“Whoever has my commandments and observes them is the one who loves me.

Whoever loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and reveal myself to him.” -John 14:21

After the crowds exclaimed that Barnabas and Paul were gods, they “tore their garments when they heard
this and rushed out into the crowd.” They were frustrated enough to shout, to rip their clothes. They had
been working to preach the Gospel, but the crowd wouldn’t listen. Even after the Apostles tried to shout
the Truth to them, the crowds still offered sacrifice. The Apostles just wanted to be heard! It may have
taken great self-control not to try and physically shake these people into believing. But they can’t force it.
We can never force someone to understand. And God never forces us to understand his love.

Christ says in the Gospel that he will “reveal” himself to those who love him. The more God is revealed to
us, the greater our capacity to love. “Whoever loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him
and reveal myself to him.” The Father’s revelation of his love in the Person of Jesus Christ is the greatest
Revelation thus far. And when Christ says he will make himself known to us, he will do so tenderly, as a
sweet surprise.

In my 30 days of encountering Jesus, I realized that I had so many misconceptions regarding who really
God is. I thought that He is only a Providing Father, a Father only in general and is distant, that His eyes
are looking at my faults, that He is not sweet enough to be felt, that He is a Punisher and moralistic, that
His closeness to you here on earth is only limited, and that to be intimate with you is not His priority. He
changed my view. He showed who He really is: the God who is Love and Intimacy Himself. But I cannot
discover this without heeding His invitation for me to be Intimate with Him. It is when I learned to Love
Him more that I came to discover the God who is more concern of you than yourself, who loves you more
than you love yourself, and who is closer to you than you are to yourself.

If you want to understand God, answer His invitation to an Intimate Relationship with Him. For sure, He
will not only correct all misconceptions but He will make you fall in Love with Him more and more – so
much in Love that you will desire nothing else but Him alone. You will desire to do nothing else but His
Holy Will alone. You will obey nothing else but His commands alone. You will desire no other happiness
than the Happiness which He alone can give! In Him alone our hearts will find its meaning and peace. With
Him alone our longing for companionship and intimacy is fulfilled. He obviously wants us to love Him
alone for He knows that He alone can fill the empty space in our hearts…no one else!

But God did not change my view overnight. He is a God who is very patient and knows how to wait. He
knows when I am ready to receive more of his love. He is always widening my heart in preparation for
him. His work is greater than I understand, but he reveals it to me tenderly a little more every day. I just
need to open my heart to His invitation of intimacy so that He can effectively reveal Himself to me more
and more every day.

Saying my Yes to Him every day will always remain as a daily struggle between God’s Will and my selfish
will. But this seemingly difficult struggle will always be bearable…indeed it becomes a sweet load when
the heart is filled with the Lord’s unending Love. It becomes a burden no longer but a sweet yoke of a lover
offered to the Beloved.