I can’t hold it back
my love for You
it bubbles up within
waiting for me to
open my mouth
and release it
I only want to be with You
the Lover of my soul
I long to be always
in Your embrace
gazing upon
Your Holy face
seeing Your love
reflected in Your gaze
I’m a lover of Your Presence
and it’s all I wanna be
Until that day
when I move Home
and there will be no
further space
between us
I will jump
at every chance
to be Your partner
in this dance
as I learn
to depend on You
for everything
and seek You
through this life
laid down
for You
I’m a lover of Your Presence
and it’s all I wanna be
evermore
I sense
You smile at me
as I pen these words
and sing them
from the depths of my heart
You sing back to me
and your reply
shakes me to my core
with love and adoration
I’m a lover of your presence, Beloved, and
all I want
is all of you
forevermore!
Those who have found it know it isn’t actually about them.
The key to unlocking this secret?
God’s love.
When we get how loved we truly are by the Lover of our Souls, our love begins to escape our hearts and leak out to those around us.
In essence, receiving His love helps you spread it to those who need it, because when you know deep down you are so loved, you can’t help radiating that love about you.
This love of God I am referring to?
Just plug love into the search engine of Bible Gateway or Bible Hub, and see how many verses come up… (684 in the ESV translation)…which averages to about 1.53 love verses a day!
Love matters to God.
So much so He has never stopped telling the world He loves them, starting with Adam & Eve, down to the children born this last second.
He has never stopped showing us His love, through creation and the cross.
He has never stopped feeling our pain, getting into the dirt & pain of our lives and offering us a hand up.
He will never stop. For just as He is eternal, so is His heart. And it will never stop beating for the ones He loves. Ever.
Being pursued by such Love?
Believe it. Embrace it. Accept it. Remember it. Show it.
BEARS.
Love BEARS all things.
And He has shown us this kind of love that we are to have for one another…
Love never gives up.
Love cares more for others than for self.
Love doesn’t want what it doesn’t have.
Love doesn’t strut,
Doesn’t have a swelled head,
Doesn’t force itself on others,
Isn’t always “me first,”
Doesn’t fly off the handle,
Doesn’t keep score of the sins of others,
Doesn’t revel when others grovel,
Takes pleasure in the flowering of truth,
Puts up with anything,
Trusts God always,
Always looks for the best,
Never looks back,
But keeps going to the end.
Love never dies.
1 Corinthians 13:4-8
May we press close to the One who loves us more than we can imagine, and continue to show His love to all around us, that they may come to know they are Beloved too.
I have a prayer for you this Valentine’s day, actually for you every day.
It is a prayer Someone else is praying for you too:
YOU are the one He adores.
REALLY.
It has taken me years to grasp this truth, and years more to let it soak in to my soul and become a part of me.
But don’t take my word for it. Take His words for it.
I am sharing just a few of my favourite bible verses with you today, and a few jots & thoughts, to paint you a colour by number outline of His love for you.
But God shows His love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 5:8
For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. John 3:16
Behold, I have engraved you on the palms of My hands. Isaiah 49:16
God not only loved you first, He demonstrated this love by giving Himself up for us, so we could draw near and receive His love.
HE IS LOVE:
The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. Psalm 103:8
So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. 1 John 4:16
Because you are precious in my eyes, and honored, and I love you, I redeem you. Isaiah 43:4
Love is part of His very character, and He cannot be Himself without it. At the core of who God is, love is. You can’t have one without the other, for God IS love.
YOU WERE MADE OUT OF HIS LOVE:
Oh yes, You shaped me first inside, then out; You formed me in my mother’s womb. I thank You, High God—You’re breathtaking! Body and soul, I am marvelously made! I worship in adoration—what a creation! You know me inside and out, You know every bone in my body; You know exactly how I was made, bit by bit, how I was sculpted from nothing into something. Like an open book, You watched me grow from conception to birth; all the stages of my life were spread out before You, The days of my life all prepared before I’d even lived one day! Psalm 139:13-16
God doesn’t make junk, you may have heard.
He doesn’t.
You were made out of love, especially designed, so He could love you and be loved by you. There is only one of you, ever.
Only you can be loved by God in the ways you need to be loved, and only you can love God in the ways He made for you to express love back to Him.
His love moved Him to make you.
HIS LOVE ENDURES FOREVER:
I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore I have continued my faithfulness to you. Jeremiah 31:3
Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? As it is written, “For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.” No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 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 else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 8:35-39
The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; His mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness. Lamentations 3:22-23
There is nothing you can do that will change His love for you. Sure, we could disappoint Him with less than stellar behavior, but His love for you, and for me, is rock solid. God doesn’t leave when the going gets tough, His love draws closer to us to be with us through whatever comes our way. He will love us always, now and into forever, no matter what. Wow!
