WHO LOVES YOU - Part 2 - The Love of the Son

God proved His love for us by sending His one and only Son into the world so that we might live eternally through Him. Jesus loves you more than a pearl of great price (Matthew 13:45).

This is true, authentic love: we did not earn or deserve God’s love, but He loved us first and sent His Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins (1 John 1:9, 4:19).

Jesus left all that was His, relinquished his kingly status, forsook the glories of heaven; and for 33 whole years, He lived on this sin-cursed earth.

Then, at the peak of His manhood, He purchased us back from Satan for the Father by suffering the horrendous death on Calvary’s Cross.

Jesus gave His life so that we could live as God's adopted children, joint heirs with Him to receive all that the Father owns. We will dwell in God's Kingdom and enjoy fellowship with the Trinity now and for eternity.

We begin each day by sitting at His feet and learning from Him: talking to Him, listening to Him, reading His Word, meditating on what we read, praising Him and waiting on Him.

He stills the chaos in our body and soul - our thoughts, choices and emotions. We remain in His presence until we feel His Spirit directing our next step (Proverbs 3:5-6).

Jesus empowers us throughout our day and night. He never, ever leaves us for any reason or circumstance (Hebrews 13:5). He meets life's demands on us by using our body and soul to accomplish His will in and through us.

Prayer:

Father God, You give us the gift of new life each and every day. Just waking up is proof that You love us. We often take for granted things like air to breathe and eyes to see; but each of these miracles is evidence to us that You love us.

Remind us to appreciate You and not to take You for granted. All through the day, You send people, events and natural wonders to bless us. We want to live in Your divine will through the divine opportunities You provide for us.

Thought for the Day:

Trying to find a fulfilling relationship with another human being is close to impossible, and only the rare interdependent couple ever succeed; however, every human being can find fulfillment in the love of God and in Jesus Christ whom He sent. - John 6:29

Our Help in Trouble

There are times in life when we feel devastated, overwhelmed and hopeless. Total surrender to God is the key to making sense of our circumstances. Surrendering our family and future to God, walking away from our worries and leaving them in His hands is the only action that will keep us sane. God will give us grace for today, but tomorrow's grace will not come until tomorrow.

As long as we are still alive, we have hope (Ecclesiastes 9:4). The Lord saves the brokenhearted and those crushed in spirit (Psalm 34:18). He binds our wounds and carries our sorrows (Isaiah 53:4, Psalm 147:3). Our hope comes from God alone and He gives us rest for our soul (Psalm 43:5; 62:5). As we put our hope in Him, the Lord rescues us from our trials (Psalm 39:7; 2 Peter 2:9). If we keep our faith and hope in God, anything is possible (Mark 9:23).

When trouble surrounds us and life is hard, we know that there is always a way out, because God loved us enough to lay His life down for us (2 Corinthians 4:8). God has good plans for His righteous ones and there is always hope in our future (Jeremiah 29:11). There is no need to fear anything, which life throws at us or that people threaten us with. We relinquish them all to the Lord for Him to deal with.

If we call out to the Lord, and pray to Him for help, He never fails to hear us. Our cries always reach His ears (Psalm 18:8). Our Lord and Redeemer strengthens us and holds us up with His victorious right hand (Isaiah 41:10, 13-14). Full surrender to God’s will in every circumstance is the only way to stay sane. If we continue to strive in our own way, we will continue to feel frustrated and hopeless.

We trust in God, not in our family or friends, job or bank account, talents or human reasoning, church or neighbors. If we do, we put too much pressure on others when we expect them to support us more than they already are. They will feel undue stress and push back or ignore us. We have to get our eyes off our self and onto God. Then He will keep us in perfect peace (Isaiah 26:3).

Troubles are round us on every side, but we are not shut in; things are hard for us, but God shows us a way out of them (2 Corinthians 4:8). He leads us one step at a time (Matthew 6:31-34). Do not worry about tomorrow (Matthew 6:25-30). Face today braced by God’s Spirit and praising God for who He is. Follow the leading of God’s Spirit throughout each day, even if you do not want to obey. Then, God will pour showers of blessings on you all the days of your life.

Prayer:

Father God, even when we take our focus off You in the midst of our tribulation, we know without a doubt that You are always there for us, loving us unconditionally and giving us the victory through Your death and resurrection. Nothing this world has to offer compares to the hope we have, which comes only from You (Psalm 62:5; Ecclesiastes 9:4). You are always on our side, ever loving us and drawing us daily closer to Your heart (John 6:44; Psalm 136:1).

Thought for the Day:

God’s sheltering arms keep us from falling and He lifts us up when we are discouraged. - Psalm 145:14

Higher Purpose

Paul and Barnabas embarked on an extensive journey and planted churches all along the way. The fledgling Believers they left behind suffered for their faith in Jesus. So, the apostles made a return visit on their way home to encourage the Christians in all the churches they started. They strengthened these fledgling Saints and encouraged them to persevere through tribulation, because their ultimate destination was the Kingdom of God (Acts 14:21-22). Paul also reminded them that we are never alone in our persecution. We have one another, as well as our Savior that lives within us (Galatians 2:20).

