3 Consider the kind of extravagant love the Father has lavished on us—He calls us children of God! It’s true; we are His beloved children. And in the same way the world didn’t recognize Him, the world does not recognize us either.
For a long time I struggled with the love of God! I knew
that He loved me when I was lumped into the idea of Him loving the entire
world. However, when it came down to Him having a personal interest in me, it
was difficult to fathom or grasp, much alone accept. Every time that I would
experience difficult situations I would question God’s love for me.
Then at one point in my life not so long ago, I went through a very traumatic series of events. It was during this time God ministered His grace to me. It was His grace that helped me to get up in the morning and to take care of myself and my son. It was His grace that would enable me to continue to worship in His sanctuary; when all I wanted to do was stay in bed on Sunday mornings and sleep, until I could sleep no longer. I felt Him empowering me when my body, mind and emotions felt as though it could go no more or do no more. Out of that grace I began to realize that the love of God was personal. It was intimate and He cared for me not because of what I could do for Him, but because of who He is. One of my favorite scriptures on love is, Jeremiah 31:3 (NIV) 3 “The Lord appeared to us in the past,[a] saying: “I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with unfailing kindness.” God says His love for me is everlasting, meaning it never runs out. It is not dependent on my goodness, successes, failures or anything that I do or don’t do. His love for me continues on and on and on. Then He talks about His unfailing kindness. Kindness is an action, so it means that He is constantly, without ceasing extending goodness toward me.
God loves me, and I now know it and choose not to doubt that. He embraces me with all my flaws and all of my good attributes. I don’t influence that love in anyway. Knowing this, but most of all finally being able to accept this, causes me to feel as though I could soar. I am leaping into my future knowing that the God of this universe is also the God of my personal life, and He enjoys me!
Prayer:
Father, I thank you so much for your vast, never ending love
for me. It was that love that was the driving force that led Christ to the
cross, to lay down His life for me. It has brought about my deliverance and
healing. It is that love that is motion so that the image of Christ would be
wrought in me. I choose daily to surrender my life to the work of your loving
hand, until all that is seen in me, is Christ the hope of glory. I love you and
thank you for first loving me. In the precious name of your son Jesus the
Christ, Amen.
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