Skip to main content

How wide...

             so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. (Ephesians 3:17-19)

 

            In the past, I’ve written about love languages. I don’t recall whether I’ve written about personality types. Some people are irritated by any attempt to “classify” and “label” people. Some of those same people probably share posts about not helping people who are down, but simply “being there” for them. That’s one of the love languages. I happen to appreciate these categorizations because they help me to understand that just because I’m not just like everyone else doesn’t mean there’s something wrong with me – no matter how hard I or others may argue that there is.

            There’s another group of categories: God languages or soul types. These address how it is we approach our relationship with God, and how we understand what God communicates with us. I’m not entirely comfortable with most of what I’ve read, but it makes sense to me that in creating all the diversity of things and beings in the universe, He might also create people who perceive Him in different ways. I’m not suggesting that all perceptions of God are equal and valid, and that someone who “experiences God” as being part of everything, or one of many is correct. I’m maintaining strict Christian doctrine (I think) but I’m just talking about how we perceive.

            The passage above at least hints at this idea. There are expressions of God’s love for us that are universal – life, for example. There are some that are more restricted but still comparatively general– salvation, for example.  But God also shows in Scripture that He meets people at their needs. His conversations with various people may have similar messages, but they’re not communicated in the same way. This is the reason I have a problem with the “all you need to do” answers I sometimes hear.

            At the same time, I’m not suggesting that God can’t and doesn’t require that we step out of our comfort zone or recognize His love in new and different ways. If we (try to) control how God must communicate His love for us, we become His gods. But being aware of our own ways of approaching or perceiving God, and being aware that other people may not be the same, is helpful. Being aware of our expectations of God and His tendency to meet our needs in a way that doesn’t quite fit our expectations is helpful. We can’t grasp the extent of His love if we can’t grasp anything about the form of that love.

            I suspect that one of my expectations is the desire that He would make everything all better and grant me instant success in everything. I want God to be my knight in shining armor. But one of the strongest confirmations of His love for me seems to be in His guidance of me over the years. I may not recognize it at the time, but looking back, it’s there. I think the direction I’m talking is all sorts of crazy – and others agree, but at the same time, I sense God in the works. I do no know how it can fit into what God is doing, but I’ve repeatedly felt sure it does. And that’s when I sense His love.

 

 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The List

              Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,   through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance;   perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us. (Romans 5:1-5)           Think about it. We have been justified. At least, we could be justified if we stopped insisting that our justification be based on our merits. We have peace with God, or could have peace if we stopped throwing temper tantrums. We have gained access into grace i...
Post a Comment
Read more

Listen!

  While he was still speaking, a bright cloud enveloped them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. Listen to him!” (Matthew 17:5)            Do you like roller coasters? I don't. You spend forever climbing a hill. You get to the top and have half a second, then you race down to a low point. Sometimes the racing down involves tying your insides into knots. At the bottom, you either have to be dragged up another hill or you get off the ride. Peter's life was a roller coaster from the time he met Jesus. There would be miracles, and then Jesus would teach things that didn't always make sense, and then they'd go out and perform miracles, and return to be taught. Peter was praised for giving the right answer to "Who do you say that I am?" Jesus said that said answer came from God. Peter was at the top of the hill.            ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Prayer Lists

                 Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, now that you have tasted that the Lord is good. (I Peter 2:2-3)   In connection with what I wrote yesterday about the possibility that I’m wrong, I’m feeling the need to go back to basics - craving spiritual milk because somehow, I missed something. It’s a little embarrassing, craving milk like a newborn, but the truth probably is that we are newborns many times in many ways in our lives. From God’s perspective, we may never be anything more than newborns, forever needing that milk. On the other hand, being a newborn can also be exciting because so much is new. My mind is playing pinball - ricocheting from one idea to the next and through six more before it happens to hit the third again. The main topic is prayer. I have at least seven organizing structures all somewhat influenced by the movie War Room , which I’v...
Post a Comment
Read more