Do you have any friends who would do anything for you? Would they die for you? Would they give their life for you? My grandparents would probably have given their lives for me, but other than that, I don’t know anyone else on earth who would go that far. I’m not discounting people who do things for me and are possibly making a sacrifice to do it, but I’m talking about something much more extreme. There was One Who was really extreme….Jesus, God’s Son.

I believe we all need a regular, fresh encounter with the real-ness of God’s love for us. It’s too easy for it to be just words. We have head knowledge of God’s love, but do we have heart knowledge? Do we know that we know that we KNOW? We urgently need nearness to Him. We don’t live by our feelings, but there are times when we have an experience that includes feelings. An experience with His love is life-sustaining when day-to-day issues keep hammering away at our minds, week after week. This week the Spirit is moving my heart with Love Song written by Mac Powell (and others) of Third Day. It is written from the perspective of Jesus speaking it to us.

Listen here.

“I’ve heard a tale that a man would climb a mountain
Just to be with the one he loves
How many times has he broken that promise?
It has never been done
Well, I never climbed the highest mountain
But I walked the Hill of Calvary

And just to be with you I’ll do anything
There’s no price I would not pay, no
Just to be with you I will give everything
I would give my life away, yeah…~~~sung by Third Day

Writers: Brad Avery, David Carr, Mac Powell, Mark Lee, Tai Anderson

There’s more to the song. Go check it out.

We have a print hanging on our living room wall that is a depiction of Israel’s tabernacle in the wilderness. The print portrays the Shekinah glory of God coming down over the inner court. This picture distinctly speaks to me of how MUCH God wants to dwell with man. He had the people go to an extreme length to build a huge tent. It had to be built a certain way. Everything had to be just right. The Israelites built, wove, hammered and gathered supplies from amongst themselves, so much so that Moses told them to quit, because they brought so much. (Exodus 35 is where the tabernacle plans begins, if you would like to read about it.) This tabernacle was made of huge panels of curtains which would be packed up when they moved and reassembled when they set up camp again. This was so that the presence of God could go with them. The nation camped around this tabernacle, or dwelling place of God, during those years.

Once it was assembled exactly like the one in heaven (Hebrews 8:5 says), the glory of God could come and be in the midst of the people without hurting them. Without the tabernacle and the sacrifices (showing the cost of redemption), God couldn’t live there; His holiness would kill the people, and He didn’t want to kill the people He loved. His longing was so great, He wanted to be among the men He had created. He wanted friendship with them like He had previously with Adam in the garden.

And so, this picture always impresses upon me the extravagant and extraordinary desire of our Father God, who is a Spirit, to dwell with His creation. That’s extreme!

The song by Third Day, to me, again reinforces this idea, this truth. Now that Jesus has come, God is able to live inside of us through His Holy Spirit (1 Cor. 2:), to actually dwell in us and be with us as He has always desired. He is a “desperate,” loving God who has always gone to extreme lengths to save His creation and come dwell with us without harming us. We don’t really know how much we are loved by Him. Someday those who have responded to his love here on earth are going to spend eternity with Him, rejoicing forever in the experience, the brightness and the reality of His love.

Makes me think of another song….in the sunshine of your love…..although I might spell it Son-shine instead!