Enduring Love

12/16/2016

This week, I hear the Lord speaking to us of His enduring love. In the midst of a season that seems to derive its energy from excitement, anticipation, and creating special experiences for loved ones, I feel the Lord is reminding us of a love that is constant and enduring, one that doesn't depend on emotional "highs" to validate itself. The love of God is true and sure, constant and unchanging. Listen in to what He shared with me, and let the peace of God settle in your spirit, filling you with a hope that is far more exciting than what lies under your tree!

"Do not trust in experiences, but trust in Me, the Giver of all life. The things you experience, spiritual or otherwise, are meant to point you to Me. Someone who is secure in the love of their father does not need repeated "Christmastime proofs" of that love! Real love is like an undercurrent: a softly-flowing, steady river of life for you, and something you drink from consistently. You draw nourishment from that river, trusting that the unfolding events of each day will reveal the truths of what you have digested.

"You look for experiences when you should be looking for Me. A child longs for Christmas because it is easier to see the manifest goodness of his father. But someone who is secure in love will not need those gifts or that experience to know that he is already loved, and loved deeply. I would have you know the depth of My love, independent of any "experience" (spiritual or otherwise) or emotional "high." I would have you live in a place of utmost confidence and security: that though you do not see the arms of love enfolding you, you still trust and believe that they are there, embracing you. This is the place of "great faith," the place where you become unshakeable to the enemy.

"Christ needed no proofs of My love in the desert, for He knew already that He was My beloved Son. You, too, when you enter trials of various kinds, need no proofs of My love, for you know by My infallible Word that I am with you always. To trust that Word is to live in a state of faith. It is faith that quenches the enemy's fire and brings about your deliverance in trials.

"Look not for the shimmering excitement of conversion, nor for the warm glow of revival, but look only to Me, and you will find that your soul begins to burn with an enduring, unquenchable fire that comes from within, from a sustained relationship with me. It will be a fire that burns so brightly that you yourself will become like "Christmas" to those around you."

Scriptures for Reflection:

Enduring Love of God: Hosea 11:4
River of God: Ezekiel 47; Revelation 22:1
Knowing/ Seeing God's Will Unfold: Romans 12:2
Consistent Prayer: 1 Chronicles 16:11; Luke 18:1; 1 Thessalonians 5:17; Romans 12:12
Depth of God's love: Ephesians 3:18; Romans 8:37-39
Jesus's Security as a Son During Desert Temptations: Luke 4
Faith in the Unseen: Hebrews 11:1
Faith's Role in Spiritual Battles: Ephesians 6:6-18
God with us Always: Psalm 145:18; Matthew 28:20
Fire of God Filling/ Working in Believers: Jeremiah 20:9; Acts 2:3
Believers an example of Faith: 1 Timothy 4:12