Good morning…
When life crumbles all around us, we cling to the God who gives us breath. During our Friday morning class, I read aloud these convicting words.
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Excerpt from Paula D’Arcy’s Seeking God With All My Heart
On retreat in Indiana, I listened to a tape recording of a talk by Henri Nouwen. Nouwen was challenging his audience to claim the “First Love,” the love of God, from within. He warned that if you didn’t, you would begin asking the human persons in your life to love you as only God can love. When that request is made of others, “They will fail.”
If you are securely rooted in the First Love, you can receive the “second loves” as gifts. “When you live the First Love in communion with God, you can live in any relationship and not ask from each other what you cannot give. The voice you must hear and keep hearing is God’s voice saying, You belong to me.” This is the voice of our true identity. (78-79)
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But I have this [charge] against you, that you have left your first love [you have lost the depth of love that you first had for Me] (Revelation 2:4, AMP). Clinging again to our First Love, the voice we must hear and keep hearing is the voice of God in our everyday lives. When we tune out God, we disconnect from the voice of our true identity.
…Sue…
P.S. Echoing God’s voice, You belong to me, listen again to this beautiful song recommended on Friday morning: “You Say” by Lauren Daigle.