Compilation of thoughts written for a devotional blog:
1. We need God’s love
“I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and
will go in and out and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and
destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly. I am the good
shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.”
John 10:9-11
The Cost (author
unknown)
So this
was the cost
the price you had to pay for me
to be with me
to save me
to redeem me
You laid
down here for me
Hung here for me
Died here for me
You laid
down here for me
As they laughed at you
And said who’s hitting you
You laid down here for me
As they nailed you
Impaled you
You laid here as nails cut you, pierced you,
You laid down here for me
You hung
here for me as they mocked you
Jew King, here’s your crown so come down and be king
You hung here for me as your breath wouldn't come
And the blood wouldn't stop
and nails or no nails you still are God
and could have come down
and made the pain stop and made the laughs stop
but you hung here for me
You died
here for me
As you said
it is finished
And now there is nothing left,
But the horror of this place
And I want to turn away, to walk away, to run away
To just forget without regret
All the horror of this place
Of the blood on your face
And the pain of the nails and the hole in your side
But I can’t turn away cause I need to be saved
And if
this is what it takes for me to know you
To be with you
to find you
if this is what it takes for you to save me
Then I can’t look away
Cause I need you to save
this soul that cries out for you,
dies for you,
reaches for you
If this is what it takes then I all I can say is
Crucify! Crucify! Crucify!
Cause I need to be saved
And I,
I can’t pay the cost
2. God’s love cannot be
removed
“Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall
tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger,
or sword? As it is written, “For your sake we are being killed all the day
long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.” No, in all these things we
are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither
death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come,
nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be
able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Romans 8: 35-39
Recently I saw an illustration of water in a
clear plastic bottle. The bottle was
turned sideways, upside down, each and every direction and the water inside
adjusted and stayed relatively calm despite what was happening to the bottle on
the outside.
The bottle was compared to difficulties and
unexpected things in this world. The
water was the peace of God in our hearts when we are connected to His Holy
Spirit and remain steadfastly sure of His love for us.
I can’t think of anything else more important to
address in our hearts than comprehending, accepting, reveling in, and allowing
ourselves to be filled with His love.
It’s the unit of wholeness and the measure of sacrifice by which all
else of life ebbs and flow. It’s the
blood in our veins, the strength in our bones, the bringer of joy in our
hearts.
We are, we exist,
through His love. Nothing, but us, has
the power to tear that away. And even if
we try to walk away, He loves us still.
3. God’s love is more
vast than we can imagine
“Where can I go from Your love?
Or where can I flee from Your love?
If I ascent into heaven, Your love is there.
If I make my bed in hell, behold, Your love is there.
If I take the wings of the morning,
And dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,
Even there Your love shall lead me,
And Your love shall hold me.
If I say, “Surely the darkness shall fall on me,”
Even the night shall be light about me;
Indeed the darkness shall not hide me from Your love.”
Ps. 139:7-12
The Love of God
By Fredrick Lehman
The love of God is greater far
than tongue or pen can ever tall;
It goes beyond the highest star
and reaches to the lowest hell.
Could we with ink the ocean fill,
and were the skies of parchment made,
were every stone on earth a quill,
and every man a scribe by trade,
to write the love of God above
would drain the ocean dry.
Nor could the scroll contain the whole,
Though stretched from sky to sky.
The last stanza was inspired by a message
scratched in the wall of an insane asylum discovered after the author had been
buried.
Sometimes the lowest points of our lives leave us
struggling to comprehend God’s love.
Does He really care after all?
How much? These thoughts can
drive us a bit mad at times but at other times the knowledge of His love are
all that we have left to cling to.
Trying our best to grasp His love is essential to
the internal theology that guides us.
He is there.
His love is more vast than we can imagine.
4. God’s love is undeserved
“In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he
loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.”
I John 4: 10
Events of life have challenged an unconscious
theology as a long-term follower of Jesus that went something like this: “I
will serve You and am willing to sacrifice for You---but in doing that I expect
that You will look after me and those I love and make sure that nothing tooooo
bad happens.”
