Many years ago at a solitude retreat with Young Life ministry, I learned to personalize Scripture through the lens of love. God's essence is love. In the gospel, we find the greatest love story ever written. Jesus loved the world so much that He took the sin of all mankind and died to restore life and purity. The Holy Spirit pours the love of God into every believer. Learning to listen to the voice of God's love is life-changing! If we embrace the truth that we are lovable because we were created by the Source of love, we can accept His gift of love, personalize it, and live it out in every area. The three minutes of quiet at the end of each daily devotion will be enriched and peaceful if this is a time completely filtered through His heart of lovingkindness. Even though He speaks truth (sometimes hard truth), His truth is given in tandem with His lovingkindness. His powerful voice is loving, His tone is loving, His restorative message is loving. His voice is like a river of life bringing restorative healing. "His voice was [powerful] like the sound of many waters." (Revelations 14:2 AMP) When we release our restlessness and nestle close to the heart of our Heavenly Father, we place ourselves in a posture to receive His peace that passes all of our understanding. Nestling ourselves close to His heart will bring us to a place where we can release all of life's tension, bitterness, and regret that keep us separated from His precious, powerful peace and lovingkindness. His heart of love continually restores our relationship with Him, and helps us to view ourselves as lovable, allowing His love to overflow into the world around us. May these words bring rest to your heart, soul, and mind as the Lover of our souls and the Voice of many waters (Jesus) speaks His tender, life-changing, restorative truth into your heart. "Selah" in Hebrew indicates a pause. It is often used as a pause in music or as a cue for one's physical posture to change in worship. As you daily enter into rest with the Trinity, let your heart experience "Selah" and find yourself restored by His Rest.
