Showing posts with label no separation. Show all posts
Showing posts with label no separation. Show all posts

Friday, December 16, 2011

God's Great Love

Read: Romans 8:5-39

‘Many are the affliction of the righteous, but the Lord delivers him out of them all!’” - Psalm 34:19

We all view life from a limited human vantage point. We wonder, “How will I ever solve this problem?” “How am I going to succeed?” “When will I get past this?” “When will this sickness leave?”

When we notice our thoughts drifting in the direction of the Big “I” we need to remind ourselves that the battle is the Lord’s. Then, we can transfix our affection, our thoughts, our beliefs, our emotions and our worldview on things above, on a heavenly rather than an earthly point of view (Colossians 3:2-3).

The Eighth chapter of Romans gives us a powerful message of a life lived from God’s point of view. When we look at our problems from God’s angle, we soar into the heavenly realm and leave this old world and all of its problems behind us. Think of the photos of the earth as seen from outer space. These photos put the earth into proper perspective. In the light of all of the galaxies that make up the universe, earth is one of the smallest planets God created. God rules all of creation, and we can trust Him to conscientiously rule over our life as well.

At times, it seems that our whole world just came unglued. Everything swirls out of our control in every direction. We subdue one issue and several more pop up. Our molehill becomes a mountain in record time! This happens, because in the pressure cooker of life, God softens us until we are pliable enough for Him to mold us into Christ’s image.

Psalm 34:19 reminds us that the Lord delivers us out of all of our afflictions! God already won the battle 2000 years ago on Calvary’s cross. We are already conquerors through Christ in us, our hope of glory (Colossians 1: 27). When we look at life through God’s eyes, we start to see the possibilities rather than the problems. God used a small boy named David to defeat a giant like Goliath. He also empowers us with the same ability to face the giant problems in our life.

We serve an awesome and empathetic God. He loves, forgives, aids, chastises, transforms and molds us; and all the while, He gives us His abundant life now and for eternity. 1 John 3:1 reminds us, “Behold, what manner of love the father hath bestowed upon us.” Ephesians 2: 4 encourages us, "He is rich in mercy and loves us with abundant love.”

Prayer:
Lord Jesus, thank You for telling us that nothing in heaven or on earth can separate us from Your love. No human experience or atrocity can remove us from Your presence. We can run away from You, but You always wait right where we left You; so we will find You again when we go around the mountain of life one more time!

Thought for the Day:
Nothing will ever separate us from God’s great love.

Sunday, December 4, 2011

True Love

Read: John 13:34-35

“Complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. - Philippians 2:2

Jesus challenges us to love others as He loves us. How does He love us? He gave up His throne in glory to take on the lowly form of a man (Philippians 2: 7). Then He died from a horrendous crucifixion for people who would rather spit in His face, torment Him body and soul and malign his reputation than to accept His free gift of Salvation.

Jesus died for the lost, the broken, the forlorn and the persecuted. His love made Him our servant, our brother, our Savior and our King. His love is patient and kind; it does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. His love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. His love never ends (1 Corinthians 13:4-8).

His love caused Him to lay down His life for us, to enable us to conquer our fears and live victoriously as His children (1 John 3: 1). 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 7: 38-39).

With His example in the forefront of our mind, let us love one another, fully and completely until Christ returns.

Prayer:
Lord Jesus, help us to bear with one another in love with all humility, gentleness and patience, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
- Ephesians 4:2-3

Thought for the Day:
People can survive better with their physical needs met in short supply, than they can thrive without love.