The Christian Letter, Volume One: Chapter 19
There are many types of love: there is love of our Father by study of Him, by worshiping of Him through song and dance, and by prayers of thanks. While these are very high on the list of ways to show love, I have recently come to the realization that there is one even higher, though only in conjunction with the other ways, and that is when we love Yahoweh so much that, through His loving Spirit, we become “doers” of His Word.
Consider all the little things in life that make our daily walk so wonderful. Things like hearing your spouse say, “I love you.” in more ways than just speech, or getting a kiss by the eye from a kitten, or smelling a rose bush on the way to a Bible study. In all this, though, where does love really come from? It comes from trust, cemented in loyalty. We trust our spouse’s love for us, we trust the kitten to be playful, and we trust the flowers to smell lovely. There is, however, a greater trust, and that is in Yahoshuah. We are sometimes disappointed in our spouse’s attitude (as sometimes I am sure he or she is in ours), the playfulness of the kitten (by means of the sharpness of those claws), or the scent of the flowers (unnoticed in the presence of needed bees). Yet, we love our spouse, even if he or she is grumpy, and feed the kitten, even if he’s wild, and we don’t cuss at the bees, for they are like their flowers: beautiful, yet sharp. Still, we can always trust in that His Word will bring a love like no other into our lives.
“I call upon you therefore, I the prisoner of the Master, to walk worthily of the calling with which you were called, with all humility and meekness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, being eager to guard the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace—” (Ephesians 4:1-3).
Some who have promised love and friendship have betrayed me, and while love may be called a cure all, to those of us whom it has hurt, we have a more difficult time trusting enough for love to be real. Our hearts become resistant to any knock upon our soul’s door. I know the feeling of another heartache, another day. I’ve been in the pouring rain waiting for love before … it isn’t fun, and it isn’t romantic. If only I knew then what I know now, that Love was right there beside me the whole time. The whole time! I was dead in this world until I felt the truly awesome power known as the Love of the Messiah, and then I became alive in His Spirit. Love was not what caused pain, rather, the lack of love, real love.
So what is love? The dictionary says, “1a. An intense affectionate concern for another person. 1b. A passionate attraction for another person. 2. A beloved person. 3. A strong liking or enthusiasm for something or someone.”
The Love Yahoshuah gives, and the Love He talks about, has the dictionary screaming and running for cover in terms of a true definition. Here we go! 1. Yahoshuah is 100%, pure, undeniable, unbreakable, immortal, and finer than gold. 2. The Rabbi said, “No one has greater love than this: that one should lay down his life for his friends.” “Greater Love hath no man than to lay down his life for his brother,” and He laid down His life for us! 3. The Messiah, with so much Love in His heart, conquered death so we could be with Him and He with us, which is the true meaning of real Love. It is forever. 4. Unlike the dictionary’s description, being that of, “A strong liking,” our Saviour has a Love for us that is unconquerable, even by death. 5. His Love is not a clinging, nagging, demanding love; it’s a Love that is freely given in such a way that it is sweeter than honey. 6. His Love never fades, and quenches all thirsts. 7. His Love is so strong that even though we hurt Him … He is there with hands outstretched, even when we drive nails in them. 8. He is the Finder of directionally challenged sheep, the Searcher of missing coins, the Embracer of foolish prodigal sons, Founder of the department of lost and found, the Giver of chances, He is our best Friend, His Love is Salvation!
Love. Saviour. You’ll find the definitions of those two words to be the same: Yahoweh. May His Love call to you. Pass not this day saying tomorrow you will accept it. Tomorrow may never come, to be sure, but why live through today without True Love?
I once, too, was afraid to take the gift. The power of Love, what I needed—the same thing I feared. Alas, “There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear, because fear holds punishment, and he who fears has not been made perfect in love.” (1 John 4:18). The love from Yahoshuah came to me many times in the form of friends, strangers, kittens, preachers, family, and, yes, maybe even you, but I was hardened and not easily turned. However, in time, with His Word, Love broke the hard shell around my heart and showed me true Love can be. It can be!
