As we study in the School of Agape Love, we have become the objects of God’s special care and have drawn the attention of all Heaven. Although this is not shown to us and we feel nothing, I believe that what we are doing has special significance in the Heavenly realms.
Imagine the joy the inhabitants of Heaven experience when they see us learning eternal laws and values so that we may live by them on this Earth. What happiness God experiences as He sees His love being sought after and taken freely from Heaven’s storehouses, so that it may pour out in mighty streams upon those around us. And what we do not see with our eyes, but ask for and study in faith, becomes ours forever.
I love. This is my choice, my decision to treat people in this way, my declaration of will concerning God and His law. This is my way of life and my challenge to this world. This is the direction of the path that will lead me to the beautiful land of Heavenly treasures and immerse me in the depths of extraordinary revelations and amazing knowledge. This is the unearthly wealth that will truly enrich my soul and deliver me from poverty. This is the gold refined in the fire that will adorn my house, pay all my bills, and open new paths to the hearts of my friends and those around me. This is what the Lord desires most of all to see in my life.
I am happy! How joyful it is for Heaven to see this decision of mine and to watch my little house of happiness being confidently built and established with imperishable material upon the Eternal Foundation!
God’s love has found its permanent dwelling place in my happiness and delights me with new blessings and revelations of its depth in relation to people.
Our earthly life is very short and is rapidly rushing toward its end, but it is intended to show the entire unseen world what God’s grace can do with a believer, or how sin disfigures people who have not accepted God’s mercy for their salvation.
As the Lord observes this world and those who are not of this world, He seeks people who thirst for greater blessings, greater victories, greater love, and greater happiness. God’s mercy has not been exhausted in its power to save. And the Lord watches very carefully what each of us is building, what we are building with, and upon what foundation. Imagine His joy when He sees something truly right, strong, and beautiful. Do you think such a structure will become an object of God’s special attention? In his indescribable fury, the enemy of souls asks Heaven for permission to test our structure, expose its weak points, and find a way inside. And the Lord sometimes allows Satan to display his power so that through these difficulties He may purify us, make us even more beautiful, and bind us still more firmly to Jesus.
I heard a story that in a certain country houses are built from stone ore containing resin. Once a house has been built, it is set on fire and burns for several days until all the resin is gone. After this purification, the building is finished. Such a house no longer fears fire and becomes very strong and fire-resistant. Something similar happens to those who build their happiness upon the Rock.
At the end of time, the most terrible trial will come, and it will be sent by God. Everything temporary, unstable, and counterfeit will be destroyed and swept away. And what will remain with us? It is not very pleasant to speak about this or to attribute to God the spirit of a punishing Judge, but at the end of time the Lord will carry out a sifting and gather the pure wheat into the garner, while the tares and straw will be burned with unquenchable fire. Then we will see an extraordinary manifestation of God’s love, in which mercy will authorize God’s justice to act. And who will be able to stand?
The Bible is filled with warnings about this remarkable time, and all the events described in it are drawing near to their fulfillment. Only what has been built correctly and upon the right Foundation will stand.
We are not merely building something so that we may feel good. What we are studying and desiring to have in our lives is not a product of human imagination, but God’s plan for us. Therefore, the Lord has a special interest in the strength of every structure. As He watches the construction of our little house of happiness, He gives it a special designation: ‘Holiness unto the Lord.’ I cannot call myself that or apply such a title to myself. My inborn sinful nature gives me no right to do so. But other people who are consecrated to God, or the Lord Himself, may do so. Even if someone considers me holy, I do not. My lips will never say, ‘I am holy.’ But when Eternity comes, God Himself will call His redeemed by this name. Then I will agree with that assessment and gladly receive all God’s marks of distinction and the crown of Eternal glory, so that I may testify to the whole universe of the victory of the Lord’s love in my life.
The fact that I cannot call myself holy does not mean that I should not strive for this holiness. Holiness is the goal of my life and the destination of my earthly journey. It is what I desire most to possess and to live in.
Holiness means belonging to God and being wholly consecrated to His service within the boundaries established by His rules and His law. Holy people and things are God’s property and cannot be used for other purposes.
The little house of happiness is the place God has chosen for His dwelling in my heart, where He desires to have a personal relationship with me and teach me this very happiness and love. Our friendship becomes a school of love and happiness in which Jesus Himself is my personal Teacher, so that through His revelations He may teach me directly what only I can understand. All earthly friends, teachers, and mentors are an integral part of my education, but I cannot grow beyond their knowledge. Therefore, at the time appointed by Him, Christ Himself undertakes my education in order to lead me further. This process begins here and will continue throughout Eternity.
The Heavenly angels joyfully await us so that they may share their mysteries and reveal to us the secrets of the universe. But one day we will reach even their level of knowledge, and then, leaving them, we will again sit at the feet of Jesus and learn the eternal Heavenly revelations He has prepared for us in inexhaustible abundance, so that we may share them with everyone else. This education began when I decided to make Jesus the Lord of my life, the Husband of my will, and entered into a covenant with Him through water baptism. The School of Agape Love opened new opportunities for Christ to reveal to me the depths of God’s heart, so that I might draw from them the countless riches of God’s imperishable Agape and make them my adornment and the meaning of my existence. People with this frame of mind and direction in life come under God’s special watch and become the objects of His continual care and protection.
God has no favorites, but those who, exerting all their strength, know how to enter the depths of the Great Loving Heart will not be cast out. Instead, they will come under a special blessing while still appearing to our world as ordinary, strange people.
Happiness is what invisibly connects us with the Heavenly reality and gives us the right to partake of the Bread and Water of Life. And the Eternal laws of happiness become ours. And we love.
Bible verses for this chapter:
Romans 6:22; Hebrews 12:14; Exodus 15:11; 28:36–38; 29:32–33; 30:10, 28–29, 31–37; Leviticus 27:30; Deuteronomy 14:2, 21; Isaiah 5:16; Mark 6:20; Hebrews 7:26; 1 Peter 2:9; Ezekiel 28:25–26; 36:22–23; 38:23; Amos 4:2; 1 Corinthians 7:14; Revelation 22:11