Ravished part 5
Love--the kind of unselfish, completely selfless, sacrificial love that IS the God who is love--seems way too good to be true. I mean, in this day and age it seems like people won't even accept a compliment without looking for an ulterior motive. Its like the world has beaten us down to the point where we readily, easily believe anything negative but reject even the possibility of anything positive. But that's sin. Unbelief. Believing the lie. Walking by (natural) sight, not by faith. Looking AT the mirror and seeing all of our blemishes instead of looking INTO the mirror and seeing the inner man. The hidden man of the heart. Jesus. Here's the truth, guys, "...Christ loved the church. He gave up his life for her to make her holy and clean, washed by the cleansing of God's word. He did this to present her to himself as a glorious church without a spot or wrinkle or any other blemish. Instead, she will be holy and without fault." (Ephesians 5:25-27 NLT). And, just to be completely clear on this, He already died for us (and as us). He already washed us. We ARE holy and without fault. We ARE without spot, wrinkle, or any other blemish. We HAVE been conformed into the image of God's beloved Son in whom He is well pleased. That doesn't need to happen. That happened 2,000 years ago on the cross. And, really, it happened before anything else happened. The Lamb was slain from the foundation of the world. Before there was ever a sinner, there was a Savior. So what we ought to do is stop looking AT ourselves (and each other), and disqualifying ourselves (and each other), and we ought to just let God love the hell out of us. We ought to just fill ourselves to overflowing with what He already filled us with. Himself. Love. Remember, all it took was one glace for us to see the grace in His eyes. For Him to capture us, enrapture us, enclose us in His love. And now we CAN walk with Him, get away with Him, experience and enjoy Him. Now we CAN learn how to love as we learn how we are loved. Now we can stop looking for ulterior motives when someone loves us. Because now we can understand that love doesn't HAVE a motive, love IS the motive. That's why we should be doing the things we are doing--because love made us do it. Because its in our heart to do it. Let love guide the way. Follow your heart. Trust your gut. The Word is a lamp unto our feet and a light unto our path. And the Word is Jesus. The Word is love. God in the flesh. Love in a body. God in YOUR flesh. Love in YOUR body. And as a father I can say this: God doesn't love anything more than He loves His Son. YOU, in other words. Because Jesus is your (and my) true identity. He IS that inner man. That hidden man of the heart. And when we let God ravish us with His love, and then (by receiving and releasing that gift) we turn around and ravish each other... that's when the secret comes out. That's when the hidden man of the heart is revealed. In you, and through you, and as you. That's when the Word becomes flesh. When love as an idea becomes charity--love in action. And the best part is that when it comes to receiving and releasing... we receive God love BY releasing it! We experience it when we share it. When we get it away. So, in a sense, when we ravish each other we ravish ourselves. When we love each other we love ourselves!