His Loving Children

January 25

Love never dies a natural death. It dies because we don't know how to replenish its source. It dies of blindness and errors and betrayals. It dies of illness and wounds; it dies of weariness, of withering, of tarnishing. Anads Nin

Another reality regarding the death of love is that God's mortal enemy is forever endeavoring to slay it. Why is the evil one so opposed to love? Why does he strive so diligently to undermine it and to frustrate those who attempt to give it, who try to allow it to be the core of their lives? Perhaps it is because he, too, has read the scripture and knows that "…God is love," I John 4:8, and that apart from love we cannot know God.

Should we be surprised when the one the Word refers to as 'the father of lies' (John 8:44) endeavors to destroy the ONE THING that completely evidences our HEAVENLY FATHER, the ONE THING THAT IS ABSOLUTE TRUTH ABOUT HIM? Is it a surprise when false religious systems and those who are deceived by them manifest the power of the evil one most effectively through the deceit of hatred and death?

Although the enemy is evident in the ones who, like him, come to “steal, kill and destroy,” John 10:10, the reality is that our God is not fully evidenced in our altruism, although we may give Him credit for it. Our Lord is not fully reflected in our kindness, for the world has a counterfeit of that commodity. Jesus is not always recognizable in our goodness and mercy, for even those who live their lives apart from Him can feign these attributes, so the enemy of our soul does not mind that we manifest a modicum of Christ’s goodness and kindness to those around us.

The only thing that thwarts his schemes to undo lives and relegate the souls of men to hell eternally is when we love--not our own love which is a mere counterfeit of eternal love--but when we allow Christ's love which is eternal to pervade our lives to the degree that anyone who knows our circumstances must say, 'Surely this is the love of God, for no mere mortal can love in this situation.'

Will we, can we give ourselves as vessels through whom HE may pour out His love upon the lost and dying souls around us? Of ourselves, we cannot. We are so fractured that we cannot even contain His love, let alone carry it and pour it upon those around us who are unlovely. But with JESUS, we are assured that we can "do all things," Philippians 4:13. Will we, can we, allow loving those who are least deserving of love to be recipients of His love through us? If we will, if we can, we then become the "peacemakers" who Jesus tells us in Matthew 5:9 become "the children of God."