At the beginning of each year, I choose a word to focus on, or most of the time, the word finds me. What I mean is that I pray for God to show me what word I need to focus on that year, and when I think I know the word, I am surprised to find out I was wrong. God showed me a brand-new word I hadn’t even considered, which is what happened this year.
The word zealous has served me well this year as my desire for a more profound love for God has increased seven-fold and then some. I had no idea I had so much more room in my heart for Him, but I did and still do. It is a continual process of inviting God into my heart and asking Him to deepen my love for Him in ways I didn’t know were possible.
I began to think about the word zeal when studying the armor of God and seeing that God put on zeal as a cloak (Is. 59:17, ESV). I incorporated this into my daily prayers along with the armor as I fight spiritual warfare, not only for myself but for others. It is a necessary form of protection that arms me with the weapons I need for battle.
My zeal for God has increased, but it still does not come close to how much God loves me (and you). Have you thought much about how much God loves you or asked God to show you the depth of His love? I did recently and was amazed at His answers.
The oceans are too shallow, the sky too narrow, the desert too small, and the universe is not vast enough. There is nothing on this earth that compares. The expanse of the heavens is more than you can imagine- but someday, you will understand. WOW!
Then I asked if there was something in the Bible God could point me to– “The Glory of the Lord filled the temple” (Ezekiel 43:5, ESV) came to mind, as well as “For our God is a consuming fire” (Heb. 12:29, ESV). These are glorious images of how God entirely and reverently fills space in ways we cannot fathom. God’s love for us is so deep and massive that it is hard to compare it to anything we can understand.
Paul gives a glimpse of it in Ephesians 3:16-19, “that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through the Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith – that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have the strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.” (Emphasis mine)
My zeal for God, on the other hand, is the size of Australia. Although it is the largest country by area, it in no way compares to the depth of God’s love for me (and you). And absolutely nothing can change that or separate God’s love from us. That is one of God’s sweet promises to His children.
“For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Rom. 8:38-39, ESV). (Emphasis mine)
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