LIVING LOVED

by Punky Tolson

Sweet sisters of First Baptist Church Irving… I CAN HARDLY WAIT TO MEET YOU ALL!!!  I just had to shout-type that greeting because lowercase words don’t always get the point across as effectively and passionately, and I so want you to know that I am really, REALLY looking forward to our time together in April! I am in great anticipation and expectation of what the Lord is going to deliver to us that weekend and I hope for nothing less than His sweet presence to overwhelm us. In the meantime, please know that I am praying for each one of you, and today I hope to encourage you in the Lord to set your mind to intentionally pursue Jesus today and every day.  Not in some crazy legalistic way, but in the way of love… in order that you might know Him better and live more fully in His love. 

Before you scratch you head bald, let me explain. 

It’s one thing to know that God loves you (head knowledge).  It’s another thing to believe it (heart knowledge).  But it is quite a different thing altogether to live loved- to live with the knowledge, belief, and the continual life experience of God’s love on a daily basis; to live right in the center of His love (Jude 20-21a).  At any given moment to be able to stop and hold out the finger of faith to test the winds of the Spirit and confidently say, “Yes… I’m living loved right now because I… _________________________ (you fill in the blank).

I’m not talking about a goosebumps/hair-raising experience.  

I’m talking about living… the kind of daily living in love that turns the ordinary into the extraordinary because we’re engaging with God relationally…

in His Word and through the everyday experiences of our life.

For years I lived with certain head knowledge of God’s love; I taught Bible studies for women for 15 years, I had a hunger and thirst for God and His Word, but my life experience of living loved was inconsistent. I knew there was more, and I desperately wanted it. 

In early 2014 I began my intentional spiritual quest to the place I call “living loved”. It’s not a place I’ve not returned from, nor do I intend to.  It’s where I now live.  It’s where God wants you and me to live continually… to abide…to remain.  Living loved is the place where we come to know more and more of this awesome God of ours, to know Him as our Abba, our friend; to trust His character; to believe Him; and to fall in love with Him over and over again.  Living loved the place where we become our true selves- the real women of God that He has created us to be…women who are fully functioning, thriving, and flourishing in that particular place where we have the most profound purpose, influence and the greatest impact for Christ on this planet. 

Living loved does not happen by accident.  If you ever dare to go there, it will be because you’ve determined to get there.  The journey there for me was profoundly quick, and profoundly life changing.  

It began with the conscious decision to intentionally love God through His Word, and out of that love to obey Him… in the big things and the not-so-big things. 

Let these sweet words of Jesus settle into your mind and heart: “Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me.  He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him.”    (John 14:21, NIV84)

God knows those who love Him, and the litmus test is obedience. 

The more we know of God, the more we will grow to love Him; the more we love Him, the more we will desire to obey Him; the more we obey Him, the more we will know and experience His love for us…and the more Jesus will show Himself to us. The blessing that follows the woman who obeys God is the blessing of continually living loved.  That woman sees God everywhere…every day, because God delights to be loved by her, and gladly responds to her love and obedience.

In the beautiful words of Jeremiah the Lord speaks to us saying, “11 For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. 12 Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. 13 You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. 14 I will be found by you,” declares the Lord...” (Jeremiah 29:11-14a)

We get pretty excited about knowing the prosperous and hope-filled plans He has for our future.  But the emphasis here is not on the future plans, but on knowing the One who knows our future. The phrase “when you seek me with all your heart” means to seek, to search for as a vital necessity for life” (Hebrew/Greek Lexical Aids).  You and I will never come to trust or love whom we do not know. Therefore- make it your prayer to fall in love with Jesus; make it your passionate pursuit to know God; make it the holy ambition of your life to obey Him out of your great love for Him.  

Every new day brings a new beginning, with God’s brand new mercies and grace to help us live the life He’s purposed for us.  The best life.  The loved life.  So, begin again today.  Make this your prayer and surrender yourself to the Lord with arms outstretched, reaching toward Him and everything He has for you:

Lord, I want to love you more than anything and anyone,

and to desire nothing on this earth as much or more than I desire you. 

Give me the Spirit of wisdom and revelation to know you better (Eph. 1:17), be the greatest delight of my heart, and help me to live in your love.

To the praise of Your glory, and in the matchless name of Jesus I pray.

If you pray that prayer daily, you. will. be. changed… for the better, changed for good, and ruined for anything less than more of God. 

OK, my sweet friends… I am counting the days until we will meet face-to-face and have a ball together with the Lord in His marvelous Word!

You are greatly and dearly loved by The King!

xo - Punky

PUNKY LEONARD TOLSON

Bible Teach. Speaker. Writer. Author. Disciple-maker.

Lover of Jesus! Crazy about His Word! Passionate about helping women know and love Him.

Wife to John, partner in ministry at John and Punky Tolson Ministries (johnandpunkytolson.com).

Breast cancer survivor. Lover of coffee, chocolate, and all things pumpkin.  Crazy about my Frenchie, Gigi!

Single until age 43, Punky Leonard Tolson pursued love and true satisfaction through many avenues, including a career in the entertainment industry (“Norma” in the movie, ‘Something to Talk About’ with Julia Roberts). But it was through personal trials, wrong choices, and heartbreaks that she finally found the true love of her life in Jesus Christ and grew into a personal, intimate and loving relationship with Him, which ultimately transformed her life. Because of this, Punky’s greatest desire is to help others know Jesus, to love God’s Word, and to daily live out His truth in their lives. In 2009, Punky received the diagnosis of breast cancer. In the year that followed she underwent several surgeries, a double mastectomy, and chemotherapy. Punky holds that season of her life as one of the most precious, and encourages other women facing struggles of any kind to hold steadfast to God and His Word, where they will find a faithful source of encouragement, healing, promise, and profound purpose in the midst of pain. Punky speaks locally and nationally at women’s conferences and events sharing her story of finding freedom and true satisfaction in Christ, marrying later in life, being a breast cancer survivor, living the life you were destined for, and more. She is the founder of Women at the Well, an interdenominational Bible Study in Dallas, Texas, and a contributing writer for God Crazy Freedom. In 2003, Punky and her husband, John, began a new discipleship ministry designed to equip men and women to become and mentor disciples of Jesus Christ. Punky and her husband, Dr. John Tolson, were married in 2001 and are true partners in the Gospel. Their life’s mission is to serve the Lord by making disciples for Jesus Christ (Matthew 28:19–20). They serve the Lord through John and Punky Tolson Ministries, in Dallas, Texas.  Punky has been blessed with a beautiful and godly stepdaughter, Christin, son-in-law, Joe, three precious granddaughters, and a wonderful stepson, Luke.