The Secret to True Love: Life Changing Love

And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.

John 8:32

I’m amazed by the condition of our world today. So many of us are walking around with a false idea of love and it’s not funny. We need to stop for a moment and evaluate what we believe about love versus what Almighty God says about love.

The essence of true love is not in the partner you sleep next to at night nor in the child whose eyes hold so much promise of love for you. Love is not in the job you go to everyday, or in those persons we consider to be our group of friends. Love is bigger than just feeling good or feeling needed. Love is a principle that overrides our human thought but it embraces the Spirit of Almighty God especially when we welcome Him to live within us.

A Special Invitation

Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me. Revelation 3:20

He wraps his arms around us no like no other person ever could. He dries our tears in those seasons when we are weak, depressed, and distressed and it is Love that is sending you this message as you read this blog post. Father wants you to give up. Give up your idea of love and welcome Him to talk with you and so that He can teach you what love is (Revelation 3:20).  Embrace our Father for He is Love. (1 John 4:8)

The Truth about Love

The Holy Word of Almighty God says that love is patient and kind; love doesn’t keep score of the wrongs we or others do; love is tender, caring and forgiving. Which person in your life has ever loved you perfectly?

None.

We all fall and we let others down when we do.  We let down ourselves BUT nothing takes Almighty God by surprise! And here’s some good news about love: because love is a package deal, even though we falter in our Christian walk, it is love that keeps the Father near us! Hallelujah! What an example of love! It is never our good works that will take home to live in paradise with Almighty God. Grace is a part of the spirit of love!

I have had to learn the lessons of love in ways that are hard and painful. The lessons include how to really love myself so that I can love others. This is a part of True Love! The bonus is that I am able to share these lessons with you!

Forgiveness Matters

Please understand, friends, the character of a child of God is not shaped by the teachings of the world because this knowledge is foolishness when compared to the knowledge of spiritual things (1 Corinthians 3:19).  Knowledge of the spiritual is what makes us able to love those who hurt us, bless those who curse us and do good to those who abuse us (Luke 6:27-28) without expecting anything in return (or else you will be very disappointed!). Love is humility with activity. We ought to actively show love and not just love in word (1 John 3:18). Love is forgiving that person who told lies to you and about you, abused you or took something or someone away from you. And it is this forgiveness, prompted by the Holy Spirit Who you allow to live inside you that will give you this power to forgive. We cannot do this on our own.

And when we forgive, we experience peace. The world doesn’t teach us this because the aim of the prince of the power of the air (Ephesians 2:2), the devil, is to keep us unhappy, bitter and vengeful tricking us into thinking that this will bring us peace. I promise you, as someone who has been fooled by this mindset before, it won’t. He only aims to kill, steal and destroy, but Christ, Love in the flesh, came that we might have an abundant life! (John 10:10) Forgiveness leads to peace and and peace, joy! I would rather live that way than in the dark depths of bitterness and unforgiveness. And so, friends, we have to walk in the spirit of forgiveness so that we can even love the bitter soul of that person who keeps doing evil and seems to be prospering while we are not. But, ultimately, this kind of love opens us up to healing and peace.

First, you have to let go. 

Let go of the erroneous preconceptions about love and let the Lord teach you what True Love is.  Let go.

I feel impressed to pray with you:

Our Heavenly Father,

I want to thank you for the ultimate example of love which is to deny self and to esteem the other better (Philippians 2:3) when You gave Your only Son to die in our place. We all have sinned and come short of giving You all the glory (Romans 3:23) and you knew that this would happen but in your mercy and grace, you made provision (1 John 4:10) for our salvation and our peace which is Jesus Christ your Son (Isaiah 53:4-5). Father, You love us in ways that we don’t yet understand. Help us to stop limiting you (Psalm 78:41) and the love you have for us so that we can really experience peace and the truth about Love as we read Your Word for those examples of True Love. The spirit of the law is love (Romans 13:10). We should obey Your Word you because we love You, and Your commands were given out of love for us. Your laws are symbolic of love that seeks to protect the object of loving. If we obey You with love it means that Your spirit will cause us to want to be forgiving , will cause us to want to be humble will cause us to want to be at peace with our fellow man (Philippians 2:13).

