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Knowing God is your life’s greatest relational need.
Trusting God is your life’s greatest emotional need.
By believing God to be pure love & pure
goodness,
deep attachment trust takes place.
This belief enables you,
by the Spirit, to begin to love God fully.
Directions: The text below is inspired by 1 Corinthians 13, designed
for micro-contemplation/ contemplation, and framed as a personal letter from God to you.
It provides insight into who God truly is and what God’s love really is.
Through faith and through the Spirit, hear God speaking directly to you. If,
as you read, an aspect of God’s character strikes you, do not press on. Stop!
It is an oasis for your spirit. Be still and listen. God is present. God is speaking.
Prayer:
O Abba, by this letter to me
and by your Spirit who dwells in me, teach me who you truly are. In truly knowing
you, I will be compelled, by the Spirit, to love you with my whole heart, mind, soul,
and strength. Then, no matter what might befall me today or tomorrow,
I will willingly trust you and follow your ways.
Dear ______ [your name], [Fill in all blanks with your name.]
If I, your
God, were to speak all languages of the world (and I do), but have not love, I am not a God you want to love. And I certainly am not a God to whom you want to listen. I
would simply be a noisy gong, a clanging cymbal, which you need to put far from your hearing.
If I, your God, have
the gift of proclaiming divine truths and can fathom all mysteries and have all knowledge (and I do), but have not love for
you, _______, I am not a God worth knowing. Run from me, for I am unlovable. Reject my teachings, for I am a deadly trap.
If I, your
God, have all power and can move mountains with a wink and can even raise the dead and change the events of time (and I do
have this power), but have not love, tenderness and kindness in my heart for you, _______, then I am worse than no God at
all. I am terrifying and destructive of your innermost being. You must flee from me, oppose me, and never serve me.
And even
if I, your God, should become fully human like you and surrender my body to death on the cross, but am not motivated by love
for you, _____is a worthless act, and you gain nothing.
But, I, your God, am love, pure love. I
do love. I always love for it is my nature to love, to be merciful, and to do
all in my power to bring you, ______, home to me.
As love
is patient, I, your God, am patient. My nature is to be kind; I am pure kindness. I am humble and not boastful. I respect
your dignity; I confirm your freedom even when you use it to hurt my heart. I
am never abrasive, nor sarcastic. I can never be so. Such thoughts and words are against my very nature. Just thinking
of the hurt they would cause you, _______, would sadden me.
I am never rude. I have never been rude to you, my son/daughter,
not
ever, not even once. And I will never be rude to you, _______, never, not even
once. I, your God, am always considerate of all your needs.
Even when
you hurt me by your sins, I am slow to act upon the hurt I receive. I ponder
the pain you cause me, see your own pain and your brokenness, and have great pity for you, ______. I never act off the first impulse of my anger. I keep no record
of wrongs. I do not delight in any evil you do or any evil that befalls you.
I rejoice with the truth. I rejoice when you
know the truth of WHO I AM. That truth will break the chains that tie your heart
down. It will free your spirit to fly joyfully to me on eagle’s wings. The Spirit is the eagle of joy. Soar
to me, ______. I am the Truth.
I always protect you. I always trust. I always hope that you will come to me with all your heart, and pursue the good always. I always persevere in doing good for you, ______.
There is no end to my love.
I AM PERFECT LOVE. That
is WHO I AM.
Once you truly believe that I AM WHO I AM–no matter what you feel–you will love and trust me, even when
faithfulness requires enduring effort. Then, my Son, the Spirit, you, and I will
strive together to bring all relationships into the kind, warm, and tender embrace of my humble, gentle and loving heart.
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