Matthew 25:40 "The king will answer them, 'Truly, I say to you, as you did it to the least of these my brothers, you did it to me."'
Grace what have you done. In me You, God, saw no beauty, no good, no life, no strength, nothing desirable, nothing righteous. Yet despite the ugliness, lifelessness, darkness, deadness, weakness, and sinfulness, You took me as your own, loved me, accepted me and changed me.
The degree to which I understand this beautiful grace, this undeserved steadfast love, is the degree to which I will love my Savior in return. To understand this grace is to know that despite everything that I am not and can not, dispite my wretchedness, I am accepted. And then the least of these. If I understand this grace to me, instead of looking down, demeaning the broken and needy ones around me, I will look on with compassion because who I see is myself, broken and in need, except for Christ.
But how conditional is my love. It is all to easy to love a person because of behavior, appearance, background, status, or what that individual has to give me in return. This is far from the undeserved grace and love that have been lavished on me. Do I love so conditionally because somewhere in the raw part of my heart, I think of God as loving me conditionally, based on merit? Do I love based on standards and merit because I beleive that God's love to me is based off of that? In setting a self imposed standard on how and when I allow myself to beleive that God loves me, I have imposed this standard on others. Withholding grace, judging, conditionally loving.
Only understanding in my heart the unmerited grace and love I have received will compel in me sincere love for the least of these. They are broken as I am, they are in need of grace the same as I am. That is why, in the eyes of Jesus, loving the least of these is the same as loving Him. The water for the thirsty, food for the hungry, welcome for the stranger, clothes for the naked, visitation to the sick and imprisoned, these count for loving him, but not out of duty or obligation. It is a heartfelt response to his unconditional love.
We love as we beleive to be loved.
Open my eyes to your love.
"Then you shall call, and the LORD will answer. You shall cry, and he will say 'Here I am.' If you take away the yoke from your midst, the pointing of the finger, and speaking wickedness, if you pour yourself out for the hungry and satisfy the desire of the afflicted, then shall your light rise in the darkness and your gloom be as the noon day." (Isaiah 58:9-10).
Saturday, December 19, 2015
Friday, December 11, 2015
Romans 8:15 "For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, "Abba! Father!"
Am I acting out of fear, or out of love?
Fear always comes from a misconception of God, disbelief that he will come through, distrust that he is good and desires the best for his children. Fear is seeing God, not as our loving Father, but as a slavemaster, demanding compliance. Fear is doubting His steadfast love. Fear is bondage. It instills striving, imposes condemnation and inadequacy, never being good enough. Fear is depending on self because of doubt that God can be trusted. It leaves it's victim weary, burdened, and in despair.
Fear paralyzes, yet it also motivates. The minute I doubt His love, I begin to look in dependance on myself. I am in slavery to striving. Fear compels me to toil wearifully, dragging a heavy burden that I don't have to carry.
Yet this is not the spirit He has given His children, whom He adopted and called his own, who are covered with the redemptive blood of Christ. He has accepted me, claimed me as his child. He has chosen me, welcomed me, gave me a safe place of refuge, loved me as his daughter. He has given me an identity that is not based on what I try to do, but who He is, what He has already done. My Father is not so much looking for my service as he is my love. I can call to my Father in dependance for his help like a child would naturally call to her Father in times of need, trusting him to give aid.
Child of God, stop living like he does not love, quit living in fear, distrust of God. Realize sho you are because of the blood of Christ, how God sees you as righteous. How you are loved and have the priveledge of calling out to him as a helpless child would call to his father who is strong and able, who is loving and trustworthy.
"Behold, the eye of the Lord is on those who fear him, on those who hope in his steadfast love, that he may deliver their soul from death and keep them alive in famine." (Psalms 33:18-19"
Put your hope in His steadfast love.
"You never ask that i earn your affection, I could never earn something that's free. There is no striving." (Bethel - There is No Striving)
Am I acting out of fear, or out of love?
Fear always comes from a misconception of God, disbelief that he will come through, distrust that he is good and desires the best for his children. Fear is seeing God, not as our loving Father, but as a slavemaster, demanding compliance. Fear is doubting His steadfast love. Fear is bondage. It instills striving, imposes condemnation and inadequacy, never being good enough. Fear is depending on self because of doubt that God can be trusted. It leaves it's victim weary, burdened, and in despair.
