Known & Loved

There is a truth that is eternal. Build your life and your beliefs on this truth. You are fully known and fully loved by God.

“Now these are the people of the province who came up from the captivity of the exiles...(they returned to Jerusalem and Judah, each to their own town, When they arrived at the house of the LORD in Jerusalem, some of the heads of the families gave freewill offerings toward the rebuilding of the house of God on its site. According to their ability they gave" ‭‭Ezra‬ ‭2‬:‭1‬-70

Author Thomas Wolfe is the one who coined the expression that you can never return home. His point is that even when you come back to where you were raised, you have changed, so life is not the same. You cannot return to life as it was, but as it is. As you travel through different seasons of life, the depth of his statement can produce grief or gratitude. How does this quote apply to you? What season are you in? Do you long for yesteryear, or are you thankful for where you are?

The people of Judah returned to their lands. They came home, but they were not the same. How could you be? After living in captivity, being controlled by a foreign ruler, coming home would have been a radical experience. Imagine all the emotions they must have felt. The text says they responded with generosity according to their ability. They focused on rebuilding the temple and settling in their towns.

A funny thing often happens in moments after we experience the miraculous. We can move ahead. Our minds can start to wonder how things will work out or when the next shoe will drop. Our hearts can shift from worship to worry. We can forget how faithfully and perfectly we are loved and focus on what fears may come. This is not good for our souls. We are meant to be people who operate by faith out of a place of wholeness. Do you feel whole today? Do you feel safe, known, and loved?

“Give praise to the LORD, proclaim his name; make known among the nations what he has done. Sing to him, sing praise to him; tell of all his wonderful acts. Glory in his holy name; let the hearts of those who seek the LORD rejoice. Look to the LORD and his strength; seek his face always. Remember the wonders he has done, his miracles...He remembers his covenant forever...He spread out a cloud as a covering, and a fire to give light at night. They asked, and he brought them quail; he fed them well with the bread of heaven. He opened the rock, and water gushed out; it flowed like a river in the desert. He brought out his people with rejoicing, his chosen ones with shouts of joy;” ‭‭Psalms‬ ‭105‬:‭1‬-‭43

David wrote a song of praise to the God who rescues, redeems, and restores. He said the gift you can give to God today is your heart. Your praise. This is pleasing to Him. Will you sing of His love today? He said to make known among the nations what God has done. In other words, tell your story. You have not been stumbling toward eternity, but have been sent, saved, and served by the hand of the Living God.

David gave the people insight into how to find integrity. Wholeness. Peace in their hearts. He said to look to the Lord and His strength. Seek His face always. Remember the wonders He has done and that He is forever faithful. The apostle Paul said it another way. He told the early church in Philippi to rejoice, and again I say rejoice, worry about nothing, pray about everything, and the peace of Christ will rule your heart. He said whatever you think about, think about what is good, pleasing, perfect, and lovely. Think about God. All day, every day. As you do, you will be strengthened, filled, and find joy.

Will we listen to the advice of a man who understood what it is to be loved by God? Will we change the way we are thinking from deficit to abundance? So many people go through life longing for more out of a place of insecurity, trying to earn the approval of God or others, not understanding that they are chasing the wind. God has a better way. He wants you to be rooted in love, operate out of a place where you know you are loved, and then go give love. You cannot give what you do not have. David said to seek God, and you will never have a reason to feel alone or afraid because God is always with you and for you. Love is patient. Love is kind. Love never has, nor will it ever, fail you.

"Eat friends drink. Drink your fill of love. “How is your beloved better than others, most beautiful of women? How is your beloved better than others, that you so charge us? My beloved is radiant and ruddy...His mouth is sweetness itself; he is altogether lovely. This is my beloved, this is my friend, daughters of Jerusalem.” ‭‭Song of Songs‬ ‭5‬:‭9‬-‭16

What will you fill yourself up with today? What will you drink in? Will you consume the empty calories of envy or the energy drink of eternity? What we consume spiritually can impact us physically. Solomon tells the bride to drink love. What? How? Is this confusing to you too? How does one drink love?

