LOVER OF OUR SOULS! It is
a bit … or a lot … difficult to imagine the very God of the universe loving insignificant
little me – little us, in our wretched, lost, human state. What, oh what could have attracted You to us,
God; even persuaded You to take pity on us?
And even more so, to love us fully with an everlasting love? Now, now … I would not say such a thing had I
not already learned and experienced the amazing love of Christ that assures me
that He sees me – as precious and priceless.
You see, His plan from before the beginning of time was that His love
would provide a way to keep us from the death that He knew would otherwise send
us to eternal punishment. And He loved
us that much while we were still sinners who were rejecting Him! What kind of love is that? His Word tells us in Romans 5:8, “But God clearly shows and proves His own love for us, by the fact that while we were still sinners,
Christ died for us.” He
didn’t demand perfection before He would love us like that, because He knew
that our capability to love like He does is not possible. It is difficult for our minds to make sense
of a Love that is so unlike human love which is often very conditional and
demanding. But accept it
– and experience it once, or twice – or every day for the rest of your life …
and you can and will attest that it is true and genuine – even indescribable! Experience His love … and you will stand in
awe of the Lover of your soul!
So, just how do we love others?
In this calendar season of love when the retail and greeting card stores
are going crazy with everything heart-shaped and red … it might seem like an easy
thing to spend some money and let the verses in the cards and the chocolates, balloons,
and flowers do our talking for us! At
least, that is the plan! 😊 But what happens to the lovey-dovey words when
the ooey-gooey chocolates have been consumed; when the balloon has drooped, and
the flowers have wilted? Do the words
still ring true with how we live them out?
Or did we just waste our money for a feel-good experience that didn’t
last? There IS a way that we can live,
if only we choose to! And this is not a
scripture verse, but the quote rings true to what scripture requires of
us. It says this, pure and simple: “The
more we stand in awe of God, the less we’ll stand in judgment of each other.” (Bob
Goff) I share this, because it works for
every relationship: spouses, parents and
children, children and parents, siblings, extended family, friends,
acquaintances, co-workers, and yes – even the relationship we share as a church
family! Living our lives with God
present in every single moment increases our level of awareness of just how
incredibly awesome our God truly is! How
can we not stand in awe? And the more we
experience the fact that God can do anything … the easier it is to lean
on Him to help us reflect Him in everything we do. In every relationship. In the very moment we begin to strike out in
judgment against someone else, God’s unconditional love comes telescoping into
view and looms so large that we cannot help but see our judgments against
others glaringly clear – and we are repulsed at our own actions! Can we do this on our own? No, surely not every single time! But standing in awe of God, we will most
surely see ourselves respond in a more Christ-like way to others whether their actions
deserve our grace and mercy, or not. Did
WE deserve the grace and mercy Christ showed to us? No … a million times NO! But He gave it to us anyway!! Can we strive to do any less with His
promised help?
This past month of our church’s annual 21-day fast before God, I
have been made so strikingly aware of God’s love! His love has been exhibited in so many ways
that I could never miss what He has been lavishing on not only me, but so many
others like me that have come to Him in need of His supernatural intervention
and favor. So to honor Him for His
amazing love, I share just a few of these life events (ours and others) and His
divine answers. He deserves ALL the
glory and honor and praise that our lips can utter, exalting Him with
thanksgiving from the depths of our souls!
Ø Perfect
results from a complete medical physical – first time after 11 years of no
health insurance
Ø Miraculous
turnaround for a young person whose newly prescribed meds created a mental
nightmare
Ø Possible
medical diagnoses were reported as non-existent – bringing hope and victory and
a new lease on life
Ø Confirmation
in a dream from God that sharing the Gospel with someone made an eternal
difference for them
Ø And the list
goes on and on …
God teaches us in His Word that certain things are changed only
by prayer AND fasting; and in addition to whatever else was changed during the
course of this fast – WE are transformed by the renewing of our minds! WE stand all the more in awe of God! And in this month of LOVE – WE are able to
stand less in the judgment of others and love them MORE! God, help us be ALL that You intended for us
to be when You gave us the example of Your beautiful love and priceless Gift of
Your only Son, Jesus! We are eternally
grateful!
REMEMBER . . .
“Beloved, let us love one another,
for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows
God.
Anyone who does not love does not
know God, because God is love.”
~ I John
4:7-8
Joyfully Serving Christ . . .
Pastor Doug and Debbie
