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How great is God’s love for all who worship him? Greater than the distance between heaven and earth! Psalm 103:11 CEV
“I love you.”
“You don’t even know me, and if you did, you wouldn’t love me.”
“I do know you, and I love you.”
“No one could love me if they really knew me. I’m not the person you think you see.”
“I can see to your very soul. I know you better than you think. I know you better than you know yourself! I know about your feelings of lust last week.”
“You can’t! No one knows that but me. I buried it deep inside…what else do you know?”
“The feelings of suicide last week?”
“NO! STOP IT! Who are you…never mind that…you knew that and you still love me?”
“I do. I have for a long time, I love you now and nothing will ever keep me from loving you in the future.”
Sound like some sort of weird plot from a low-budget movie? A weird sort of love story? It’s not. It’s what the Heavenly Father says to you every day. Still, the extent of God’s love isn’t as amazing as the fact that he loves us at all.
The need to be loved is the driving force in all of us. It’s part of our humanity, part of our genetic make-up. It’s why we seek out relationships. But God doesn’t ‘need’ to love us. He ‘wants’ to love us. This may come as a bit of shock but there is nothing really of any value in us for God to love. His love isn’t based on who we are or what we do, it’s based on who he is and what he does.
How much does he love you? Step outside on a star-filled night and look up. See that faintest of all stars? How far do you suppose that star is? A couple thousand light-years perhaps? Were we to be able to measure God’s love for you, it would surpass that little glimmer of light you can barely see.
Big enough to rule the universe, powerful enough to control nature, wise enough to create life itself, intimate enough that even though he knows your deepest struggles, your darkest secrets and your biggest failures, he loves you.
You can avoid him, but he’ll continue to seek you out. You can rebel against him, but he’ll continue to watch for your return. You can tell him to leave, but he’ll stand in the shadows to watch over you. You can deny his love, but he’ll never deny you.
PRAYER: Lord, I’m so unworthy of your love for me. I’m stubborn, rebellious and selfish. I demand my own way and push you aside when it benefits me. Still, you keep on loving me. I’m amazed. I’m humbled. Forgive me for my waywardness. Empower me to live with your love for me in view when the voices of despair tempt me to think otherwise. Amen.
Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith. Because of the joy awaiting him, he endured the cross, disregarding its shame. Now he is seated in the place of honor beside God’s throne. Hebrews 12:1-2 (NLT)
Why did Jesus die? Theologians will tell you that he needed to die as a perfect sacrifice of our sins, and that’s true. We all were lost, subject to our evil sin nature, and destined to eternity separated from God.
The only way to bridge that gap was to have some person who was sinless die on behalf of the world, and that person was, by his choice Jesus Christ. He died so we might live.
But tucked away in Hebrews we find another reason that Jesus died. This reason was, perhaps the motivation for why he died. Jesus died because he knew the pain he would endure on earth would be well worth the joy he’d receive when all things were accomplished.
Joy? You may say? What joy? Was the joy he was looking forward to the joy of living in heaven for eternity? I think not. After all, heaven was his home and the universe was his playground.
Was the joy he was looking forward to the joy of living with his father? Again, I think not. Why would he leave his father on his own will and suffer hardship so he could look forward to being with his father? Doesn’t make sense to me.
Jesus Christ left heaven, endured the shame, ridicule, loneliness, rejection, hate and anger because he was looking forward to the joy of living with you. Yep, you are his joy, his crown, the one he longs to spend time with.
Any of us can endure a little hardship and pain if we know that the end result is better than the present circumstances. Take exercise for example, there may be a few who really enjoy exercise, but for most of us we struggle to get ourselves onto the running path or into the gym. It’s much easier to say, “I’ll start tomorrow.”
But if we want to enjoy good health we exercise. Exercise is good for the heart, prevents or at least puts off some diseases, and can even deter the aging process. The end result is worth the present pain and discomfort.
