Plant Your Feet Firmly on Love
by Shelly Kalenius
Study includes:
A. Prophetic Encouragement
B. Devotional Teaching
C. Weekly Scripture Meditation
D. Resource Corner
A. Prophetic Encouragement
Since childhood, I have loved mysteries, treasure hunts, who-done-its and searching out answers to things I do not understand. I love rooting out the facts, finding hidden secrets and opening (or at least cracking open) the door to understanding.
I am also a romantic at heart, always ready to hear a good love story or, better yet, be in the middle of one.
I believe God has programmed us this way by divine design … we are all seekers, searching to discover and understand the mystery or secret that will fill that space He put in us just for Him.
I am forever grateful He chose me and that I found Him and yet I still want more! More of His love and more of His mysteries revealed. There is so much to learn about God and His Kingdom. Our Kingdom! I’d like to share a couple keys I feel have helped me.
B. Devotional Teaching
Discoveries
We are blessed to live in this time when many of the mysteries of God, kept hidden until the appointed time, are now being revealed to the saints. To us! What an awesome privilege it is to be alive for such a time as this, and what a responsibility.
The Bible is filled with promises on every page, all ours for the taking as His children. But there are also a myriad of hidden treasures and deeper revelation and truths He wants us to seek out.
These discoveries are not ours, nor can we take credit for them. They are a gift from God, who is the giver of all Truth.
“The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but those things which are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law.” (Deuteronomy 29:29 NKJV)
He will not impose His will on us but He did give us Holy Spirit, who is like a heat-seeking missile, zeroing in on Truth and guiding us.
Jesus told His disciples He would send them the Spirit of truth who will announce to you the things to come. The Lord gives us Holy Spirit as our divine Teacher and Helper that we may grow in the knowledge and wisdom of God. We all, in one way or another, seek to discover and understand the Truth, which in turn satisfies our need to know Him and be loved.
“I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come. He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you.” (John 16:12-14 NKJV)
I believe our Heavenly Father rejoices when we dig for buried treasure, and it gives Him great joy to reveal it to us. It reminds me of watching my grandson in his moments of discovery, such as the first time he figured out he could open up a drawer or cupboard. What joy! There is a whole treasure trove inside and I don’t know who derives greater pleasure from “the discovery,” me or my grandson. I do know that once he found the key to opening the cupboards, he didn’t stop at just one! Of course, some are locked, and he will not be allowed to open them yet for his own good. Access to them will come as he grows in his understanding of any responsibilities or special instructions we have regarding their contents.
So it is with the secret things of God. He wants us to seek and find with all that is in us, and yet we need to trust and not strive to open doors He is not ready to reveal to us yet. However, there is SO much yet to discover that He is just waiting for us to find. I think it is important that we as believers inquire of Holy Spirit. He leads and guides us in all truth, but I also believe as we actively ask Holy Spirit to guide us, more will be given to us.
It is up to us to search out the Scriptures, unearthing and laying hold of the promises revealed and hidden there. It is His pleasure to reveal them to us.
“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. Or what man is there among you who, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone?” (Matthew 7:7-9 NKJV)
Love – The Key to Understanding
Over the last year, like a moth to a flame, I am repeatedly drawn to Ephesians 3. Paul’s words and his prayer for the Gentiles fascinate me. He speaks of mysteries and secrets revealed. He speaks of understanding the width, length, depth and height of Christ’s love. I believe that in order to seek out the deeper things of God, the secret things of God, we must understand what Paul is telling us. I believe a key is here. The Message Bible puts it in better words than I could:
My response is to get down on my knees before the Father, this magnificent Father who parcels out all heaven and earth. I ask him to strengthen you by his Spirit – not a brute strength but a glorious inner strength – that Christ will live in you as you open the door and invite him in. And I ask him that with both feet planted firmly on love, you'll be able to take in with all followers of Jesus the extravagant dimensions of Christ’s love. Reach out and experience the breadth! Test its length! Plumb the depths! Rise to the heights! Live full lives, full in the fullness of God. God can do anything, you know – far more than you could ever imagine or guess or request in your wildest dreams! He does it not by pushing us around but by working within us, his Spirit deeply and gently within us. (Ephesians 3:14-20, emphasis mine)
Unless we have “both feet planted firmly on love” and “the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts” (Romans 5:5) it will be impossible for us to comprehend the exceeding riches (treasures) of the love of Christ.
If we can truly understand that God divinely designed everything and that the driving force, the strength of those foundations, is rooted in Love, that His intent was and always will be Love, it will unlock a completely new world to us. I believe all promises, all treasures, visible or hidden, are all rooted in the one true Treasure – Love, which is Christ.
Love is the Key, and should be the foundation and motivation for everything we do, say, think and feel. I believe God reveals mysteries to us when our motives and intent are pure and rooted in Love. That is when you will begin to see the unseen things, seeing what was there to see all the time, through the eyes of Love.
Conclusion
I am excited about the days we are living in. Some say it has never been darker. That may be true, but I say it is in that darkness His Light and Love shines the brightest. And for the lost who are seeking, we are the light in that darkness, in Christ Jesus. The lost are seeking in an ever-darkening world. They are treasures seeking treasure. Christ Jesus in YOU is the true and most precious treasure they can find. So dear friends, plant your feet firmly on Love and you will find what you are looking for. And so will they.
C. Weekly Scripture Meditation
Week ONE - Romans 8:14-17; John 16:12-14; Colossians 2:1
Week TWO - Ephesians 3; 1 Corinthians 2:9-11
Week THREE - 1 Corinthians 13; Colossians 1:25-27
Week FOUR - Luke 8:16; John 9:39
D. Resource Corner
God Loves You with an Everlasting Love - by Patricia King
Behold, What manner of love is this that one would not only lay down His life for His friends, but also for His enemies. For it was while we were yet sinners that he died for us and not for us only, but for the whole wide world so that all who believed in Him would not perish, but have everlasting life. This is love *GOD* and He loves YOU with an everlasting love.
If You Can See It, You Can Have It - by Patricia King
Living in the supernatural dimension of the Kingdom of God is easy for every believer when they understand the simple instruction given in the Scriptures for such a walk. In this 2-CD series, Patricia King teaches how you can receive revelation and move into the manifestation of that which is revealed. If you see it … you can have it!
CD 1 The Things Revealed Belong to Us
CD 2 Living in the Supernatural
Unlocking Kingdom Mysteries - by Patricia King
Our eyes have not seen, our ears have not heard, nor have our minds imagined the magnitude of what the Lord wants to reveal of Himself. But God is inviting us all in these days to enter into His glory and discover the depths of His heart, His mind and His ways.
In this powerful teaching, Patricia King gives you practical steps on how you can receive the mysteries of God and explore His supernatural realm. You will learn to discover more of who Jesus is, and in that discovery more of who you are and what you are called to do!
Faith Connection - Patricia King
A powerful series on how to secure the covenant promises given to believers through the finished work of the cross. This series will not only build your faith and inspire you to seek after Him, but it will also give you a deeper understanding of just how much he loves you!
Here is Love - Brian Johnson
Looking for songs that will take you into His presence, then this is the CD you need to get. Check out "What Does it Sound Like", "Here is Love", "I Need You More" and all the rest. You will not be disappointed!