"O Beloved"

 "I have come into my garden, my sister, my spouse: I have gathered my myrrh with my spice; I have eaten my honeycomb with my honey; I have drunk my wine with my milk: eat, O friends; drink, yea, drink abundantly, O beloved." (S.O.S. 5:1)

  What is your passion? It is really not that difficult to search out what motivates and directs your life, because whatever that is, that is the one thing you must learn and determine if it is in fellowship with the Lord. Not that we can ever keep ourselves from falling away or giving into the ways of the world; as much as it seems that it is not possible, it becomes possible as soon as we think it is in our control. We are not as strong as we think we are! You did not get saved without Jesus, and you will not remain faithful without Jesus! He is not only your portion: He is the Pillar that keeps you and holds you up. With Him you will not fail; without Him, you don't stand a chance! 

  This is very important to every single bit of who we are in Christ: do we truly believe that He loves us! Not, do we understand that He loves us, or that we think that He loves us; but is His love established in our hearts, so much so, that we are willing to die, to show how much we believe that He loves us? Those that have demonstrated that was so, they are the, "beloved," of which there is no doubt; all others, have little or nothing to show proof of their relationship, with the Lord that loves them so much; until they are willing to give all, even their very lives, to show that He loves them. 

  I know, it might seem a little drastic and over the top; but it is a small glimpse of what this word, "beloved," actually represents. It is very close to that last love Jesus used, as He asked Peter, "Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me?" (John 21:17) The first two times Jesus used a common type of love, one that one might use to express respectful love, as when Jesus said, "For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same?" (Matthew 5:46) Whereas, the third love, Jesus spoke of was a love that is founded in and springing from faith; it is a love that is based upon the preservation of life, or to hate it when it cannot be kept without denying Christ. 

  To make this into something that can be easily understood, the passion we must have is in knowing the Love of God! Not that we can ever master it, or posses it, or make it our own: but that we simply are familiar with it, because it is made known in us, lives through us, and is that which gives us life, real life; not this temporary and uncontrollable life, but life that is eternal and gloriously based in His love! 

  The kind of love we are talking about, is that special, "Even If," kind of love! That no matter what kind of love, that says, You are mine, and I am not letting go of you, no matter what...

"For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." (Romans 8:38-39)