Focus on the Love

1. The evidence of our love for Him is the absolute spontaneity of our love, which flows naturally from His nature within us. 

 

2. How things appear is less a function of reality and more about our focus.. 

 

I realize that the last two sentences don’t seem to have much connection. My pattern in doing Nick’s Walk is to read the OC devotional the night before, summarize it in my mind and sleep on it. During the night, God usually gives me what He wants me to say. Sentence 1 is a summary of OC’s devotional. Sentence 2 is the clear thought I woke up with. 

I think there is a connection. With God within us, how could there be anything but a spontaneous flow of love from us? How can we have a bad day? How can we become stuck in a rut? Do you remember being “in love?” Oh I know I have been “in love” with my wife for 40 years. But I’m talking about those days when love is new, when you wake up and go to sleep with the object of your affection as the only thing on your mind. What glorious days. And the wonder of those days is more affected by focus than reality. In the early days of love, we are focused on the wonder of this new gift from God. With familiarity we gradually lose some of the wonder and the joy. Of course, this should not happen. As the years go by we have more reasons, not fewer, to love the person God has gifted us with. We often even have more people to love as a couple becomes a family and the family grows.But we lose our focus, we focus on problems and difficulties and they grow in our minds out of all proportion with reality. We lose focus on those we love, and the great gift that they are and the wonder and spontaneity slip away.

With God if our love fades, it’s also because of our focus. The more we learn of God; the more we learn He is perfect. The more there is to love. If our love of God fades, it’s because we have failed to move forward with Him to learn more about Him. We turn our eyes from Him to us and to the world.

If we will awake each morning and focus first on God, we will flow into thanksgiving, then praise, then worship. If we begin by counting the blessings around us, most of them imperfect human gifts through whom our God touches and loves us, our focus will be right. Of course there are problems out there. They can’t be ignored. But they need to be in proper focus. If there is unpleasantness in our day, deal with it first. If we put off dealing with it, it takes over more of our day than it deserves. Never put off the unpleasant, get it done and it leaves your focus which can then return to loving God and thanksgiving for all the good He has given.

 

If I am His child, He lives within and His love flows out as naturally from this, my new nature, as bitterness and sorrow flowed from my old.

Focus on this truth and

Be blessed.

Nick.