Oh, I would have never consciously or rationally
have said that, but that’s what I've often unconsciously assumed. Then I've been surprised, and hurt, and
sometimes angry when God doesn't keep His part of that particular, ridiculous,
one-sided bargain.
That internal thought process is flawed in so
many ways. A major way is the assumption
in that that somehow I deserve good
things. That my good works and service
could possibly be enough to make up for all that I am not.
Nope, I’m a sinner. I’m a pretty ‘good’ person by the standard of
the world, but I have murdered in my heart.
I've done lots and lots of ‘good’ but I've been unkind, impatient, and
have thought badly of others. I’m mostly
accepting of differences but can suddenly be highly prejudiced too. I think that I’m in the right more than I
should. I've held anger in my
heart. I've been bitter. I've been untrustworthy. Proud.
I’m flawed.
I’m flawed.
I don’t deserve good because of what I do. I need to be saved. And it’s only by His love that I am.
What unconscious internal theology might be
giving YOU a skewed view of God’s love today?
Note: In looking for stock images for this blog I was surprised to find numerous ones that said, "You deserve God's love." Whaaaaaaaaa? Is that the outcome of an entitlement society? Interesting. We ARE valuable and worth love because we are created in His image, but as far as 'deserve'...........
5. He has already proven His love.
“Blessed be the Lord, for he has wondrously shown his
steadfast love to me.”
Psalm 31:21
Catching up with old friends is lots of fun;
finding out the new and reminiscing over the old. There’s something refreshingly precious about
reconnecting with someone who’s known us for a long time. It never takes long until the ‘remember
when’s’ start. “Remember when……..,”
bringing laughter and the joy of shared experience.
Brothers and sisters in Him remind us of more
than that. They can help us see past
today and remember what love God has already shown to us, through us, and around
us. Things that we hadn't thought of for
ages on our own.
The Bible is God’s historical love letter to us
as well telling us over and over; “Remember when I…….,” stories of His
indescribable love. They remind us just
WHO our Great Lover is, what great lengths He will go to for us, how
excessively worthy of awe that He is, how baffling the concept is but how great
is His love for us.
Whether it’s from His Word or examples from our
own lives, when we remember that He’s still the same God that He was back then,
it reinforces His love for us in the present.
He was with us, He’s still for us, He loves us.
Doubting His loving care today? Look back, remember when, and be encouraged
and actively, “Abide in my (His) love.” (John 15:9)
Response: God, I’m sorry for the times that I doubt your love. Like the Israelites in the wilderness how
quickly I forget the great things that You've already done. Help me to walk through the unseen of today
secure in the fact that Your love hasn't changed---and that it never will.
6. God’s love is our Source.
“Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing
that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and
character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love
has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to
us.”
Romans 5:3-5
I've always had an inner sarcastic chuckle about
the word ‘rejoice’ when connected to suffering.
I can rejoice now about past
suffering because I can see what it’s taught me and where it’s brought me---but
rejoicing isn’t exactly my initial response.
Maybe that’s because my understanding of God’s
love is so limited. Because I don’t
instantly trust the good of the outcome or the positive aspects of the journey
itself. Because I don’t totally,
completely, and irresolutely trust Him
as much as I’d like.
But the last part of this passage does make me rejoice. I love the visual image that ‘pour’
brings. A huge frosted jug pouring
thirst quenching liquid into a parched and desperate vessel. A never-ending Source of love. When I remember that suffering hollows me out
so that I can receive more of that love---then I’m desperate for it. I can rejoice in it when His love is the
focus and not the suffering.
It makes me think of this C.S. Lewis quote, “Imagine yourself as a
living house. God comes in to rebuild that house. At first, perhaps, you can
understand what He is doing. He is getting the drains right and stopping the
leaks in the roof and so on; you knew that those jobs needed doing and so you
are not surprised. But presently He starts knocking the house about in a way
that hurts abominably and does not seem to make any sense. What on earth is He
up to? The explanation is that He is building quite a different house from the
one you thought of - throwing out a new wing here, putting on an extra floor
there, running up towers, making courtyards. You thought you were being made
into a decent little cottage: but He is building a palace. He intends to come
and live in it Himself.”
