Sunday, March 27, 2011

God's Love Never Fails

"Though the mountains be shaken and the hills be removed, yet my unfailing love for you will not be shaken nor my covenant of peace be removed," says the LORD, who has compassion on you. -- Isaiah 54:10

Does God love you? Does He love me? How about that person who cut you off in traffic? Does God love the child molester just sentenced to prison? What about the murderer on death row? Does God love him too? Squirming yet? Yeah, I figured you would be.

We want God to love the "good" people, the ones who only sin in ways we think are "acceptable." We all sin. Everybody knows that. But surely God sees the difference between a person who tells a lie and a person steals. Doesn't He? We are more worthy than someone who does all those awful things. Aren't we?

All sin is bad and separates us from God. It's why Jesus died such a cruel death as He paid for our sins. My sins. Your sins. And, yes, the sins of the people who molest and kill others. Jesus died for all of us, whether we're willing to acknowledge that truth or not. Anyone who accepts Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, who repents and asks for forgiveness, is welcomed into eternal life -- no matter what they've done in the past.

It's called grace. None of us deserve it. And yet God extends it to all of us. There is nothing any of us can do that can make Him stop loving us. Nothing. That's pretty amazing and something that is beyond anything we humans can comprehend. Maybe that's why we try to categorize sin and justify our own sinful actions. We're trying to understand something that is beyond our understanding.

Maybe we just need to stop trying to understand and just drop to our knees in thanks. God's love is everlasting. He is faithful and true. Nothing can ever shake His love for us. Amazing! Simply amazing!

Friday, December 10, 2010

Keep Loving Your Enemies

"But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you," -- Matthew 5:44

It isn't always easy to care for those who wish you harm. Especially when they come at you again and again and again. I know Jesus is right. He's always right. But, oh, how hard it is some days.

I want to lash out when someone hurts me. Don't you? And I want to retaliate when someone harms me and tells lies about me. How about you? But Jesus tells me to love that person, to forgive and to show kindness and compassion. I struggle with it. I find myself praying that God will soften my heart and give me the strength to face what will almost certaintly be more pain and attacks down the road.

My tongue aches to lash out. I hold my peace most of the time. Few people know. I believe it's the way God wants it. Oh, how difficult it is. I want to shout from the rooftops, disputing the lies and allegations. I want to defend myself. I remain silent. I tell myself that the people who know me hear the lies and see them as they are. I look around. Maybe not. I stay silent anyway.

The stress gets to me some days. I pray that God will take the burden from me. I don't want to be angry. I want to let it go. That is easy to say but not so easy to do. I pray again and again for God to take this disappointment from me. How can one person be so mean?

In my better moments, I understand the jealousy and insecurity that fuels the lies and hateful comments. I know it isn't about me. It's about the person who lives inside her. I guess that's what God wants me to see. He wants me to look on her with love and compassion, the way He looks at her and at me.

So, I'll keep trying and stumbling and getting up and trying again. I want to let it go. I want to feel God's peace. I want to extend forgiveness for however many times it takes. And I want to keep praying that one day she'll understand that she doesn't need to lie and make hateful comments in order to think good things about herself. She doesn't need to compare herself to other people. God loves her. So I need to love her too.

Monday, November 29, 2010

Jesus Gave Us Hope

"But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently." -- Romans 8:25

The season of advent began yesterday. Each Sunday we look forward to Christmas Day and the birth of Christ. We celebrate His arrival and the hope that He brought to a dark world.

Hope. A four-letter word filled with such promise.

Jesus came to save us from separation from God. We are sinners. We didn't stand a chance on our own. Jesus promised that all who believe in Him will have eternal life. His blood restored us to a right relationship with God. Jesus gave us hope.

What is hope? It is a belief that somehow, some way, things will be better tomorrow. Hope is what separates the person who commits suicide from the one who doesn't. Hope is what urges a cancer patient to fight when everyone else has given up. Hope is believing that people can change, no matter their past. Hope tells us that God's love surrounds us even in our darkest hours.

God's love. Amazing, isn't it? After all the heartache we've caused Him, He loves us still. God sent His Son to die for us. He planned it all along. Jesus suffered for us. Truly. But on the first day of advent, and throughout the Christmas season, we remember the hope that came with a newborn baby. We celebrate the promise of a new world, one without sorrow and pain.

"And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love." -- 1 Corinthians 13:13

Faith comes when we believe in our hearts that Jesus is God's Son, that He died on a cross to take our sins on Himself and that He rose three days later and now sits at the right hand of God. That's faith. Believing what we do not see, yet knowing in our hearts that it's true.

God sent Jesus in love. Jesus brought hope. Faith keeps us steady as we travel the paths of this life. During this season of hustle and bustle, take time to remember that what we are celebrating isn't found in a brightly colored package. It's found in the hearts of believers who show Jesus to the world around them.

Tuesday, October 19, 2010

Love With Action And Heart

"Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres." -- 1 Corinthians 13:4-7

We frequently hear these verses during wedding ceremonies. Of course, they weren't written specifically for that purpose but I suppose they fit. It's just that there's a real danger in thinking of them as words only applying to newlyweds. They were meant to guide all Christians.

I'm reading a book titled Crazy Love by Francis Chan. It's one of those books that make you squirm because of the truth in the writer's words. Chan is listed as pastor of Cornerstone Church in Simi Valley, California. Some folks in the Deep South might dismiss the book because of its California connection. They would miss an awesome book on God and living a Christian life.

Chan says someone once challenged him to perform a little exercise with the above verses. He challenged his readers to do the same. Just insert your name for the word love. For example, "(your name) is patient." I promise that by the time you get to the end, you'll be truly humbled. I don't think any Christian could do this without being truly convicted.

We've come to think of love as a mere feeling, flaky and undependable. It's romance lures us toward it but love is so much deeper and meaningful. Christian love "never fails." We are to always forgive, always seek good for others, never boast in ourselves. And on and on. Imagine putting the interests of someone who doesn't deserve it above your own interests and you'll get the picture.

Chan gives an example of a pastor but it could be anyone. He says that if the pastor speaks well, makes his congregation laugh and prays loudly for the suffering people of this world, then we think he's a good pastor. We don't look at his heart and see if he loves people. Sad, isn't it? Because the love of others is really what matters. Paul spoke of this in 1 Corinthians 13:1-3.

It's wonderful to do good. It's awesome to study God's Word and to pray for those around us. But the real measure of our faith is seen in our hearts. Do we love others, including our enemies? Do we do good for others, even those who persecute us? Are our hearts filled with kindness and compassion for the lost and wounded? This journey toward God isn't easy. Sometimes the truth makes us uncomfortable. But it's that uncomfortableness that draws us closer to Him and makes us better people in the end.