Tag: Love of God

December 23, 2022 – John 15 – Remain in My Love

Exodus 34, John 15, Ephesians 5

In John 15, we learn that we are a part of Christ, and from him we have life, and in him we grow. He uses the analogy of a vine and branches. He is the vine and we are the branches. We cannot do anything for God in and of ourselves. We have to be a part of Christ to do that. When we try to do anything apart from Christ, we begin to die spiritually.

Think of it this way: you cannot cherish sin and try to serve God. You will only be going through the motions for God. Inside you will be spiritually withering, to the death of your soul if you persist. “If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned.” John15:6NIV

Jesus says, “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love.” John15:9–10NIV  We have to be intentional about remaining in Christ’s love. That means we cherish our relationship with him. We seek Christ daily in Scripture, in prayer, and in conversation with other believers. We learn his will in this seeking. We submit our lives to his will.

When we faithfully follow Christ, loving him as he loves us, we will be fruitful for God. If we think we are doing anything for God apart from Christ, we are only fooling ourselves. We are merely being religious. “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.” John15:5NIV

Remain in Christ’s love. Pursue your relationship with him daily.

Prayer:

Lord Jesus, thank you for your great love for me. While I was dead in my sins, you loved me, and died for me. Help me to never cherish any sin over you. Help me to grow in my love for you and your great love for me. Amen.

December 20, 2022 – Ephesians 2 – Our Boast is in Christ

Exodus 31, John 12, Ephesians 2

There are many things we take pride in. We are proud of our families, our children, and our grandchildren. We take pride in the things we create… arts, writings, crafts, music and song, and culinary delights. We take pride in the athletic talents we develop. We take pride in the adventures we go on, from wilderness hikes to vacations over seas. We also take pride in our accomplishments… our careers and financial legacies that we leave for our children. I am going to stop there because you get the picture. There are lots of things we can take pride in.

One thing we cannot take pride in is our right standing with God. We had no part in that outside of receiving it. We can no more brag about that than we can brag that we had something to do with someone else picking, purchasing, and giving us a Christmas gift. We received our salvation as a gift from God and we owned what Jesus did for us. We claimed it and embraced this gift of grace.

In chapter 2 of Ephesians the Apostle Paul says, “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” Ephesians2:8–10NIV.  When we didn’t even know we wanted or needed this gift of grace, God did this thing for us in Jesus Christ.

This Christmas, as you are giving and receiving gifts, remember the greatest gift of all… the gift of God’s redeeming grace offered to us through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ!

Prayer:

Lord Jesus, thank you for the many things I take pride in. Thank you most of all for my salvation that is a gift of grace. Lord let me live a life of praise always boasting of the greatness of your grace! Amen.

December 16, 2022 – Galatians 4 – God’s Precious Child

Exodus 27, John 8, Galatians 4

Probably most of you have seen the musical Annie. It is about a girl named Annie, who became an orphan during the Great Depression. I will not give you all of the details, but spoiler alert, in the end she is adopted by a generous millionaire. It is fascinating to think about going from a dirty, penniless orphan to someone who lives in a mansion and has everything that could be wanted. Not only that, being adopted into the family also made her an heiress to the fortunes of Daddy Warbucks.

In Galatians 4, we realize that Annie’s story is our story too. We were filthy and penniless. We had nothing to offer God. Yet in his great love for us, he paid our ransom and redeemed us. He adopted us as his own children. The Apostle Paul says, “But when the set time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those under the law, that we might receive adoption to sonship.” Galatians4:4–5NIV

Paul tells us, “Because you are his sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, ‘Abba, Father.’” Galatians4:6NIV  Scholars have noted that Abba is an affectionate name for father, like dad or daddy. The idea that God loves us so much that he gave us the Spirit of Jesus so that we could call out to him as our dad is overwhelming! We are God’s adopted children and he makes no difference between us and his own beloved Son.

To be sure we understand the relationship, Paul says, “so you are no longer a slave, but God’s child; and since you are his child, God has made you also an heir.” Galatians4:7NIV  We share the full benefits of being a child of God. We are not slaves or ill-treated stepchildren. We are heirs who enjoy all the affection and benefits of being a child of God in his glorious kingdom.

Prayer:

Abba Father, thank you for loving me so much that you sent Jesus to ransom and redeem me when I was a filthy sinner with nothing to offer. Thank you for the Spirit of Jesus, living in me, that helps me to embrace you as my dad! In Jesus’ name.

December 13, – Galatians 2 – Love Is the Foundation of Relationship

Exodus 25, John 6, Galatian 2

When I was a child, I was taught the rules of our home. There are certain things you do and things you don’t do. When I went to school, I was taught the rules of school. The principals and teachers taught us what was allowed at school and what was not. When I went to church with my grandmother, she taught me what to do and not to do at church.

In all of these settings, I knew what was right and wrong. In all of these settings, I did both what was right and what was wrong. When I broke the rules, I was spanked as a child. Most of us in my generation were to some degree or another. I got spankings at home. I got paddled at school, from teachers, to the principal, and on down to my bus driver. My sweet grandmother who never raised her voice, even gave me a pop at church. She told me that I said, “Nanny, I deserved that” and it made her feel like “a sheep killing dog.”

I broke the rules in all of these settings yet I was never disqualified from love and kindness. My parents, my teachers, and my grandmother still loved me even though I had broken the rules in each of these areas of my childhood. That is because my love and  my relationships with these important people didn’t stand on me keeping the rules. My relationship with all of them stood on love.

