OUR PLACE IN CHRIST’S REIGN

"For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him may not perish but may have eternal life.   Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through Him."  (John 3:16-17 NRSV)

The "world" that Jesus came to save is represented in the birth stories by two groups of people who could hardly be more varied: shepherds from the nearby hillsides and wealthy sages from a foreign land. Farmworkers and well-connected intellectuals, one group from the neighborhood and one who traveled from a far country. No one is a foreigner at the manger; no one is excluded because of economic class. God wants a full table at the heavenly banquet and is willing to look for dinner guests in unexpected places (Luke 14:15-24). Our place in Christ's reign means that we are willing to sit next to someone who appears at first to be alien to us but turns out to be a citizen, a member with us of God's own household. Embraced by this communion of love, we realize our call to the life of the Spirit and we enjoy the fullness of life that comes with Christ's reign of justice, mercy and peace. 

-- Blair Gilmer Meeks in “Expecting the Unexpected”

#6262

THE DEPTH OF GOD’S LOVE

In today's world, wracked by terrorism, poverty, lawlessness, disease, and violence, the message of the gospel and the need for Christians who put their faith into action has never been more acute.  We, the followers of Jesus Christ, are an integral part of God's plan for the world -- the same world that God loved so much -- "that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life" (John 3:16).  In this famous verse we see the depth of God's love for our world. It was not a passive and sentimental love but rather a dynamic, active, and sacrificial love.  For God so loved the world that He acted! 

-- Richard Stearns, former President of World Vision, Inc., in “Introduction to Faith In Action Study Bible: Living God's Word in a Changing World”  [2005]

#6200

COME AND SEE

“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.”  (Matthew 7:7-8 NIV)

From the depths of my soul, I desire for people to love and to be loved, to experience a sense of purpose from serving others, and to believe that their life matters.  I want people to feel connected, immersed in community, surrounded and sustained through all the setbacks and celebrations of living.  I genuinely desire for them to discover the inner life, and to learn to ease the suffering of greed and the pain of empty strivings.  I want them to discover that love is the better way, that patterns of violence and manipulation can be interrupted, that loneliness can be overcome and suffering relieved, and that there is a depth to life that is sacred and holy and worthy of exploration.

The spiritual life changes us and moves us from agitated to stillness, from anger to peace, from distressed about our own situations to compassionate about the circumstances of others.  I want people to discover life with God.

I want people to flourish, and for people to feel that life is worth living and people are worth loving and God is worth trusting.  I don't try to force anyone into a mold.  I don't want others to make all the choices I've made.  But I want them not to be alone, and to know that God loves them and that the things that matter most -- love, hope, peace, purpose -- are attainable when we open our hearts to God and follow the way we see in Jesus.  In Christ, a well-known road takes us to unknown places of enchantment, mystery, and meaning.

In my own way, always and everywhere for as long as I live, I want to say, "Come and see.  Come and explore grace, kindness, peace, humility, and hope.  See what it's like to make a difference and to let Christ interweave our lives into the fabric of community.  Come and see." 

-- Robert Schnase in “Five Practices of Fruitful Living”

#6199

GOD’S EVERLASTING LOVE

“For as the heavens are high above the earth, so great is His lovingkindness toward those who fear and worship Him [with awe-filled respect and deepest reverence]. As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us.”  (Psalm 103:11-12 AMP)

The big news of the Bible is not that you love God but that God loves you; not that you can know God but that God already knows you! He tattooed your name on the palm of His hand. His thoughts of you outnumber the sand on the shore. You never leave His mind, escape His sight, flee His thoughts. He sees the worst of you and loves you still. Your sins of tomorrow and failings of the future will not surprise Him; He sees them now. Every day and deed of your life has passed before His eyes and been calculated in His decision. He knows you better than you know you and He has reached His verdict: He loves you still. No discovery will disillusion Him; no rebellion will dissuade Him. He loves you with an everlasting love. 

-- Max Lucado in “Come Thirsty: No Heart Too Dry for His Touch”

#6148

GOD’S INDIVIDUALIZED LOVE

“I pray that out of His glorious riches He may strengthen you with power through His Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge -- that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.”  (Ephesians 3:16-19 NIV)

How sad it is to realize that many people never come to Christ because they do not understand that God's love is individualized.  They never come to that sweet, liberating understanding that God calls them to faith as individuals – that He wants them just as they are.

Let me give the good news.  God's family is big enough for you.  God's love is wide enough, and complete enough for you, even if you don't look a bit like your preconceived notion of what a real Christian ought to look like.  You can come as you are as an individual, and God will accept you as an individual and work with you as an individual.  You may trust Him and live your life according to how the Holy Spirit leads you, and God will guide your way.  God loves us as individuals; it was He who created our uniqueness.  Each of us has a unique place and a unique purpose in His family and in His church. 

