Love Notes from God
How’d you do with your love notes from Monday? Do you notice any changes you experienced or challenges with writing love notes to God? My prayer is that as you develop these love notes TO Him, that you’d see more and more of His goodness and love in your lives.
Today, we’re going to focus on Love Notes FROM God. This one excites me a lot! As much as I LOVED creating and giving notes to Stephen, I loved receiving them more. I feel the same way but more with God. When I compare my weak ability to praise God with His perfect love and life over me, it isn’t a fair match ;-) Yet His heart is so moved by my love. I don’t have to choose Him, so when I do pour out adoration and make Him first, He knows it cost me something.
One of my favorite books in the Bible is Song of Solomon. Ok, hold all of the quizzical brows and hear me out for a moment. While this book can be interpreted as a love song between a man and woman, it in my opinion can be even impacting when viewed as an exchange between our Bridegroom, Jesus and us. Now this should never indicate anything weird ok? So with that in mind, let’s look briefly at a few passages in this beautiful love story.
In the beginning of this book, there is a revelation of the Shulamite woman (who represents us) where she exclaims that she is “dark but lovely”. A favorite commentary of mine on this passage says,”The maiden’s recognition of her blackness is not an acknowledgement of the former sins that have been put away; all that was knowingly wrong in her life has already been put away or she would have never have been able to come to this place of intimate fellowship in the King’s chambers. Her cry, “I am dark,” is a revelation of the blackness of the unrenewed mind-the mind that has been corrupted for so long by Satan. It is a revelation of soul-power, of everything that is a product of the soul-life. It is a revelation of the unsubmitted soul of a man: mind, intellect, emotions and will, all of which must be brought under the control of the Spirit of God. Once the maiden only thought of the blackness as sin, but now she sees the blackness of her unrenewed soul.”
Did you catch all of that? Those few sentences changed my life! The maiden has cried out to know the Lord and to be prepared to have fuller knowledge of Him. Then she sees where her own thinking didn’t line up with His thinking of her. She sees where she didn’t take care to renew her own mind to His ways. She sees the darkness, but also the truth that she is indeed, lovely. I could write a book write here on how we, men or women ought to see ourselves lovely in His sight, but for now this blog will do.
Throughout the book we see these deep exclamations of the Bridegroom over us saying how lovely, how fair we are! We sense the desire of His heart beckoning us to mature and to lean on Him. By the end of the story, the maiden, once dark and in need of redemption is now whole and dependent on her Beloved, not her own unrenewed soul. From there, the two can partner together to impact other people’s lives. The once broken woman is now healed and full of love to give to others.
This is the place I feel that God wants you to go today. To a place where He can show you the places in your life where you are too, in need of His great salvation and love. Where you can realize what you look like reflecting HIs love. That you are truly dark but lovely. That you need His great love. John 3:16, so ever popularly quoted exclaims that, “for God so LOVED the world that he GAVE His only son that whosoever believe in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” What a picture of LOVE-that God gave His only son, Jesus, and that Jesus gave His life for us, and the Holy Spirit came to fill us! There are no other “gods” in the world who’s names mean love. This is the one thing that our Father, Jesus, and Holy Spirit have to give us-ever lasting love.
There is redemption from our sin. There is redemption from the hurts of this life. There is redemption of our unsubmitted souls. There is love available for us. Perfect love that comes without fear or selfish intents. Love that truly like the Bible says, “covers a multitude of sin”.
Today’s truth and challenge below is to hopefully complete the 2nd part of “love your neighbor as yourself”. If you don’t see yourself as lovely and capable of receiving His great love, you can’t rightly give love to others. I’m believing that as our minds are renewed and we praise Him and pour our love on Him, we’d receive His love and partner with Him to give it to others.
Challenge for today;
1.Read through Song of Solomon with this paradigm of you as the Shulamite woman and receiving His great love for you.
2.Read John 3:16 and write what that passage means to you. Sometimes the scriptures we think we know the best are the ones where we can quote them, but our hearts have yet to soak up the real application. Meditate on His love.
3.Write 3 love notes from God that apply to areas that you’re needing a renewed mind to His love. For some this could be an example like 1 John 4:18 about perfect love casting out fear. Others it’s that you need to know you’re lovely, Song of Solomon 2:2. Others need to know His passionate pursuit of your heart, the book of Hosea has some great truths of His love too.
Praying for you today and believing that you will awaken to love and your hearts would be full of His love. That all other weights, lies and distractions would fall aside and that the peace that comes from accepting His great love would flood your hearts and minds.
Commentary excerpt came from “Bible Studies for the Preparation of the Bride”, a study of Song of Solomon by Bob and Rose Weiner.