The Special of the Day… From the Orange Moon Cafe…
"The Heart of the Matter"
(and the Matter of the Heart)
That God created two races of beings - angelic and human - with the capacity to relate to Him or reject Him speaks to the primacy and preeminence of relationship in conscious beings.
"Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself" (Matthew 22:37-39).
We exist to know God and people in a devotion that involves every aspect of our consciousness. Created in our Lord's image, this is exactly what we would expect our privileged responsibility to involve. He exists as the very essence of relationship, one God dwelling as three Persons in a unity of perfect being and fellowship with one another.
"There is one God" (I Timothy 2:5).
"Grace be with you, mercy, and peace, from God the Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of the Father, in truth and love" (II John 1:3).
"Unto the Son He saith, Thy throne, o God, is forever and ever" (Hebrews 1:8).
"But Peter said, Ananias, why hath Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Spirit?... Thou hast not lied unto men, but unto God" (Acts 2:4-5).
We waste no time seeking to fully understand the wonder of God's being united in individual and triune glory. We spend much time pondering what the mystery means in terms of our relationship with Him and with people. Our human faculties of spirit, soul, and body exist for the progressive discovery of what it means to be loved by God, to love Him in response, and to love others as the fruit of our communion with Him (I Thessalonians 5:23). Indeed, our lives involve many aspects of responsibility, privilege, and experience. Nothing, however, begins to compare to relationship with God and people. "I am nothing" declared Paul of what would occur if he wandered into the chilling neglect of forgetting the reason for his existence, namely, to love God and others (I Corinthians 13:1-3).
This day exists for such grace as we realize how personally and powerfully the Holy Spirit works in our hearts to lead us unto fellowship with God and others. It matters not how far we've come in this most important of all privileges and responsibilities. The journey has just begun. We can know the love of God better, as Paul prayed for the Ephesians (Ephesians 3:14-21). We can love Him in response more faithfully and devotedly (Philippians 1:9). We can love people far more wisely and consistently (I Thessalonians 3:12). We can, and we must. This is not a day to waste in this primary reason for our existence. Whatever our doings may involve, relationship can and must be central in all, first with God, and then with people. Relationship. Fellowship. Love - the heart of the matter, and the matter of the heart. And, the grace that leads us to glorify our Lord, bless others, and know the peace and joy of the love of Christ.
"Be ye followers of God as dear children, and walk in love."
(Ephesians 5:1-2)
Weekly Memory Verse
Grace be with you, mercy, and peace, from God the Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of the Father, in truth and love."
(II John 1:3)
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