-- Stephen Arterburn and Jack Felton in “More Jesus, Less Religion” 

#5900

 

EXPERIENCING GOD’S LOVE

Before we can love others, we must feel and understand how deeply God loves us. Ephesians 3:17-18 says, “I pray that Christ will be more and more at home in your hearts, living within you as you trust in Him. May your roots go down deep into the soil of God’s marvelous love; and may you be able to feel and understand, as all God’s children should, how long, how wide, how deep, and how high His love really is; and to experience this love for yourselves.” (The Living Bible, emphasis added)

Circle the words feel, understand, and experience in that passage. God wants us to feel His love, and He wants us to understand His love. Why? 1 John 4:19 says that we love because God first loved us. Why is it important to feel loved by God? Because unloved people are often unloving people. When I do not feel genuinely loved, I do not feel like giving love. So first we have to experience God’s love ourselves. Jesus said, “Love each other as I have loved you.” (John 15:12) That is the model. 

-- Rick Warren in “God’s Power to Change Your Life”

#5783

EXPERIENCING GOD’S LOVE

“For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”  (Romans 8:38-39 NIV)

It seems we do not often see or sense God’s sovereign love exercised on our behalf. Instead, we see ourselves beset with all kinds of calamities that come rolling in upon us. We see ourselves as the victims of “nature’s cruel fate,” of the injustices of other people, and of the adversities that occur with no rational cause.

It is at times like this that we must take our stand by faith on the assurances of God’s love given to us in the Scriptures. We cannot evade one of the basic principles of the Christian life, “We live by faith, not by sight.” (2 Corinthians 5:7)  Certainly our faith frequently wavers and, just as we may momentarily question the wisdom of God, we will momentarily question the goodness and love of God. We will be like David when he said, “In my alarm I said, ‘I am cut off from Your sight!’” (Psalm 31:22)  That is often our initial reaction when adversity strikes us. We feel cut off from God’s face, from His love and tender care.

But we must also learn to say with David, “Yet You heard my cry for mercy when I called to You for help.” (Psalm 31:22)  God cannot forsake us because we are His children, in blessed union with His Son. We cannot be cut off from His sight. But we can be cut off from the assurance of His love when we allow doubt and unbelief to gain a foothold in our hearts. 

-- Jerry Bridges in “Trusting God”

#5678

SALVATION HISTORY

“I long for Your salvation, O Lord, and Your law is my delight. Let my soul live, and it shall praise You; and let Your judgments help me. I have gone astray like a lost sheep; seek Your servant, for I do not forget Your commandments.”  (Psalm 119:174-176 NKJV)

The Bible is the record of those divine breakthroughs into human history. “God’s search for man,” it is described, rather than being our search for God. And its accents are considered a key for discerning the continuing divine activity in the present. Unlike most religious literature, it is not chiefly a collection of noble sayings, but a drumroll of events, people, struggles, great and terrible; of frailty, doubts, and heroism; of the ultimate might of right. Scripture isn’t meant as scientific exposition or as mere history. It is “salvation history,” a universal spiritual drama of an overarching compassion and concern for human integrity, of an unwavering love [on God’s part] that seeks an answering affirmation [on our part]. It is a vivid, sometimes parabolic account of God’s persistent, unrelenting quest for us and our stumbling, often faithless response. 

-- George Cornell in “The Untamed God”

#5643

IT WAS HIS CHOICE

Jesus outlasted, outmaneuvered, and outthought every group, every power. But not just that. Mostly He just out-loved everybody. For Jesus in the garden had one agenda that superseded the agendas of all the others: love. On Friday, Jesus died for love. He said it was His choice. It wasn’t Pilate’s. It wasn’t Herod’s. It wasn’t Caesar’s. It wasn’t the chief priests’. It wasn’t the crowds’. He said, “I lay down my life for the sheep. . . . No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of My own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again.” (John 10:17b-18)

The cross was changed from the symbol of a human empire’s power into a symbol of the suffering love of God. It was changed from an expression of ultimate threat into an expression of ultimate hope. It came, in a sense, to express the exact opposite of its original purpose -- that the power of embraced sacrifice is greater than the power of coercion. How did this happen? Jesus chose it. He chose to die on it. After Friday, neither the cross nor the world could stay the same. 

-- John Ortberg in “Who Is This Man?”

