God’s love is evident everywhere, toward everyone. It is not for the deserving, but for the believing. Jesus is God’s gift of love.

The challenge God faces to transform us into well-loved sons is that our fragmented, fearful souls want to hide from Love Himself, seeking and demanding protection. This is a paradox for sure, for Love is never afraid.

“There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love.  We love Him because He first loved us” (1 John 4:18-19, NKJV).

Fear often imbeds itself in our stark awareness of our nakedness and inadequacies. From there, fear exploits our souls (See Genesis 3: 9,10). But Jesus Christ is God’s Glory restored to us, as now, in Christ, we are accepted in the Beloved (See Ephesians 1:6).

It seems that humans are the only part of God’s creation that were created without our own covering (i.e. fur, scales, feathers). Yes, we have skin and of course every part of God’s creation is dependent on Him for breath and life, but God purposely created us naked… and He purposely redeemed us naked, too.

God created us so that HE could be our covering in Glory: our sufficiency and our completion. We are not self-sufficient in any way. We are not self-sufficient power sources of righteousness, love, or life itself. We are forever dependent on God’s love for us, as we experience and believe in Christ Himself.

Living here—in dependency on His love– can be quite frightening. I often say to Him, “Your love scares me.” I don’t own His love, I don’t control it: I can only receive it where I am, naked and very vulnerable.

Jesus prayed, “Father, I desire that they also whom You gave Me may be with Me where I am, that they may behold My glory which You have given Me; for You loved Me before the foundation of the world” (John 17:24). And Paul later prayed, “Just as He chose us in Him [Christ] before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him [God] in love” (Ephesians 1:4).

As we are now accepted in the Beloved, chosen before the foundation of the world–loved, holy and without blame before God–let’s pray this week into beholding this wondrous love! May we receive Jesus, God’s perfect gift of perfect love.

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