Love relationship

I watched part of a thriller movie about a psycho murderer who killed people to get what they had, their homes, phones, credit cards, and anything that was coveted.  Here's what I learned as I noticed I was getting more and more scared (a feeling I don't like to feel--I'm really curious as to why horror/scary movies do so well in the box offices?  Why would people want to feel afraid is so weird to me, but then again maybe they like to feel afraid only to also feel their situation is not THAT bad.  I don't know.)  Overall, I felt the craziness of a life a part from having a deep love relationship with God.  People will turn to whatever their hearts envy, perfect homes, perfect bodies, perfect lives, and will destroy themselves and others as they do--their awareness of what's happening gets dimmer and dimmer as their selfish ambitions are continually fueled by their actions and thoughts.

What we do in secret affects everyone around us, no matter how we may try to justify our darkest and most hidden thoughts and sins, they affect and destroy our lives as well as the lives of others -- every time.  

We need to live openly and honestly with God and with one another not just for the sake of purity and goodness, but because our very lives depend on it!  That doesn't mean we won't sin or that no one will get hurt, but that as we sin and stumble we have Christ who is our High Priest in heaven forever, making us clean as we look to Him to do so in the process.  

1 John 2:1

"My little children, I am writing you these things so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father--Jesus Christ the Righteous One"

Hebrews 4:15a

"For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses"

God is about our hearts, 

He wants for us to see the truth and beauty of being in a love relationship with Him because that is the highest and most superior life to be had!  To be with our truest love.  Otherwise if our hearts remains attached to the secret sins we try to hide or our treasures to the selfish ambitions we run to attain, that is where all of us will be--attached to things that will eventually decay and fade away into nothing.  But to have our hearts attached to God is to have life and forever be enamored by the truest beauty and embraced by the most superior and faithful love, is there any greater treasure than that?  

Matthew 6:21

"For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."

As we become the kind of people who love one another by carrying one another's burdens, forgiving each other, confessing our sins to one another, committing to one another to stay when things are rough, humbly looking at Jesus to remember that our mess ups have been taken care of, then it is our hearts that will be refined by Him to be more open toward Him.

Ephesians 4:32

"And be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving one another, just as God also forgave you in Christ."

He causes growth as we plant or water accordingly.  Sometimes we are planting in others' hearts, and sometimes someone is planting in ours, but the growth we all need and want is from God alone, the Father of love who is in charge of every good and perfect gift.  

1 Corinthians 3:6

"I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth"

So what do I mean to be the point of all these things and scriptures?  After all, being in a love relationship with God doesn't just happen because I say I want it.  Right.  That's why we have each other to know and practice experientially.  We are each others' gifts from God to know what it means to be in a love relationship with God when we begin to be in love relationships with one another.  

How do you know you love someone or if someone loves you?  Things like spending quality time, having deep and honest conversations, and experiencing reliance on others during difficult times, being understood and heard, feeling valued, feeling sympathy and being open to being helped, being forgiven for a deep wound you caused to another, and/or joyfully enjoying the company of another are all ways in which I have come to know genuine love from another.  The deeper my love for others becomes the deeper my experience of God's love for me also grows in my heart. 

It takes courage to love someone, because love is the superior way.  It is the highest command, and as such it is one in which we will likely feel our most deepest fears.  

So if you're scared, like me, to love and be vulnerable, then that's okay.  We have prayer, the sacred language to God, as a way to receive His help and strength to do His will.  

Pray this prayer with me now:

"Father, 

I come before you just as I am, scared and lazy, confused and with a twisted heart.  My heart's treasure goes after everything that makes me feel temporarily comfortable, valued and validated as a person.  Father, I want my value to be from You alone.  I want my heart's treasure to be You.  Please give me simple ways and nudges for how I can experience walking more truthfully in knowing Your love.  Help me to use my fear as a sign, rather than a wall, to intentionally look at You.  I want to know more deeply of what Your love looks, feels, smells, sounds, and tastes like.  I want Your superior love to be the treasure I possess, so please help me believe and remember that loving others is the way to gain more personal experience of Your love.  I am so scared of rejection, getting hurt, and being wrong in such attempts, so I need You very close in every moment.  I want You to be there to catch me when I mentally faint, when I physically crumble to the ground, and also when I reach a spiritual glimpse of Your glory at the sight of love in action together.  In all that I do, I want to know You're with me, You love me, and I am forever Yours. 

In Jesus name I pray, amen."

Jmegrey