Forever in Love with Jesus: Becoming One With the Love of Your Life

By Kathy Troccoli and Dee Brestin

Imagine that you are visiting one of the world's great art museums. As you enter, you are told that the curators have two exciting exhibits on loan – one inspired by the prophet Hosea, the other inspired by the apostle John. To your amazement, as you wander through the two galleries, you see the same brilliant portraits in each exhibit. In both galleries, Jesus appears as the Bridegroom, the Redeemer, and the Great I AM. The Christ hidden in the Old Testament is now revealed in the New Testament.

Fall more deeply in love with Jesus as you behold these brilliant portraits, and be transformed into the woman you long to be.

Forever in Love with Jesus will be accompanied by the simultaneous release of an in-depth workbook that has additional insights and questions for personal and group study. 

• Language: English
• Publisher: Thomas Nelson
• Release date: Jun 18, 2012
• ISBN: 9781418515171

Kathy Troccoli

Kathy Troccoli is an award-winning singer, author and speaker who has sold more than 1.5 million albums, garnered numerous number 1 radio hits, received two Dove Awards and a recent Grammy® nomination with her rich, melodic voice. Whether singing or speaking, Kathy is driven by a passionate desire to share Christ and the hope that comes from knowing Him. She is the author of several books and Bible studies and is a sought-after conference speaker. In 2003, Kathy was selected by the readers of Today's Christian Woman magazine as one of the four most influential women in America.

Book preview

FOREVER IN LOVE WITH JESUS

Dee Brestin &

Kathy Troccoli

9780849918254_INT_0001_001

FOREVER IN LOVE WITH JESUS

© 2004 Dee Brestin and Kathy Troccoli. All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or any other—except for brief quotation in printed reviews, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

Published in Nashville, TN by Thomas Nelson. Thomas Nelson is a registered trademark of Thomas Nelson, Inc.

Thomas Nelson, Inc. titles may be purchased in bulk for educational, business, fundraising, or sales promotional use. For information, please email [e-mail].

Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations are from the New King James Version (NKJV), copyright © 1979, 1980, 1982 Thomas Nelson, Inc., Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Other Scripture references are from the following sources: The Holy Bible, New International Version (NIV). Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Bible Publishers; The Message (MSG), copyright © 1993. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group; J. B. Phillips: The New Testament in Modern English, Revised Edition (PHILLIPS). Copyright © J. B. Phillips 1958, 1960, 1972. Used by permission of Macmillan Publishing Co., Inc.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Brestin, Dee, 1944–

    Forever in love with Jesus / Dee Brestin & Kathy Troccoli.

        p. cm.

    Includes bibliographical references.

    ISBN-13: 978-0-8499-1825-4

1. Jesus Christ—Person and offices—Biblical teaching. 2. Bible. N.T. John— Religious aspects—Christianity. 3. Bible. O.T. Hosea—Religious aspects— Christianity. 4. Christian women—Religious life. 5. Love–Religious aspects— Christianity. I. Troccoli, Kathy. II. Title.

BT203.B74      2004

232'.8—dc22          2004018611

Printed in the United States of America

10 11 12 13 EPAC 11 10 9 8 7

We dedicate this to STEVE BRESTIN,

a friend of God

CONTENTS

Acknowledgments

1. Turn Your Eyes upon Jesus

2. The Great I AM

3. The Word

4. The Master Artist

5. The Brokenhearted Bridegroom

6. The Betrothing Bridegroom

7. The Redeemer

8. The Lion

9. The Way, the Truth, and the Life

Notes

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

We are thankful to the following individuals:

MATT BAUGHER:

If you look up diplomacy in the dictionary,

you will find your name there.

SALLY BRESTIN AND MARTIN FRENCH:

Beauty and truth are woven so powerfully together

in your artistic portrayals of Christ.

STEVE BRESTIN:

Just what the doctor ordered: rich in prayer and rich in courage.

WILLIE AAMES AND HIS TEAM AT OUTPOST:

Who better to video a Bible series than Bibleman?

What energy and creativity!

JILL WOLFORD JOHNSON:

Our Ruth. God can’t help but delight in your servant heart.

MARY HOLLINGSWORTH AND HOLLY HALVERSON:

Editing needs crediting. It’s truly an art, and you both are so gifted.

DEBBIE WICKWIRE AND DAVID MOBERG:

We have been allowed to give our best. You’ve listened well.

You’ve freed us to fly.

FOREVER IN LOVE WITH JESUS

TURN YOUR EYES

UPON JESUS

Of course He’s not safe—but He’s good.