Indeed, I believe. I long for His return for I know His love endures forever. It would be fitting then, that if we accept His Spirit, we would also have love that endures forever. We would cease to put up with people; instead, we would love them. Utterly loathe their sin, but love them. Do you love your parents if you hardly contact them? Do you love others by denying them the Word and food by our folly? Do you have love in your heart when you hold back your tithe from where He called you to place it? Is it possible to have love when we turn our faces from His Torah? … No, no it is not.
“The wise man in the storm prays to God, not for safety from danger, but for the deliverance from fear. It is the storm within that endangers him, not the storm without.” -Ralph Waldo Emerson
“If I speak with the tongues of men and of messengers, but do not have love, I have become as sounding brass or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophecy, and know all secrets and all knowledge, and if I have all belief, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am none at all. And if I give out all my possessions to feed the poor, and if I give my body to be burned, but do not have love, I am not profited at all. Love is patient, is kind, love does not envy, love does not boast, is not puffed up, does not behave indecently, does not seek its own, is not provoked, reckons not the evil, does not rejoice over the unrighteousness, but rejoices in the truth, it covers all, believes all, expects all, endures all. Love never fails. And whether there be prophecies, they shall be inactive; or tongues, they shall cease; or knowledge, it shall be inactive. For we know in part and we prophesy in part. But when that which is perfect has come, then that which is in part shall be inactive. When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I thought as a child, I reasoned as a child. But when I became a man, I did away with childish matters. For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know, as I also have been known. And now belief, expectation, and love remain—these three. But the greatest of these is love.” (1 Corinthians 13:1-13).
“If you love Me, you shall guard My commands.” (John 14:15).
To love Yahoweh is to keep His commandments, and to love one another. Indeed, this is of the Spirit. The worm of the flesh would only seek to devour more flesh. Yours. Men who go on their own accord seek their own gratification, but never find it, as they seldom seek to please anyone else. When they do, their ego puffs up and leaves no room for love. They cry, “Look at me.” but those with the Spirit cry out, “Not I, but ascribe glory to Yahoweh.” For their love comes from Him, by Him, for Him. This is of the Spirit.
“A renewed command I give to you, that you love one another, as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this shall all know that you are My taught ones, if you have love for one another.” (John 13:34-35). Why is this a renewed command? Because we are to love as He loved. Love now takes on, not a human definition, but the Messiah’s definition.
“But the wisdom from above is first clean, then peaceable, gentle, ready to obey, filled with compassion and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy. And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.” (James 3:17-18).
“And that on the good soil are those who, having heard the Word with a noble and good heart, retain it, and bear fruit with endurance.” (Luke 8:15). The Messiah tells us what the seed is. It is His Word; therefore, the fruit of the Spirit is the sweetness that grows from Him.
“I am the true vine, and My Father is the gardener. Every branch in Me that bears no fruit He takes away. And every branch that bears fruit He prunes, so that it bears more fruit. You are already clean because of the Word which I have spoken to you. Stay in Me, and I stay in you. As the branch is unable to bear fruit of itself, unless it stays in the vine, so neither you, unless you stay in Me. I am the vine, you are the branches. He who stays in Me, and I in him, he bears much fruit. Because without Me you are able to do naught! If anyone does not stay in Me, he is thrown away as a branch and dries up. And they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned. If you stay in Me, and My Words stay in you, you shall ask whatever you wish, and it shall be done for you. In this My Father is esteemed, that you bear much fruit, and you shall be My taught ones. As the Father has loved Me, I have also loved you. Stay in My love. If you guard My commands, you shall stay in My love, even as I have guarded My Father’s commands and stay in His love. These words I have spoken to you, so that My joy might be in you, and that your joy might be complete. This is My command, that you love one another, as I have loved you. No one has greater love than this: that one should lay down his life for his friends. You are My friends if you do whatever I command you. No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing. But I have called you friends, for all teachings which I heard from My Father I have made known to you.” (John 15:1-15).
The Messiah has said it.
