Jesus Loves You With An Everlasting Love- Lavish Day 18

First things first, I have to apologise for my unexplained absence. There’s no real reason for it. In the midst of the hustle and bustle of the holidays, I skipped this letter on one day. One day became two and so forth. Then I started to wonder if there was any point in continuing since I broke the streak and failed to show up. Condemnation knocked on the door of my heart but Jesus answered and told me to continue and finish. He said “It doesn’t matter that the allotted time is past, the most important thing is for you to continue, finish and fulfill the purpose of the series. The purpose can still be fulfilled regardless of the break or the delay”.

So here I am again. Cheers to consistency this time.

'The godly may trip seven times, but they will get up again. 
Proverbs 24:16

There’s probably a lesson in here for someone. When I break a promise to myself, or to God, or break a streak or a good habit, I’m learning to simply continue. Instead of beating yourself up about how inconsistent you are or how you are so undisciplined, just start again. If you stop again, start again. Start as many times as you need to until you no longer find yourself stopping.

Now let’s get into today’s post.

'Long ago the Lord said to Israel: “I have loved you, my people, with an everlasting love. With unfailing love I have drawn you to myself. '

Jeremiah 31:3

Dear reader,

God draws you to Himself. Our existence is not our own idea. God created us in His own image. He created us to walk with us, to fellowship with us and to dwell in harmony with us. We aren’t an inconvenience that God has to deal with. We are people that He loves, people that He delights in, people that he actively wants to be with in every way.

I know sometimes it can feel like you’re seeking God but nothing is happening. It can feel like you’re doing all the right things- going to church, reading your bible everyday, fasting, and praying at a specific time but something is still missing. You know deep down inside you that you perform the things of God but you aren’t truly intimate with Him. You know there’s more. You know that you haven’t tasted of the sweet fellowship of the Holy Spirit. You know that you say all the right things, perform all the right actions, and yet…

What is missing is an awareness of His wild love for you, dear one.

'And it is impossible to please God without faith. Anyone who wants to come to him must believe that God exists and that he rewards those who sincerely seek him. '

Hebrews 11:6

As humans we have it all jumbled up. We think we must “do” for God, before we get to simply “be” with God. We give ourselves an imaginary checklist of activities that will make us feel like we’re doing the right thing, forgetting that it is God Himself who makes us righteous. It’s so easy to get caught up in this trap until one day you wake up feeling utterly burned out, feeling betrayed that you haven’t still encountered or experienced God despite the fact that you have done everything you have been asked to do, and followed all the tips and tricks.

'So we have stopped evaluating others from a human point of view. At one time we thought of Christ merely from a human point of view. How differently we know him now! '

2 Corinthians 5:16

If you are here, this is exactly where God wants you to be.

This is an invitation to rest. To come to a place of revelatory understanding of His love.

'We have come into an intimate experience with God’s love, and we trust in the love he has for us. God is love! Those who are living in love are living in God, and God lives through them. By living in God , love has been brought to its full expression in us so that we may fearlessly face the day of judgment, because all that Jesus now is, so are we in this world. Love never brings fear, for fear is always related to punishment. But love’s perfection drives the fear of punishment far from our hearts. Whoever walks constantly afraid of punishment has not reached love’s perfection. Our love for others is our grateful response to the love God first demonstrated to us. '

1 John 4:16-19

You cannot love God without first coming into a place of revelatory understanding of His love. This is WHY you probably keep struggling. You are trying to earn what has been freely given to you.

I want you to get out a notebook and answer the following questions honestly. Please leave some comments about your experience answering these when you’re done.

• Who is Jesus?
• Why does Jesus love me?
• Do I really believe Jesus loves me?
• Why do I / don’t I believe Jesus loves me?
• What does love mean?
• What does the love of God mean?

There are so many fundamental things we walk around assuming that we know. I find that forcing yourself to answer certain questions, reveals certain gaps in your knowledge. When you find out that you have gaps in your knowledge, it’s a great thing. It means that you can intentionally begin to seek answers in the right places, starting with the Bible.

If you don’t understand the love of God, you will never believe it. If you don’t believe it, you can’t receive it. If you don’t receive it, you will continue to struggle. Understanding the love of God liberates us. Understanding the wild love of Christ helped me to decide to completely follow Him and give Him my life. I haven’t looked back since then.

A lot of Christians don’t understand God’s love or the sheer vastness of it. This is the number one reason they are miserable and mean to themselves and to others. If you understand the lavish love of God, and receive it you will naturally begin to love other people.

This is the missing link. You need to go beyond having head knowledge to having experiential knowledge of God’s walk. This is when you begin to truly enjoy walking with Him. We will spend the next few days exploring this journey.

If you’re thinking of where to start, my friend Demi Osunsina wrote a really amazing book called “Understanding Why God Loves You” and you can purchase it here or here .

The book of John is also an amazing place to start.

Today, the thought I want you to hold in your heart is that Christ loves you with an eternal love. The best part? You don’t have to do anything except receive it.