#5576

RESPONDING TO THIS GLORIOUS GIFT

“I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge -- that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.”  (Ephesians 3:17b-19 NIV)

Rest in the deep assurance of My unfailing Love. Let your body, mind, and spirit relax in My Presence. Release into My care anything that is troubling you, so that you can focus your full attention on Me. Be awed by the vast dimensions of My Love for you: wider, longer, higher, and deeper than anything you know. Rejoice that this marvelous Love is yours forever!

The best response to this glorious gift is a life steeped in thankfulness. Every time you thank Me, you acknowledge that I am your Lord and Provider. This is the proper stance for a child of God: receiving with thanksgiving. Bring Me the sacrifice of gratitude, and watch to see how much I bless you. 

-- From “Jesus Calling: Enjoying Peace in His Presence” by Sarah Young 

#5498

BECAUSE GOD LOVES US

The Bible is a story of love: God’s love for the world and God’s love for His children. After all, God is love (1 John 4:8). Nowhere do we see the love of God more active than in Jesus. “For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him might not perish but might have eternal life.”  (John 3:16)

This famous verse captures the heart of the Bible, the heart of the faith, and truly the heart of God. Jesus came to us because God loves us. That is the supreme example of agape love. God loves us first. (1 John 4:19) God takes the first step. And the birth of Jesus proves that.

In Jesus, we see God taking the first step to touch and shape our lives. In offering His Son to you, God shows you His highest dreams for your life. He wants us to be like Christ. That is the best-version-of-yourself. Just as Jell-O takes the form of the container it is surrounded by, so too are we shaped by what we are surrounded by. God desires to immerse you in Himself, Jesus. In Him you can fulfill God’s dream for your life. 

-- Allen R. Hunt in “Nine Words: A Bible Study to Help You Become the Best-Version-of-Yourself”

#5496

ENGRAVED ON THE COMMUNION TABLE

Recently, I was visiting a congregation that offers an extraordinary deaf ministry. The director introduced me to some of the deaf young people, and then he took me to see an Eagle Scout project that was nearing completion. A young man from the church had made an exquisite full-size communion table, beautifully crafted and finely finished. On the front of the communion table there was a symbol engraved with a cross background. On the cross, where you might expect to see the body of Christ in a Catholic Church or a Cross and Flame logo in a United Methodist Church, there was a carving of a hand showing the sign language expression for “I love you.”  

How do you translate the meaning of Jesus’ life, death and resurrection?  How do you translate the meaning of the cross?  Translators express the mind, heart, and will of one person to another across boundaries.  I cannot think of a better translation than the one found in the engraving on the communion table:  “I love you.”   That’s what Jesus came to tell us. That’s what was on the heart and mind of God in sending him.  That’s the story we continue to translate and re-translate in every generation through scripture, worship, service, sacrament, and teaching.  Through the cross, God says, “I love you.” 

-- U.M. Bishop Robert Schnase, excerpted from his Five Practices blog   

#5256

BECAUSE GOD LOVES ME

(Based on 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 and John 3:16)

Because God loves me, He is slow to lose patience with me.

Because God loves me, He takes the circumstances of my life and uses them in a constructive way for my growth.

Because God loves me, He is for me. He wants to see me mature and develop in His love.

Because God loves me, He does not send down His wrath on every little mistake I make, of which there are many.

Because God loves me, He does not keep score of all my sins and then beat me over the head with them whenever He gets the chance.

Because God loves me, He is deeply grieved when I do not walk in the ways that please Him because He sees this as evidence that I don't trust Him and love Him as I should.

Because God loves me, He keeps on trusting me when at times I don't even trust myself.

Because God loves me, He never says there is no hope for me; rather, He patiently works with me, loves me, and disciplines me in such a way that it is hard for me to understand the depth of His concern for me.

Because God loves me, He never forsakes me even though many of my friends might.

Because God loves me, He stands with me when I have reached the rock bottom of despair, when I see the real me and compare that with His righteousness, holiness, beauty, and love. It is a moment like this that I can really believe that God loves ME.

Because God loves me, He sent His Son, Jesus Christ, and that believing in Him I will have eternal life with the God who loves me.

Yes, the greatest of all gifts is God's perfect love given to us in His Son!

-- Dr. Dick Dickinson, Inter-Community Counseling Center, Long Beach, California

#5246

NO IF ABOUT IT

Jesus said, “The Father Himself loves you because you have loved Me and have believed that I came from God.”  (John 16:27)

Who’s giving you a rough time because you’re trusting God, saying things like, “If God really loved you, He would heal you”? Or, “If God really loved you, He wouldn’t have allowed you to lose your job”? Or, “If God really loved you, He would bring your spouse back”?