In Galatians 2, Paul is relaying an important truth of our faith, the central truth of justification. We are made right with God, not by keeping the rules, but by our faith in Jesus Christ. Paul says it like this, “We who are Jews by birth and not sinful Gentiles know that a person is not justified by the works of the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ. So we, too, have put our faith in Christ Jesus that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law, because by the works of the law no one will be justified.” Galatians2:15–16NIV

Our relationship with God stands on our faith in Jesus Christ, not on our keeping the law. Because of love, God sent Jesus to die for sinners. Because of love, God accounts the righteousness of Christ to us when we put our faith in him. We are right with God solely based on our faith in Jesus Christ, and that faith is a gift given to us because God so loved the world. Paul closes chapter 2 this way, “… The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” Galatians2:20NIV

If you have broken a rule or two, don’t disqualify yourself from being justified by God. The love and kindness we enjoy from God our Father, comes from faith in Jesus Christ, who loved us and gave himself for us. That is Good News!

Prayer:

Heavenly Father, Thank you for your love and kindness to me even when I broke your law! Thank you for Jesus Christ who loved me and gave himself for me! Help me to respond to your loving kindness by living in your will for my life. Amen.

December 8, 2022 – 2 Corinthians 9 – The Blessing of Cheerful Givers

Exodus 19, John 1, 2 Corinthians 9

When I was a boy my father told me, “you can’t out-give God.” At the time I didn’t understand that. However, later I was in a situation where I experienced that reality. Someone in our Sunday School class needed help covering a repair on a heat pump. My wife and I, essentially still newlyweds, had some extra money, but we had planned to use it for a trip we were wanting to take. We, along with others in our class, gave money to these friends. They were able to have their heat pump fixed. The interesting thing for us is that we got our money back plus some. It didn’t come from the friends that needed it for their heat pump. The money unexpectedly came from somewhere else, and it was more than we gave our friends, so we were still able to do the trip we planned.

In 2 Corinthians 9, the Apostle Paul is encouraging the Corinthians to support an offering for believers in Jerusalem who were in need. He says to them, “Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. And God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.” 2 Corinthians9:6–8NIV

God blesses those who use what God has given them to bless others. We can’t out-give God. God allows others to have needs so that we can learn to be cheerful givers. He could just as easily bless them without us. However, he allows us to recognize their need and to participate in caring for them with him, so we can be like him… generous. In the process we are also more abundantly blessed ourselves. That may be a financial blessing. It may be a spiritual blessing. It may be both! Either way we are blessed by cooperating with our Heavenly Father. We come to know him better and we come to love him more.

In the end, it also glorifies God our Father. As their needs are met, they praise God. As we experience the blessing of being a cheerful giver, we praise God. Together, we all experience the love and power of God in our lives and praise him. Paul says it this way, “This service that you perform is not only supplying the needs of the Lord’s people but is also overflowing in many expressions of thanks to God.” 2 Corinthians9:12NIV

This is not the prosperity gospel. This is not greedy motivation… giving so God will give us more. This is learning to be a cheerful giver, so that we, as well as those we bless, can experience the love and power of God.

Prayer:

Heavenly Father, thank you for the showers of blessings that you have poured out in my life! Thank you for those around me who have blessed me with their cheerful giving! Help me to be generous like you, using your blessings to bless others. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

December 5, 2022 – Luke 22 – Prayer and Conflicting Wills

Exodus 16, Luke 22, 2 Corinthians 6

Many times people end up in difficult situations and they resign themselves to it. “Everything happens for a reason.” Therefore, this must be what God wants for my life.

Jesus knew what God’s plan for him was. Throughout the Gospels he was telling the disciples what was going to happen. He was going to Jerusalem to be abused by the elders and then be handed over to the Romans to be crucified. This was God’s plan for him.

Yet in Luke 22, in the Garden of Gethsemane, we hear Jesus asking God to not make him go through it. I believe it is a genuine request to not go through with the suffering and death on the cross and not merely there to make Jesus look good by being submissive to the Father. Jesus says, “Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.” Luke22:42NIV

This example of asking for the opposite of what Jesus knew was the Father’s will for him is important for us to see. God does have a plan for our lives and he does have a plan for the universe and eternity. God sometimes adjusts his plans in response to the requests of his children, especially when we humble ourselves before him.

Look back in Isaiah 38. Hezekiah was told he was going to die. The prophet Isaiah came and told him that was what the Lord said. It was God’s will… but Hezekiah prayed. Then the word of the Lord came to Isaiah: “Go and tell Hezekiah, ‘This is what the Lord, the God of your father David, says: I have heard your prayer and seen your tears; I will add fifteen years to your life.’” Isaiah38:4–5NIV

If you are going through difficult circumstances, don’t resign yourself to accept it as God’s will for your life. Commit yourself to pray like Jesus did and like Hezekiah did. God may not change his mind. Perhaps what you are going through is too important for you or for God’s overarching plan and your circumstances won’t change. However, you may just be like Hezekiah. God may hear your prayer and change your circumstances.

Prayer:

Lord, thank you for the gift of prayer. Thank you for being active and involved in my life. I am grateful that you have a plan for me and I am grateful that you hear me and are willing to adjust that plan in response to my humble prayers. Help me to always pray. In Jesus’ name. Amen.