~ written by Connie Dunmyer
Psalm 86:15 (NIV): "But you, Lord, are a compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness."
Have you ever been away from a loved one for an extended period of time? Did you wait longingly for the mailman in the hopes you would receive a letter from your love? And when you did receive one, was there anything else that took your attention before you ripped open that envelope and read those words? Did you read your letter over and over again - just to feel the closeness of your loved one?
As you're reading that love letter, do you hold it close? Do you close your eyes and imagine yourself with your loved one? And do you think, "I'm the luckiest person on the planet to be loved by my loved one."
THAT is what reading the Bible is to me. It the very Word and words of God Himself - written to His beloved - (believe it or not, that's me - AND YOU TOO!) And yes - I will read these words over and over again - just to feel His closeness. They are literally life and breath to me.
Oswald Chambers says it like this: The vital relationship which the Christian has to the Bible is not that he worships the letter, but that the Holy Spirit makes the words of the Bible spirit and life to him.
There have been times in my life that this was not the case. If I wasn't "living my best", I would avoid the Bible. I would even avoid being alone, in the quiet, because I feared God might say "something harsh". Oh but dear reader, I was wrong. For when I haven't been my best, or when I am living in fear & doubt, that's when the Father is the most compassionate. That's when I needed to be nearer, closer, hearing His whispers that I written in His "love letter".
Lately (and I do mean within the past couple of years), I have determined that every time something happens I will run to Jesus immediately. No matter what. So if I say something I shouldn't, or if I get bad news and my fears go off the charts - instead of running to my room and crying; instead of pacing the floor in panic; instead of yelling at everyone in my path, or venting on Facebook - instead I run to my Bible. I cry on those pages. And in some supernatural way, Jesus meets me right there. Every single time. He guides me to passages I didn't know. He reveals new information from old familiar scriptures I'd forgotten. I find that even though I've heard the Holy Scriptures all my life, there is always something new to read. Or there's simply a new way of applying it to my life and situation. I have felt His hand pull my head close to His chest. And yes, lift my face towards His, where I have indeed seen the love that I read in those "love letters". His word is living. And He speaks those words to me daily.
There are most assuredly times when I am in need of instruction or correction. Believe it or not, I am not perfect. And what's more, I'm not even right all the time. [I can hear my husband sigh, "ah - finally" - haha]. Even in those times, I purposed in my heart to do whatever I read in this love letter. Even if it was "uncomfortable".
- I have praised when I'm doubting.
- I have asked forgiveness when I'm prideful.
- I have given forgiveness when I was wronged.
- And I have always been honest about what I'm feeling at the time.
I found out God is ok with ALL my feelings. It's ok to talk about my doubts, my fears, my emotions, even my anger with Him. We talk about my confusion. We talk about my lack of trust. But through it all - every doubt, fear, misspoken word - God has ALWAYS pointed me to a place in His love letter where His words were there to help me, to strengthen me, to correct me, to guide me, to laugh with me, to just let me cry, or to simply love on me.
Here's some of Jesus' love letter to us:
John 15:9-17
9 “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. 10 If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love. 11 I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. 12 My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. 13 Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. 14 You are my friends if you do what I command. 15 I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. 16 You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit — fruit that will last — and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you. 17 This is my command: Love each other.
And then there's Jesus' prayer FOR us:
John 17:20-23
20 “My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, 21 that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. 22 I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one — 23 I in them and you in me — so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.
I like this last verse in the King James Version: 23 I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me.
The connection we make is so supernatural, that Jesus actually loves us with THE SAME LOVE that the Father has for Him. You are loved like Jesus. "Just as God's love to His Son cannot change, so His love to us cannot change because we are in union with the One He loves. God's love to us can no more waver than His love to His Son can waver." - Trusting God by Jerry Bridges.
Let that sink in. . . . And then take some time to read your love letter today.
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