Love Sonet

Love
It's very rare that I've ever seen love in action. But I know no greater adventure when I see it. It's fighting for the win no longer for ourselves. In our lives love was always meant to be perfect unity, perfect friendship, perfect beauty because of the form of what it is. Love was always meant for us. As the psalmist says, "I slept but my heart was awake." Love always comes, and never fails. It lives even when the barer fails. I feel love as I feel the grass under my feet because I'm free to run, and when I run, I run for the love of freedom.

Together
What is life without sharing? It's just you if you aren't willing to share it with anyone else. Everyone seeks love. It is the deepest human desire to love and be loved but some of us are afraid to love. We hide sometimes in our own selves with our jobs, or we hide in our school. Sometimes we hide through our electronics and the television with the sport of watching love in movies like a fat man on the coach who watches football but never experiences it. He critiques his favorite players from a safe distance. Love is meant to be experienced. Solomon puts it so bluntly, "As a lily among brambles so is my love among the young women." It's seeing from afar the jewel in the quarry and risking it all to not let it get picked up by anyone but who is worthy. The claim has been staked, experience it for all it's worth and hold fast. Real love is seeing clear for the first time. It makes you want to be the best version of yourself that you can be if only to serve the other.

God's Love
I think of God and how love relates to God. He created humanity with the primary reason for love, to love and to show love. He shares perfect unity and He meant for us to know that unity because man (all of humanity) can not be alone. Man is lonely and to know the kind of unity God experiences (if not only a shadow), God created woman, and they became one flesh and one flesh resulted because of this beautiful adventure. We were born of love and to me, the life we live should be nothing less than an expression of that love. When Jesus says there are only two commandments that He gives us, "love God, and love others" I see there is no greater purpose than to know how. But what motivates more powerfully unity than when we observe love God gives?

My definition
Love for me is running through the grass with no socks on and knowing that physical touch I get from the earth God gave me to enjoy. Love for me is the beauty I know and can't deny in passion of life. As Agur says, "There are three things that are too amazing for me, four that I do not understand: the way of an eagle in the sky, the way of a snake on a rock, the way of a ship on the high seas, and the way of a man with a maiden." Love is fighting for that beauty and never relenting. For me, I'm no where near any of these lofty descriptions of love. I get angry, I shout at my roommate, I forget what life is for and I think about myself. I love romance, I love the smile in a child I see as I walk, I love the water that sparkled a bit this morning for me at the lake, and I love the grass under me. This is no time to over think love. The best way to love is to listen to God speak and we are compelled to do nothing else. I love to love.


Extra
I just want to finish this off with something I read about the song of songs, "In most of the modern world, romance is thought of as something that precedes marriage. In the Song, romance is something that actually characterizes marriage. Let it be so."

Greener Grass to Come

I asked God where I should go to spend time with Him today. I wanted to go to the chapel on campus, but He drew me to the outdoors underneath the little roof near the pond at Simpson. As I stepped under, the rain came harder as if it was just waiting for me to find cover. I've always wondered why my relationship with God is so...outside. God reminded me that I'm going to be in places that are hard to go. I need to find Him in the beauty He made.

I love how You draw me to an exciting relationship with You. And it's not just me, when we seek You desperately Lord, my Jesus, Beloved, I can't wait to run with You unashamed of anything ever again. To know the beauty You are, to walk on greener grass than I can describe, to be in perfect unity with You and the beautiful people You made. I love how You invite us, children, to be Yours. We were always Yours, and You fought valiantly to protect us under the shadow of Your wing. Jesus, thank You for the true, "living water" out of Your love, for those who desire to be rid of these rags and free in the unity and power of Your name. I love You Jesus. Fill me with Your Holy Spirit, and I pray that You would allow unity with Your people on earth, as a pre-shadow of Your love and glory to come. I love You Jesus, Your name is power and glory forever and ever.

Trying my hand at evangelism

Today was rather interesting. God had been for a while pressing my heart to actually reach out and have an outlet for evangelism. I decided to ride the bus because usually the bus has this category of people on it... poor, really young, old, disabled, or had a tough life. My real goal was simply to be open enough to start conversations (because on a bus that's easy).

