I have been married for 37 years and my wife and I have two kids. We love them. We now also have a son-in-law and a daughter-in-law and we love them too. We have a grandson! You KNOW we love HIM! I have parents, in-laws and all kinds of extended family and friends. I have come to know ALL there is about love and its various twists and turns, ups and downs, and in's and out's. At least I thought I had . . . and I have. But the purpose of this story today is to tell you that there is a DEEPER love awaiting us all. And I am going to tell you how to find it.
First, to understand the kind of love I am talking about, we must KNOW a few things about God. We can't know these things by simply reading about them or THINK we understand them or become aware of them, we must KNOW these things and embrace them. We must live them.
First, God's love is deeper than any measurable depth. We can find this truth in Romans 8.
"38 For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord." - Romans 8:38-39
The second thing that we must understand are the gifts of the Holy Spirit. You see, when we come to place our faith in Jesus He sends His Holy Spirit into our lives and hearts. When we receive the Holy Spirit we are given a gift. Read this from 1 Corinthians 12:
"7 Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. 8 To one there is given through the Spirit a message of wisdom, to another a message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, 9 to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, 10 to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues, and to still another the interpretation of tongues. 11 All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he distributes them to each one, just as he determines." - 1 Corinthians 12:7-11
Additional gifts can be found in the Book of Romans:
"6 We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us. If your gift is prophesying, then prophesy in accordance with your faith; 7 if it is serving, then serve; if it is teaching, then teach; 8 if it is to encourage, then give encouragement; if it is giving, then give generously; if it is to lead, do it diligently; if it is to show mercy, do it cheerfully." - Romans 12:6-8
These gifts are given at the discretion of the Holy Spirit (1 Cor 12:11). We cannot chose them for ourselves. These gifts enhance some of the basic tendencies given to us by God. When we come to believe in God we receive His Holy Spirit and enhanced gifts of the Spirit.
I believe when we place our faith in Christ we tend to show more compassion than we normally would, we tend to become wiser that we were previously, and I also believe we love more deeply than we EVER did before we believed. There is a deeper love awaiting all who place their faith and hope in Jesus. Have you done that yet? Would you like to experience deeper love in YOUR life? Seek Jesus. He has promised to answer if you will only knock on His door.
O The Deep, Deep Love of Jesus - Selah
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