He’s remaking us to contain more of His love, His
love is our Source through all that life throws at us, and He’s pouring it out
for us today.
Response: Lord, empty our hearts of the things that only steal, kill,
and destroy. Fill us up with You. We’re desperate for Your love to be our
Source today. Make us a conduit that
then pours out Your love for others.
7. God’s love is our strength.
“So that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that
you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with
all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know
the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all
the fullness of God.”
Eph. 3:17-19
One of the mysteries of God is that in
continuation of relationship with Him we discover more and more of WHO He is
than we could previously understand, and we can then comprehend more and more
of His love for us.
This verse states that we first need to be
grounded in His love, to have enough strength to then comprehend His love, and
that then we will be filled with the ‘fullness of God.’
It makes me think of layers of an onion, the
infinity symbol, or ripples in a pond; things dependent on each other that then
continue together. Or the age old
question of which came first, the chicken or the egg? (I saw on Facebook the
other day a post saying that someone had ordered a chicken and an egg on Ebay
and was waiting to see which one came first!) But the point is that we need
God’s love to have the strength to understand His love, to further understand
more of His love.
Basically it keeps us looking to Him because His
love surpasses our limited knowledge.
And through His love we find the strength to find more love......and on
and on.
Response: God, thank you that you are an unfathomable well of strength
for us. Thank you that as we embrace You
and Your love for us that you brace us for the battles that today may
bring. Please continue to show us more
and more of your love, so that we can know you more and serve you better.
“This is my
commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that
someone lay down his life for his friends.”
John 15: 12-13
Many
of us want to be self-sacrificial. We
probably wouldn't be reading this particular blog if we weren't wired that
way! But our ‘self’ is so limited. When we give and give of our own strength, we
quite quickly give away all that we have.
It’s
such a simple concept, knowing that it’s only through HIS love that we can
continue to give, but such an easy one to lose a grip on in the busy business
of giving.
We
must first receive. It’s His love after
all, not our own. That is crucial and
the weak link in the process for many:
being refreshed along the way, diving deep into His love first before we overflow to
others. The understood part of this
verse is that we are already receivers of His love, not just in concept but in
personal revelation, otherwise we will live in constant deficit and eventually
be no good to anyone.
But
receiving only is like storing up more mangoes than you can eat yourself; they
quickly become rotten and are also good for no one. Love is meant to be given away. Sacrificially, through His example.
“God is love. Therefore love. Without distinction, without
calculation, without procrastination, love.” ~ Henry Drummond
Love with HIS
love. That’s where the power to live and
love sacrificially lies.
Response: Lord, we need Your love
today. We acknowledge that we can do
nothing without You. It’s Your love and
only Your love that empowers us to follow the example of Jesus on the cross and
lay down our lives for others.
9. His love redeems us as sons and daughters.
“See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be
called children of God! And that is
what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known.
But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.”
I John
3:1-2
Children of God, sons and
daughters, through His love! What a
mystery that we can come into His presence and become like Christ. The lyrics below express the wonder of the
privilege, through His love, of approaching His throne as accepted as His very
own. We will be perfect like Him then,
but His Presence is already there for us now.
Boldly I Approach, by The
Rend Collective
By grace alone somehow I stand
Where even angels fear to tread
Invited by redeeming love
Before the throne of God above
He pulls me close with nail-scarred hands
Into His everlasting arms
When condemnation grips my heart
And Satan tempts me to despair
I hear the voice that scatters fear
The Great I Am the Lord is here
Oh praise the One who fights for me
And shields my soul eternally
Behold the bright and risen Son
More beauty than this world has known
I'm face to face with Love Himself
His perfect spotless righteousness
A thousand years, a thousand tongues
Are not enough to sing His praise
Boldly I approach Your throne
Blameless now I'm running home
By Your blood I come
Welcomed as Your own
Into the arms of majesty
Listen
to the song here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4QDnVD7gu5Y
Response: Great, mighty, merciful God; thank you for making
us sons and daughters through Your love.
