Love is supernatural

My post the other day, We All Wanna Be Loved, was inspired by several thoughts that I've had over the past few weeks and months, as well as by the conversation that happened on Day 5 of the week that Steve McVey was a guest on the Canadian program It's A New Day (a couple of weeks ago). I enjoyed every program that week, and if you haven't checked it out I highly encourage it! If nothing else, do take some time to check out the link and take in all the wisdom, vulnerability, brokenness and love shared on Day 5.


Jesus was put down, criticized, persecuted and hated for eating and drinking with tax collectors, prostitutes and all kinds of other "sinners." He loved the unlovable. He spent time - eating and drinking - with "bad" people. He had loving, close, friendly fellowship with them. He wasn't afraid of being contaminated by them! He didn't care what people said about Him. I believe He was compelled by LOVE to love them, touch them, heal them, accept them, befriend them, share wisdom with them, sit with them, hug them, talk with them, listen to them, give to them, mourn with them, defend them, take their burdens, take their guilt, take their shame.

He was so unlike the religious people of the day. The religious people were there to make sure the people stayed in line. They wouldn't dare be seen with the "sinners," but they sure laid down the rules for the sinners. They put heavy burdens on people. They condemned people. They pointed fingers and pronounced people guilty. They even added their own rules and laws and stipulations onto God's laws. You know what? It's EASY to do all of that! It's easy to talk about how bad other people are and how good you are. It's easy to protest the sins of others and even pass laws against their sinful behavior. (Your own sins, of course, don't need laws... right?)

What's hard, though, is loving others unconditionally! In fact, "hard" is too soft a word. Loving people unconditionally is impossible. The commands to love God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind and with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as you love yourself, are impossible commands to obey. I've heard people quote these commands quite nonchalantly, as if true love for God and others is so simple. To love as Jesus loved - and really He was showing the love of the Father - is something that can't be done through trying to obey commands.

Love - that is, agape love - is supernatural. It's not of this world. It's not of the flesh. It's of the Spirit. No law or rule can cause love. No set of disciplines or principles produces love. The kind of love that loves unconditionally doesn't come from obedience to a command. It comes from the very love and life of Christ in us. Love cannot be faked. If you have to "fake it till you make it," it's not love.

To love others like Christ loves others is a supernatural act of God that wells up from inside a weak clay jar and overflows miraculously into the lives of others and back to God. To be vulnerable, and to be real and authentic is the same. As I look at the list of various people on my We All Wanna Be Loved post, I see that I've carried some fleshly fears, prejudices, pride and self-righteousness - and quite simply, a lack of true love - into the way I view others. I can't deny any of it... but I also can't fake any of it away! In order for me to love others as God loves them - without conditions - it can be nothing less than a supernatural, miraculous work of Christ in me. And it can't be rushed, so I rest peacefully in Him knowing His love is working a perfect work and bears its fruit in due time.

God in the ordinary

I saw this this morning on the Idle musings of a bookseller blog. From today's My Utmost for His Highest devotional:

When the Spirit of God comes to us, He does not give us glorious visions, but He tells us to do the most ordinary things imaginable. Depression tends to turn us away from the everyday things of God’s creation. But whenever God steps in, His inspiration is to do the most natural, simple things-things we would never have imagined God was in, but as we do them we find Him there. The inspiration that comes to us in this way is an initiative against depression. But we must take the first step and do it in the inspiration of God. If, however, we do something simply to overcome our depression, we will only deepen it. But when the Spirit of God leads us instinctively to do something, the moment we do it the depression is gone. As soon as we arise and obey, we enter a higher plane of life.

I'll first say that I don't agree with every single specific jot and tittle in Oswald Chambers' devotional above. For example, the line that says, "He does not give us glorious visions." I do believe in visions. I believe in miracles. I believe in angels. I believe in all kinds of extraordinary manifestations of God in our lives!

However, the overall heart of the devotional lines up with my everyday experience of God - of the Holy Spirit - of Christ in me - which is most often experienced "in the ordinary." I was once so focused on wanting God to manifest Himself in extraordinary ways that I completely, or nearly completely, missed His presence in the entirety of my life!

I look around and I see so many Christians who on the outside appear as if everything is fine and dandy, but when you share a little bit of life with them and get into conversations with them, you find that they feel that something is greatly missing or lacking in their Christian lives, and they will only feel filled or complete if something "major" happens, such as a miraculous event or a highly visible or emotional experience or manifestation. In other words, it seems as if many are discontent or are longing for something more. But yet isn't the wholeness of God with us and manifested in us, even especially in the "ordinary."

Again, I love the deeply emotional, genuinely supernatural experiences I've had with God! But here's food for thought. If you want to truly interact with Jesus, consider verses such as the following (as one of many things to consider):

"Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, 'Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink? When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You? Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?' And the King will answer and say to them, 'Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.' Matt 25:37-40

Please understand, this is not some legalistic talk to try to get people to "do stuff for Jesus" and it's not a "step" to take to get out of any boredom or lack of fulfillment you may have in your Christian life!

What I'm saying is... the Kingdom of God is within us. We don't have to go looking for it. Perhaps, if we think we're missing out on something, instead of seeking for blatantly obvious supernatural experiences, we can ask our Father to show us Himself in the everyday things of life. All of creation is His. All of our life is His! A lot of this world is tainted with the effects of sin - but Jesus has overcome the world, and His overcoming of the world is not always experienced through miraculous events, but rather His overcoming of the world is shown in and through us as we abide and trust in Him and simply go about our daily lives, and as His love pours out of our lives toward others.