The Spirit of the love of God—God’s Holy Spirit—lives within the heart of the believer. But do we live in a way that’s appropriate for His Spirit to live in? Take the time to look within your own heart—do you see any bitterness or resentment there? How about in your mind or soul? It’s foolish for us to seek God’s love in our hearts in a natural way. His love can only be in our heart when His Holy Spirit has placed it there. After we truly and fully become Christian, we discover that a likeness to God has been created in us, because His Spirit’s life and love are now living within us. Can we divide the life of the Holy Spirit from His love? We can’t! Only God’s character can reveal His love. And He’s searching for hearts and lives to communicate with that are willing to answer even His faintest whisper.
What is God searching our hearts for? He’s looking for a response to Him and His love—even if He’s merely whispering to us, or is coming from a different context than what we’re used to dealing with.
If we want to be called by Jesus’ name, then He wants to be given first place in our heart. But there’s no way we can ever experience Jesus or keep Him completely within our own heart, because most of us are only willing to believe in what we’ve already experienced. If we look only in the natural realm around us, we find no reason to look for the love of God within our heart. The only way we’ll find His love in us is when the Holy Spirit has put it there. And the only way we can portray God’s love to others is by reproducing His character in ourself. It will then become obvious, because the life of the Holy Spirit now lives within us, along with His love. In fact, His life can’t be kept apart from His love. What is God searching our hearts for? He’s looking for a response to Him and His love—even if He’s merely whispering to us, or is coming from a different context than what we’re used to dealing with.
In the heart of everyone, there’s a throne. The question is, who’s going to reign on it—the Lord, or me? If I insist on sitting on the throne, then Christ has to keep hanging on the Cross. If I willingly surrender it, then He can reign on my throne. God is the One who knows my heart and yours, and He also knows what should be done to change our heart—which only He can do. But how will we be able to arrive at a place of peace and calmness in our heart and life? These will only come after we have judged our own will and forced it to leave, while our heart seeks only the will of God. Then, once we’ve been set free, we can break out in joyful singing and praise because God has come into our heart! He’s the One Who redeemed us by dying on the Cross on our behalf, the premier demonstration of His love for us. The question is, how will we demonstrate our love for Him in return?
Only God’s Word can preserve our life and bring comfort to our heart. But loving God does more than comfort us—it will also challenge us.
When we receive new life from God, new love for Him enters our life. Once our love lines up with His Word, we can reach the point where we’re able to live without being afraid. Only God’s Word can preserve our life and bring comfort to our heart. But loving God does more than comfort us—it will also challenge us. Once a Christian finds God, he doesn’t go on to live a comfortable life. It will actually become more uncomfortable than ever before, since disturbances are provoked by the presence of godly love.
Christians are united with one another because they share new life in Christ. Our newfound love stimulates and governs the way we act by what we now have in common. We should be living in our Father’s love at this point because we are His offspring. Our Heavenly Father wants us to experience His love in our daily life which sin destroyed in our old life. How many of us need to allow love to grow in our life and heart?
A new love for God comes into our life along with our new life in Him. But who can love someone he doesn’t know? At this time, there are many Christians making this mistake. How hard they try to love a God they don’t really know! Can we see what the purpose of God (and the need of so many of our lives) is? It’s for the love we have for God to grow. Our unity as Christians is built on this life that we have in common, which is displayed in the ways we act. And the new love we have in common stimulates and conquers all these ways. Since we are now children of God, we are to be living in the heavenly Father’s love.
Love always wants to be close to the one it loves. Nothing should be allowed to disturb the companionship between Christ’s Bride and her Heavenly Bridegroom.
Jesus wants us to be His companions in a binding love relationship forever. He wants a bride who will go with Him and reveal to everyone in the world how very much He cares for her. The Apostle Paul tells us that “…the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us” (Romans 5:5). This is the kind of love that gives and shares, the same kind that so loved the world that it gave. How wonderful it is when both husband and wife are united in the Lord! Love always wants to be close to the one it loves. Nothing should be allowed to disturb the companionship between Christ’s Bride and her Heavenly Bridegroom.
It never satisfies love to continually be unknown—it always wants to be revealed. Since God is love, He wants to reveal Himself. Nothing but genuine love for God alone can make us holy and godly in our everyday life. Love is the only authority we’re most likely to passionately obey. And the only way we can have true love for God is through knowing Jesus Christ.
[Additional image credit: Featured photo (when applicable) by Michael Fenton on Unsplash; Opening photo by Ben White on Unsplash]
