Category Archives: love of God

The Romans Challenge: The Riches of His Kindness

Posted on by
Reply

Today we start chapter 2

“Or do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, forbearance and patience, not realizing that God’s kindness is intended to lead you to repentance?”
‭‭Romans‬ ‭2‬:‭4‬ ‭NIV‬‬

“’Cause He is good, and He is God
What I earned, it’s not what I got
And He is just yet also kind
What I deserve, it’s not what I find
What more could I say about Him?
My God is love” – Chris Renzema “God is Love”

You and I are all lawbreakers/ sinners. It’s what is in us, our nature. We all need to recognize that sin has been our practice. What we deserve is punishment. BUT God!

Through Jesus we see the “riches of His (God’s) Kindness.” Kindness is defined as “Act of good will; beneficence; any act of benevolence which promotes the happiness or welfare of others.” Webster’s 1828.

God’s plans for us are good! He works in our circumstances to prosper and benefit us – which is love. He promotes our happiness – enjoyment of good – when our happiness is found in Him.

I love the song I quoted above. The phrase I quoted always sticks out to me. In Jesus, I don’t get what I deserve. God’s kindness is rich towards me. It is abundant and overflowing!

May we truly see what God has done for us! Then we will love Him all the more!

The Romans Challenge: The Wrath of Our Loving God

Posted on by
Reply 
“The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of people, who suppress the truth by their wickedness,”
‭‭Romans‬ ‭1‬:‭18‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Today we read Romans 1.

God hates sin! But why? How could a God whose very nature is to love hate anything? The answer is pretty simple: Sin destroys the ones God loves. At the beginning with Adam and Eve, sin destroyed God’s connection to all of us and introduced death into our world.

God is perfect. He is perfect in love, goodness, doing what is right (righteousness), etc… His perfection has no sin within it. This means the consequences of our sin has to be separation from Him. Sin cannot live in Him. We experience death in our sin, because He is life. When God is not present within our lives, we are walking in “godlessness.” Our actions are “wicked” which is our departure from following His ways. His perfection means we cannot be united to Him in our imperfection or sin. His “wrath” is His “justifiable abhorrence” (Webster’s 1828) to sin. He cannot, in His great love and goodness, embrace the things that brings destruction— our sins…

Sin is a choice. It is not an uncontrollable impulse… I know because I have experienced it. For years, I wanted to do things my way. I chose to… I heard the Word of God at church and read it on occasion. But I chose not to obey. This lead to much anxiety, depression, anger, bitterness, etc.

But thankfully God wants us to live free! This is why He has given us the opportunity to know Him. 

“since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them.”
‭‭Romans‬ ‭1‬:‭19‬ ‭NIV‬‬

God is making Himself plain to us! He has given us all we need to know Him! He doesn’t want the truth of His Word to be suppressed in our lives by our ignoring it or cherry picking it.

May we embrace the truth of God’s Word and obey it fully so we can live as we are meant to live — in a deep relationship with God.

The Romans Challenge- Called to Belong

Posted on by
Reply 
“And you also are among those Gentiles who are called to belong to Jesus Christ.”
‭‭Romans‬ ‭1‬:‭6‬ ‭NIV‬

(Today we read Romans 1)

You and I were created for connection. We were meant to be a part of and in relationship with someone greater than us. We were created to belong. Paul puts it this way, we are “called to belong to Jesus…”

When God first created man, He stated something very profound:

“The Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone…””
‭‭Genesis‬ ‭2‬:‭18‬ ‭NIV‬‬

It is not good for any of us to be alone and disconnected. We can see it easily in the life of the most fragile amongst us, a baby. Without connection to their mother and father, lack of physical contact, (skin on skin time— close and intimate) a baby will present as “failure to thrive.” They simply will not develop correctly without experiencing “belonging.”

Spiritually, we will not as well. God knows this. His great love draws us in for connection to Himself. He knows that without us experiencing, “belonging” to Him, we will be “failure to thrive” spiritually. This will affect every area of our lives. We will lack peace, love, and joy if we live disconnected from Him. We NEED to belong to Him.

Paul states not only that we are “called to belong”, but we are “called to be God’s “holy people” i.e. “saints”. (Verse 7) To be holy is to be set apart for God. It is to be conformed to His image and have our life regulated by His divine precepts (i.e. God’s Word) -Webster’s 1828 Dictionary.

Our connection to our loving Heavenly Father, will cause us to grow as we were meant to grow. We will become more and more like Him in every way — His image bearer.

Do you feel the longing “to belong?” This is what you were created for — relationship with God.