Love is not materialistic. You know this as well as I do, sure, but how often do we say, “I love [insert item here].” Other times we base the concept of love on a human relationship, but it is all too often merely physical, or tradition, and not a real love. Real love is loving the soul. I love the Spirit of Yahoweh. I do not love Him because He gives me this and that. I simply love Him for Who He is. I love my wife because of her soul. She is heartwarming, tender, kind, reachable, and I could use up many pages on one-word descriptions, but you get the idea.
So let us not delude ourselves, and the fruit of the Spirit, by thinking love can be found in culture, social status, physical beauty or masculinity, security, or what another decides for you, but rather someone that has beauty of the soul. In today’s world, we are in a social misunderstanding as to what real love is. The magazines and mind washing television programming tell us that love is sex. However, if love is sex, then how can you love all the people in your life, and how can you love your car, which they also tell you to do?
Remember, whenever you are wondering about anything: seek the source. We look to the garden to see how Yahoweh wants us to live, and we can look to Adam and Eve before the fall to know how we are to love one another. Eve did not love Adam because he had a well paying job, a nice new truck, a big house with a high figure income. Adam did not love Eve because she was a hot ditz who drank beer. Adam and Eve loved each other’s soul. They took care of each other, and the foundation was the Spirit of Yahoweh.
Are we loving based on real love, or because it is a benefit to us? I do not say this so much with marriage or friendships; rather, I speak about our relationship with the Maker of our soul. Yes, our wife is a part of us, but without Yahoweh, there is no us, and without Yahoshuah, there is no hope for us. Thankfully, indeed, praise Yah: His Spirit can guide us in real love … if we let go of the world and take His Hand to walk with Him. Do not run back to the former things saying they are happiness. Don’t burn up with the world, but walk with the Fire and Cloud. Walk with the Founder of Love. Yahoshuah is the Way of true love; the world’s way only pretends to be … and you will need to pretend with it.
Dying to oneself, so a Greater One reign, is difficult at first, until trust in His strength comes. “By this shall all know that you are My taught ones, if you have love for one another.” (John 13:35). Can we bear the fruits of the Spirit, and also abandon His Name, our spouse’s needs, our children’s time, or consider our testimony worth less than a ham sandwich? We need to deeply consider what love is.
Our love’s beauty, like a flower that has yet to completely open, will never be fully grasped without His rain, and without the gift He gave of light. It is a good day, a good night, to allow Him to cause your heart to bloom into the fruit of the Spirit.
Dear One Who loved me first, Who shows us daily the worth of love. I ask You something that I cannot do. I ask You to give me the strength needed to let You do a great work in me. I pray to You, Yahoweh, that You would remove the unjust anger from me and replace it with more love than I can hold. Not the emotion, but the Spirit! I do not say this in greed. I want this because I want to glorify Your Name, and I want the love You give me to fall upon others around me. I ask this for Your Name, in Your Name, the Name of Yahoweh. Thank You for always answering our prayers for Your Holy Spirit. Please bless me with the patience needed to see the work of a Master Craftsman through. Praise You, Yahoweh, for Your love. What is love but to give? Surely, Yahoweh loves! HalleluYah!
Allow Him to recreate you in such a way that the next time you are about to attempt to defeat anger, or to love, you simply stop and say, “Yahoweh! Work in me, not as I would have You work, but as You, He Who is above all, would work.” And allow the Father to father you in the Spirit of disciplining Love.
“Love is patient, is kind, love does not envy, love does not boast, is not puffed up, does not behave indecently, does not seek its own, is not provoked, reckons not the evil, does not rejoice over the unrighteousness, but rejoices in the truth, it covers all, believes all, expects all, endures all. Love never fails. And whether there be prophecies, they shall be inactive; or tongues, they shall cease; or knowledge, it shall be inactive.” (1 Corinthians 13:4-8). Make this verse your desire, and thus allow Yahoweh to cause this to define your life … by His Spirit!
Be Blessed and be a Blessing
Shalom
-Valentine Thalken Billingsley
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Additional Scripture References:
1 John 4:16-19, Ephesians 4:29-32, Hebrews 11
