Love Letters: Read it again and again and...

Love Letters:  Read It Again and Again and...

#2 in the Series:  Daddy, It's Me--Conversations of an Ordinary Person with an Extraordinary Heavenly Father 

 

In the years 2008-2010 I went through a very difficult time financially and emotionally.   Much of what I had worked for over the previous 10 years I walked away from.  Looking back now, I realize that it was the Lord wooing me.  Though the pain was intense, I craved a relationship with him more than the value of the things.  At the time I felt the circumstances were unfair, unjust, and just plain mean but now I can see how my loving Heavenly Father was freeing me from stuff and the wrong people in order to pursue him and be pursued by him.  It was then

that I discovered his love letters to me.

Although I had been reading the Bible—sometimes even intently—most of my life, it suddenly took on a whole new feel.  I had a daily Bible that featured an Old Testament reading, New Testament reading, and a Psalm or Proverb for each day.  I remember reading in Genesis and weeping!...Genesis!  Every word seem to sink straight into my heart and filled the desires to be authentically loved, accepted, and valued for who I was.  It took a while to feel at peace and to forgive, but all the while Father was drawing me to himself.  He was revealing who I was because of him.  All through his Love Letter you know as the Bible. 

Is there some magic, some spiritual force that comes through those written words?

I think the answer to that question is: It depends.  I am sure there are ways to read it and get nothing special out of it at all.  I took a course in high school called “The Bible as Literature.”  All I remember about it was that it drew a parallel between Absalom (King David’s rebellious son) and a character of the same name in Moby Dick.  I doubt that anyone in that class encountered God through the readings.  But when you know the author and you ask him for an explanation, well, then whole new perspectives and nuances and mysteries are revealed.   

When I was first getting to know my—then future—husband, I found out he had written a book (Beggarman Bob by Dave Strege).  I figured reading it would give me a good idea of what he was like, what was important to him, and whether I wanted to pursue the relationship further.  And it did!  But after I got to know him better, he told me some stories behind the story and revealed depths of meaning that my initial reading had missed.

Reading the Bible not only reveals to us the author’s heart but as we get to know him through his work, we actually can have him expound and explain it in more depth as we study and meditate on it.  I would like to share with you some of the ways this happens for me.  Perhaps you will find it coming alive as the love letter he means it to be for you, too.

First, pray.  Ask that he will reveal something to you and then read expectantly.

      “In the morning, Lord, you hear my voice; in the morning I lay my requests before you  

       and wait expectantly.”  ‭‭Psalm‬ ‭5:3‬ ‭NIV‬‬

After this there are many different strategies you can use that will help you meditate, ruminate, and chew on the God’s Word.  But first you must read and/or hear it. 

• Read it. 
• Read it out loud. 

         “So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.”

‭‭         Romans‬ ‭10:17‬ ‭ESV‬‬

• Read it out loud emphasizing different words or phrases.  This is one of my favorites.  For example:

                 “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above and comes down from the  

                 Father of lights, with whom is no variableness neither shadow of turning.”  

                 ‭‭James‬ ‭1:17‬ ‭JUB

‬‬

         Read it like this:

         EVERY good and perfect gift comes…

         Every GOOD AND PERFECT gift comes…

         Every good and perfect GIFT comes…

         Every good and perfect gift COMES…

         Every good and perfect gift...comes...from...FATHER…

• Get yourself a journal, something that gives you joy to write in and write the verse or passage. There is something about the act of writing that helps me remember much better.  (Ok..ok..maybe it's because I'm getter older, but who knows, it could help you too.)  Underline, box, highlight--draw pictures if you are so inclined--the words or phrases that speak to you.
•  Now you have a permanent record of God giving you a glimpse of himself!

Try this with some of your favorite verses.  If you don’t have any, try Philippians 1:6; or one from Romans 8:28-38 or Ephesians 3:16-20.

More to come next time. 

In the meantime let me know how this has impacted you either by using the comments or sending me an email. I love to hear from you.