God’s All-Consuming Love For You Right Now
Your heart is being pursued right now.
Your affection, your attention, and your focus are what God craves.
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“You are mine. And I am yours. I hold nothing back from you. I have given you the kingdom. You are my heir. You are my child. You are the one I chose to give everything to. All my love, all my attention, all my dreams. When love is poured into you, as I pour my love into you, what do you do with it? This is what I want to tell you: my love is something for you to get to know. There are many dimensions to it. It is greater than you can imagine. But don’t you want to imagine it? Don’t you want to know it more?”
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He is running toward you, heart wide open, desiring connection. He is so head-over-heels in love with you that when he thinks of you, He breaks into laughter and dances (Zephaniah 3:17).
Today, let us breathe deeply God’s breath. Let our eyes gaze into His, and may our hearts melt with His smile.
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For this week’s Encounter, I felt God pointing me to a message we shared in a Rush podcast episode called “Coming Home: How to Receive God’s All-Consuming Love.” I love this message and invitation to encounter so very much.
First, find a quiet and comfortable place to sit or lie down. Remove everything from your hands. Roll your head gently, and then roll your shoulders. Rotate your wrists one way and then another. Then, stretch your ankles and legs. Flex your ankles and toes.
Then, take a few deep breaths, in and out. Perhaps inhale deeply for a count of four, hold each breath for a count of four, and then exhale slowly and completely for a count of four.
Consecrate your mind and heart to Him now, inviting Him to lead you deeper into His presence as you surrender and trust His guiding you.
Lord, I consecrate my mind, giving You my ideas and thoughts. Fill my heart with your love. Let me breathe you in and be covered, inside and out, with your presence.
Next, surrender to Him every concern and worry. Also, this might be a beautiful time to confess–tell Him everything weighing you down. Be specific, honest, and open. Let Him in….
Father, Jesus, Holy Spirit, I give you…..and I confess…
Now, let your heart meditate upon verses 17 and 18 of Psalm 139:
“Every single moment you are thinking of me!
How precious and wonderful to consider
that you cherish me constantly in your every thought!
O God, your desires toward me are more
than the grains of sand on every shore!
When I awake each morning, you’re still with me” (Psalm 139: 17-18).
Read the verses a few times, allowing your mind and heart to absorb the words. Contemplate them. Perhaps speak them aloud. Also, let your body respond physically, with movement, to communicate what your heart is feeling as you take these verses in.
Take out your journal now, and spend a few moments to process what you think and feel after engaging with God and these verses of Psalm 139.
Next, consider slowly reading the message I heard for us in prayer regarding God’s affection for you and His all-consuming love;
You are mine. And I am yours. I hold nothing back from you. I have given you the kingdom. You are my heir. You are my child. You are the one I chose to give everything to. All my love, all my attention, all my dreams. When love is poured into you, as I pour my love into you, what do you do with it? This is what I want to tell you: my love is something for you to get to know. There are many dimensions to it. It is greater than you can imagine. But don’t you want to imagine it? Don’t you want to know it more?
You have been introduced to it. You have seen glimpses of it. My Son’s ultimate sacrifice for you—his death that you may live with Me and experience my love—is not just an idea to be worshipped. For I am love. I am love. I want you to get to know Me. I want you to get to know Him. You cannot know Me without experiencing my love for you. So I want to pour more and more of my love into you. I want a relationship with you. I want connection with you. I want your heart to know mine and for nothing to get in the way of this, of us.
My love is a waterfall that does not stop. It is never depleted. It never runs dry. It is the most powerful thing I can ever give you. More powerful than hope, more powerful than peace, more powerful than patience and kindness, gentleness and self-control. These fruits of the Spirit are fruit of my love. You can’t experience fruit without knowing the tree, the source, from which it came. My love is the beginning of all things—everything good. And I want you to know this love. I want you to know Me.
I am jealous for you, you see. I want my love to consume you. I don’t want anything else to get in the way. Not fear, not doubt. How can you second-guess love? How can you second-guess Me? There is nothing else you need more than Me. My love heals all your wounds. My love brings hope to the broken-hearted. My love hates fear and destroys it.
When Love is here, there is no room for anything else. There is no room for fear, there is no room for hate, there is no room for unkindness, there is no room for evil, there is no room for selfishness or contempt or greed or vanity or sloth or deceit. For with my love you run to Me, and into My heart. With my love flowing through you, overwhelming you, inhabiting you, you are not who you were before. You are claiming your true identity—the one I have always known and loved and seen. You are not the you you have known before—you are a new version of you because the false you, the old man, has been taken off and the new self is born. In my love you begin again.You are taking your place as the heir of God.
