Tuesday, June 14, 2011

Love That Never Fails

The Father has been speaking to my heart lately about His great, unfailing, never-ending love.  It truly is amazing.  There was a time in my life when I searched the scriptures looking for evidence of God’s love.  It was there in black and white for anyone to see, but somehow I was blind to it.  Little by little, the scales on my eyes have been removed and now my eyes see and my heart hears the great love of the Father pouring forth on every frequency.  I’m learning to believe that I am loved unconditionally and accepted completely because of Jesus’ atoning death on the Cross.  I’m learning to come to the Father in confidence, unafraid, and without a checklist in my hand.  Growing up in a Christian home, I learned to do the things believers did, but I didn’t always understand why they did them.  Now I know that there is a crucial difference between wanting to please God because He loves me versus wanting to please Him so He will love me.  I’m being transformed by the renewing of my mind just like Paul talks about in Romans 12:1-2.  The world’s pattern says make a sacrifice, make lots of sacrifices, and maybe you will get mercy.  The joyful truth of Jesus – the good news – is that through His sacrifice we get complete mercy and absolute acceptance.  Now we offer ourselves as living sacrifices out of hearts full of love and gratitude for the mercy and love in which we already rest.  Learning to rest in God’s love is wonderful and yet sometimes scary.  I’ve had to let go of the mind-set that says “I’ll do it all right and then God will bless me.”  I’m learning to embrace the mind-set that says, “I am blessed because God loves me.  Getting it all right is His job, not mine.” 
Today, I hear the Father saying, “Tell them I love them.”  So, just in case you were wondering. Just in case you’ve been feeling like God isn’t interested in talking to you until you get your act together.  Just in case you’ve been wondering if He even cares about you at all - the answer is a resounding yes!  He loves you. He loved you before you ever thought about doing anything to please Him.  Believe it!  Take joy in it!  Rest in it! 

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

Wednesday, June 1, 2011

Laying Down My Map

One day during my trip to Charleston, I had a wonderful time with the Lord out on the hotel terrace watching the waves roll in as the sun began to light up the sky.  My heart was at rest, full of humble gratitude and content to simply wait on the Lord to take me where He was going.  For once I was able to lay down my map and do what my daddy always told me, “Sit back and enjoy the ride.”  I do love to have a map when I’m going somewhere.  Of course now everybody likes to have their GPS.  My Aunt Judy hit the wrong button on her GPS during her drive down to the shore and it started speaking Polish which was really not helpful.  Lord has a trip plan, but sometimes I am all too aware that it is written in a language in which I’m still not very fluent.  Many times, I simply have to sit back and let my Abba Father – my Daddy God- drive.  My dad delighted in piling the family in the car on a Saturday afternoon and taking off without telling us where we were going.  That always drove me crazy!  Now that I’m older, I’m pretty sure he didn’t tell us where we were going because he had no idea where we would end up.  It didn’t matter because he knew how to get us home.  Isn’t it good to know that our Heavenly Father knows how to get us home?  He will get each one of us there in His good time and on the scenic route of His choosing.  What sweet pleasure it brings to His heart when we sit back like trusting little children and look out the window in expectation of a wonderful adventure, safe and secure with Dad at the wheel.  No telling where you might find yourself – with my dad it might be a stop at a country store for a soda in a glass bottle from an old timey cooler.  With our Abba Father, it might be someplace you never imagined you would go – like a crowded Shanghai subway at rush hour.  Wherever He takes us, one thing is certain – all the ways of the Lord are loving and faithful to for those who live in covenant with Him.  (Psalm 25:10)
Abba Father, please give us grace to rest in You even when we don’t know exactly where the road leads.  Help us delight Your heart by trusting You. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.