We just returned last week from an amazing trip to Mazatlan Mexico! We participated with the YWAM team there in doing outreach during Carnaval, a huge party that takes place over the course of several days… Mexico’s Marti Gras.

And God moved!!

Over 2300 people were led to the Lord through one-on-one evangelism over the course of 5 days…

And the people were hungry for God! They would literally throw themselves at the Lord. All ages… Kids, young adults, middle aged, the elderly… All getting saved.

As I would go out on the streets, I found myself in a storm of love… Everywhere I turned, people were giving away love.

The faces I saw, the people that I encountered… they’ve stuck with me. And I’ve been remembering them. I’ve been thinking about love…

At one point in my life I was very religious. I was so afraid of sin… Literally afraid of it. And I gave myself over, fully, to religion.

Lately, God has been reminding me of that time of my life. And He’s been asking me, “You’ve given yourself fully to religion, but will you give yourself fully to love?”

A few years ago, my wife and I had felt called to work with a ministry down in the States. We were confident of what God was calling us to. And we were so excited about what He would do in our lives. We sold everything… literally sold it or gave it away… and prepared to move. We put everything on the line for what we felt God was calling us to.

We loaded up the car, headed to the border and… We were denied. They didn’t let us through. They turned us around and told us that there was no way we were getting in.

We were broken. The most broken I’ve ever been. Our dreams, our world, were shattered.

As we were dealing with what had happened, trying together to figure out what we would do next… We were out walking one evening, my wife and I, and as we were talking and praying I found myself in an encounter with the Lord. It was like the sky was pulled back and I was suddenly flooded with images and scriptures about Jesus.

It was so clear… I could see Him. And what I saw was love.
In every word, in every action, in every move. It was suddenly so clear to me. He was love!

He was so full of love. Always pouring out. Completely selfless. Genuinely and deeply cared about the needs of others.

He was hungry, yet He fed the multitudes.
He was condemned, yet He forgave the sinner.
He was alone, yet He comforted the lonely.

He loved His disciples so much; they all thought they were His favourite. They all thought they’d sit as His right hand!

I’ve experienced religion.
And religion doesn’t stir up love.
It doesn’t release love.

But true selfless love sets people free.

Ask yourself:
What am I holding on to that is stopping the flow of love through me?

We are being transformed into His love. Literally transformed into love.

What are we willing to do?

Let’s pursue Him, pursue Love.
Let’s get desperate and let’s let Him do the change in our hearts.

[Spoken by: Stephen Kleyn]