10. God is love.
“So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has
for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides
in him. This is how love is made complete among us so that we will
have confidence on the day of judgment: In this world we are like
Jesus. There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out
fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not
made perfect in love.
We love because he first
loved us.”
I John 4:16-19
Since we know that ‘God is love,’ our vision of
who God is can become quite skewed by our misunderstanding of love itself. The outworking of the love of humanity is so
obviously flawed that it makes the concept of Perfect Love beyond our
imagination.
We often look at it backwards. We try to understand God based on our own
misconceptions of love, when we should be looking at the Source to determine
what love is to start with.
“God is Love. And because God is Love, He gets
to define Love: Love is not always agreement with someone, but
it is always sacrifice for someone. Love is always for us. God is always good and we are always loved. That defines everything. Everything.” ~Ann
Voskamp
Let’s hold fast to discovering Him, more and more
of Him, and let that understanding
show us what love really is------and be amazed!
Response: God, we are so
small. We think we are wise, but there is so much that we don’t
understand. Please, show us YOUR love so
that we can be a conduit in this world that is dying without You. Open our eyes, clarify our thoughts and make
us more like You.
11. God’s
love deserves an honest response.
“Jesus
answered, “Very
truly I tell you, you are looking for me, not
because you saw the signs I
performed but because you ate the loaves and had your fill.
Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that
endures to eternal
life, which the Son of Man will
give you. For on him God the Father has placed his seal of
approval………..
......From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer
followed him.
“You do not want to leave too, do you?” Jesus asked the Twelve.
Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You
have the words of eternal life.”
John 6:26-27, 66-68
Do you ever try to pretend with God? Sometimes we try to convince ourselves that
what we are doing or thinking is OK when we really know otherwise. Our prayers can be full of untruths as we try
to justify ourselves to the All-Knowing One.
But the Holy Spirit is there to cut through our defense and denial and
speak life-changing truth into our world.
It’s not that the twelve were never
unfaithful, that they didn't struggle to understand what He was teaching them,
that they weren't selfish or fought among themselves; but what they didn't do
was turn away.
God already knows our hearts. He knows when our motives are impure and when
what we actually want is something from Him.
Yet, His heart is still to love, forgive, and accept us just the way
that we are. He loved us first and after we've tasted and come to understand even a fraction of that love we can only turn
towards Him and say like Peter,” Lord, to whom shall we go?”
“I love the Lord, for he heard my voice;
he heard my cry for mercy.
Because he
turned his ear to me,
I will call on
him as long as I live…….
…. What shall I return to the Lord
for all his goodness to me?
I will
lift up the cup of salvation
and call on the name of the Lord.
I will fulfill my vows to the Lord
in the presence of all his
people.
Precious
in the sight of the Lord
is the death of his faithful
servants.
Truly I am your servant, Lord;
I serve you just as my mother
did;
you have freed me from my
chains.
I will
sacrifice a thank offering to you
and call on the name of the Lord.
I will fulfill my vows to the Lord
in the presence of all his
people,
in the courts of the house of the Lord—
in your midst, Jerusalem.
Praise
the Lord.
- Psalm
116.1-2,12-19
As we've reflected on the Love of God perhaps we've been reminded of an
aspect of Him that we hadn't considered for a while. Or maybe something that we've noticed for the first time. Whatever we may or may not
have noticed, one thing is certain; our hearts were made to respond to Divine
love.
Perhaps one of the
most beautiful reflections of God’s love of all time was written by Isaac
Watts:
“When I survey the wondrous cross
On which the Prince of glory died,
My richest gain I count but loss,
And pour contempt on all my pride.
Forbid it, Lord, that I should boast,
Save in the death of Christ my God;
All the vain things that charm me most--
I sacrifice them to His blood.
See, from His head, His hands, His feet,
Sorrow and love flow mingled down;
Did e'er such love and sorrow meet,
Or thorns compose so rich a crown?
Were the whole realm of nature mine,
That were a present far too small:
Love so amazing, so Divine,
Demands my soul, my life, my all.”
Response: Jesus, Your love is more than we could ever fathom. Please let it fill our hearts and fill our minds until there is nothing left besides You. Our souls, our lives, our all. Yours.
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