The post yesterday tried to shine a spot-light on the nature of God as an affectionate Lover of His people and the difference between this reality and the notion that God loves us only because He loves us unconditionally, as though we weren’t lovable to Him. Of course, our standing before Him is both transactional and covenantal (Romans 3: 1-24) but His love is not without emotional affection.
Have you ever been reading the Bible and stopped to highlight or mark every occasion where God Himself demonstrates extreme emotion, especially towards His people? I encourage you to do that and see what He shows you from the Scriptures.
Coming to know that God has wild, extreme, unreasonable, unfair, disproportionate, violent affections for you will radically alter how you approach Him in a life-time of prayer:
- His affections assure us that His love for us holds sway, even when ours might not (2 Tim. 2:13)
- His affections assure us that He initiated relationship with us, not the hope that we might perform well or even love Him reciprocally (1 John 4:19)
- His affections assure us that He is returning for us (2 Jn. 2:28 cf. Jn.14)
- His affections transform our appetites and affections (Jer. 31: 3; Hosea)
- His affections for us bring us safety (Psalm 27: 1-5)
- His affections for us motivate us to seek His presence (Psalm 139: 7 cf. Psalm 139: 1-6)
Moses had seen all of the sign and wonder he could have seen and yet he came to the place in Exodus 33:14-15 where he boldly said to God, “If your Presence does not go with us, do not send us up from here.” He was on the verge of freedom with his people, the summit of his prophetic leadership and yet he couldn’t go on without the presence of God.
Do I feel like this about God’s presence? Do I require God’s presence for all of my life? How am I pursuing His presence?
The next worship project from Firebrand Notes will be to encourage us all to pursue His affectionate presence in a new way – to require His presence in life in a new way – to experience His presence and His affections in a new way.
Lord Jesus, we love You…we will pursue You. Be glorified, we pray. Amen.
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