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Welcome to the 48th post of The Aim and Soar Life, a weekly Christian personal growth and lifestyle newsletter that provides actionable, relatable, and biblically rooted content to help you live abundantly and GROW YOU. GOD’S WAY.

GREETINGS!

It’s February and this is the month for LOVE. Appropriately, the theme for this month is love, but not just any kind of love—GOOD LOVE! There is no greater love than God's love for us, and I want to spend this month focusing on His love. GOOD LOVE.

I was midlife years old when John 21:4-10 spoke to me in a way I hadn’t experienced before. I was either reading a devotional or listening to a podcast that mentioned the verses. I quickly went to my Bible and reread it. My eyes filled with tears, and I experienced a beautiful, comforting feeling.

How could it be that this was the first time I had actually processed this text and what it truly signified? I had read the book of John many times over the years. How could I have missed it?

Seven of the disciples were fishing one night but didn’t catch anything. When morning came, they saw a man on the shore who asked them if they had any fish. They said “no,” and the man told them to cast their nets on the right side of the boat and they would find fish. They obeyed, and soon their net was full of fish but didn’t break. Sound familiar? If not, read Luke 5:4-9 to refresh your memory.😍

John was the first to realize the man was none other than Jesus! Full of excitement, Peter jumped out of the boat and excitedly swam to shore. And when he got there, he found Jesus cooking breakfast! WOW!

⁴Early in the morning, Jesus stood on the shore, but the disciples did not realize that it was Jesus.
⁵He called out to them, “Friends, haven’t you any fish?”
“No,” they answered.
⁶He said, “Throw your net on the right side of the boat and you will find some.” When they did, they were unable to haul the net in because of the large number of fish.
⁷Then the disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, “It is the Lord!” As soon as Simon Peter heard him say, “It is the Lord,” he wrapped his outer garment around him (for he had taken it off) and jumped into the water. ⁸The other disciples followed in the boat, towing the net full of fish, for they were not far from shore, about a hundred yards.^[^c^] ⁹When they landed, they saw a fire of burning coals there with fish on it, and some bread.
¹⁰Jesus said to them, “Bring some of the fish you have just caught.” ¹¹So Simon Peter climbed back into the boat and dragged the net ashore. It was full of large fish, 153, but even with so many the net was not torn. ¹²Jesus said to them, “Come and have breakfast.” None of the disciples dared ask him, “Who are you?” They knew it was the Lord. ¹³Jesus came, took the bread and gave it to them, and did the same with the fish. ¹⁴This was now the third time Jesus appeared to his disciples after he was raised from the dead.
John 21:4-10

Did you “catch” that? Imagine the God of the Universe—who has created all that is seen and unseen—loving you so much that He cooks breakfast for you!

Wow. It still blows my mind.

The amount of love and care the Lord demonstrates to His disciples in this text is personal. This is a true sign of intimacy. It shows God’s compassion and kindness, as well as His concern for our practical and spiritual needs.

It makes my heart joyful.

If you’re thinking, “That’s wonderful, Sherrhonda. But it’s not like God is going to come down from heaven and cook breakfast for me!”

You’re right. But guess what? Jesus did it for His disciples out of His love for them. And He loves you just as much! The Lord wants the same deep level of intimacy with you as He shared with his closest disciples, and He is offering it to you!

In return, He doesn’t want a surface kind of love where you read a daily devotional and Bible as perfunctory practices to check off your to-do list and then offer up a few prayers.

God wants up-close and personal communication and fellowship with you that is spurred by your longing to know and love Him deeply.

He has already shown His love for you by dying for you. He continues to demonstrate it through the indwelling of His Holy Spirit (for those who are saved).

What good is love that is not reciprocated?

Mark 12:30 paints the picture of the kind of love God wants from us.

³⁰And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ This is the first commandment.

People often say they are waiting on the Lord for something. But many times, the Lord is waiting on us! He’s waiting for us to come to some conclusions, to move out of some spaces and situations, and to give ourselves up wholly to Him.

True Intimacy

True spiritual intimacy with God is developed when we humble ourselves and sincerely desire closeness with God.

⁸Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded.
James 4:8, NKJV

James reminds us to come correct with God. To keep it 100!

There can be things in your life that act as a barrier to you having intimacy with God. For example, I often say I have “The Martha Syndrome.” Sister Martha was busy cleaning instead of spending quality time with Jesus! I get like this at times.

Spiritual Intimacy Blockers

Sometimes, I become so focused on the things of this world: my job, bills, family relationships, and all kinds of other things that may be legitimate concerns (but are not more important than my relationship with God), that I neglect the time I need to spend with the Lord.

When I realize that I have The Martha Syndrome again, I ask God to help me focus on the most important thing—Him.

Unconfessed Sin is another barrier that impedes our intimacy with God. I don’t know about you, but there have been times in my Christian walk when I have been flat-out disappointed in myself for doing something I know I had no business doing. Guilty as charged! In the past, this has caused me to shy away from God. Remember Adam and Eve? They hid (or at least called themselves hiding) from God after they sinned. I know the feeling!

Then I learned that the perfect time to draw near to God is when you are messy and “dirty.” Only God can clean you up and get you back right standing with Him. You can’t do it on your own.

We live in a world where sin is thought of as an old concept. But God hasn’t changed. He desires us to be holy. When we have unconfessed sin, He wants us to come clean and repent, so that our fellowship with Him is restored. Sin breaks our fellowship with God. Confession and repentance allow God to restore our fellowship with Him.

Unforgiveness is another factor that hinders intimacy. I was talking to one of my godbrothers about a situation once, and in the middle of my sentence, he asked me if had I forgiven my “offender.”

I had to think about it for a moment before truthfully answering, “I thought I had.” We talked about how easy it is to harbor feelings of resentment when someone has wronged us, even if we aren’t intentionally doing it or are unaware of it.

It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that if you are harboring resentment toward someone, you really haven’t forgiven them, no matter how much you tell yourself you have.

I had to check myself and ask God to give me the ability to forgive and let it go. The ironic thing is, all the sermons and messages I happened to listen to during that period focused on letting go of the past. I knew God was speaking to me!

³The Lord appeared to us in the past, saying:

“I have loved you with an everlasting love;
I have drawn you with unfailing kindness.

Jeremiah 31:3, NIV

Jesus has done something more wonderful for you than cooking you breakfast on the beach. He’s given His life for you and continues to love you with an everlasting love! He desires for you to know Him intimately. He desires for you to truly understand that He has nothing but GOOD LOVE for you!

PEACE, MY FRIEND!

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Until Next Time,

GROW YOU. GOD’S WAY.

Sherrhonda😍

P.S.

I’d LOVE for you to meet me on the web:

www.sherrhondadenice.com

email: sherrhonda@sherrhondadenice.com

The Aim and Soar Life

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