Echoes of Truth
February 17th
Theme: True Love Revealed
We cannot understand love until we understand the nature of God. — Derek Prince
The realities of God are wrapped in mysteries. The unfolding of these mysteries are absolutely dependent on the workings of the Holy Spirit in and around persons and the willingness of such persons to yield to the flow of the third Person in the Trinity (Romans 5:5).
The Biblical portrayal of love is a parallel line different from the world’s and the two can never meet because the love of God as revealed in the Bible is a revelation of the Persons and working of the Holy Trinity.
The understanding of love should be important to us because our relationship with God began from His commitment to love us in an everlasting way. Jeremiah 31:3 says God has loved us with an everlasting love. This means the mystery of His love not long began in the past, evident in the present, and has its manifestations even in the future we know nothing about.
For this reason, it is important that we know what this love is because by it, we will come to a revelation of God and of our importance to Him especially when He says He has our names engraved on His palms (Isaiah 49:16), the apple of His eyes (Zechariah 2:8; Deuteronomy 32:10). Or when He says He will never leave you nor forsake you (Hebrews 13:5).
It is thus important to pursue God wholeheartedly and allow the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with the knowledge and realities of God, the recognition of the hand of God over our lives so that we may reciprocate His love to us with our own intentional love for Him.
Until we grow in the knowledge of Him we cannot grow in love with Him. We will only continue to pour out our affections on the things of this world and other things that are only the wall of religion and self-righteousness which definitely is not the love of God. Ephesians 3:19 says, ‘and to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God.’
To know God is to be free from the world’s distorted portrayal of love found pasted across media platforms, existing in relationships of all kinds, defined by culture and experiences. If God is love (1 John 4:8), then love must be interpreted through Him in light of His holiness (Isaiah 6:3); His being just (Psalm 89:14), merciful (Ephesians 2:4), faithful (Lamentations 3:22–23), unchanging (Malachi 3:6).
To ignore these realities in our definition of love is to have a love that is fleeting. When holiness is removed, love becomes indulgence. When justice is removed, love becomes permissiveness. When mercy is removed, love becomes harsh. When faithfulness is removed, love becomes temporary,inconsistent. And these are contrary to the very nature of God.
When the various layers of the mystery of God’s love unfold to us, we make it our business to do His will, we confront sin, pursue those lost in sin, uphold righteousness, and forgiving others becomes less weighty on us.
To grow in love, the first thing is not to force yourself to practice better affection. The first thing is to know God more deeply. The more we see Him, the more our shallow understanding fades off. If you want to embody His love, draw near to Him.
Listen to this message by Derek Prince on the Love of God:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GXJRPg3Y3Ws
Let Us Pray:
Father, reveal Yourself to us. Strip away every shallow definition of love we have learned from the world, and teach us love as it flows from Your holy nature. Let us see You clearly so that our love may reflect who You truly are. Draw us deeper into knowing You, because only in knowing You can we truly understand love. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
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