"Love In The Flesh"

In case you did not know, 'Agape' Love is a noun, which means that it is a person, place or thing. As I was reading a portion of John 6 this morning, I couldn't help notice the magnitude of love expressed in verse 51, "I am the Living Bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this Bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is My Flesh, which I will give for the life of the world." Because, as I see it, Jesus was really trying hard to convince those that were listening how important it was that He came. Unfortunately, as we see in verse 52, they really did not get the point He was trying to make: "The Jews therefore strove among themselves, saying, How can this man give us his flesh to eat?" It is kind of like trying to get a fish to breath out of the water; they will try, but not with much luck. This Love that is being expressed here by Jesus, is the kind of Love that only is understood once it is learned; and the only way it is learned, is by the Father drawing us unto Himself, and showing us. If anyone can make a fish breath out of water, He can! Sometimes we just have to know the source of Love, to actually see that Love, and this is one example of a time like that. Now then, getting back to my love for my wife; there is something which I can do to express my love towards her, which is much the same as how the Father expressed His Love towards us, and it has to do with me giving of my flesh; on a whole different level, that's for sure. This giving of my flesh, for me, is to die to myself in the regards of my needs, or my ambitions; this is not easy for me to do. When we look at the example, or instruction that Paul gave in Ephesians 5:25, we can see, after looking at John 6:51, that it is a little more meaningful. As Paul puts it: "Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave Himself for it"; which, as we can see from John 6:51, requires the giving of the flesh. I can tell you right here and now, I don't care how strong you think that you are in the Lord, if you don't die to your flesh, your flesh will rise up! Okay, maybe you don't see the connection; but our flesh is stronger than we think, mostly because it is still hanging around, but more importantly, because it wants it's own way; even at the expense of others, including our wives, our kids, our friends, our Pastors. And what is our own way? Well, for one, the way we think things should be. We have a picture in our minds of how things should be, and that is how we expect things to be; anything that is contrary to that picture, makes us uneasy, uptight, and even, unloving; depending on how much, or how long we dwell upon the way we want it to be. For me, the picture that I have for my wife and I, is closer to the way things use to be; however, the way things are is not very close to that picture. I try to make my pictures come to life: movie dates, going out to eat, watching a sunset; it really doesn't matter what the picture is that I have, when it is played out, it does not look the same. Therefore, I must look beyond this flesh, and it's desires; looking to God, and His desire for us; His desire for me, as a husband to be obedient to what His Word tells me to do, and to Love my wife, even as Christ loved the church!