Help us to understand that no child, no friend, no spouse, no fan, no possession can ever complete us (Colossians 2:10). The loneliness and the emptiness we feel can only be filled by fellowshipping with You, Heavenly Father (Jeremiah 2:13). Help us then to love you better and that your love will flow through us into the troubled, restless world that is outside of us.

In Jesus Christ’s name we pray with thanksgiving.

Amen.

 Scriptures for Meditation

Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me. Revelation 3:20

Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God.  He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love. In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him. Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another. No man hath seen God at any time. If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and his love is perfected in us. Hereby know we that we dwell in him, and he in us, because he hath given us of his Spirit. 1 John 4:7-13

Let no man deceive himself. If any man among you seemeth to be wise in this world, let him become a fool, that he may be wise. For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, He taketh the wise in their own craftiness. And again, The Lord knoweth the thoughts of the wise, that they are vain (shallow, empty). Therefore let no man glory in men. 1 Corinthians 3:18-21

But I say unto you which hear, Love your enemies, do good to them which hate you, bless them that curse you, and pray for them which despitefully use you. 

Luke 6: 27-28

 

My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed (action) and in truth. 1 John 3:18 

For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God. Romans 3:23

Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions; he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. Isaiah 53:4-5 

Yea, they turned back and tempted God, and limited the Holy One of Israel. 

Psalm 78:41

For this, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Thou shalt not covet; and if there be any other commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this saying, namely, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. Love worketh no ill to his neighbour: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law. Romans 13:9-10

For it is God which worketh in you both to will (desire) and to do of his good pleasure. Philippians 2:13

And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power… Colossians 2:10 

The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly. John 10:10 

For my people have committed two evils; they have forsaken me the fountain of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water. Jeremiah 2:13 

Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil; rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth; beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things. 1 Corinthians 13:4-7

All scriptures are taken from the King James Version (KJV) which is free in the public domain.

💓 Read other articles about True Love:
The Secret to True Love: The Fruit of the Spirit is Love
The Secret to True Love: 2 Reasons You May Be Unhappy in Love
3 Steps to Long and Lasting Love: Step 1
3 Steps to Long and Lasting Love: Step 2

It's Your Turn

How have you been impacted by this message? Share your testimony in the comments.

 

Your story may save a life!

God bless you!

The Secret to True Love: The Fruit of the Spirit is Love

The fruit of the Spirit is love.

Galatians 5: 22

We all have a yearning for love. Sometimes we seek to share this love that we have bubbling up inside us, or we just want someone to actually, for real this time, love us. We wander through this world seeking love from a spouse, our children, friends, and people in general. 

But what if we are going about things the wrong way? What if everything we think about love is a lie?

The Secret to True Love is a new series that delves into the truth about love when it is compared to what we see in the media and around us. Things are not always as they seem. However, when we apply the Truths of the Word of God to the situations that affect us daily, we would come to realize how much peace we would have in a world that actually attempts to robs us of that peace every day.

💓 Read other articles about True Love:
The Secret to True Love: Life Changing Love
The Secret to True Love: 2 Reasons You May Be Unhappy in Love
3 Steps to Long and Lasting Love: Step 1
3 Steps to Long and Lasting Love: Step 2

Perfect Love or Sex Appeal

When I was a teenager, I used to admire the shiny muscular contours on those black dudes who sang R and B songs! They had a swag that appealed to me as they crooned lyrics of undying love for this girl, or rescuing that girl from a broken relationship. They were perfect. Perfect curly hair, perfect durags, perfect bodies, perfect sound, perfect idea of loving. Yes! They were perfect but perfect at sex appeal.

The Bible says that foolishness is bound in the heart of a child and it takes the rod of correction to drive it out (Proverbs 22:15). The rod of correction that woke me up included a decade long marriage that ended in divorce and other love relationships that never filled that need for love the way I thought it should have.

Something just never sat right with my spirit.

