Devotional – Life in the Palace

^{A Queen’s first love is for her King}

Love is a word that is used quite often by people all over the world. The word, Love is used to express one person’s affection towards another, or even a thing. In celebration of love, a special day is even set apart every year for lovers to express their affection for each other. The day is famously known as Valentine’s Day, celebrated on February 14 each year. As a symbol of unifying hearts, wedding ceremonies are planned and  held quite regularly to create unions that are supposed to last until death.

The formal definition of the word love is:

“an intense feeling of deep affection for a person or thing.

Oxford Dictionary

Based on the meaning of the word, it can be concluded that love is the feeling we have for someone or something that we hold close to our hearts. Have you wondered what is the origin of love? Let us try to trace where it all came from. In the record of God’s story, the Bible, we observe more action of love, than hearing of the word love. In Genesis, we read of God first creating a place, which He then beautified, and afterwards made provision for a being He would soon create in His own image . This is undoubtedly love, which was expressed even before He formed man. It cannot be denied that God loved first.

As we indulge more in the Word of God, we learn that by the time the Creator managed to take the nation of Israel as His Chosen People, He purposed to teach them how to respond to His love for them. To Moses, God gave the Commandments that would help Israel to live and enjoy His love for them. On the subject of love, this is what the Bible speaks about as God commanded:

You  shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might these words that I command you today shall be on your heart.

Deuteronomy 6. 4-6 

How do you think Israel faired in loving God first? With God being invisible, it may very well be difficult to make God the object of our affection; it happens so easily that we give away the place in our hearts reserved for God to other persons or things. This action, the Bible refers to as idolatry; it means that anything, or anyone that we love more than God is an idol. Israel was guilty of this in many ways.

Lovingly, our God and King warns us about the detriment of harbouring idols; His law puts it this way:

“You shall have no other gods before me.

Exodus 20:3

Why do you believe that God warns against idolatry? Personally, I was ignorant about this subject until the Lord opened my eyes. There was a point in my life that my focus, and priority was on my family. While I called myself a Christian, my love for God was misplaced. At one point, the Holy Spirit revealed to me that there were idols in my heart in the form of my husband and children. I didn’t quite agree, but on reflecting I realized that it was true. I was giving my time and attention to my family because I could see, and touch them they were real in my eyes and became the first object of my affection.

What I soon learned was that in neglecting my relationship with God, I was exposing myself and my family to danger, because the proper place was not reserved for God in my heart. I had filled my heart with love for the “gift”, and not for the “Giver”. This I call inverted love; I was loving upside down. I prayed and asked God to teach me how to put Him first, and by His grace, He did.

Now, I know better than to set up idols in my heart. The lesson I learned is that when I allowed God first place in my heart, He has the freedom to love me, and also to love those I love. When there is no idol standing in His way, He is compelled to protect and preserve me, as well as all who I love. I have had to learn the art of Balancing Love.

God’s love for us is so great that despite how many times we turn away from Him, He always finds a way to bring us back into fellowship with Him. The Bible confirms this truth:

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in Him, should not perish but have everlasting life.

St. John 3. 16

Like I did, you probably need God’s Holy Spirit to reveal whether or not there are idols in your heart. If it is that there are, God will surely help you to direct your love in order of priority. Surely, He will teach you the art of Balancing Love so that your life is lived For The King’s Pleasure. When your ways please God, then, when you Ask, Seek and Knock, whatever you desire, you will receive from your King.

God is always seeking for a people  who will love Him with all of their hearts; the desire God has for us to love Him, is not out of needs for anything, but instead the desire to give something. In return for our love, the King promises to bestow blessings in abundance so that His children can live happy and secure.

Love is patient and kind, love does not envy or boast, it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insisting it’s own way, it is not irritable or resentful, it does rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believe all things, hope all things, endures all things. Love never ends.

1 Corinthians 13, 4-7 

We are able to Defeat Fear when we are Balancing Love; surely, in Celebrating Dependence on our King, we are always Moving in Power. It will be that no enemy can stand against us because the King responds to our love for Him by fighting on our behalf since we are Sold Out to Him and His Kingdom. In Balancing Love, we can fearlessly live in expression of our True Worth.

PRIORITIZE YOUR LOVE FOR GOD..ALL ELSE FALLS INTO PLACE