He longs for you “to belong” to Him as well. In fact our verse says, He called us to belong to Jesus Christ. He called us to be His Holy people — set apart for Himself.

All we have to do is come to Him responding “Yes God, I want to be connected to you! I no longer want to live my life alone. I give myself to You. I belong to You!”

James: “Screen Door on a Submarine”

Posted on by
Reply 
“You see that his faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did.”
‭‭James‬ ‭2‬:‭22‬ ‭NIV‬‬

(Today is James 2)

Faith without works is useless!

God has given each of us “a measure of faith.” (Romans 12:3) This is the capacity to believe, but we must act on it! Our actions “complete” our faith.

We can say we “believe there is one God.” (verse 19) And James says that is “Good! Even the demons believe that — and shudder.” The question is: “what are we doing with what we believe?”

If we truly believe that we have a loving Heavenly Father and that Jesus Christ came and died then resurrected from the dead in order to set us free from sin, do we live like we believe it?

Abraham believed God and the Scripture says, “It was credited to him as righteousness.” (Verse 23) He was put into right standing with God and He was known as “God’s friend.” He had a personal relationship with God. This relationship was reflected by his willingness to obey God no matter what the cost of obedience may be.

If you and I have faith and believe what God says, then we will act accordingly. In short, we will do it!

Coming to God in faith is just the beginning of what God wants to do in our lives. He wants to consume us! He wants us to receive His Word — what He says. He wants us to believe it to be true. He wants us to act upon it in obedience.

There’s a classic song by Rich Mullins that I am going to attach. Listen to its words and consider. Do I act upon what I believe? Or do I have a “screen door” on my spiritual submarine?

James: No Favoritism

Posted on by
Reply 
“My brothers and sisters, believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ must not show favoritism.”
‭‭James‬ ‭2‬:‭1‬ ‭NIV‬‬

(Today is James 2)

I have four kids, who are all adults now. Throughout the years my husband and I have tried very hard to treat them equally. (However, I am sure that there have been times we did not do this perfectly)

Each Christmas, they had close to the same amount of presents with the same amount spent on each of them. Whatever their needs have been we have tried to pay close to the same amount and spent equal amounts of time. My goal has been that they would each feel that they were my favorite. They frequently joke about who is my favorite. The truth is… THEY ALL ARE!

If they begin to think any differently, it cause all kinds of issues. Favoritism divides.

In the family of God (i.e. the Church) we are all God’s favorite as well. The word favorite is defined as “A person or thing regarded with peculiar favor, preference and affection; one greatly beloved.” (Webster’s 1828 Dictionary) God is equitable. If I am someone he regards with favor, preference, affection and love, then so are you! He does not look at our social status, our ethnicity, our wealth or the lack thereof… “For God so loved the World…” He loves us all and He loves each of us completely and perfectly. He is Love. His love cannot be divided into different sizes or portions. We are to love like our Heavenly Father does!

Favoritism or giving a preference to one over another. It is giving special attention to someone. James states that having favoritism is a sin. (Verse 8)

The remedy for favoritism is found in what Jesus called the second greatest commandment:

““Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” Jesus replied: “ ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’”
‭‭Matthew‬ ‭22‬:‭36‬-‭39‬ ‭NIV‬‬

James says if you do that “you are doing right.”

Everyone is equal at the foot of the cross. We are all sinners in need of forgiveness and hearts that need to be transformed. Those who are born again are born again into a family where we are one in Jesus!

If we elevate or devalue someone according to what they possess materially, (or for any other reason) we are missing the mark, in sin. We are dividing what God has created to be united in Him — ONE!

Show Us The Father — Abandoned

Posted on by
Reply

Abandoned — To give over entirely.

Today is Mark 14.

Jesus at any moment in His 33 years on earth could have changed His course to the cross. He knew exactly why He had came. He knew how this would all play out. He knew the rejection He would suffer. He knew the pain He would endure. Yet He “abandoned” Himself. He gave Himself over to the purpose of His Heavenly Father.

Over and over in this chapter He warned the disciples that He was going to suffer and die. But He chose to abandon His will that desired for His Heavenly Father to “take this cup” from Him. Then He spoke these words, “Yet not what I will, but what You will.” (Verse 36)

Jesus gave Himself. The Father gave His Son! (John 3:16). Our Heavenly Father abandoned, gave over entirely, His Son for us out of His love. When I consider this great love, my thoughts go to what my response should be.