The bride is filled with love when her focus is on the one she loves. She said he is radiant and ruddy. His mouth is sweetness, and he is lovely. Move away from the way she may have been describing Solomon to our understanding of Jesus. Is He not radiant and ruddy? Does His love not light up the darkness, and does He not wash dirty feet? He is radiant and ruddy. Not afraid to meet us where we are and not willing to let us stay there. Are the words of His mouth not sweet yet lovely in that they are full of truth? If you want to drink love, drink in time where you dwell with Jesus and fix your mind on the One you were made to love.

“Son of man, say to Pharaoh king of Egypt...Who can be compared with you in majesty? Consider Assyria... it towered on high, its top above the thick foliage. The waters nourished it, deep springs made it grow tall; their streams flowed all around its base and sent their channels to all the trees of the field. So it towered higher than all the trees of the field...It was majestic in beauty...I made it beautiful with abundant branches, the envy of all the trees of Eden in the garden of God...it was proud of its height, I gave it into the hands of the ruler of the nations, for him to deal with according to its wickedness. I cast it aside” ‭‭Ezekiel‬ ‭31‬:‭2‬-11

One of the greatest traps that each of us will have to overcome in life is pride. Pride gets in the way of love. Pride keeps us from praising God and seeks to praise our own strengths. Consider how God called out Pharaoh for not seeing that his power, beauty, and strength all came from God. It was God who gave him the abundant water, making him beautiful, strong, and powerful. But Pharaoh became proud.

Think about how pride impacts your ability to love. You were made to love, but pride encourages you to elevate yourself above the will of the Almighty. Does pride not make you impatient, envious, and encourage offense? Pride says I am right and you are wrong. Pride keeps a record of wrongs and loves to tell everyone else that they are right. Pride gets in the way of God's purposes. It harms relationships and our own hearts. How is pride impacting you today? How is it keeping you from experiencing the fullness of God's love for you and from letting that love pass on to those around you? You cannot have both pride and peace.

“If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing. Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails. For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known. And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.” ‭‭1 Corinthians‬ ‭13‬:‭2‬-‭8‬, ‭12‬-‭13‬

You can never return to the life you once knew, but you can always return to the love of God. Love remains. Love is your forever home. The people of Judah returned to a place that had changed, but they returned to a God who had not. He had been with them the whole time and guided them back to a place of wholeness. David drew strength by seeking God and remembering how His love never fails. The bride of Solomon described a love that lifted her up, while Ezekiel warned of the danger of pride that can take you down.

Faith, hope, and love remain, but above everything on this planet or in your life is the unconditional, eternal love of God. Everything around you may change, but the love of God never will. His love is not something you earn or a place you have to find. It is a gift you receive as you remember His faithfulness. God said you are fully known and fully loved by Him. From your mother's womb until you are making your way home to heaven, you are loved.

Jesus is the greatest expression of love the world has ever known. He came near when you felt far apart. He brought healing when you were broken. The cross is the evidence that His love does not depend on your performance but is about a God who wants to give you peace. We love because He first loved us.

Jesus made a way for us to come home to the Father. Not to a place or a season of life, but to a love that never ends. Love always lifts. It lifts us out of our sin, lifts our eyes beyond our circumstances, and lifts our hearts into His presence, where perpetual rejoicing is possible.

Wherever you find yourself today, remember where you belong. You do not have to live longing for yesterday, worrying about tomorrow, or trying to prove your worth today. You are already loved. Seek His face, remember His faithfulness, drink deeply from His grace, and let His love fill every part of your life. Then go and make known His love to the nations. Share your story and shine your light. Give love away. Be patient. Be kind. Forgive freely. Encourage extravagantly and give generously in response to what you have been given. Use your gifts to multiply the love of God that is already within you.

Jesus said His disciples will be known by how they love. Loving not out of obligation, but out of abundance. Seasons will come and go. People and places will change, but the love of God will remain. Stand in that love. Live in that truth. You are fully known and fully loved by your Heavenly Father and His Holy Son. Love is your home, and you will never fail to find it through Jesus Christ.