God can testify how I long for all of you with the affection of Christ Jesus (Philippians 1:8). Those were Paul’s words to the church at Philippi, and they have a wonderful ring to them. They are gracious and encouraging. But have you ever considered the implications for your own heart? According to the apostle, we can not only have affection for one another; we can have the affection of Jesus Himself for each other. In fact, we can have any of God’s emotions through the working of his Spirit within us. We can feel what God feels.
Think about that. What would it be like to have the emotions of God flowing through you? You have probably experienced that without being conscious of it; his Spirit really is at work in those who believe. But what if you sought it out? What if you asked for your heart to beat in sync with his? What if you consciously experienced the emotions of God?
There’s no reason to think you can’t. Many of the prophets did and said so, Paul clearly said he did, and by extension so can any believer. We can feel God’s compassion, love, grief, jealousy, joy, affection, and more. Ask for that; seek it out; step into the reality of a God Who feels. Your heart was designed to beat with His.
