November 24, 2007

His Love is……….  Part One

Deep – When I think of the word deep, I think of the ocean.  The ocean is another world in of itself.  There are species of fish that haven’t been named because they live in the outermost depths of the ocean.  There are places in the ocean that are so deep no human has ever gone there and may never be able to go there. 

I can’t even begin to comprehend the deepness of the ocean.  When it comes to love, I can’t begin to grasp the depths of this thing we call love either.  It’s like trying to figure out the depths of the sea and when I try and understand, I am even more lost then before.  Maybe we are not supposed to understand the depths of the sea let alone the depths of His Love.  I believe that is how God intended it to be but us as humans will try and figure it out. 

A few months back during worship at my church we sang a song entitled, “Your Love is deep.”  This song is written by Jami Smith and the first line of the song says, “Your love is deep.”  To compliment this powerful statement, Jami Smith sings, “Deeper than my view of grace” to add some gusto to God’s love being deep and then some. 

God began to speak to me and inspire me and I started to reflect on the love of God.  I thought about what His love is and the words of Jami Smith’s song came to mind and I started to have tears run down my face as we sang this song during service.  Those life changing words of Your love is Deep started to flood my mind.  I couldn’t stop thinking about God’s love being so deep that I can’t fathom what He went through to redeem us from sin. 

As I was studying the Bible during the One Another group a few weeks ago, we came across Ephesians’ chapter three and out of the sky, God spoke loud and clear from His word the verse that Jami Smith used as inspiration for her song Your love is Deep.  Instead of Your love is Deep, I am even more overwhelmed and moved by the phrase His Love is Deep and will use those words to try and paint a picture of the unending depths of God’s love in regard to Eros, the Greek word for romantic love. 

This is part one of a four part series on God’s love that we will be covering the next four weeks. 

Ephesians 3:14-19 (New International Version)

A Prayer for the Ephesians 

14For this reason I kneel before the Father, 15from whom his whole family[a] in heaven and on earth derives its name. 16I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, 17so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, 18may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, 19and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.

The Apostle Paul is praying a prayer for the Ephesians from the depths of his heart.  Paul wants them to know Christ so deep that they can get a glimpse of His Love and be filled in such a way to attain the fullness of God. 

When I think of the Love of God being deep, I think of a lesser love called Eros from C.S. Lewis’s book, The Four Loves.  Eros is defined as romantic love that is actually not in the Bible but is a love that is mentioned in connection with God’s love.  Mr. Lewis defines Eros as, “The state of being in love or the love that lover’s have.” 

This romantic love is deep because it takes over the soul at times.  When I think of past relationships that I have been in with a woman, I was deep in this state of being in love.  Was it the real deal?  Maybe or maybe not but I know I was on a roller coaster ride that was way up, way down and all in between at times but I wouldn’t trade those experiences for anything because it taught me to see the deepness of God’s love a little bit more.

• When you are in Eros you find it within the depths of your soul to forgive the other person and that is but a reflection of God’s love because His Love is Deep.

• When you are in Eros you find it within the depths of your soul to go the extra mile to put a smile on the other person’s face and that is but a reflection of God’s love because His Love is Deep.

• When you are in Eros you find it within the depths of your soul to serve the other person and put their needs before yours and that is but a reflection of God’s love because His Love is Deep.

When it comes to Eros, it is but a reflection of God’s love because when we find it to forgive another, put a smile on another’s face, or serve another by putting their needs above our own, it’s only because His Love is a little bit Deeper. 

When we dig deep into the core of our being and we get an inkling of God’s love being deeper than our view of grace as Jami Smith sang so powerfully, we come full circle and by the grace of God we’re right back at His Love is Deep and nothing in all of creation can separate us from His Love.

The Challenge – Go buy Jami Smith’s CD with Your Love is Deep and listen to the song over and over until it sinks into depths of your soul and the tears begin to fall and flow down your cheeks because His Love is Deep.

Ask God to take you on the ride of your life by showing you how Deep His Love really is for you and the world and tell someone who needs to know about His Love.  Also read John 3:16 and see God take you to the deepest part of His Love as we know it in this life.

Reflect on the things that are deep in life, write them down, and be blown away because His Love is a little bit deeper.

PS:   If you need prayer, write you requests in the comments section of the blog and we will pray for those needs.  Let us know when God answers your prayers by sending your praise reports. 

If you haven't received Jesus Christ yet and you want to, pray this prayer with me.  Dear God I admit I am a sinner in need of a Savior and I believe that Savior is Jesus Christ.  I confess Jesus today as my Lord and Savior and commit my life to Him.  I pray this in the name of Jesus Amen. 

Let us know if you received Christ so we can rejoice with you because it’s the greatest thing you will ever do in this life.