SCRIPTURE: “Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.” (1 John 4:7-8)
OBSERVATION: John’s message was grounded in the person of Jesus Christ, whose love changed the world. However, John wasn’t always known for love. In fact, he was known as a Tough Guy, a Fighter… a Scrapper! I sum this up with one word, “Capable!”
The Bible even gives of an account when he was wanting to call down fire from heaven to consume people who rejected him and his message… I kid you not! These boys earned their nickname as the “Sons of Thunder“. “Oh shhh… here they come! Who? The freakin’, Son’s of Thunder, that’s who! Oh snap. What do they want now?!”… I can only imagine the stories that earned this title for John and his brother James. I’m going to ask them for more stories when I see them in heaven!
APPLICATION: I have had many nicknames over the years. But they usually all sifted down to, “Robison”. Yeah, my name pretty much summed up my “Sons of Thunder” days. My best friend and I kid around about this all the time. We believe God hasn’t let us live in the same state all these years because of the trouble we would find ourselves into. Hehe… But God loves me best. I’m in Seattle. He’s in Kansas! 😉
Hearts start out so open in our youth and then over the grind of the passing years, for various reasons, most of us close our hearts from the inside. It’s sad really. Keeping your heart open to God and others takes courage. But it is worth it!
I’ve been on my own journey over the past 5 years. It’s taken longer than I thought, but the work that I set out to do years ago is now paying off. I still have much work to do, but the core areas of my heart have been revived from a cold flat-line… The chambers that remain to be healed are those I’m not even self-aware of… and I’m pretty much off the charts with self leadership/assessment.
There is a struggle between man’s heart and heaven’s heart within every believer. Love is at the core of this tension. Jesus is love. So when all emotions are sifted, what remains is Love… or no love. Jesus or no Jesus.
Sometimes, it seems like life without emotions, vulnerability, authenticity would be so much easier. But it’s not the life heaven created us for. Being calloused, calculated and closed off is not what it means to be alive… human. Love… Jesus… brings life to our hearts in unstoppable ways. It’s difficult to explain really. But once The King of Kings steps in the room of your heart, everything changes.
I’m a movie and music nerd who loves mythic leadership. So, I’ve been thinking about the narrative of Blade Runner. Replicants somehow make the shift to be more human than their creators in the way they love and sacrifice for one another. It’s a good reminder for me to make sure that I know who I am and what I’m willing to live and die for. Love is at the core of our identity this side of heaven and throughout eternity. Love is what makes us, HUMAN.
Check out Lauren Daigle’s account of the meaning behind her song featured in the Blade Runner 2049 movie. We are all on a journey to discover God’s best for our lives and how we may play our part in God’s divine plan. I believe at the core of every human is a God shaped void, that can only be filled by Jesus. Once we open our hearts from the inside out to the King of Kings… Our Heavenly Father releases all of heaven’s resources by the Holy Spirit to experience what it truly means to be Human…
Don’t underestimate the power of this Love…
PRAYER: Make it count Jesus. I trust You.
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