God’s Word is our Greatest Love Letter!
RISE UP WARRIORS… IT’S VALENTINE’S DAY!
I’ve always LOVED valentine’s day! As a little girl, my mom would set up our kitchen table with sweet treats and little pink and red mailboxes filled with love notes and goodies for my sisters and I. At University, I spent each Valentine’s Day with Jesus, going on prayer walks, dwelling in His presence, and reading His Word as my greatest love letter under swaying cherry blossom trees! Feeling the warmth of the sun making its way through my curtains early this morning, I slipped on my pink satin pj’s, my promise pearl, and lifted my hands in prayer. Opening my Bible for my quiet time with the Lord, the sweet aroma of the most beautiful roses filled my room. Feeling my promise pearl, I closed my eyes and thanked Jesus for writing the most beautiful and purposeful love story… one that could only have come from His love and His perfect timing.
Thinking about my promise pearl and its significant meaning, my eyes drifted down at my Bible to read the greatest love story ever written, a story of the Father’s love and eternal promise for those who love and believe in Him! As I read John 3:16, God reminded my soul of a melody He often sang to me in University, “Oh how I love you.”
“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, so that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” -John 3:16
Not too long ago, I walked outside of my house and saw deep and dark, rolling clouds that rushed over a sunny blue sky. Knowing the sky was about to do a proper Texas downpour, I slipped off my shoes and slowly walked through the soft, green grass in my backyard. Sitting down on one of our benches, the wind began to pick up and deep hums of thunder filled the sky. I could have grabbed an umbrella or a rain hat, and I could have put on a raincoat or simply gone inside, but instead, I closed my eyes and lifted my head, wanting nothing more than to feel every droplet of rain falling down on my body from head to toe. As deep hums of thunder filled the night-like sky at 1 pm, I sat in peace, embracing every single droplet of rain. With nothing but the sound of rain droplets and thunder, Romans 5:5 rushed over my heart with the sound of God’s voice saying, “Oh how I love you.”
“This hope will not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.” -Romans 5:5
Whether you are single and praying for a God-written love story, engaged and preparing for “I Do,” or married and in love, I want to encourage you to RISE UP WARRIOR and dwell in the presence of God this Valentine’s Day. God knows your heart, your desires, and each one of your prayers. So, spend this Valentine’s Day with Jesus! Go on a prayer walk, have a picnic with the Holy Spirit, lift your hands in worship, and let God’s Word fall afresh over your soul, as your greatest love letter! Close your eyes and imagine rolling clouds filling the sky as thunder roars and rain falls in harmony. Lift your hands and surrender every thought, every fear, every worry, every prayer, every amazing opportunity you have, and every God-sized dream fueling your soul, and listen for God’s voice saying, “Oh how I love you!”
God’s everlasting love for you is just like the clouds that slowly let go of rain as it pours down. You can choose to “open an umbrella, put on a hat/raincoat, or go inside” (putting a shield between God’s love for you and receiving it) or you can Rise Up beloved and walk through the grass, sit on the bench, and lift your head, embracing every droplet of rain, hearing God say, “Oh how I love you.”
When we lift our head to the Heavens and open our arms in surrender, we begin to see and feel things differently. We begin to walk in love because we are experiencing and receiving the everlasting and abundant love of God. We begin to embrace the wholeness of God’s voice saying, “Oh how I love you” in every prayer we whisper to the ears of Jesus Himself. God knows each one of our prayers. He knows our desire to love and be loved. He knows the ins and outs of who we are and what He has established for each of our lives before we were born because He loves us! God loves us because He loves us because He loves us!
As I smile at the memory of Valentine’s Day as a little girl, at each single Valentine’s Day with Jesus in University, and thank Him for writing the most pure, beautiful, and purposeful love story for my life, I will lift my hands in adoration, praising my King who gives me the greatest love letter of all time, His Word!!
This Valentine’s Day, let’s rejoice in God’s unending and everlasting LOVE for US! Let’s dwell in the goodness of His eternal PROMISE, and RISE UP, receiving God’s love like pouring rain, because it’s there, we just need to RISE UP, breathe, and feel it!
-Jessica-Andrea Brown