Jesus knew before he left heaven the first time what life would be like for him on earth. He knew the pain he’d endure for you. Jesus knew, before he left heaven every single mistake you’d make. Every cross or profane word. Every affair. Every visit to the porn sight. Every time you’d mock him. Still, he looked forward to the day he could spend eternity with you. The joy far outweighed the pain.
PRAYER: Lord Jesus, thank you for loving me so much. Things here on earth get very painful. I don’t understand why I do what I do or have to go through what I am going through. Help me to endure all of this with the expectation I have of spending eternity with you. In your name, Amen.
Each person should judge his own actions and not compare himself with others. Then he can be proud for what he himself has done. Galatians 6:4 (NCV)
One of the most dangerous games we play is the comparison game. Watch a couple children at play. It’s not long before they compare toys, the clothes they are wearing, how tall they are, hair color and a variety of other things. As we get older the rules change somewhat, but the game is the same. We measure ourselves by the yardstick of other people.
Those in struggling marriages look at their friends spouse and say, ‘If only my spouse was like him/her.’
We look at someone else’s child and say, ‘If only my son/daughter would be like so and so’.
We do it at church. ‘I wish I could pray like she does; preach like he does; sing like they do.’
Pastors do it when they measure success rates by the number of people in the pews, the number of baptisms, or by flaunting the number of salvations like a WW1 pilot, stamping the icon on their pulpit.
Writers do it when we measure our success by the books we have published, the blog readers we have or the accolades we get. (Yeah, I know. That one hurts.)
One of the many problems with the comparison game is that it works in reverse as well. When life goes wrong for you, when the relationships fail, the finances fall short, the decisions you make put you in the ‘one of those’ category, comparisons hurt.
It was the comparison game the brought the woman to the well that hot day to meet Jesus. Self-respecting women went to get water in the morning. She went at noon when there was less chance of meeting people, less chance of being looked down on, less chance of the comparison game.
There is subtleness to the comparison game. Well-meaning Sunday School teachers and preachers speak against pride in such a way that we might think we should never be proud of our accomplishments. Never feel good about the work we do or the talents we have lest the ugly serpent ‘pride’ shows up.
Galatians is the book of grace. The book of freedom in Christ. Paul tells us “Each person should judge his own actions and not compare himself with others. Then he can be proud for what he himself has done. Galatians 6:4 (NCV)” The message is really two-fold. On the one hand I will never look at my talents and abilities and make you feel inferior. God made you the way he did. I’ll accept that.
On the other hand, I too am a child of God. I have different gifts talents and abilities. Life has taken me down a different road than it’s take you. That doesn’t make me less loved of God. That doesn’t make me less of his child. I will not allow your opinion of me to alter, in any way, my opinion of myself (in Christ) or my opinion of you.
PRAYER: Lord thank you for making me, me. I have bruises and blemishes. I fail (sometimes miserably) and sometimes I need an attitude adjustment. Still, you love me and for that I am eternally grateful. Keep me from comparing myself to others. Protect me from those intent on comparing themselves to me. Amen.
But let all who take refuge in you be glad; let them ever sing for joy. Spread your protection over them, that those who love your name may rejoice in you. Psalm 5:11
Years ago now the news broke in my area of a young person who died tragically in a house fire. What made the death even more of a tragedy is that when he heard the smoke detectors in the middle of the night, he got scared and hid under his bed. When his parents frantically checked his room they didn’t see him and thought him to be outside. He was too scared to answer their calls.
By the time they realized he hadn’t made it outside it was too late. The young man perished from smoke inhalation. The fire was put out quickly. The rest of the family, while devastated at the loss of a loved one, was able to rebuild and go on with life. But the wound of that night haunted them for years. “He was so close to safety,” his dad remarked, “yet his fear was so much greater than his understanding of the situation it twisted his thinking with deadly consequences.”
