Cory Asbury - Reckless Love: A 40-Day Journey Into the Overwhelming, Never-Ending Love of God

Most Charisma House Book Group products are available at special quantity discounts for bulk purchase for sales promotions, premiums, fund-raising, and educational needs. For details, call us at (407) 333-0600 or visit our website at www.charismahouse.com.

RECKLESS LOVE by Cory Asbury

Published by Charisma House

Charisma Media/Charisma House Book Group

600 Rinehart Road, Lake Mary, Florida 32746

This book or parts thereof may not be reproduced in any form, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form by any meanselectronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or otherwisewithout prior written permission of the publisher, except as provided by United States of America copyright law.

Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture quotations are taken from the New American Standard Bible, copyright 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. www.Lockman.org.

Scripture quotations marked AMP are from the Amplified Bible. Copyright 2015 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. www.Lockman.org

Scripture quotations marked ESV are from the Holy Bible, English Standard Version. Copyright 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission.

Scripture quotations marked HCSB are taken from the Holman Christian Standard Bible, Copyright 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2009 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. Holman Christian Standard Bible, Holman CSB, and HCSB are federally registered trademarks of Holman Bible Publishers.

Scripture quotations marked KJV are from the King James Version of the Bible.

Scripture quotations marked MSG are from The Message: The Bible in Contemporary English, copyright 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group.

Scripture quotations marked NIV are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version, NIV. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com. The NIV and New International Version are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.

Scripture quotations marked NKJV are taken from the New King James Version. Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked NLT are from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright 1996, 2004, 2007. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, IL 60189. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked NLV are from the New Life Version, copyright 1969 and 2003. Used by permission of Barbour Publishing, Inc., Uhrichsville, Ohio 44683. All rights reserved.

Copyright 2020 by Cory Asbury

All rights reserved

Visit the authors website at coryasbury.com.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data:

An application to register this book for cataloging has been submitted to the Library of Congress.

International Standard Book Number: 978-1-62999-757-5

E-book ISBN: 978-1-62999-758-2

People named in this book are composites created by the author. Any similarity to the names or details of individuals known to readers is purely coincidental.

CONTENTS

WHEN I WROTE Reckless Love, I had no idea it would go on to be one of the most popular Christian songs in recent history. I had no idea it would go viral in a matter of hours after hitting YouTube. I had no idea it would break Billboard records and receive numerous Dove awards and even a Grammy nomination. I had no idea it would become the most frequently sung worship song in the church worldwide; no idea that its theology would be so hotly debated and the controversy surrounding its lyrics would galvanize the internet to create a myriad of (hilarious) memes. And I definitely never imagined those same lyrics would inspire tattoos on peoples bodies. I just knew they were exactly what my heart needed to sing to the Father in that particular season of my life.

When I sent the demo to my (now) manager at Bethel Music, I included the note, I think I just penned my opus. While I had no idea my opus would be so widely received, I knew it was born from the depths of my being, from the very core of my raw, imperfect-but-beautiful walk with the Father.

At that point in my life, I was so hyper-acquainted with my own brokenness that the reality of Gods desire and love for me even in that vulnerable place was absolutely wrecking me (in the best way possible). He kept showing up at the doorstep of my heart when I least expected it: after another loss in the battle against lust, after blowing up at my kids (undoubtedly over something inconsequential), after yet another fight with my wife (in which I was undeniably in the wrong). It seemed as if I just couldnt outrun His grace and I couldnt outfall His kindness. In that place of surrender to His goodness, the refrain of the chorus was born: O, the overwhelming, never-ending, reckless love of God. These words were the banner over my very existence.

Isnt it just like God to use a season like mine to birth a song that heals a multitude? Isnt it just like God to turn disappointments into dance floors? He really is better than weve imagined. Im constantly overwhelmed by His tenderness in my life.

Ive received literally tens of thousands of emails and messages about how the song has touched peoples lives. One of my favorite testimonies came on the day Justin Bieber sang the song on his social media platforms. Boy, did my phone blow up that day. I was inundated with messages from friend and foe alike excitedly telling me that Bieber had sung my song. To be honest with you, I completely freaked out too. I didnt expect to be so giddy and starstruck, but I was. That day, I received thousands of messages from random people who had heard the song because of Justins posts. The one that impacted me the most came from a young man who was planning on committing suicide that very night. When he heard Justin singing the words to my song, the Father came close and spoke sonship and belonging over him. He gave his life to God that very day and was saved. Its amazing what Jesus can do with just a little tune, huh?

So, as you read the words and stories in this book, I pray that you too will encounter the wildness of Gods love. I pray that His reckless pursuit of your heart will cause you to lay down all your defenses and preconceived notions of who He is. I pray that with every new day of this forty-day journey, youll see Him more clearly and experience His love more deeply. May His smile be your portion and His affection your fuel.

The French Easter liturgy says, Lamour de Dieu est foliethe love of God is foolishness. And Jesus says it is a foolishness that is meant to call forth joy.

BRENNAN MANNING

IVE BEEN ASKED countless times how and why I would choose to use a word like reckless to describe the love of God. Some critics have been gracious, and some have been less than gracious (to put it lightly). While I understand that my choice of words is undoubtedly bold, I believe in a God whose love is infinitely beyond the bounds of our English Rolodex of descriptors, a God who lives so far outside the confines of human language that words fail to describe even the edges of His complexity.

At the height of the controversy surrounding the song in 2018, it seemed as if its opponents made it their goal to disprove the idea of Gods reckless love. I cant tell you how many internet blogs, news articles, and social media posts tagged me in their publications. Looking at it in retrospect, I believe most people who took offense at the word fall into two main camps. (Im sure there are other groups with considerably more nuance, but these two are the biggies.)