LOVE came down...

Light, exceeding brightness, streams from the glorious exalted throne. Golden arches reflect the shimmering ripples of the crystal river flowing peacefully between the trunks of the tree of life. The golden glistening grass upon the surrounding hills waves slightly in the gentle breeze forming cascades of gold and green down the slopes. Sweet music floats softly through the air causing the vaults of heaven to ring with glorious strains. And suddenly, thousands and thousands of voices lifted triumphantly in praise and worship join in, joyfully proclaiming blessing and honor and glory and power to Him that sits upon the throne. There your honored commander, the one whom it is your greatest delight to serve, the one who is the reason for your joy and rejoicing sits with His father. You love to wait before Him and hearken to His bidding. Service in His courts is bliss and altogether beautiful and fulfilling. You can’t imagine life without Him. 

And yet one day He calls all heaven together for a special meeting. As the angels of light join you in rapt attention the Prince of Paradise explains that because one little planet that He created has rebelled against Him, He must leave the glory of heaven, the adoration of the angels, the love of His Father, and the peace of the surrounding courts, that He might save fallen man. Startled you look up with questioning eyes. How could your LORD leave this beauty and humble himself to live on a degraded planet. At least the people there should be impressed by His greatness and majesty. But your Master continues to explain that He will not go to earth as He is or they could not endure His brightness. So instead, He will humble himself and become one of them. One of the sinful mortals. He will be born as a baby, and when He is grown will be killed at the hands of those whom He created. You try to grapple with all that has been said. Why would He leave? Why would he subject Himself to such a humiliation? 

Finally you feel a gentle hand upon your shoulder. Looking up you see the face of infinite LOVE. His words bring understanding to your troubled mind. 

“I know you don’t want me to leave. But don’t you agree that we must save the lost? I love them with an unconditional love, I created them, and cannot stand that any should perish, but that all should have life. I am LOVE, and LOVE will sacrifice life itself to save those whom it loves…even though they be undeserving.”

Your Prince turns away and as you watch Him climb the steps back up the throne you are filled with awe. You have seen a new side of GOD, of LOVE. 

When He reaches His Father you see them embrace, the last embrace for 34 years. And then He is gone. Heaven is strangely silent. Everyone’s focus is on a simple country girl, betrothed to a humble carpenter. She is pregnant…with LOVE himself. For 9 long months your Sovereign is carried in a small, fragile human. No one on earth knows that the greatest gift that could be given to the world is about to be born. No one is waiting to welcome their Creator. 

Finally the long awaited day arrives! The Prince of Paradise is born. The long months without Him have ended. Finally you can praise Him and adore Him once again. Your heart longs to shake the world up, to tell them the glad tidings. You look expectantly toward the throne. The Father is watching, eyes fixed upon His only begotten son. Suddenly He looks up and gives the excited command. “Go, go and tell them!” 

Smiles break out and wings take flight. You are soon hovering over the planes of Bethlehem waiting for the signal to break forth your light and song. Soon it is given and you watch the faces of the astonished shepherds as you bring to the world the glad tidings that LOVE is born. 

He has come.

 “Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace, goodwill toward men.” 

Friend…This Christmas are you as in love with your Savior as the angels who stand around the throne? Are you as willing as they to spread the news that He is not only born, but is coming again? If not, I encourage you to spend this day in mediation of the sacrifice that LOVE made for you. For when you come to grasp a little of the sacrifice and love of heaven in our behalf our songs of gratefulness and praise cannot be quenched. Heaven has touched earth. 

Sing oh heavens and rejoice oh earth for…LOVE came down…for you. 

A Life Worth Living

What are you living for? What makes you get up in the morning? What gets you the most excited? Of what do you love to converse? Where do you find your thoughts drifting during the day? Who/what holds your deepest affections? 

Be honest. 

Most of us, myself included, would come up with answers that were to the general eye moral and upright. We might even pride ourselves with the fact that some of the answers are high and lofty…ministry, family, service, etc. 

But as I have come to a deeper understanding of a Love that is unconditional and unfathomable, a Love that simply asks for everything I have and gives everything He has in return; my pride in my “great” answers has crumbled into a thousand pieces, and a deep seating longing has remained. A longing for my Savior to be the answer to every question.  

For if Christ and Him crucified isn’t the answer to every question…I have a problem. 

If I am living for anything but Him, life isn’t truly fulfilling. If I don’t wake up and long for His face, I’m missing the greatest gift. If I get the most excited about anything other than Him, I don’t truly know the depths to which joy can plunge. If He doesn’t hold my deepest affections, I don’t understand LOVE in it’s beauty and loveliness. 

But if CHRIST is the answer…then I have joy unspeakable, love unfathomable, and peace that passes understanding. 

This is what drives the deep seated longing in my heart that simply grows greater with each passing day. For the more I taste of His loveliness, the more glimpses I catch of His face, and the more I come to hear His beautiful voice, the more I want to know Him. He has become my overwhelming desire. He has ravished my heart and though I don’t understand why He would want a poor little wretch like me, I love Him that much more. 

I don’t want to leave the impression that I’m perfect and I always love Him more than others, or that honestly the answer to all questions would be CHRST. Sometimes I’m scared to talk of Him, and afraid of what might be if I follow Him all th e way. Sometimes I allow things or people to take the highest seat of my affections. But the more I taste of LOVE the fear and shame begin to melt away. And I can truly say that:

I would far rather die young and live for Christ than to die old and live without Him.

Why? 

Because simply...my heavenly Prince has captured my heart. He makes life worth living.

If LOVE hasn’t captured your heart, take away the distractions, lay your heart bare before your Maker and plead with Him to reveal Himself to you. 

He will make Himself known to you. 

For He cannot lie. 

He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him. John 14:21

I love those who love me, and those who seek me diligently find me. Proverbs 8:17