Awakened to Love
The first aspect of a fully awakened son is that they are awakened to love. We don’t push back against God’s love, instead we completely surrender to His love, allowing it to do the work for which He proposed. Perfect love casts out all fear. 1 John 4:18-19, Love causes us to discover how God sees us and bends us till we agree with His love and value for us. Romans 8:29-39. As we agree and accept the fullness of His love, it fills us with all the fullness of God. Ephesians 3:17-19. As we stare into the face of Love, we become like Him. 2 Corinthians 3:18. As we turn our hearts toward Christ, toward Love, He removes whatever has been keeping us from seeing clearly. Fear and condemnation cannot stop His love. We must choose to turn to the Lord Jesus so He can take the veil away. 2 Corinthians 3:16.
A fully awakened son will have learned to remain in God’s love and not fear coming to Him. This son has learned to depend upon this love as his source. Awakened to love means that our hearts have learned to find contentment and satisfaction in God’s abiding love. His love never changes, nor diminishes. His love never stops calling us. His love does not require us to change, nor perform. His love does the work of changing us.
The Father’s love pursues us relentlessly. He once told me, “Jason, you are like Peter. You think that I will reject you for your sin. But I was chasing Peter, and I’m chasing you. And, I won’t stop until I catch you.” His heart is for us. He knows that love has the power to set us free and call us into our real identity, nature, and destiny.
“He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things?” Romans 8:32 NASB. “And you, who once were alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now He has reconciled in the body of His flesh through death, to present you holy, and blameless, and above reproach in His sight- if indeed you continue in the faith, grounded and steadfast, and are not moved away from the hope of the gospel which you heard, …” Colossians 1:21-23 NKJV.
These scriptures show that God has gone to and does go through tremendous effort to demonstrate His love and desire for us. His love becomes a source of stability in our life and the fertile ground in which the fruit of the Spirit grows. Those who struggle to believe and receive this love will always find the law working in their life as they have to seek out other sources from which to find transformation. But there are no other sources. This behavior is just like the behavior of an orphan after they have finally been adopted. Their attitude is that of being unlovable and they rebel against the love being shown to them because in their heart they believe that that kind of love either does not exist or is faked to benefit the other person. Oftentimes the orphaned heart requires an extreme display of love before they can accept that this love is real. Extreme like giving up a life. In our modern churches in the west, the tale of Christ dying is treated as a tale. God in His infinite love, recognizes that we have not seen the crucification for ourselves, and He comes and ministers to our unbelief by pouring out even more love. Paul also comments on this problem by saying that he fills up in his flesh what was lacking in the afflictions that Jesus suffered. Colossians 1:24.
Let us not resist the personal ministry of Love that God desires to show. We must accept that God has already shown such great love toward us in the death of Christ, as His death demonstrates that we are His pearl of great price. Let us learn to put proper wait on the death of Jesus, yet also not resisting the love that He desires to show us individually. He deserves that His love be fully received by us. His love will cause an awakening within our deepest being. Since we belong to Him, He deserves to reap the reward of His sacrifice and investment.
John 12:23-26 NKJV
[23] But Jesus answered them, saying, “The hour has come that the Son of Man should be glorified. [24] Most assuredly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain. [25] He who loves his life will lose it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. [26] If anyone serves Me, let him follow Me; and where I am, there My servant will be also. If anyone serves Me, him My Father will honor.
We are His reward. Ephesians 1:8. Jesus died so that He would not be the only son of His Father. God’s constant giving of love has one main purpose, that you become like Jesus. God’s heart in wanting us transformed is that He gains full fellowship with us. Fellowship with us as a Father, as a Brother, and as a mentor.
Romans 8:28-30 TPT
[28] So we are convinced that every detail of our lives is continually woven together to fit into God’s perfect plan of bringing good into our lives, for we are his lovers who have been called to fulfill his designed purpose. [29] For he knew all about us before we were born and he destined us from the beginning to share the likeness of his Son. This means the Son is the oldest among a vast family of brothers and sisters who will become just like him. [30] Having determined our destiny ahead of time, he called us to himself and transferred his perfect righteousness to everyone he called. And those who possess his perfect righteousness he co-glorified with his Son!
Pure faith is an outgrowth of experiencing the love of God in all its dimensions.
Everything comes through relationship.
Let us continually say “yes” to the love God desires to shower upon us, His children.
Mature Sons don’t value loving themselves or value self esteem. Sons value the esteem given by only God that results from a deep surrender to Him. We value what God values. We get our value from God alone, and then give that value away, because this is like Christ. Loving ourselves is never the answer. Being loved by God himself, and becoming love makes us the answer.
When we are born, we don’t automatically know who we really are. We have to experience things in order to discover what we’re truly capable of. Some learned early on that they’re capable of much and in pride assume that they’re better. Others have the opposite experience and judge that they are not as good as their peers. This is how we form identity, by forming opinions, esteem, and judgments about ourselves.
To be a son of God, we must allow experiences and encounters with God to teach us what only God knows. There are aspects of our capabilities that are only unlocked by partnership with the Spirit of God. A son of God will step boldly forward with a full revelation that he’s capable of pure love, because he has learned at the feet of Jesus and by sitting with his Father.
These experiences and encounters with God will give us a truer picture of who we were born to be. The process of becoming a fully awakened son is to embrace what God teaches and let go of our unrighteous judgments about ourselves and others that are born in ignorance.
Chasing a feeling that “your life matters” is a distraction from the truth that you can change the world because this same Christ lives in you. You don’t need to feel special or valued. Tell your heart to agree with God. God has already established that you matter to Him. God has no problem confirming it. Tell your heart to take down the walls that block God’s love (step 4). Let us surrender to the love God is showing. Let us allow it to completely wash over us. Let us accept His embrace. And let us show His fierce overwhelming love to the world with boldness and confidence. You are love. Awaken to who you are recreated to be. And say “yes” to the Father’s showing of affection.