It’s wicked for others to make you doubt God’s love. The proof of His love is the cross. Romans 5:8 says, “God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (NKJV).

The cruelest of the taunts hurled at Jesus on the cross was surely the suggestion that included the words “if He is the Christ of God, the Chosen One” (Luke 23:35, italics mine). In other words, if God really loved Jesus, He wouldn’t have allowed His Son to be in that situation.

But even in the blackness of the hate around the cross, the love of God broke through like the rays of the sun! If God really loved you? There’s no if about it. God loves you.

God loves you! 

-- Anne Graham Lotz in “Fixing My Eyes on Jesus: Daily Moments in His Word”

#5181

A FATHER’S LOVE

Many years ago I traveled to my mother’s house in West Texas to see my uncle. He had journeyed from California to visit the grave of my dad. He hadn’t been able to make it to the funeral some months earlier.

Uncle Billy reminded me of my father. They looked so much alike: square bodied and ruddy complexion. We laughed, talked, and reminisced. When time came for me to leave, Uncle Billy followed me out to my car. We paused to say good-bye. He reached up and placed his hand on my shoulder and said, “Max, I want you to know, your dad was very proud of you.”

I contained the emotion until I pulled away. Then I began to blubber like a six-year-old.

We never outgrow our need for a father’s love. We were wired to receive it. May I serve the role of an Uncle Billy in your life? The hand on the shoulder is mine. The words I give you are God’s. Receive them slowly. Don’t filter, resist, downplay, or deflect them. Just receive them.

“My child. I want you in My Kingdom. I have swept away your offenses like the morning clouds, your sins like the morning mist. I have redeemed you. The transaction is sealed; the matter is settled. I, God, have made My choice. I choose you to be part of My forever family.”

Let these words cement in your heart a deep, satisfying, fear-quenching confidence that God will never let you go. You belong to Him. 

-- Max Lucado in “Grace: More Than We Deserve, Greater Than We Imagine”

#5100

RELYING ON GOD’S LOVE

"And so we know and rely on the love God has for us." (1 John 4:16, NIV)

When it comes right down to it, this is the bottom line, the bedrock foundation for our faith, and the explanation of the peace we have about the present and the future. Knowing and relying on God's love for us is our duty and our joy in all circumstances, and it's the best and only answer to any situation we run up against. It allows us to look beyond the circumstances to see (or simply trust in) God's hand working in our lives...

Know God's love. Rely on it. That's all He asks us to do.

-- Laura Hepker, Christianity Online

#5042

MEASURED GRACE

“[God] gives grace generously. As the Scriptures say, ‘God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.’”  (James 4:6 NLT) 

[God] supplies perfectly measured grace to meet [our needs]. For daily needs there is daily grace; for sudden needs, sudden grace; for overwhelming need, overwhelming grace. God's grace is given wonderfully, but not wastefully; freely but not foolishly; bountifully but not blindly.

-- John Blanchard in “Truth for Life: A Devotional Commentary on the Epistle of James”

#5031

SEEING SIN FOR WHAT IT IS

"For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by His grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus."  (Romans 3:23-24 NIV)

Don’t call it a mistake, an unfortunate choice, a slipup, a disease, an addiction, a boo-boo, or “my bad.” Call it sin.

Around 1,600 years ago, Augustine wrote in his “Confessions,” “My sin was all the more incurable because I did not think myself a sinner.” That’s why preachers need that word that tells a vast story in only three letters. Without seeing the depths of sin, we’ll never understand the heights of God’s love and grace. 

-- Kyle Idleman in “The End of Me”

#4953

INCARNATION - THE DEPTH OF GOD’S LOVE

"In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to His own advantage; rather, He made Himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to death -- even death on a cross! " (Philippians 2:5-8 NIV)

If New Testament Christianity is to reappear today with its power and joy and courage, [we] must recapture the basic conviction that this is a Visited planet.  It is not enough to express formal belief in the "Incarnation" or in the "Divinity of Christ"; the staggering truth must be accepted afresh -- that in this vast, mysterious universe, of which we are an almost infinitesimal part, the great Mystery, Whom we call God, has visited our planet in Person.  It is from this conviction that there springs unconquerable certainty and unquenchable faith and hope.  It is not enough to believe theoretically that Jesus was both God and Man; not enough to admire, respect, and even worship Him; it is not even enough to try to follow Him.  The reason for the insufficiency of these things is that the modern intelligent mind, which has had its horizons widened in dozens of different ways, has got to be shocked afresh by the audacious central Fact -- that, as a sober matter of history, God became one of us. 

-- J. B. Phillips in “New Testament Christianity”

#4845