Hard Journey to Truth

Being a Christian just seemed natural to me so it didn't take much convincing me to get baptized at the age of 14 years. My relationship with God was so-so until things changed between us during the depression struggles I experienced in my 20s. (Read my Confessions of a Depression Survivor here.) I started to see more of who God Almighty is and I really started to grow in love with my Saviour. Then, when my husband and I separated after our 12 years of being together, I got to understand more about love. Yes, in the pain of heartache, I learned more about true love.

Not the love in the music videos.

Not the love of 'happily ever after' aspirations.

Not the love that we want to make us feel sweet all day.

I learned the truth about Love.

When Love Walked Away

I remember when my husband left, I felt no pain. I was visited by my Father one night and He spoke words of comfort in my spirit. The language He used was not English but I understood that it was comfort. Two days later, my husband left us. I never felt sad or anything. I was fine until some months later when I had applied for a scholarship that it hit me. I was a single mom. Of course, I felt hurt in that moment but I’ll save this complete testimony for the next article in this series. After 2 years of separation, the divorce process commenced. In all honesty, it hurt. A lot!

It was in the time of separation and divorce from my children’s dad that I started to see love clearly. I could sense my Lord holding my hand and showing me the truth about love. 

Bear in mind that all my views are based on the Word of God. The teachings in the Bible make even the most technical-looking aspects of life seem so simple if we would only take the time out to ask the Lord to reveal these things to us.

Over the next few days of this series, we will take a look at our Father’s idea about love as He is the Originator and Essence of Love. Let’s debunk the lies and see why so many persons including this Musing Mom, fall down the rabbit hole of incorrect loving. I’ll share my stories of living the lies about love and how the truth about love set me free and made me more confident in love.

                                                                                                                                               

In the next articles in this series, you can expect to:

1.  Discover the simplicity behind truelove. It’s a threefold secret! 
2.  Understand the simple meaning behind what it means to love.
3.  Recognize love when you see it.
4. Learn about the healing power of Love.

It’s Your Turn

Share with us in the comments your experience of love. 

Good, bad, in between, it’s your experience and we can all learn from each other.

Your story may save a life!

God bless you.

💓 Read other articles about True Love:

The Secret to True Love: Life Changing Love

The Secret to True Love: 2 Reasons You May Be Unhappy in Love

3 Steps to Long and Lasting Love: Step 1

3 Steps to Long and Lasting Love: Step 2

Confessions of a Depression Survivor: Chapter 5: Delivered!

For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all!

2 Corinthians 4:17 (NIV)

Disclaimer: I am not a doctor. I do not diagnose nor recommend medication for any ailment. I do not encourage that persons stop taking medication if they are on a regimen. I do encourage everyone to exercise trust in the Lord whether they take medicines. I stand firmly by something someone once said to me: the doctor treats but God Almighty heals.

Hi Friends!

Confessions of Depression Survivor is a blog series that documents my testimony of surviving Type 2 Bipolar Depression through the promise of healing in Jesus Christ. This series will consist of a number of chapters depicting the stages of the affliction and how I came out with more victory than I imagined.  

The aim of the series is to show that one encounter with the Lord can change EVERYthing!

What the enemy of our souls mean for evil, our Heavenly Father works it out for our good. Romans 8:28

Follow my story: 

See Chapter 1: In the beginning...

See Chapter 2: Sorrow, Suicide and (More) Sleep

See Chapter 3: Emergency!

See Chapter 4: Deepest Dark before the Dawn

Chapter FIVE

Delivered!

I had just moved closer to attempting suicide when an invisible force gently led me away from the edge of my roof. 

My husband had no response when I shared this experience with him but...

My older daughter joyfully bounced into the room.

With great delight, she declared, “Mommy, I know a song that I want to sing to you! Listen, Mommy!”

My daughter had just started infant school (Kindergarten) and she was singing many songs at that age… but tonight, she had a message from Jehovah-Rophe for me.

(Jehovah-Rophe means ‘God Who heals, restores those who are hurting, sick’ Exodus 15:26)

She opened her mouth and sang, “Jesus loves me this I know/ for the Bible tells me so!”

In my mind I was in a dark room surrounded by brick walls and there was no light. It was like a movie being played out in my mind as she sang to me…

“Little ones to him belong,

They are weak but…”

A tiny beam of light broke through one of the four walls.

