In the midst of a time of grief, I asked the question- or at least sought an answer- that somewhat follows the chorus of an old Hymn:
Jesus, Jesus,
precious Jesus,
o, for Grace to
love Him more.
Love is kind of a funny thing. When you're a kid, it's all puppy dogs and flowers, and a longing in your heart that brings you to tears.... as you get older, not so much. It evokes strong loyalty, a sense of well-being, but the strong constant gnawing is not so longer there. And it makes you wonder: Do you love God? HOW, more to the point, do you love God? I mean, when you think about being before God, what do you see?
Eze 1:25 And there came a voice from above the expanse over their heads. When they stood still, they let down their wings.
Eze 1:26 And above the expanse over their heads there was the likeness of a throne, in appearance like sapphire; and seated above the likeness of a throne was a likeness with a human appearance.
Eze 1:27 And upward from what had the appearance of his waist I saw as it were gleaming metal, like the appearance of fire enclosed all around. And downward from what had the appearance of his waist I saw as it were the appearance of fire, and there was brightness around him.
Eze 1:28 Like the appearance of the bow that is in the cloud on the day of rain, so was the appearance of the brightness all around. Such was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the LORD. And when I saw it, I fell on my face, and I heard the voice of one speaking.
Exo 3:4 When the LORD saw that he turned aside to see, God called to him out of the bush, "Moses, Moses!" And he said, "Here I am."
Exo 3:5 Then he said, "Do not come near; take your sandals off your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground."
Exo 3:6 And he said, "I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob." And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God.
Rev 1:12 Then I turned to see the voice that was speaking to me, and on turning I saw seven golden lampstands,
Rev 1:13 and in the midst of the lampstands one like a son of man, clothed with a long robe and with a golden sash around his chest.
Rev 1:14 The hairs of his head were white, like white wool, like snow. His eyes were like a flame of fire,
Rev 1:15 his feet were like burnished bronze, refined in a furnace, and his voice was like the roar of many waters.
Rev 1:16 In his right hand he held seven stars, from his mouth came a sharp two-edged sword, and his face was like the sun shining in full strength.
Rev 1:17 When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. But he laid his right hand on me, saying, "Fear not, ....
Now, as you look at these examples, think on this: These men were two prophets called to heaven, the man who would lead the people out of Egypt, and the "disciple whom Jesus loved..."
"...I said, 'Woe is me!' ..."
"...I fell on my face..."
"...he hid his face..."
"...I fell at His feet as though dead..."
Atheists reject God because, among other things, they cannot believe in something beyond their limited conception. They trust in science- as long as science can explain it- or 'will explain it', more to the point- they can still say there is no need for a 'god' to explain things. We are not only called to believe in the unexplainable through faith, but to LOVE Him. And how do you love someone so great that the best men of history fall as though dead before?
I don't know. How did they?
So I looked as I typed. And amazingly, I found my first answer on the Jehovah's Witnesses website. They pointed out 1 John 5:3:
1Jn 5:3 For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments.
And went on to point out that this was the principle upon which Moses lived his life- showing his love for God through his obedience. But there was more than this for Moses, as I have pointed out elsewhere:
Exo 33:12 Moses said to the LORD, "See, you say to me, 'Bring up this people,' but you have not let me know whom you will send with me. Yet you have said, 'I know you by name, and you have also found favor in my sight.'
Exo 33:13 Now therefore, if I have found favor in your sight, please show me now your ways, that I may know you in order to find favor in your sight. Consider too that this nation is your people."
Exo 33:14 And he said, "My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest."
Exo 33:15 And he said to him, "If your presence will not go with me, do not bring us up from here.
Exo 33:16 For how shall it be known that I have found favor in your sight, I and your people? Is it not in your going with us, so that we are distinct, I and your people, from every other people on the face of the earth?"
Exo 33:17 And the LORD said to Moses, "This very thing that you have spoken I will do, for you have found favor in my sight, and I know you by name."
Exo 33:18 Moses said, "Please show me your glory."
Exo 33:19 And he said, "I will make all my goodness pass before you and will proclaim before you my name 'The LORD.' And I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy.
Exo 33:20 But," he said, "you cannot see my face, for man shall not see me and live."
Exo 33:21 And the LORD said, "Behold, there is a place by me where you shall stand on the rock,
Exo 33:22 and while my glory passes by I will put you in a cleft of the rock, and I will cover you with my hand until I have passed by.
Exo 33:23 Then I will take away my hand, and you shall see my back, but my face shall not be seen."
Moses sought to see Him more clearly. Why? That he might find ways to find favor in His sight, and teach the people more effectively. Isaiah, after a vision of how God would destroy evil men, then recounted this in chapter 63:
Isa 63:7 I will recount the steadfast love of the LORD, the praises of the LORD, according to all that the LORD has granted us, and the great goodness to the house of Israel that he has granted them according to his compassion, according to the abundance of his steadfast love.
Isa 63:8 For he said, "Surely they are my people, children who will not deal falsely." And he became their Savior.
Isa 63:9 In all their affliction he was afflicted, and the angel of his presence saved them; in his love and in his pity he redeemed them; he lifted them up and carried them all the days of old.
He recounts the manifestations of God's unchanging love FOR us; goodness, compassion, and through Jesus the sharing of our burdens and our Salvation. For him, love was re-telling the Story.
For Ezekiel, love was as simple as hope. For Ezekiel wasn't allowed to debate, only to speak what God told him. But when it was for Ezekiel to speak, he usually said something like this:
Eze 11:13 And it came to pass, while I was prophesying, that Pelatiah the son of Benaiah died. Then I fell down on my face and cried out with a loud voice and said, "Ah, Lord GOD! Will you make a full end of the remnant of Israel?"
Eze 11:14 And the word of the LORD came to me:
Eze 11:15 "Son of man, your brothers, even your brothers, your kinsmen, the whole house of Israel, all of them, are those of whom the inhabitants of Jerusalem have said, 'Go far from the LORD; to us this land is given for a possession.'
Eze 11:16 Therefore say, 'Thus says the Lord GOD: Though I removed them far off among the nations, and though I scattered them among the countries, yet I have been a sanctuary to them for a while in the countries where they have gone.'
Eze 11:17 Therefore say, 'Thus says the Lord GOD: I will gather you from the peoples and assemble you out of the countries where you have been scattered, and I will give you the land of Israel.'
Eze 11:18 And when they come there, they will remove from it all its detestable things and all its abominations.
Eze 11:19 And I will give them one heart, and a new spirit I will put within them. I will remove the heart of stone from their flesh and give them a heart of flesh,
Eze 11:20 that they may walk in my statutes and keep my rules and obey them. And they shall be my people, and I will be their God.
The remembrance that God is yet with us, has never left us, and will provide for us if we remain with Him, is the love for God Ezekiel knew. But it is John from which we learn the most:
1Jn 4:7 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God.
1Jn 4:8 Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.
1Jn 4:9 In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him.
1Jn 4:10 In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.
1Jn 4:11 Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.
1Jn 4:12 No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us.
Just like everything else with God, love is not a 'work' we can do on our own. It isn't about us loving God, but Him having loved us first. Because He loved first, He sets the example WE are to follow by loving those around us. Laurie was just telling me a story the other day about a woman at work who was "a Christian", but couldn't even hold a decent conversation about her faith without becoming an enraged, sword-swinging 'christian soldier'. I have seen and heard from many such people, who would rather "hate their enemy' than pray for them. But if we want to 'see God', to get a better idea of how to find His favor, then our great weapon had best not be a sword but a kneeler.
A bloody great message
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