9780849918254_INT_0011_001

Aslan II

Artist: Sally Brestin (www.sallybrestin.com)

Both the children were looking up into the Lion’s face as he spoke

these words. And all at once (they never knew exactly how it happened)

the face seemed to be a tossing sea of gold in which they were

floating, and such a sweetness and power rolled about them and over

them and entered them that they felt they had never really been

happy or wise or good, or even alive and awake, before.

THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA

—C. S. LEWIS

1

TURN YOUR EYES UPON JESUS

Imagine that you are going with us and a few of our friends to one of our favorite museums: the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. When we arrive and get our tickets, the woman at the information booth tells us: We have two exciting exhibits on loan from Israel. If you walk to the left, you will find portraits of Jesus from the gallery of John the apostle, who wrote so much in the New Testament: the Gospel, three letters, and the book of Revelation. Audible exclamations rise from our group, and we know we will all be going into this exhibit.

But then the woman says, And if you walk to the right, you will find portraits of Jesus from the gallery of Hosea—the Old Testament prophet. We are kind of surprised; we look at each other: What? Christ in Hosea? That book is filled with infidelity, prostitution, and oppression. But we are certainly intrigued.

We decide to split up and meet at the Roof Garden Café for lunch. One group goes to the left, to John’s gallery, the other to the right, to Hosea’s gallery. Later, over chicken salads and Cokes, we talk enthusiastically about our morning.

"My favorite in Hosea’s gallery was The Bridegroom. Did you see His face? It was so full of love . . ."

"Wow! I was just going to comment on The Bridegroom in John’s gallery. Just seeing Him on that white horse reminded me of Mel Gibson in Braveheart."

Oh—after we finish eating, I want to go there.

"The one I’ll never forget from John’s gallery was The Lion of Judah: the mane was gleaming in the sun, and the eyes seemed to penetrate with an all-knowing look."

That’s amazing. There was a lion stalking by the side of the road in Hosea’s gallery! Only he was so frightening.

As our conversation continues, it is obvious to us that the same portraits are in both galleries. And then, like a slow and widening light, we realize why there is a connection between the two. They painted the same Jesus because:

Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.

—HEBREWS 13:8

SOMETIMES IT CAUSES ME TO TREMBLE

We had no idea when we began to write Forever in Love with Jesus what lay around the corner for us. We sensed a magnificent staircase spiraling ahead, but God gave us only enough light for a step at a time. Now, when we look back, we can identify with the lyrics from that famous old spiritual:

Sometimes it causes me to tremble, tremble, tremble . . .

Theologians have a term for this: the mysterium tremendum, or simply awful mystery. It is the kind of encounter with God that makes your blood run icy cold. For though God is completely good and loving, He is also holy and just, and when you suddenly realize He is truly present, as close as your very breath, a part of you cannot help but tremble.

(Dee) One of the portraits of Jesus we will study in depth is The Lion, who appears in both Hosea and John. As we were writing about The Lion, my daughter Sally, who is a professional artist, was commissioned by a couple to paint Aslan, the lion who is a Christ figure in The Chronicles of Narnia, the classic children’s series by C. S.

Lewis. Sally was inspired by the following conversation that occured when the children in the story first heard about Aslan:

Is he a man? asked Lucy.

Aslan a man! said Mr. Beaver sternly. Certainly not. I tell you he is the King of the wood and the son of the great Emperor-Beyond-the-Sea. Don’t you know who is the King of Beasts? Aslan is a lion—the lion, the great Lion!

. . . Then he isn’t safe? said Lucy.

Safe? said Mr. Beaver, . . . who said anything about safe? . . . ’Course he isn’t safe. But he’s good. He’s the King, I tell you.¹

Each morning, before Sally began painting, she prayed that the Spirit of God would take over and flow through her. She wanted to portray both the love of Aslan and the mysterium tremendum, the side of Aslan that isn’t safe. Like Jesus, Aslan is wonderful because he is completely good, loving, and merciful. Yet he also isn’t safe in that he is holy, just, and powerful. The White Witch of Narnia and all her evil could not stand against Aslan’s power—nor can anyone who persists in rebellion against Jesus. There are also times when, for reasons we cannot fathom now, an omnipotent God may allow Satan or the sin in this world to pour pain and sorrow into our lives.

When Sally completed the painting, she told me she felt the not safe side of Aslan had emerged in it, but she wasn’t sure she could see the wonderful side. The morning after she finished, she put it on display at church. A woman came up behind Sally, and placing her hand on Sally’s shoulder, said: I love that tender lamb in your painting.