1. Before I went, I prayed that God would give me some words, however, I don't know how much He gave me. At first I had an interesting conversation with a 20 something guy, we somehow got to talking about death and where you will be when you die, I think it made the guy think a little bit. I know when we pray, God opens up conversations. I don't know how much that helped anything, but God does what He does and I can leave it at that.
2. I stopped at Neighborhood church, took a little leadership class, and then went off again. I was waiting for the bus and God was using that book "The Shack" to speak into my heart about what it means to love someone or have a relationship with them.
3. I got back on the bus and the conversation back wasn't to much, but I got off at target where I started. I saw a homeless fellow named Bob. I gave him a little macdonalds card, he didn't look like he cared for it much but I asked him about himself anyways. He was a vet in the Vietnam war and with an E-4 rank. I didn't really establish to much with him except to let Him know someone cares about Him. I wish I had said something about God but for now I just talked to him about himself.
4. I went into target and came out and a guy started to evangelize me...when I told him I was doing the same thing today, he started giving me papers on how to evangelize haha. It was definitely and interesting day....

Over all, I think I will pray more, and next time bring a friend. God definitely opens up opportunities if we are sensitive.

The power of God through us

It's funny that I was just talking about this yesterday, the Spirit of God is something that has been preparing for us to receive. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 2:2
"for I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified."
He decided to know nothing, he was nothing and made himself weak to demonstrate the power of the Holy Spirit living in him. When we are with the Holy Spirit living and filled, we are not of our own strength, we don't need to be of our own strength, it is by the power of God that we will breath and move with boldness. Paul didn't rest knowing wisdom on his self, but surrender allowed the power of God to be demonstrated. Our job is surrender. We must be less and He must become more and through that, power is demonstrated through us. Pay attention to this truth. God kept this wisdom for us, He saved it for us, He held this power to be used by us when we come to Christ and receive it.

I played the whore so well

My heart groans tonight to know my Lord more than I do.

Tonight I went to a bible study and there was one thing that stuck with me and stood out, out of anything else that was said today. GOD'S PRESENCE. In the beginning, God walked with us. His presence was there. He always wanted to be near to us, to love us, but we pushed Him away. Regardless, God always pursued, He never quit. At the closing chapter of Exodus, His presence finally came again to dwell with man. It filled the tabernacle. God made a way again through the law and through a covenant.

The Father, our Daddy, and the term I've been hearing from several different sources these past few weeks, our Papa, our joy, our strength, the rock that will not move, our life, our love for which no love can compete or match. His Love will not fail. Finally we pushed Him away again while all along He confessed His Love for me, the prostitute (ezekiel 16), playing the whore all to well, I run after everything but Him. There was one final push to end all attempts at Love, the Christ came like a rushing wind. He ambushed the shores, He burst through the doors leaving no survivors of the enemy to stand in the way.

I was sitting in the corner and He dashed the chains to pieces (isaiah 61:1-2), finally I saw clearly, I was Loved Only Once and all other times were a shadow. GOD'S PRESENCE had come again to the world. His powerful Spirit is a rushing wind in my soul, His powerful blow ambushed the shores, His strong arm blast the doors because He heard I was in pain, He heard me call His name in my anger and torture for the mess I chose and to my surprise, Dad came so fast and so hard just to save His boy.

And when He got me, I looked up into His eyes as the beaten cheater and whore I'd become and said, "I love you Jesus. I love you Papa, I love you Daddy, never again...You're the reason I live."

I love you Jesus. I love you Daddy. I love you. I love you.

My new favorite story...

AFFLICTION (2 cor. 1:1-11)

I hardly even know the meaning of the word "affliction." When have I ever been persecuted with affliction in any real way? Paul in 2 cor. 1:1-11 experienced such pain that he and his company wanted to simply die. They were sick of life and even "despaired in it. These men couldn't help but spread the good news that Jesus came of his throne to save us from our sins. So in that, they were tortured or beat. They cried out to God in their pain and God rescued them. They were taught to rely on God. If anyone wants to be stronger in God, they should simply do one thing, seek Him. He will teach you to rely on Him through trial, in love, so that you are not ignorant and spoiled. You will be put in the fire, the impurities burned off, you will rely on Jesus Christ, the author of all perfection. Jesus is the author of all the beauty you see whenever you look out the window. The God who wants you to trust on Him is the same One who lets the snow fall on the mountains, the beauty of a finch jumping from branch to branch, and the cool dewy rain to make a morning look new while the ground and trees sparkle. He wants to craft your heart with that kind of beauty. This is the adventure doctrine.

Love,
Matthew Kelly