We often reap tribulation from some ill-conceived scheme of our own, or from a decision or action perpetrated by some self-centered person in our life. At other times, we are in the wrong place at the wrong time, and we fall victim to some evil deed. However, God uses every tribulation to build up our faith and to allow the fruit of His Holy Spirit to replace the carnality in our life (Galatians 5:22-23). We learn to rejoice in suffering and to persevere through it (Romans 5:3; 1 Thessalonians 5:16). It is miraculous what praising will accomplish in us and for us.

Paul also went on a second missionary journey, this time with Silas to assist him. In one town, they were accused of causing riots and sentenced to time in jail (Acts 16:20). Knowing the secret of the power of praise, the men prayed and sang hymns even while they were chained behind bars (Acts 16:25). God blessed their faith and miraculously delivered them from their bondage. This phenomenon caused their guard and his household to accept the saving knowledge of Christ into their lives (Acts 16:30-38).

When we view our tribulation with the eyes of the Holy Spirit, we learn the secret of contentment regardless of where we are, what we have or what is happening to us (Philippians 4:12). There is always something to thank God for. We may have received a faux fur coat rather than a genuine mink; however, we are still warm. We may have a small income rather than great wealth, but we still have everything we really need. We may have physical ailments, but we are still alive. There is always something for which we can praise the Lord. Adversity and advantage are actually two sides of the same coin (James 1:2-8).

When we allow our self to focus on what we do not have, or on our problems and negative circumstances, we lose faith. We doubt God’s love for us, and His power to provide. Our greatest gift in life, as well as in death, is eternal life. No one can kill a Christian. They can only change our address! Paul reminds us that to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord (2 Corinthians 5:8). The Lord rejoices in the death of His Saints, because we are no longer separated from Him by time and space, and we will live in His presence for eternity (Psalm 115:16).

The purpose of tribulation is to conform us to the likeness of Christ (Romans 8:29). A secondary purpose is that we are forced to totally trust in God for deliverance, when we encounter trouble that we cannot navigate on our own. As we see God’s mighty hand move in our behalf during these times of trial, our faith grows and we learn wisdom and patience (James 1:4-8). Eventually, we learn to be joyful at all times, even in tribulation. This is because of the Godly character built into our life, as well as because of the hand of God that is always strong in our behalf (James 1:2-4).

Prayer:

Lord God, we find total peace and joy only when we give thanks to You in all of our circumstances (1 Thessalonians 5:18). Our fulfillment depends more on our relationship with You than it does on our state of affairs. We may not have what we want; but if we did not have what we need, then You would certainly provide it (Philippians 4:18-20). Remind us to wait on You and to be of good courage, knowing full well that You will strengthen our heart and supply our needs in Your perfect timing and way (Psalm 27:14).

Thought for the Day:

No one who places their hope in the Lord will ever be put to shame. - Psalm 25:3

Count it All Joy

No one is glad about the negative aspects of life. We all cringe when it happens and we often run and hide from it. For instance, there is so much negative in the world that people often fail to see anything positive. The Christian has the best advantage when it comes to adversity. James advises us to rejoice in our suffering (James 1:2-8). That sounds like the advice of a crazy man, but I am here to tell you that it works!

James’ advice is actually very sensible. Rather than adding a pessimistic attitude and negative emotions to our depressing circumstances, if we start to praise God in them, He will eventually work everything out for our good (Romans 8:28). We do not have to praise God “for” our circumstances, but a key to defeating Satan’s strongholds in our life is to praise God in spite of them.

Rejoicing in our suffering makes no human sense, but it makes every spiritual sense. We are telling God that we trust Him with our spiritual eyes, no matter what our life looks like with our natural eyes. At times, life takes us captive in unbearable situations. If we are so absorbed in feeling negative about these issues, we miss seeing the hand of God in them. Paul told us that suffering works character in our life and gives us qualities such as perseverance, which eventually produces hope. Hope helps us to rise above any disappointment (Romans 5:3-5).

God pours out His love into our hearts and His Holy Spirit resides within each person who believes that Jesus is God who came in the flesh and who surrenders their life to Him. Love is the emotion of the heart. You can’t prove it, you just feel it and you know that it is there. In this same way, faith is the emotion of our spirit. You can’t prove it, you just feel it and you know that it is there. God pours out His love on us regardless of our circumstances. We can trust Him in faith.

If we are stuck in a prison of adversity and we do not see any way out, we may panic, grieve or just give up. Once we change our focus from our dismal negative circumstances to the limitless power of God, we relax. We believe that God has a purpose for allowing these hardships in our life, just as He has a plan for our overall life (Romans 8:28; Jeremiah 29:11). If we resist the negative, we may miss the positive that God is working out in our life through it.

Prayer:

Father God, You never leave us or forsake us (Hebrews 13:5). You walk with us through every event in our life – the good and the bad. You even walk with us through the valley of the shadow of death (Psalm 23:4). When we cooperate with You rather than fight our circumstances, You always make a way for us, even where there seems to be no way. When one door closes on us, You open an even better one. When we persevere, You develop in us the character to believe that You have our best interest at heart (Romans 8:28).

Thought for the Day:

Faith in God’s faithfulness gives us wings to fly above every sorrow and trial.