In every situation and circumstance of my life, may I echo the words of my loving Savior. “Yet not what I will, but what You will.” My Heavenly Father gave without reservation His only Son. Jesus gave without reservation His very life. May I give without reservation EVERYTHING I am and live a life that is abandoned to God’s will!

Show Us The Father — Servant

Posted on by
Reply

Today is Mark 10: 32-52.

“Love needs an object to whom it can give itself away, in whom it can lose itself, with whom it can make itself one.” — Andrew Murray

To be honest, thinking about Our Heavenly Father as a Servant has been uncomfortable to me. In my mind, I’ve had Jesus as “the good cop” in the trinity, and the Heavenly Father as “the bad cop.” Which is not true at all. There is no “bad” in God.

When I was reading this section of Scripture this morning and came upon this verse, I was in awe: 

“For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” Mark 10:45 ESV

Jesus came to reveal the Father to us. When we see Him, we see our Heavenly Father. Jesus came as the Humble Servant. This means our Heavenly Father is the Humble Servant too!

The Greek word for serve that is used in this verse is “diakonēsai.” This is translated in other verses as “minister.” To minister is to afford supplies, to give things needful, to supply the means of relief; to relieve. Our Heavenly Father has done just that. He gives and gives and gives. He provides all that we need. He is always at work for our good in every situation. He serves!

When Jesus knelt on His knees and washed the feet of His disciples, He displayed the very love of our Heavenly Father, who serves us. Jesus, the King of Kings, took the nature of a servant and gave Himself away to provide the very thing His disciples needed, His love.

Our Heavenly Father sent His Son to meet our most pressing need, salvation from sin. “For God so loved the world, He gave…” He ministered… He served us out of His love.

Our Heavenly Father serves us as any good Dad would. He takes good care of us! He provides, sustains, is attentive to our cry, etc,

Jesus shows us the Father who serves. We were made to display that image to others, i.e. imitate God! May we give ourselves away in service that glorifies our Heavenly Father who gives Himself in service to us!

Show Us The Father — Abundant Provider,

Posted on by
Reply

Today is Mark 8.

In Jesus, there is abundance for every need. Two times the crowds were in need for physical food and Jesus provided. What was it that Jesus used to provide the need? It was ALL the disciples had. Jesus took what was given to Him, a few loaves and fish. He not only provided a meal for a crowd, but leftovers that displayed His generous provision.

Our Heavenly Father is very generous in His provision for us! He is the same today as He was yesterday, and He will be the same forever. We can come to Him with what we have, all of us. He will work the miraculous in what we offer up to Him with generous abundance!

Show Us The Father — One on One

Posted on by
Reply

Today is Mark 7.

“After he took him aside, away from the crowd, Jesus…” verse 33

I love how Jesus took time for the individual. The man who was deaf and could not speak could have been healed in a manner of seconds with Jesus’s touch, but Jesus took him aside. He gave the man one on one attention.

Jesus is personal. He is all about connecting with “the one” i.e. you and me. He loves to take us aside, away from the crowd, to be with Him in a deep, personal, and intimate relationship.

Jesus displayed the desire of Our Heavenly Father. He created us for intimacy with Him. We have been designed for a relationship that is connected to Him in oneness with Him. He in us and us in Him. 

“This is how we know that we live in him and he in us: He has given us of his Spirit.”
‭‭1 John‬ ‭4‬:‭13‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Show Us The Father — Compassionate

Posted on by
Reply 
“When he went ashore he saw a great crowd, and he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. And he began to teach them many things.”
‭‭Mark‬ ‭6‬:‭34‬ ‭ESV‬‬

Today is Mark 6:30-56.

Jesus told His disciples to “Come away by yourselves to a desolate place and rest a while.” They had been very busy ministering to people and sharing the Good News. So much so that they hadn’t even had time to take care of the basics, such as eating and rest.

When they went a way in the boat and arrived at the resting place, the crowds came. Jesus looked at the “great crowd, and he had compassion on them…” He was moved by their needs. His will for them was good and He saw the hurts, the brokenness, the spiritual hunger. They were like “sheep without a shepherd.” They needed Him to keep them, to care for them, to meet their needs.

Jesus “began to teach them many things.” He met their spiritual hunger with spiritual food. Then He worked a great miracle providing physical food to meet their physical need. Jesus displayed to us compassion!

Our Heavenly Father is compassionate! He sees our needs, including our greatest one, to be connected to Him in a relationship. He knows that apart from Him, we will experience nothing but death, darkness, and destruction. He cares very much about not only our physical needs, but our spiritual needs as well.

How good it is to know that Our Heavenly Father is moved by our needs of Him! He loves us with great compassion!