An Open Heart part 4
If it was easy, everybody would do it. Right? It can be hard to continue to put yourself out there once you've been burned. Because conventional wisdom would tell you that once you get burned... stay away from the fire. But here's the straight truth: GOD is the consuming fire. And He doesn't burn US, He burns away everything IN us that isn't HIM. Look at Matthew 19:28 in the Amplified Bible, "Jesus said to them, Truly I say to you, in the new age [the Messianic rebirth of the world], when the Son of Man shall sit down on the throne of His glory, you who have [become My disciples, sided with My party and] followed Me will also sit on twelve thrones and judge the twelve tribes of Israel." Now I don't want to get bogged down on the twelve thrones and all that right now. But I kind of touch on the idea of Messianic rebirth of the world a bit, and I like to quote it now and then. Because when that happened--on the cross--the consuming fire that is love literally consumed everything EXCEPT love. Only love remains. But it sure doesn't feel like that all the time. A lot of the time it feels like, "the more I love the less I'm loved." A lot of the time it feels like we're pouring our love into a black hole that just swallows it up and doesn't give anything back. But that's why I made the connection between returning to what has always been true--we left our first love, which is God first loving us--but He's calling us back. Because if we understand that we don't NEED anything back... we can love without expectation. We can just give what we've got. Simply because we've got it... and because its too good to keep to ourselves. A gift is better experienced when it is shared. LIFE is better experienced when it is shared. Its not good for man to be alone, right? We're all in this together. Love is giving. You can give without loving, but you can't love without giving. So to live is to give. Giving everything you have and everything you are without expecting to get anything back. Giving because its what you've got... and because its what people need. Giving because your heart is open. What's inside WILL come out--or, I should say, what you BELIEVE is inside will come out. So knowing and believing that you are loved is the key to everlasting life. You can experience Jesus' abundant, everlasting, eternal, Resurrection Life of love by letting HIM live it--love it--in you, and through you, and as you. So when you get burned, just know that God only burns away things you didn't need anyway. God made you in His image--in the image of love--in the beginning. And then He conformed you to the image of His beloved Son in whom He is well pleased on the cross. You ARE loved. That's the ultimate truth of the universe: God is love and He loves you. But if you let the world steal that from you by getting you to close your heart down... that's tragic, man. That's heartbreaking. So give God a chance. Give love a chance. Maintain... keep... guard your heart... by letting God love you and loving Him back by loving others with that same love!