A Marvelous Love

God didn’t go to all the trouble of sending Jesus to suffer and die so we could enter into religion.  He sent Jesus in order for us to enter into a relationship with him.  God’s biggest desire is for us to know him as a loving father who would do anything to spend time with his kids.   After all, he didn’t make us robots that mindlessly carry out lists of tasks.  God created us to be the objects of his love.    

His love for us isn’t based on our performance or whether or not we love him back.   He just loves his kids because we are his kids.  And what an wonderful, amazing and marvelous thing it is to be called a child of God!

What marvelous love the Father has extended to us!  Just look at it—we’re called children of God!

1 John 3:1 (MSG)

The Love of God

I pray that you and all God’s holy people will have the power to understand the greatness of Christ’s love—how wide, how long, how high, and how deep that love is. Christ’s love is greater than anyone can ever know, but I pray that you will be able to know that love. Then you can be filled with everything God has for you.  Ephesians 3:18-19

The Apostle Paul prayed for the saints at Ephesus, that they would know the amazing dimensions of Jesus’ love for them.  Why not pray it for yourself?  I fully believe that if you get even a tiny glimpse of the love of his for you, you will be stronger and more powerful than anything that can possibly come against you. 

God's Lemonade

 “My help comes from the LORD, who made heaven and earth. 

He will not let your foot be moved” Psalm 121:2, 3

Have you heard the saying, “When life gives you lemons, make lemonade”?  Sounds good but I think a better saying would be “When life throws lemons at you, trust God to make lemonade for you”.

Life can be tough.  People who you thought were trustworthy may end up betraying you.  Those who you thought you could count on in the hard times, may desert you.   And the things you used to take comfort in can change without warning, and you end up feeling like you have lost your footing and you might fall flat on your face at any moment.

 Instead of getting angry or planning on how to get revenge, why not trust God to be God and allow him to stand up in your defence.   

When you defend yourself, you might end up hurting others or being more hurt than you were before the situation turned sour.   But God has strength, wisdom and the whole of Army of Heaven at His finger tips ready to come to your rescue.

In my experience, when people are the least deserving of love and forgiveness, that is the precise time when they need love and forgiveness the most.  After all, that is what God did for us.   When we least deserved His love, He sent Jesus into our lives to show us His heart for us. 

And that my friend, is what Grace is all about.

Do you agree?

Loving One Another

“Let me give you a new command: Love one another. In the same way I loved you, you love one another. This is how everyone will recognize that you are my disciples—when they see the love you have for each other.”  John 13:35

The other day I was cleaning out my sideboard cupboard and I came across an encouraging note, which a dear friend had given me several years ago.   I found it a bit difficult to read the short note, not because of his hand writing but because I had tears in my eyes thinking of my friend who has since passed away.  

I’m sure, when my friend wrote the note, he had no idea how special it would become to me.  I honestly can’t remember what was going on in my life when he decided to encourage me this way, but the way my friend loved me, will be etched in my memories forever.

Maya Angelou is quoted as saying “I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”

 

This encouraging note from my friend was a demonstration of how to love another.  I truly believe, when the world sees our love for each other, there is no force on earth that will keep them from beating a path to our door.  Loving each other may not seem like active evangelism but I reckon it shouts the love of Jesus louder than anything we say or do in our outreach programs.

I can think of a few other ways to show love for each other: spending time together, shared meals, lending a hand when needed, phone calls etc.   Can you think of other ways?

God - The Ultimate Barrier Jumper

Today, I shared this quote on Facebook because it really spoke to me of God’s love. 

"We thought He was the God who couldn't get over our sin... all along He was the Father who couldn't get over His children" Mary-Anne Rabe

I had one friend ask me what it meant and this was my answer:

This world thinks that God hates us in our sinfulness and that our misdeeds are a huge barrier between us and Him. This statement says that we all sin and in our opinion, our sins may be an impassable barrier but our Daddy God jumped over that barrier to get close to us because He is in love with us, His children.

When God sent Jesus to earth, He provided a way for us to get close to Him, where in the past, there was no way.   

God was so determined that we know of His love for us, that he didn’t even spare His own son.  All He asks is for us to trust His love and believe in the sacrifice of His Son. He hasn’t asked much in return, has he?