Here you can see 400-foot Waimoku Falls, in Haleakalā National Park. This enormous, beautiful waterfall can represent God’s love pouring out for us!
God is love! (1 John 4:8) The very essence and character of God is love!
Because God is love, he chose to rescue us from our sin.
Because God is love, he sent Jesus to pay the penalty for our sin in our place.
* “You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. God demonstrated his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” – Romans 5:6, 8
* “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son [Jesus], that whoever believe in him will not perish but have eternal life.” – John 3:16
If we believe in Jesus and accept his gift of salvation for our sins, then God pours out his very love into our hearts! This is amazing!
“God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.” – Romans 5:5
Just like the water flowing over the enormous, beautiful Waimoku Falls … so also, in the same way God’s love flows down from heaven and into our lives! This is totally mind-blowing! That God would pour his very own love down into our lives!
The result of God pouring his very own love down into our lives is that: we too will love!
We will love just like God loves!
Our life will be primarily characterized by love!
In Galatians 5:22-23 we see what a life transformed by God’s love looks like: “The fruit of the Spirit is: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.”
It all starts with love!
It all flows downstream of love!
These wonderful character traits cannot be achieved by “trying” to do them. These character traits cannot be achieved by any “effort” of our own.
They are simply a natural downstream flow as a result of God’s love poured out in our life!
Here you can see the water flowing just below Waimoku Falls. This is the same water which just came over the waterfall a few minutes before. The water is very lighthearted as it burbles and gurgles in its flow. This can represent the character trait of Joy.
Joy is not the same thing as “happiness.” Joy is a confidence which flows directly from the love of God!
Joy is listed immediately after love … meaning the very first thing which flows out of the love which God pours into our lives: is joy!
Joy flows out of love!
Joy flows out of our resting in God’s love for us!
Joy flows out of God’s love pouring through us, to others!
We cannot attain joy by “trying to be joyful.” We cannot attain joy by any “effort” of our own. Joy simply flows naturally downstream … as a downstream result of God’s love … which has been poured out in our life!
Looking to the right of the bubbling, gurgling fountain of joy (in the above photo) … here we turn our head to see this delightfully peaceful scene. This can represent the character trait of Peace.
Isn’t this a wonderfully peaceful scene! Makes you just want to sit here a while, soaking in the beauty and the music of the flowing water, and let your soul be nourished.
Peace flows directly from our joy … which flows from God’s love poured out in our heart!
God pours out his love into our life … which in turn flows downstream to result in joy bubbling up in our life … which then in turn flows downstream to create peace in our life!
Peace flows out of joy.
We cannot attain peace by “trying to be at peace.” We cannot attain peace by any “effort” of our own. Peace simply flows naturally downstream … as a downstream result of God’s love … which has been poured out in our life!
Further on downstream we come to this beautiful flow of water over the rocks! Isn’t it pretty! This can represent the character trait of Patience.
Patience flows directly from our peace.
If we do not have peace in our life, we in turn will not have patience.
There is no way we can work to achieve patience. We cannot attain patience by “trying to be patient” when everyone is driving us crazy! Patience simply flows naturally downstream … as a downstream result of God’s love … which has been poured out in our life!
Patience in someone’s life is a very beautiful thing to see. Just like the beauty of the water flowing over these rocks!
Further on downstream, we see this delightful cascade of water. Sparkling in the sunlight! This is the same flow of water. The exact same water which just recently flowed over the enormous, beautiful Waimoku Falls. This can represent the character trait of Kindness.
Kindness flows directly from our patience.
As we are patient with people, we in turn will be kind to them.
Doing “random acts of kindness” is in vogue nowadays. When it comes to “random acts of kindness,” for the most part we don’t really know the person for whom we are doing the “act of kindness.” For the most part we are just randomly being kind to random strangers.
This is all very nice. It’s wonderful to be kind to the random person we meet who needs a kind word or help.
