Deep Secrets and Satisfying Love
Recently, I have had the opportunity to speak to a few couples who have been together for 40, 50, or more years and a couple that has seen more than 60 years of marriage. I even think of Grandma C, our adopted grandma, my spiritual mom, and mentor, she and Herman were together for more than 54 years. All of the couples are celebrated for their abiding love, faithfulness, and grace that is to be admired.
It isn’t that all of these, or any, for that matter, had a life of ease and no sorrow—not hardly. But their love not only endured life’s challenges but grew deeper. They knew each other intimately in every sense of the word and found they could trust each other and thrive together regardless of their circumstances.
Looking at these relationships, I found a common thread: they are wholly committed to one another. Eventually, they tended to resemble one another; they reflected their love for one another, not just for each other but for everyone around them. They could finish each other’s sentences. They could communicate with one another without speaking but with their eyes.
A love like this is celebrated and highly honored, but it doesn’t come lightly. They spent time with one another. They enjoyed learning everything they could about each other, what they liked and loved, and what was important to them. They listened and spoke to one another. They shared their joys and burdens, and their hearts turned entirely toward one another. Their eyes didn’t roam looking at others or other things to bring them happiness. Because they had one another, they were content and complete in their desires, whether they had nothing at all or a great deal, whether in sorrow or joy, even in the ordinary and extraordinary times of life.
They don’t stop living life; they live it together.
God is interested in the same level of love, commitment, and intimacy.
He is interested in our searching His Word to get to know Him, not just unquestioningly accepting Him. He wants us to study His Words so we will find the deep secrets He has for us. He wants us to know him so well that we begin to resemble Him; we become a reflection of His love for each of us. He wants us to be so familiar with Him that we can trust Him. In spending much time with Him, reading His word, and studying the Bible with others, we learn who He is, what He loves, and what is important to Him.
God wants a committed and deep relationship, not a cursory relationship ticking the box for salvation, but being a part of who we are, what we do, how we love, and have our being.
When first introduced to God, we get to know Him and His love for us individually and people all over the earth. He shows us His love by sending His only Son to pay the ransom for many, for all of us, so that we could live with Him for an eternity in heaven. But that was just our introduction, His move toward us. But He didn’t stop there. Jesus said the Father would send the Holy Spirit to those who follow Him to remind us of Jesus’ words, empower, instruct, and share the mysteries of God, our heavenly Father. The Holy Spirit wants us to get to know Him and engage with Him, spend time with Him, and trust Him with our hearts, mind, soul, and spirit. God desired that we invite Him into all the corners of our hearts, not just parts of our hearts but the whole heart. He wants us to be wholehearted in living and our relationship with Him.
“But you’ve seen and heard it because God by his Spirit has brought it all out into the open before you.”
The Spirit, not content to flit around on the surface, dives into the depths of God, and brings out what God planned all along. Whoever knows what you’re thinking and planning except you yourself? The same with God—except that he not only knows what he’s thinking, but he lets us in on it. God offers a full report on the gifts of life and salvation that he is giving us. We don’t have to rely on the world’s guesses and opinions. We didn’t learn this by reading books or going to school; we learned it from God, who taught us person-to-person through Jesus, and we’re passing it on to you in the same firsthand, personal way.
The unspiritual self, just as it is by nature, can’t receive the gifts of God’s Spirit. There’s no capacity for them. They seem like so much silliness. Spirit can be known only by spirit—God’s Spirit and our spirits in open communion. Spiritually alive, we have access to everything God’s Spirit is doing, and can’t be judged by unspiritual critics.
“Isaiah’s question, “Is there anyone around who knows God’s Spirit, anyone who knows what he is doing?” has been answered: Christ knows, and we have Christ’s Spirit.”
The more we know Him, the more we want to know Him. He is ever present, revealing more about Himself and His love through the ages. We tend to integrate God into every aspect of our lives so we can follow the purpose and plan that He created for us individually. Some years ago, someone asked, “How would one know they are filled with The Holy Spirit?” My answer is simple: The Holy Spirit gives you the power to follow Jesus and have an intimate relationship with Him. It is knowing deep inside your being that God, the Father, Jesus His Son, and The Holy Spirit, The Triune God, loves you, you are His, and nothing can separate you from His love.
I have found that this relationship trumps all else! It is more satisfying and exciting than I could have ever imagined.