HIS LOVE WANTS THE BEST FOR YOU:
So that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have 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. Ephesians 3:17-19
We know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to His purpose. Romans 8:28
He will wipe away every tear from your eyes. Revelation 21:4
God has the best in store for us. What parent or lover really wants to give less than their best to their loved one? God tells us He has plans for our best yet to come, and He comforts us and loves up on us along the way!
HIS LOVE IS WITH US:
The Lord your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; He will rejoice over you with gladness; He will quiet you by His love; He will exult over you with loud singing. Zephaniah 3:17
Song of Songs Chapters 1&2
Not only does these verses, two of my all time faves, remind us God loves us, but they reveals He is with us, rescuing us when we need it, calming with His love, and singing triumphantly over us, a proud daddy & thrilled lover all rolled into one. He is wooing us to Him as a longing lover waiting for His bride to come to Him!
So, what are you to DO about it?!
Here are my A-G tips on what to DO with His love:
1. Accept it. If you can, then you can begin to:
2. Believe He loves you. Truth stands the test of time. God is who He says He is.
3. Care for yourself. If you know & feel loved, you take better care of yourself, as you want to be at your best. God wants us to love ourselves well, and show our respect for His creation, us!
4. Don’t delay. Now is the time to get to know this God of love. We don’t always get another chance when we put things off. If you want to be loved beyond your imagination, God is waiting to be found.
5. Express your love and gratitude back to Him. Knowing we are loved is only half the love story. Responding to the one who loves us in return completes the love.
6. Forgive those who you have loved who have hurt you. Love can be roadblocked by walls around out heart when we have been hurt. Don’t cut off the love you need by refusing to let His love flow. When we forgive, we make room for God to expand His love within us.
7. Go spend time with Him.
Go for a walk together, chat over coffee, read His word, sing songs of praise and adoration, listen to Him. Hanging out with Him will only increase your knowledge of His love for you, and your desire to love Him in return!
Hey, thanks for reading my 514th blog post….very fitting on Feb 14th 🙂
A character in a book I am currently reading used the word ‘belovered’ by accident when trying to describe how God loves us.
I like it!
So being me, I decided to break it down and see what the pieces contribute to the whole 🙂
Be– God loves us with an astounding love, because of who we are. We can BE ourselves BEfore Him, He who never changes.
Love– outpouring care and adoration towards its targeted recipient- whether they accept it or not. God so loved the world He gave His very own Son, to help us make our way back to His great love for us. Love like His never fails, never runs dry and never gives up on those they love. Never ending LOVE.
Red– Red has been the universal colour of love for centuries. (Just think Valentines Day.) His blood poured out on the cross in a fantastical display of love for all to see. Instead of seeing RED of the anger He is entitled to over our wrongdoings, He chose to offer His love on the cross to demonstrate His extreme love.
Red represents all in love. Given to His last drop.
Lover– God just doesn’t like us as a parent loves their children. God loves us with all the passionate desire of a lover longing for the one they adore. That’s right: God adores us. He longs to embrace His bride, which we are all a part of when we are His children. It is a mystery beyond our full comprehension this side of heaven.
Beloved: As His Bride, He will never stop pursing us. Never stop loving us. Longs to spend time with us. Hear our voice. Look into our eyes. How we long to be with the ones we love is a faded recollection of His longing for us.
Belovered– when we rest in His love (Be) we will walk as His beloved. Loved beyond measure.
Are you ready to be loved like that?
Take His love letter out for a spin.
Let His love flow over and into you.
Be.
Loved.
Beloved.
By the Lover of your soul.
I’ve never quit loving you and never will. Expect love, love & more love!
~God; Jeremiah 31:3 MSG
I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with unfailing kindness.
Days where I say something dumb, forget to do something important, or simply look like I should have stayed home in bed. On the worst days, all three at the same time.
As much as I want to stay in hiding, tucked comfortably under my squooshy duvet, listening to my Hope cat purr as she snores beside me, I know deep down that this is only (albeit a lovely option) a temporary solution for me.
I have a rock solid, impenetrable refuge to hide in.
One where I am tucked tightly underneath the shelter of His wings.
When things head downhill in my life, I head for His presence.
He is my Hope.
My Protector.
Provider.
Healer.
He never fails me.
Always adores me.
Constantly with me.
He never lets me go.
He whispers promises.
Sings me love songs.
Accepts me as me.
Delights over me.
As attractive as my bed may look at 5:45 in the morning, knowing my soul can escape to my forever home with Him in the blink of an eye keeps me hopeful, no matter what I am facing.
And I have faced enough doozies in my life to not need any more:
Abandonment
Molestation
Bullying
Cutting
Depression
Physical Illness
Loss of loved ones
Loss of income
Rejection
Anxiety
Fear
Broken relationships
And God has proven Himself to be more than enough for and through every single one of them.
KARLA LEES 
