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Observation

It is through our intimate relationship with God that I become love, “Love has been brought to its full expression in us.” This is what love does when I live with love, then love loves me into the full expression of the truest me, lover me. I become like love itself, “all that Jesus now is, so are we in this world.” This was love’s plan all along, I was made in the image of love and as I am restored to love’s embrace and live in love’s intimacy, so I become all that love is. And as I become me I reflect love into the world, by simply being me. Lovers love, that’s what they do.

This is discipleship, it’s loveship. And it’s not formed in me by doing things that I think might be like Jesus, it’s not an imitation game. It’s formed in me “By living in God.” It’s not walking so close that the dust of his shoes gets on my clothes, it’s being in him, with him in the intimacy of her love. It’s so much more intimate than we have ever imagined to believe. We fear intimacy so we ask for rules to follow, but there are none, they don’t work. We are not apprenticed in that we learn how to love, we are embraced that we be loved, it’s the only way to become love.

When love’s arms enfold me then I am never afraid of judgement. Does my little granddaughter Tilley live in fear of judgment from her dad? No, she rests in complete security knowing she is loved. So often the kids of God seem to live afraid of their sin, their failure, their brokenness, that the hammer of heaven’s judgements will fall upon them. They walk right past “there is no condemnation for those who are loved by God,” into the twisted false gospel of earned love and a God who loves good boys and girls and judges the bad ones harshly. We will never live out our loveship if there is any hint of fear of judgement, for we will never give ourselves fully to love’s embrace if we carry the fear of love in us. We will keep the mask on, or keep our distance. So recognise that God is love, he is not aroused by your seductive beauty of goodness to love you. That’s the way the world loves, it’s not our God. So come with your brokenness, all your ugly sins, even those you are not ready to give up and come into love’s embrace for that’s the only place on earth that loves healing will transform you.

Application

Live embraced. Live in God and become me, become all that Jesus is, become love, the truest me, and then go love. This is the full life that Jesus came to bring, it’s not devoid of suffering or difficulty, it’s just full of love in it all. Make me me, lover me before you give me ‘happiness.’ I will live in my loveship.

Response

Thank you that everything you are about can be brought simply and fully into one word – love. It’s your ontological being, it’s your essential existence, and its focus is me. You are focused on me. What an absolutely crazy thought. With a universe as vast as it is, you intimately love me. Can I be that important, that valuable? But then isn’t that what love does, loves the undeserving? Maybe this is the truest definition of your mightiness, you choose to be intimate with me? I love being loved like this, this is a great life you give me.

Meditation

Meditate – love has been brought to its full expression in us.

Consider:
How do you understand yourself to be? Are you “all that Jesus now is?”
Are you afraid of judgement? Let love drive it out.