Deeper part 3
Another song lyric: "I want more of you God." Oftentimes this is the cry of my heart. Even though I KNOW I have all of Him. He lives in me. How much more of Him could I get? But there's a difference in being given something... and RECEIVING something. There's a difference between something being true... and EXPERIENCING the truth. So while I know that I am filled with Him, I want to know the fulness of what I'm filled with! Which is what happens when we explore God's love for us. The height, and breadth, and length, and depth of His love. When we dwell in His love. That's what it means to go deeper. That's what it means to "want" more of Him. Jesus said, "Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you" (Matthew 7:7). And I really think that's the key. Because there are people--"Christians" even--who know what they know and are ok with what they know. They don't need (or really, they don't THINK that they need) anything more than what they've got. They're not interested in abundant, because they've settled for life as we know it. And I guess, in a sense, that's fine. Jesus didn't force His life on anybody, so I'm certainly not going to force His life on anybody. But it also breaks my heart to know that there is so much more available. And all we have to do is reach out and take it. The Kingdom is at hand. It's within our reach. And whosoever will can have it. Let me say it this way: Jesus set a six-course meal for us in the presence of our enemies at the cross. This is His finished work of being crucified, dying, being buried, being quickened, raised, and seated. That's where the transformation from "sinner to saint," and the conformation into His image took place. And because of that we don't have to accept life as we know it. We don't have to settle for surface stuff. We can dig deeper. Or, in our ocean of grace analogy, we can dive deeper! We can explore His love in every area and aspect of His life... because we understand that His love IS life! Everything Jesus is and everything He did (both for us and as us) is available to us right here and right now. So if we want "more" of Him, all we have to do is stop trying to get something we don't have and start receiving what we already do have! Nothing can separate us from God's love. But if we're looking for love in all the wrong places, instead of going to the source, then we can rob ourselves of what we've been given. We can miss out on it. And as badly as humanity wants, and needs, and desires love... and as available as it is... I don't think anybody should miss out on it. It takes a heart that wants more though, and it takes a willingness to go a little bit deeper. To know and believe. To receive and release. It takes an open mind, because God WILL surprise you. He's (love's) a lot bigger than you think. He (love) doesn't fit into a religious box. There's more available. There's abundance. There's everlasting. There's eternal. There's Resurrection Life. And we already have it!