Years ago, the Holy Spirit captivated my heart with the thought that the Lord is my relentless Lover, intent on a deeply personal and profound relationship with me rather than merely adherence to a set of rules, a message so easily internalized when growing up in the Christian fundamentalist community (Matt.11:28-30). I knew God had more for me in relationship with Him than I had experienced up to that point, but I was still blocked by much from the past.
The visual of Christ
riding out of heaven on a white horse with me and all saints following Him on
mounts was one I held fast to my heart (Rev.19:11-16). It smacked of fairy
tales come true. My Prince. The Prince, Faithful and True, the Word of
God, King of Kings, and Lord of Lords. Such a majestic, powerful, penetrating,
and yes, sobering scene. Of settling the score for all time. Of love. Of
adventure.
The stuff of stories, all
of which emanate from the One Grand Love Story.
From God Himself.
Sometime during that period, I read a novel by
Robin Jones Gunn which profiled a verse her grandfather had shared with her as
a teen—Zephaniah 3:17: “The LORD your God is
with you, the Mighty Warrior who saves. He will take great delight in you; in
his love he will no longer rebuke you but will rejoice over you with singing”
(NIV). Certainly, a prophetic glimpse in reference to Israel but also a heart
reality for the believer in Christ who is resting in the arms of Love. A Love
which quiets, comforts, reassures, motivates, exults. A Scripture that placed
me deeper into mutual affection with the living God.
Still, that intentional awareness came in spurts. But God in His faithful wooing continued working to deepen my appreciation for His love. Out of dark places, the Holy Spirit led me on a scriptural quest to restructure my concept of the Father’s love. This “seeking His face” (Ps.27:8) resulted in further healing.
Yet, I was so busy writing and speaking to other women that God’s
personal message to me got “packaged” for others but lost under layers of
service for Him rather than enjoyed with Him on a regular basis.
Quiet places of contemplation before Him, yes, but perhaps too quickly
turned into the next devotional, article, speech, or book. For someone else.
Nevertheless, in all fairness to God’s faithfulness, even the process
of writing laid groundwork for God’s deeper work still to come in my
heart. Praise Him—He uses all things! Even when we’re not looking. In fact, sometimes
it’s only in the looking back that we can see how.
This grace gift of Love from the Father of lights deepened further
when the Holy Spirit led me to study Song of Solomon with focus not on earthly
marriage but on my marriage to Christ, of all things. This rich poetic
immersion into marital intimacy was not the place (the book) where I expected
to discover so much of Jesus’ profound and intimate love for me as my
Bridegroom. But I did. Since then I have returned to that beautiful book often,
especially when I sense I’m drifting from His arms, at least in my awareness;
for in reality, He is always holding me, even when I am unaware of it.
So, you can imagine my joy when another book came on my radar recently
which reinforces my love journey with Christ.
FREE: Rescued from Shame-based Religion, Released into the Life-giving Love of Jesus by J. Kevin Butcher reaffirms so much of what I’ve been thinking for some time. That the God who is a real Person deeply loves and delights in me and wants to be with me in a mutually satisfying love relationship, not out of duty, shame, and fear, but out of freeing love. This “abiding in His love” (John, chapter 15) forgives, heals, protects, empowers, motivates toward holy living, and frees us to dwell in His life-giving embrace all the way Home and invite others to come along with us.
While Butcher acknowledges that spiritual disciplines such as Bible
reading/study and prayer, to name two, are crucial to Christian growth, he
insists that these are meant to flow out of love for Jesus, not obligation nor mere
formulaic plan. The Scripture is fleshed out in relationship with Jesus and in
the healing community of His Body.
A Dallas Theological Seminary grad, former pastor, and now founder and
director of Rooted Ministries, Butcher encourages pastors and their families,
having emerged from a past of “just do it” Christianity himself.
While I disagree with a couple minor doctrinal issues in FREE, I don’t find that these detract from the rich meaty premise of the book. I recommend FREE to any Christ-follower who longs to live in the freedom God’s love provides and model that freedom to others. View on Amazon.