Ask Me for what you need. Share with me your heart’s desires. Tell Me all your hopes, all your thoughts, all your worries, all your dreams. I want you to go deeper into my love. Run, run, run, run, run, deeper into my love for you. It is so good. It is all you want. It is all you need. It is here, waiting for you. I am here, waiting for you. I love you. I adore you. Come Home. Come home to love. Come home to Me.
In your journal, share your heart’s response to Holy Spirit’s words. Here is a question to consider:
How do you feel about when Holy Spirit says that when we allow Him to love us, it’s like coming Home—coming back home to the loving God we left—either for a short while . . . or a long time?
Lord, I feel…
Jesus uses the same idea of coming home when he tells the Parable of the Prodigal Son, captured in Luke 15: 11-31. Read the parable that Jesus shares, pausing as you read to check in with your heart and see what Jesus is speaking to you personally as you contemplate these verses.
11 Then Jesus said, “Once there was a father with two sons. 12 The younger son came to his father and said, ‘Father, don’t you think it’s time to give me my share of your estate?’ So the father went ahead and distributed between the two sons their inheritance. 13 Shortly afterward, the younger son packed up all his belongings and traveled off to see the world. He journeyed to a far-off land where he soon wasted all he was given in a binge of extravagant and reckless living.
14 “With everything spent and nothing left, he grew hungry, because there was a severe famine in that land. 15 So he begged a farmer in that country to hire him. The farmer hired him and sent him out to feed the pigs. 16 The son was so famished, he was willing even to eat the slop given to the pigs, because no one would feed him a thing.
17 “Humiliated, the son finally realized what he was doing, and he thought, ‘There are many workers at my father’s house who have all the food they want with plenty to spare. They lack nothing. Why am I here dying of hunger, feeding these pigs and eating their slop? 18I want to go back home to my father’s house, and I’ll say to him, “Father, I was wrong. I have sinned against you. 19 I’ll never again be worthy to be called your son. Please, Father, just treat me like one of your employees.” ’
20 “So the young son set off for home. From a long distance away, his father saw him coming, dressed as a beggar, and great compassion swelled up in his heart for his son who was returning home. The father raced out to meet him, swept him up in his arms, hugged him dearly, and kissed him over and over with tender love.
21 “Then the son said, ‘Father, I was wrong. I have sinned against you. I could never deserve to be called your son. Just let me be—’
“The father interrupted and said, ‘Son, you’re home now!’
22 “Turning to his servants, the father said, ‘Quick, bring me the best robe, my very own robe, and I will place it on his shoulders. Bring the ring, the seal of sonship, and I will put it on his finger. And bring out the best shoes you can find for my son. 23 Let’s prepare a great feast and celebrate. 24 For my beloved son was once dead, but now he’s alive! Once he was lost, but now he is found!’ And everyone celebrated with overflowing joy.
25 “Now, the older son was out working in the field when his brother returned, and as he approached the house, he heard the music of celebration and dancing. 26He called over one of the servants and asked, ‘What’s going on?’
27 “The servant replied, ‘It’s your younger brother. He’s returned home and your father is throwing a party to celebrate his homecoming.’
28 “The older son became angry and refused to go in and celebrate. So his father came out and pleaded with him, ‘Come and enjoy the feast with us!’
29 “The son said, ‘Father, listen! How many years have I worked like a slave for you, performing every duty you’ve asked as a faithful son? And I’ve never once disobeyed you. But you’ve never thrown a party for me because of my faithfulness. Never once have you even given me a goat that I could feast on and celebrate with my friends as this son of yours is doing now. 30 Look at him! He comes back after wasting your wealth on prostitutes and reckless living, and here you are throwing a great feast to celebrate—for him!’
31“ The father said, ‘My son, you are always with me by my side. Everything I have is yours to enjoy. 32 It’s only right to rejoice and celebrate like this, because your brother was once dead and gone, but now he is alive and back with us again. He was lost, but now he is found!’ ”
After spending some time contemplating this parable, return to your journal and continue your conversation with God, perhaps considering the following questions:
Do you connect more with the younger son, who avoids God’s love? Are you out on your own journey, searching? Or do you connect more with the older son, who often feels superior and judgmental?
Remember the words we just heard from Holy Spirit: “For I am love. I am love. I want you to get to know Me . . . I want to pour more and more of my love into you. I want relationship with you. I want connection with you. I want your heart to know mine and for nothing to get in the way of this, of us.”
As you consider these words to you, get back into a comfortable position and close your eyes. Ask God to show you who you are most like in this season, in The Parable of the Prodigal Son. Ask Him to show you what’s getting in the way of being able to receive His love.
Father, I feel you showing me….
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Continue your conversation with God, maybe writing it out in your journal.
Amen.
