Love: Delighted In
Two years ago I had the privilege of speaking at a Ladies Retreat of the church I grew up in. I was very pregnant with Eleanor and left Elizabeth, who was just a toddler, with Bob for the weekend. I took two ferries, one to Vancouver Island and then another to a much smaller island, to a camp I had attended as a young child. I had been battling a cold for several days prior and the day of had a scratchy voice and cough and a headache I couldn’t shake. But the minute I stood up to talk God cleared it all away. Not one cough. A clear voice. I was the first of 5 talks, each by a different lady, but all on the same theme. The theme of the retreat was: Jesus, our first love.
Over the next three weeks as we lead up to Valentine’s Day I want to share the talk I prepared and gave. Today’s part will include the introduction and the truth that God delights in us. It is one of the ways he loves us. And one of the ways we can love him in return.
“God’s world is shining all around us. The skies, streams, trees, animals - without needing any words at all - are telling us God is powerful and wise and beautiful. But they can’t tell us everything. They can’t tell us the most important thing. They can’t tell us about his love, His wonderful, Never Stopping, Never Giving Up, Unbreaking, Always and Forever Love! The love that made the stars. That moved heaven and earth to be near us. That came down to live with us. No…. To really see God’s love, we must look at Jesus.”
- Knowing God, pg 200 of “Thoughts to Make Your Heart Sing” by Sally Lloyd Jones
Father, I pray earnestly that you would strip away my words and what would be left in our hearts is your truth.
Introduction
Jesus as our first love… Jesus as my first love….
When Barb shared this theme with me, to be honest, my mind went everywhere and nowhere all at the same time! Thousands of strings of spaghetti… and for the last several months I have read and listened and asked and pondered and prayed about this phrase.
Love is… well Google defines it as “an intense feeling of deep affection” or “a great interest and pleasure in something.” Thanks, but no thanks google.
1 Corinthians 13 gives us a definition of love so deep, so broad that it would take far longer than 20 min to unpack it all… (and if you join us for devotions we may just attempt it in an hr instead…).
And as I looked at scripture, I began to realize this: the Bible is the love letter from Jesus to us. It’s there, written on the pages, waiting for us to discover it and fall in love with him in return. So if you are willing, I want to take you on a journey through scripture, exploring 3 aspects of this great love and how we can respond.
DELIGHTED IN
Our first stop: Delight. Have you ever watched 2 people fall in love? The excitement, the joy, the delight… its written across their faces, in the way they talk (and talk about nothing else…) I witnessed this recently with my mom and Darren. How her face lights up when talking about him, how she even now can’t wait to get home to see him. They take great pleasure in one another, in their love. It’s delightful.
To delight… to take great pleasure in.
Let’s begin the journey in Genesis.
“Before God made the morning stars to shine. Before he made the seas. Before he made the mountains. Before he made anything at all, God did something. What? Loved you. And chose you as his own.”
- Before Everything, pg 204 of “Thoughts to Make Your Heart Sing” by Sally Lloyd Jones
In the beginning… God had a purpose and design in creating this world we live in. Ephesians 1:4 says he chose us to be in him even before the foundation of the world. We were not an afterthought. Genesis 1:26: ‘Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness…. So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. And God blessed them…. And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good”
God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit existed in perfect unity and love. We were not needed to complete them. And yet God created us and it was very good. Why? Because he loves us. He delights in us.
We don’t know how long Adam and Eve lived in the garden, enjoying intimacy with God before sin broke the relationship, but we do know that God would come and walk with them. Can you imagine it? God, the creator of the universe, taking pleasure in his creation. Delighting in Adam and Eve, the only part of his creation made IN HIS IMAGE. Seeing them discover the world and the gifts he had given them.
Even after sin entered the world, scripture shows that He still delights in us. Psalm 147:10-11 says “His pleasure is not in the strength of the horse, nor his delight in the legs of the warrior; the Lord delights in those who fear him, who put their hope in his unfailing love.”
Zephaniah 3:17 says “For the Lord your God is living among you. He is a mighty saviour. He will take delight in you with gladness. With his love, he will calm all your fears. He will rejoice over you with joyful songs.”
And when all is restored with a new heaven and a new earth, God tells us through Isaiah to “be glad and rejoice forever in what I will create, for I will create Jerusalem to be a delight and its people a joy. I will rejoice over Jerusalem and take delight in my people; the sound of weeping and of crying will be heard in it no more.” Isaiah 65:18 + 19
DELIGHT. He takes pleasure in us, his children, his creation, his image bearers. He sings over us. He wants us to put our trust in his love.
Do you delight in God? Do I delight in God? Do our faces light up when we talk about our Saviour and King? Do we eagerly anticipate time spent in his presence? Do we take pleasure in his love? Do we take the time to notice the things he does for us?
I don’t know what you are carrying with you into this weekend. You may be really discouraged, and the answer to these questions may, if you are honest with yourself, be no. If that’s you, know you’re not alone. Be gentle and kind with yourself. Yes, sometimes time in His presence is time daily spent reading scripture and in prayer. And sometimes, it’s as simple as just being with Him and focusing on His love for you.
If this is an area you want to grow in, I want to challenge you to take a week and each day write down 1 way you’ve seen His love tangibly and 1 thing you’ve enjoyed or taken pleasure in that is from God. For example: Lord, I see your love through the peace you gave me in that hard conversation. I take pleasure in being able to declare your faithfulness to that person.
Just as 2 people who have fallen in love, His should be the name first on our lips. His love and care for us should be what we sing about. Our eyes should be trained on Him. We should delight in Him.
May our prayer be this: Lord, the idea that You sing over me in delight both thrills and humbles me. Thank you for your love! Show me how to delight in You right back.
Part 2 will be posted next Tuesday, February 2nd as I explore Love: Fully Known
Eleanor, delighting in the sighting of ducks on our visit to the nearby lake.