¹⁶ that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man, ¹⁷ so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; and that you, being rooted and grounded in love, ¹⁸ may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, ¹⁹ and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God.

– Ephesians 3:16 – 19

Much has been written on the love of God, yet through all the words remains a mystery, a truth we know while not quite able to explain.  It is for this reason that even now, I am cautious in my writing.  I have often said that love is something that is more easily described than defined, as we can see it in actions, whether that be charity, service, sacrificial giving, or laying down your life for another.  For the Christian, there is no greater testimony of love than the crucifixion of Jesus, the ultimate picture of the love of God.  So, what I am attempting to share now is a preface to a larger undertaking that I have embarked on to contribute to the boundless expressions of the infinite love of God.

The words of Paul in Ephesians 3 is the prayer that I have been learning to pray through for over a year.  If you are in my circle of influence, then I have likely prayed this prayer for you.  I say that I am learning to pray it because of the depths of the request, the infinite expression of love stamped in time that we know by faith, and the spiritual knowledge that is beyond the  limits of human understanding.  I believe every Christian should pray this prayer for themselves and for each other often.  As Jesus prayed for Love and Unity in John 17, Paul gives us a similar prayer with the same spirit.  In reading this passage, we must be mindful of the mystery, that is to know that the love of Christ surpasses knowledge.  This is so important to know because we have all been exposed to the limits of human love and the corresponding emotions, however the love of Christ is beyond what is common to man.  We may have emotional reactions to the love of God as a way of expressing gratitude and thanksgiving, but the love of God is known only by faith (Hebrews 11:6).

Paul prays that Christ would dwell in our hearts by faith so that we would be rooted and grounded in Love, able to comprehend the vastness of Christ and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge.  These are incredible words.  First, Paul prays that we would comprehend the dimensions of divine love, then prays that we would know what is beyond knowledge, so that we would be filled with the fullness of God.  In the formative process of becoming like Christ, this prayer expresses the path of our formation.  We enter by faith in our hearts, so it is not merely intellectual consent.  The knowledge is important, but it is nothing more than a pointer.  Next, we do not achieve this on our own, but by the power of the Spirit in our inner man (v.16) .  Our inner man, which is our soul or our heart, is the area of transformation within our being.  While I sit here using words to explain the prayer, to know the truth of this experience is largely existentially validated by faith.  In this respect, there is some overlap to human love in this awareness.  A man may say, “I love my wife” but the true meaning of the statement transcends the words, so the outward manifestation of that love is in his actions for her and towards her (Ephesians 5:25).  He is “moved” by love in his interior to express what no words can encapsulate.  In the same way, the Love of God moves us to respond to His love, initiated by the Father (John 3:16; 1-John 4:19), expressed by the Son (John 10:17-18), and revealed to us by the Holy Spirit (John 16:7-8; Romans 8:15-16).  Much more could be said on Ephesians 3, however for now we have a framework, so to speak, in order to cast perspective on the love of God in daily life, which incidentally is the title of the book I am developing.

the love of God will recalibrate our hearts back towards the Eternal.  This is when we can start to see the world with new eyes because

it is the love of God that properly calibrates all other loves.

Ecclesiastes 3:11 says that God has set eternity in the hears of men.  When I read this verse, several references come to mind such as the Westminster Confession, or C.S. Lewis stating that “if we desire something that this world cannot satisfy, it indicates that I was made for another world,” and of course Augustine declaring that “our hearts are restless until they rest in you.”  In my own faith journey, I have come to know this desire and this restlessness that could only be exposed by the inadequacy of finite things attempting to satisfy infinite desires, substituting the temporal for the eternal hole in my heart.  I believe that every Christian, as we grow in holiness, will move from knowledge and intellectual consent to the truth of God to a hunger and thirst for divine presence.  It is a move in our being from information to transformation, from awareness to desire, when Christ increases while we are decreasing (John 3:30).  It is a craving for the presence of God, while being fully aware that I am unworthy to be in His presence (Isaiah 6:4-6), yet somehow He has invited me in.  Jesus tells us that all who hunger and thirst for righteousness will be satisfied (Matthew 5:6), because Jesus is the bread of life and our hunger and thirst will be satisfied when we come to Him (John 6:35).  To receive salvation through genuine faith is the fulfillment of a promise in which God would meet our hunger and thirst (Isaiah 49:1-10).

