Devotional – The Queen Life – Day 8

Do you have any memory of your childhood days when you did a good deed, and your parents rewarded you with something you loved? What about when you disobeyed an instruction, or broke a rule; do you remember the reprimand and possible lashing? Oftentimes our parents’ reactions to our actions are inspired by their love for us. Sometimes it doesn’t seem like it especially when they have to make the decision to discipline us; oftentimes the strap is employed.

Personally, I have had my share of reward for being a good behaving child, and lashes for disobedience too. When I decided to break the rules, I knew there could be consequences, but I hoped to not get caught; if I did, in my mind it was worth it if I satisfied myself by doing what I wanted. This attitude followed me well into my adult life, and little did I know that while I didn’t have to worry about my parents sending me to get the belt so I could take my lashing, I was now destroying my life with my own hands. The Bible calls this type of woman “foolish” (Proverbs 14:1).

Looking back, I realized that I was never told the benefit, and value of obeying the rules, and that they were for my protection. As far as I remember, breaking the rules was cool- whether school rules, house rules, it was what was popular among children in my time. Doing the right thing all the time seemed boring, and even weak. Later I would learn that this was all a lie.

The revelation of truth came after having an Abrahamic encounter with God. I have shared the story of hearing God’s call in previous devotionals. By that time, I was willing to change my life if I could keep up with obeying God’s commandments. I figured it would be hard work, but I genuinely wanted to give it a try. What I discovered and experienced was True Love.

If I may be honest, by the time I turned to God I needed to be re-raised. My parents did the best they could with me, but as I read God’s Word I began to see that I was living upside down. My interpretation of life and how it was to be lived was opposite of what the Word of God revealed. With the loving aid of the Holy Spirit, I was re-taught and re-fashioned; in essence I was parented by God as an adult. Surely, He was very aware of the reality of my upbringing, and the mindset I had developed over the years, but He lovingly taught me how to change my mind and to embrace the mind of Christ.

The Bible speaks of God’s love in many ways; one in particular says: Love is of God…and God is love. (1John 4:7). My own journey with God can testify that the love of God is True Love. How have you experienced God’s Love on your journey with Him? For me, I know now why He encourages us to make Him our first love; because when we do we are able to experience all that is True about His Love for us, and by extension, we can love others with the same True Love.

And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them.

1 John 4:16

As a woman, you are by nature tender and nurturing; oftentimes, your love flows from your heart like a cascading river. Today, you are reminded that God’s love for you is true; it will never change, nor will ever fail. In accepting God’s True Love, there is so much to learn about Him, and about yourself. You’ll better understand why you desire to give so much of yourself to others as God gives Himself to you.

It happens so easily that we go out attempting to give love to others only to feel depleted when we do not receive love in return. The QUEEN LIFE involves having the assurance that you will be taught by God’s Holy Spirit how to accept and embrace True Love. It will become easier to love others without demanding their love in return. God’s True Love will be experienced fully in adopting the Biblical Principle to put First Things First.

The Blessed Call to Holiness is God’s invitation to us, to be His Daughters so we can experience True Love. This love commends, rewards, teaches, corrects, disciplines. It changes us and makes us reflect the image of our KING. It ignites hope in the hearts of those of us who experience it in a profound and undeniable way; of this hope the Scripture says:

And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.

Romans 5:5