But the kindness which flows downstream of God’s love is so much more than simply “random acts of kindness.” The kindness which flows out of our patience … this is kindness shown toward those people whom we do know (very well in fact), and who are incredibly difficult to be kind to!
This is why kindness flows downstream of patience.
God’s love pours down into our life … flowing through our life with joy … resulting in peace downstream … which then spills over in patience … and in turn, flows down with kindness for utterly impossible individuals with whom we interact with on a daily basis.
Kindness simply flows naturally downstream … as a downstream result of God’s love … which has been poured out in our life!
Is this not a stunning view!! This is the exact same flow of water … further on downstream from the 400-foot Waimoku Falls. This can represent the character trait of Goodness.
As God’s love is poured out in our life … bubbling through our life with joy … then flowing downstream to give us a life of peace … spilling over abundantly with patience … cascading over with kindness … the result will be a magnificent display of who God is! God is good!
We can think of the water pouring over this falls as God’s goodness cascading down through our life!
God is love!
God is joyful!
God is peace!
God is patient with us!
God is kind … he pours kindness out on all he has made!
God is good!
“The LORD is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations.” – Psalm 100:5
Is this view not spectacular! The above verse just stated that: God is good … his love is endures forever … his faithfulness continues to flow on forever and ever! This beautiful cascade of water, yet further on downstream of Waimoku Falls, can represent the character trait of Faithfulness.
Just like this flow of water is never-ceasing, forever-flowing, unending … so also, God’s flow of love through our life is never-ceasing, forever-flowering, unending!
This flow of water is full of power and beauty … so also, God’s flow of love through our life is full of power to produce faithfulness in us! Faithfulness to not quit when things are hard! Faithfulness to hang in there and keep going … when everything in us wants to give up!
Faithfulness which makes people stop in wonder.
Faithfulness which is beautiful!
Because God is beautiful! And God is faithful!
In the far distance you can see the “Faithfulness” overflow spilling down into this calm pool … which can represent “Gentleness.”
A life characterized by gentleness is a life characterized by surrender.
I loved these two quotes my friend Michelle shared with me several years ago, from what she had learned in a parenting class she was taking:
“Defensive-dominance mode (the opposite of surrender) is: feeling a need to control our environment and others; living in a constant state of alarm; feeling panic, anxiety, and an urgent need to pursue what we think will make us rest.”
versus … “When we are in ‘dependent mode’ we are resting, being cared for, being led, free to grow (free to emerge as our own person, be creative, full of vitality & energy), free to adapt to what we cannot change (surrender).”
Isn’t this a beautiful description of what our life looks like when we surrender and submit to God’s leading over our life. Surrendering and submitting to God would be, in essence, ‘dependent mode’ towards God’s. We are resting … we are being cared for … we are being led … we are free to grow … we are free to adapt to what we cannot change.
This is what a life characterized by gentleness looks like.
These few final photos can represent the character trait of Self-Control. In this first photo, you can see in the far distance “Faithfulness” spilling over into the pool of “Gentleness” … which in turn, is cascading down in “Self-Control.”
Self-control eventually reaches the sea. The sea could represent humanity … everyone we interact with as we go throughout our life.
The sea is big … and vast … and restless! Never staying still! Stirred up by storms! Dashed by waves!
So also, humanity is big … and vast … and restless! Everyone all around us is being yanked this way and that by life’s ever-changing currents! Stirred up by storms! Dashed by waves!
And into this big sea of humanity God’s love ultimately flows, through our self-control.
How will humanity see or experience or know God’s love??
God’s love flows into “the sea” through our self-control. That’s where the river meets the ocean.
“God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.” – Romans 5:5
God is love!
God is joy!
God is peace!
God is patient!
“God is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.” – 2 Peter 3:9
God is kind!
God is good!
God is faithful!
God is gentle!
God is in total control and has all control!
God has poured out his very own love into our lives! And it all flows downstream …