Have you ever been completely parched, dehydrated, cramping, and all you want is for that thirst to be quenched.  It is a feeling of desperation to seek the water to quench your thirst.  That is what I am trying to describe, to arrive at a place where you have to have God, you have to be in His presence, because you have tasted His love and it is the only thing that can quench the thirst in your soul.  When I think about times in my Christian life, the thirst was missing.  It was more like going to a restaurant and the waitress brings water to your table, but you may or may not drink it.  There is no desire for the water because you are going to quench your mild thirst with coke, or beer or wine.  The water was taken for granted, neglected and other things were used to quench the thirst.  It did not matter that those other beverages cause more thirst, more dehydration, it was the preference.  And I think that sometimes our life of faith can get like this, very mechanical, going through the motions, not reading your bible (Matthew 4:4), dead in our convictions (Hebrews 4:12), and time with God, if it happened at all, was a checklist item.

Because we are in the flesh, we can be susceptible to allow everything in this world to take our eyes off God.  But what we need to understand is that our hearts are wicked and incurably sick, but the love of God will recalibrate our hearts back towards the Eternal.  This is when we can start to see the world with new eyes because it is the love of God that properly calibrates all other loves.  If I love my wife, I love her best when I love God with all my heart; if I am a father, I will love my kids best when I love God first; if I have my dream job, I will only love it to the limits of human emotion if I am not loving God by my work (1Corinthians 10:31; Colossians 3:17, 23; Ephesians 2:10).  If I am filling my cup at the source of life Himself, then I will never thirst (John 7:37-39).  This is why we need to get into His presence, get into His word, to go out and meet him early in the morning in solitude and silence.  If I am counting on my job or wife or kids or family or hobby or any other thing that I have passion for, to fill my cup, that cup will eventually run dry because no person or thing can perpetually fill that need.  It is exhausting for you and for them and eventually will harm your relationships.  Not only that, but filling your cup at the source begins to transform you to what God is calling you to be.  It will change what you care about, how you view money, what you desire in relationships, how you spend your time, maybe move you to a career change or another country.  You begin to care about the things that God cares about.  This is also a good self-test, to see if you are in the faith, a test you can only fail if Jesus Christ is not in you (2 Corinthians 13:5).  Do you find satisfaction in giving?  Do you have a burden for the poor, the orphans, the third world countries?  Do you have burden for the lost?  Do you anxiously look forward to prayer and time alone with your bible?  These are a few examples that tell us if our character is aligning with the holy character of God.

Lastly, as I think about my experience, this has been one of the hardest topics to try and reign in.  Even now, I am thinking of all the things I did not touch on, but I feel it is important to start being more open about these conversations and experiences.  Sometimes I am so moved by the presence of God, or an answered prayer, or what He is doing in the lives of other believers.  It is often hard to hold back the tears when I pray, or I read a passage that shines a light right on my situation, or I see a baptism.  Since God has moved me to this new place of transformation, He is doing things that I still find hard to believe.  To pray specifically for people I am not with, to be called to intercessory prayer in the wee hours, to text a verse to someone and it was perfect for the moment they received it.  I am so blown away by what God will do when I start believing that “with Him, all things are possible.”  The crazy thing is that I am a part of His plan, a small role in a play that spans across history with eternal purpose and planning, indescribable!   There was a time when I was trying to practice the presence of God, and I still do, but it is mostly that He is there, always with me as promised and it is humbling, yet there is a holy confidence that He is directing my steps.  That is hard to write because I have long been skeptical of piety, but I am so thankful to be brought to this place and encouraged that He continues to bring me others who are also on their journey up the mountain, developing hinds feet, moved by a hunger and thirst to sit in the glow of the Burning Bush.  If this sounds like your journey, I would love to hear your story.  If you are stuck in the mechanics of a routine faith and your thirst is not quenched by other things, I want to hear your story also.  There is much more to come on the Love of God.  Thank you!

 

ETERNAL GOD, HEAVENLY FATHER, You have graciously accepted us as living members of your Son our Savior, Jesus Christ, and you have fed us with spiritual food in the Sacrament of His Body and Blood.  Send us now into the world in peace, and grant us strength and courage to love and serve you with gladness and singleness of heart; through Christ our Lord. Amen!