What lamb? Sally thought. She has often said that people show her different things they see in her abstract pieces—unclear images that don’t mean anything to her. But when Sally walked over to the painting, the lamb was as clear as the lion. It was unmistakable.

Sally had truly not intended to paint that lamb, but she had prayed continually that the Spirit of God would work through her. When creating the lion’s wild mane, she put the enormous canvas on the floor and threw down dark textures for the shadows. Then, as the paint began to dry, she removed some of it with pallet knives, making sweeping arcs to create highlights. In the process, somehow, mysteriously, a distinct lamb emerged. Not only that, he was at the lion’s heart, and he looked as if he had been slain.

When the Spirit of God gave the apostle John a vision of Jesus Christ and the last days, John recorded what he saw:

Then one of the elders said to me, Do not weep! See, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has triumphed. He is able to open the scroll and its seven seals. Then I saw a Lamb, looking as if it had been slain, standing in the center of the throne.

—REVELATION 5:5–6 NIV

When we first saw the lamb, we felt a chill running up and down our spines, for we knew we were in the presence of a holy God.

What we did not know, but of course He did, is that the very day Sally delivered her painting to the couple who had commissioned it, she would learn that her dad had advanced colon cancer. The doctors have not given us much hope, but we have hope, because we belong to a God who can and does heal. Though we know we cannot insist, we are crying out for mercy, as He has taught us to do.

As we walk through the deepest valley of our lives right now and realize that our fifty-nine-year-old husband and father, this godly, precious man, may be taken from us, Jesus feels like the Lion in our lives, tearing apart what we hold most dear. He certainly is not safe. Yet at His heart—and this we must always remember—is the Lamb who has been slain. When I saw the lamb in Sally’s painting, I wept. For whatever awaits us with Steve’s cancer, I know that the Lamb of God is at the heart of the Lion of Judah. Jesus is good, He is loving, and if I ever doubt it, I have only to remember that He died for me. The fact that His Spirit led Sally to paint this lamb without her even realizing it is just another evidence of His care, His love, and His mystery.

It is also an evidence of His care that He led Kathy and me to look at portraits of Jesus—to turn our eyes upon Jesus. At first, we were torn between Hosea and John. Initially, when we began to plan this book, I had told Kathy I had a longing to encourage women to look into Hosea. Kathy loved Hosea as well, and in some ways, it seemed perfect for Forever in Love with Jesus. It is in Hosea where the Lord says:

I will betroth you to me forever.

—HOSEA 2:19 NIV

Yet, we knew how difficult and how dark much of the book of Hosea is. How many would really want to study Hosea? we wondered. After all, along with beautiful metaphors of God’s redeeming love are frightening descriptions of His judgment. There are many times when He is the Lion who is not safe. Are women going to be turned off before they understand what we’re trying to convey?

So we withdrew from Hosea. We began to think, Perhaps we should study the portraits of Jesus that John paints. How encouraging it would be to study the great I AMs in John’s gospel. Everyone would be blessed by portraits such as I AM the Light of the World, I AM the Good Shepherd . . .

Yet, still, we felt pulled toward Hosea. Which way was God leading? I went to sleep one night, praying, Lord, I want to hear from You. It’s so hard to wait. Unless You have a better idea, could You show me soon?

I have found that if I am willing to wait on Him, as hard as that is, He does come. One night I awoke with a thought:

Could it be that the pictures we so love of Jesus from John are also in Hosea?

I could hardly wait to get out of bed and go downstairs to where my Bible was. I curled up in my green leather chair and opened to Hosea again.

There, in the middle of the night, His Holy Spirit caused me to see portraits that had always been there but now were unveiled. We talk about a kiss from the King, when the Word of God jumps out at us, giving us exactly what we need. I certainly was being kissed that night. I could identify with the two disciples who were on the road to Emmaus when a stranger (the resurrected Christ) joined them. Eventually, Jesus opened their eyes and showed them, beginning at Moses and all the Prophets, pictures of Himself. (Luke 24:27 NIV, emphasis added). Over and over again, I saw the portraits John painted of The Redeemer and The Bridegroom; I also saw The Lion of Judah, and The Resurrection and the Life—there they were—in Hosea! I could hardly wait to talk to Kathy. Please, Lord, if this is of You, put this same desire in her. Let her confirm it.

When I explained to Kathy the parallels between John and Hosea, her eyes widened. She said, "You’re right, Dee. Jesus is all over the book of Hosea. I love how tenderly devoted Hosea was to his bride, and yet there were times when he loved her with a very tough love. It is

Reviews for Forever in Love with Jesus

[AnnatheBeloved · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Thank you Father God, Lord Jesus and Holy Spirit for this book :D