When we are afraid, for whatever reason, we naturally look for a safe place to regroup. We seek a refuge that will protect us from further pain or harm, a place where we can feel safe and comforted. A place of refuge that will allow us to reach the full potential of our being.
The strength of our refuge determines the amount of peace, safety and healing we take with us on the journey. Some take refuge from emotional pain in new relationships. But relationships are fickle at best and can’t offer the lasting peace we crave. People who aren’t comfortable with the relationship they have with themselves find it difficult, if not impossible, to find true fulfillment in relationship with someone else.
Others seek refuge in addictive behaviors, anger, religious experience, careers, social action and a variety of other things bent on helping them suppress the fear and anxiety in their lives and replace it with comfort and a sense of well-being.
Those who learn how to take refuge in our Heavenly Father find peace in the midst of tragedy; encouragement in the face of disappointment; healing when anger raises its ugly head. Why? Because our human intellect tells us a refuge is protection from the outside, but the eternal, unshakeable refuge we have in God through Jesus Christ is an internal refuge that guards what external refuges can never protect, our souls.
Our bodies will fail us. Old age and/or death are 100% likely for each of us. Relationships will fail. Careers will end. Dreams will slip away in the night. But there is nothing in the seen or the unseen world that will ever break through the refuge of our souls that Jesus Christ offers us.
PRAYER: Father God, I thank you for the protection that you offer us through Jesus Christ. I thank you that we can find complete inner peace and safety when we take refuge in you. I confess I too often seek refuge from things that don’t last. Empower me to learn how to rest in the refuge you can give so in the midst of my adversity I can find rest. Amen.
And after you suffer for a short time, God, who gives all grace, will make everything right. He will make you strong and support you and keep you from falling. He called you to share in his glory in Christ, a glory that will continue forever. 1 Peter 5:10 (NCV)
I was at a conference on church leadership a few months back. The keynote speaker had just recently published a new book. In his presentation he told us about some of the struggles that he’d had between his college years and the present.
Then, he and his wife were living in a one room apartment in which they shared the kitchen and bathroom with their landlord. The basement ‘apartment’ smelled bad, they continually battled mold and rodents. It was cold and damp in the winter and cold and damp in the summer.
Now, he’s speaking around the world to executives of some of the most profitable companies in the world. While I have no idea what his financial situation is now, I’m quite sure he’s better off now than in the apartment days. At the end of his presentation he directed the over 200 of us to his table where there were several piles of books. He told us how much the book was and then made a statement that went something like this, “There’s a basket there by the books for the cost of the book. There are order forms in case you’d rather order it later. But if you don’t have the money today, take the book. If you can pay me later, thank you. If you can’t, I remember the ‘apartment days’ and how hard it was to make ends meet. Take the book as a gift from me to you. God Bless!”
With those closing words he left the stage. He’d given a wealth of good information in his presentation, but to me at least, the most powerful words he spoke were at the end because those were the words of grace.
Too many times in our lives we ask ‘Why?’ We do good things with a sincere heart. We pray earnestly and humbly for God to change relationships, improve our business, or heal the disease in a loved one. When he doesn’t respond as we hope we get angry, bitter, and resentful. “What good does it do to serve him when he does this stuff to me?” we say either to others, or inside ourselves.
Think for a moment of the words in 1 Peter 5:10. The “God who gives ALL grace…” Not just some grace. Not limited grace. Not conditional grace. Conditional grace isn’t grace at all because grace by its very nature is unconditional. Peter, the man who denied Jesus knew better than most. God’s grace is given so we might endure. Grace is ours so we can be strengthened, encouraged, lifted up and one day, rewarded. For now, our trials make us stronger so that we may make others stronger in their journey.
PRAYER: Lord Jesus. Even though the trials I’m going through are difficult, I thank you for them because I trust you enough to know that these trials will make me stronger so I can strengthen my brother. Forgive me for my grumbling, my worry and my complaining for they are signs of a lack of trust. Empower me to live for you. Amen.
Mike Fisk & Built with Grace 