhead – are carried on the wings of love. God loves us with a perfect love... an everlasting love... a relentless love... an unquenchable, insatiable, immeasurable, inexhaustible, irrepressible, irrational, unshakable, inescapable, unmovable, constantly constant unchanging love.  There is nothing we can do to make Him love us more, and nothing we can do to make Him love us less.  God loves us 100%... all the way... all the time! He doesn’t love us for what we do -- thank God -- He loves us for who we are... His children.

AND… AS WE BEHOLD HIM... WE BECOME LIKE HIM...