Love In The Present Tense

Love is in the present tense.

That sentence was just in my head. You'll have trust me I guess. I even typed it in google to see if maybe I heard it in a song somewhere. There's some book called "Love In The Present Tense" but I had never heard of it. Anyway, I'm not sure how it got in my head, whether God put it there or whether it was just there randomly, but it really resonates with me today. I was worshipping God this morning before church, and by that I mean, I had some worship music playing and was praying for some friends. All of the sudden, I was just filled very tangibly with love for my friends and just broke out in prayer for them. It was like I couldn't stop praying either but was just filled with desire to pray for them. Then I saw the morning sun shining through my balcony windows and I just couldn't contain all the joy of it all. I know what I was experiencing was God's presence in me and around me. And it was crazy because when I thought of the sun rising and shining through my balcony windows, it felt the exact same way - the presence of God was rising and shining in my heart and overflowing in prayer and love for my friends.

I'm growing to expect this more but I think I've gone long periods of time where I was hardened against it. When I think about it though, should I be surprised at God's tangible presence when he puts His Spirit to dwell inside me and makes me His temple? Where does God's presence dwell? In His temple! And what does the psalmist pray for in Psalm 27:4, "One thing I ask and this is what I seek, to dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze upon His beauty, and to inquire in His temple." This psalmist gives me a wonderful example to inquire within His temple, which He, through Jesus' work, has made inside of me. This is so encouraging for me just to know that I can experience God's presence on a regular basis.

Love is in the present tense. A lot of times we can trick ourselves into depending on our past experiences with God or even just a hope that someday we might experience him in the future. But God doesn't do any of these things with His love. He loves us today. Yes, Jesus died for me 2,000 years ago but people are experiencing that love all over the world today. That's because Jesus didn't just love you 2,000 years ago but He also sent His Spirit as a witness and Helper to you so that I can experience that love today, in the present tense.

I want to seek God like it says in Psalm 27:4 - today, in the present tense because His love for me is always in the present tense. This is part of what Jesus paid for so I can't let anything stop this. Am I feeling sinful? I still have to come to him and asked him to help me! Am I in the midst of seduction by some idol in my life that I might not even want to let go of yet? I still have to come and ask him to take over and give me a greater love for him so that I loose my grip on my idol. The key is, though, not letting anything keep me coming to him. Psalm 27:4 should be our battle cry to experience the presence of God on a daily basis. EVEN in the midst of our sin. EVEN in the midst of our distractions. And EVEN when our feelings may not be all there.

"One thing I ask and this is what I seek, to dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze upon His beauty, and to inquire in His temple." Psalm 27:4

Silence and Speaking

A poem of encoruagement written in the midst of the heartache that comes with not sharing the love of Christ with someone.

What’s the difference between silence and speaking?
Is it small and simple like a single step that you take?
Or is it like a race with a brick wall at the start line?
Sometimes
To speak into silence feel likes both
And it’s confusing
Because how can it be both?

It’s an illusion.
To speak looks so far, so hopeless,
Like a chasm you can’t jump over
And if you tried, you would just fall helpless
Hopeless
Hopeless
Hopeless
And then lost.

But the truth is
To speak into silence
Is closer than your skin
As close as the Spirit to your soul.
It’s a song waiting to be sung
It’s a simple question just waiting to be asked
It’s love hovering so close and waiting to touch down
It’s a breath just waiting and waiting to breathe.

What is the distance between silence and speaking?
The truth is
It may look like a chasm
And it does every time
But know

Know

That you have wings
And the Spirit will never never leave you.