“He is strong”

The light grew bigger and bigger and started filling the room of my consciousness!

“Yes, Jesus loves me!

Yes, Jesus loves me!”

The bricks could not stand the power of the light! The bricks were all breaking and as the light broke through! My mind! It was transforming!

“Yes, Jesus loves me!

The Bible tells me so!”

And I was never the same again.

My deliverance had started and there was no turning back!

 The Journey to Healing

My life improved from that night.

The idea that Jesus Christ loves me resonated in my spirit from that time until now. The song pointed to the fact that Jesus’ love for me is recorded in the Bible and so, 

a strong desire arose in me to read it. I wanted to know more about this God and Jesus who broke down the walls of depression and suicide in me. I had never seriously read my Bible even after many years of being a baptized Christian.

Now, I noticed that all the times I had relapsed into depression I would lose the ability to read. This time, however, I didn’t feel lost in my mind as I normally did in those times. I decided that this was my chance! 

I decided to forget everything I had ever heard or was taught about God in church, school or anywhere. I emptied my mind and asked the Lord to teach me the truth in His Word. And He did.

I felt led to read Hebrews and this book blew my mind! Then I continued reading until the depression returned. I was frustrated because by this time I was reading the Bible every chance I could get. I was also telling everyone I could about what I was discovering in the Word. I saw the things that were going on the world and in the churches that were not according to the teachings in the Bible. The Lord became so much more real to me than I had ever experienced Him before. 

Troubling Side Effects

My concerns about the side effects of the pills I was taking increased. One day, a colleague of mine shared her opinion about the drugs. I hadn’t spoken with her about my concerns but she just blurted out that the same drugs that were supposed to stabilize mood caused the patients to return with depression.

That evening I made a decision. I decided that I was going to act on the faith I was reading about in the Bible. I had read that God Almighty gave me a sound mind (2 Timothy 1:7) and 1John 5:4 says, “For whatsoever is born of God overcomes the world: and this is the victory that overcomes the world, even our faith.” Faith would be what propelled me to the healing I hoped for like Hebrews 11:1. I would not take any more of the pills. They helped me up to a point. They treated some symptoms and for this I was grateful but I needed healing and I was going to trust the God of the Bible for my healing. 

By this time I was reading 2 Corinthians which I affectionately call “The Book of Comfort”. I decided I would start memorizing scriptures so that when the depression came back and I couldn’t read, I would recite them. I believed every word I was reading. I would combat the demons of depression with faith and the Word of God- the Sword of the Spirit (Ephesians6:17). That was my plan!

My local church and my mother’s church family were praying for me, my friends, family as well; and with God’s help, the plan worked!

My local church and my mother’s church family were praying for me, my friends, family as well; and with God’s help, the plan worked!

  

When the depression returned, I would recite the scriptures I had memorized like my cornerstone scripture 2 Corinthians 4:16-18:

…Though the outward man perishes, yet the inward man is renewed day by day.

 For this light affliction is but for a moment and worketh for me a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory;

While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.

(Emphasis and personalization are mine.)

My method was:

At the first feelings of loneliness, sadness, doom, and feeling lost, I would recite scriptures. 

Then, I would get up and shower, comb my hair and, in general, get active.

It worked! It always did!

I have not taken another mood stabilizer, anti-psychotic or antidepressant since the end of 2011.

All depression symptoms and suicidal thoughts disappeared by early 2012!

I walk in gratitude every single day!

I have shared my testimony many times because I have experienced the healing power of Jehovah-Rophe. I understand that one reason for affliction is to draw us closer to God. I have been so much closer to Him since then and find great joy when I read the Bible. Nothing beats a personal relationship with the Lord. Church attendance, praise parties and all the Christian books we read can never take the place of sitting at His feet and learning from Him, talking with Him, and meditating on the truths in His Word. 

Depression showed me my strengths: depression showed me that I am a SURVIVOR because I have a Loving Father Who is willing to pull me back from the edge and love me through my darkest times... if I only believe.

 To Almighty God be all the glory! Hallelujah!

It's Your Turn!

We have all been through the dark places.

Share with us in the comments the lessons you learned.

Your experience may save a life!

God bless you!