Different Things God is teaching Me

His Love Ignites

~HIS LOVE IGNITES~ (from nothing to something; from silence to song; from death to life; from darkness to light)

Love is more in the devotion than the feelings. I do not always desire the Lord; to seek Him through His Word & prayer. It is often an objective (passing instinctive) decision I have to make regularly: Whether to keep loving Him more than anything else, or to seek Him as secondary.
The thing about the love-relationship of God, is that it purifies and brings into perspective all the other things we enjoy and care about in life.

"For every creature of God is good, and nothing is to be refused if it is received with thanksgiving; for it is sanctified by the word of God and prayer." (1 Timothy 4:4-5)

We are to seek first the kingdom of God & His righteousness...loving God by relating to Him through His Word and in prayer (communion) with Him...and translating (sharing) His love with our fellow-man...then "all these things will be added" to us. (Matthew 6:31-33) Music, books, video games, movies, social events, your work, family, girlfriend, spouse...all these have their proper place when God is placed first, when He is enjoyed first, above all things. He must be valued and prized first in our hearts, above all else, so much so that when the time(s) came (come) that He calls us, we should be willing (at a moment's notice) to drop our nets and our xbox controllers, and follow Him. We are the servants who wait on the Divine Master. (And how wonderful that He does not leave it there, but goes beyond by calling us "friends"? [John 15:14-15])

Now all this talk about loving God sounds great yet is this something that just happens in our hearts instantly? Like, if we pray for it, will we be immediately able to naturally, easily, and completely love God as we should?
Probably not. And even if it was immediate, still, we could not keep the flame of this Love sustained and unwavering for long for we are only finite. God lights the flame yet we only have so much 'wax' we can give. He must resupply and renew us afresh.

"My flesh and my heart fail. But God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever." (Psalm 73:26)

To accept and then keep (preserve) this Love, takes daily cultivation and attention; seeking Him through Word & prayer. Keeping this love requires carrying your cross. The key word that Jesus said in the Gospel of Luke is "taking up your cross DAILY and following Him". (Luke 9:23) This is not something that we can achieve by dying a once-and-for-all death. I wish and I'm sure we all wish that it would be so, otherwise. This is aggravating and, without God's sustaining grace, would drive us insane.
Our cross is a DAILY dying to self and resurrecting to God; being refined and forged anew for His purpose. This doesn't come as much a surprise when we consider that it is daily (moment-by-moment ) that the Evil One, the world, and especially our own Flesh seek to corrupt and taint our redeemed hearts that are called to our Creator.
"Carrying one's cross"...what is that like? Where does one begin? That is a discussion and meditation that is multi-faceted, so (in closing) I will simply choose and focus on one.

Though the cross that God has given each person who has responded to His call, varies in form between each life and situation, one of the ways it can be summed up is this: It is us inviting God as the Rock (cut out without hands) to pulverize the golden image the Evil One, the world, and especially our own Flesh constantly sets up to exalt itself against the knowledge of God, (2 Corinthians 10:4-5) only to become, in the end, a mighty mountain of His righteousness that fills the world of our souls and hearts. (Daniel 2)
I then ask: How can a love exist that had not before? Surely, it is God "who gives life to the dead and calls those things which do not exist as though they did" (Romans 4:17) and "commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ." (2 Corinthians 4:6)