Fear paralyzes, yet it also motivates. The minute I doubt His love, I begin to look in dependance on myself. I am in slavery to striving. Fear compels me to toil wearifully, dragging a heavy burden that I don't have to carry.
Yet this is not the spirit He has given His children, whom He adopted and called his own, who are covered with the redemptive blood of Christ. He has accepted me, claimed me as his child. He has chosen me, welcomed me, gave me a safe place of refuge, loved me as his daughter. He has given me an identity that is not based on what I try to do, but who He is, what He has already done. My Father is not so much looking for my service as he is my love. I can call to my Father in dependance for his help like a child would naturally call to her Father in times of need, trusting him to give aid.
Child of God, stop living like he does not love, quit living in fear, distrust of God. Realize sho you are because of the blood of Christ, how God sees you as righteous. How you are loved and have the priveledge of calling out to him as a helpless child would call to his father who is strong and able, who is loving and trustworthy.
"Behold, the eye of the Lord is on those who fear him, on those who hope in his steadfast love, that he may deliver their soul from death and keep them alive in famine." (Psalms 33:18-19"
Put your hope in His steadfast love.
"You never ask that i earn your affection, I could never earn something that's free. There is no striving." (Bethel - There is No Striving)
Saturday, December 5, 2015
Galatians 4:31-5:1 "So, brothers, we are not children of the slave but of the free woman. For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit to a yoke of slavery."
A promise from God was given to Abraham, the promise of offspring. But how could life come from the womb of his wife, who could not bear children? Time passed, restlessness grew. Maybe they did not doubt the promise that God would give Abraham offspring, but they took the promise into their own hands and decided to do what they could to help God out. And not through Sarah, but through her slave woman, offspring was borne to Abraham.
Nothing but strife, abuse, and conflict resulted from this self initiated effort to fulfill God's promise. But this was not God's intent. Sure enough, in time, He fulfilled his promise to Abraham, life was brought from Sarah, who thought she could never have children.
Like the child borne to Sarah as a result of the promise of God, I am a child of the free woman, I am a result of the promise. Because of God and his grace, new life has been worked in me, when all was dead and lifeless.
But i have stooped to this yoke of slave woman many times past, yet today i bear testimony of God's work in my life showing me more and more that I have been set free. Following God appeared to me to be a lot of rules and standards, I put in a lot of effort to live to up to these, tried to do what I could to overcome sin in my life. I frustrated myself with the law that i imposed on myself, I wore a yoke of slavery. Tired and exhausted, I grew hopeless in my efforts to try please God.
Then He began to show me more of himself. The freedom of grace. I have not been set free to live in bondage to the law. I am not expected to toil in hopeless efforts of the flesh to please God. New life is only something that the Spirit of God can accomplish and the fruit of the Spirit in a life is so much more beautiful, so much more bountiful than any works, any efforts, any strivings of the flesh.
"...'Rejoice, O barren one who does not bear; break forth and cry aloud, you who are not in labor! For the childen of the desolate one will be more than those of the one who has a husband.'" (Galatians 4:27)
The desolate one, the lifeless, with whom it is impossible, is promised more children than the one who has the ability to on her own. Because it is God who works. And when I stop working and rest in his work, fruit is borne from what was once lifeless and desolate.
I am finding that fruit and freedom result, not from rules kept and standards met, but from giving to God in dependance to do what I could never do myself.
"For neither circumcision counts for anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creation." (Galatians 6:15)
A promise from God was given to Abraham, the promise of offspring. But how could life come from the womb of his wife, who could not bear children? Time passed, restlessness grew. Maybe they did not doubt the promise that God would give Abraham offspring, but they took the promise into their own hands and decided to do what they could to help God out. And not through Sarah, but through her slave woman, offspring was borne to Abraham.
Nothing but strife, abuse, and conflict resulted from this self initiated effort to fulfill God's promise. But this was not God's intent. Sure enough, in time, He fulfilled his promise to Abraham, life was brought from Sarah, who thought she could never have children.
Like the child borne to Sarah as a result of the promise of God, I am a child of the free woman, I am a result of the promise. Because of God and his grace, new life has been worked in me, when all was dead and lifeless.
But i have stooped to this yoke of slave woman many times past, yet today i bear testimony of God's work in my life showing me more and more that I have been set free. Following God appeared to me to be a lot of rules and standards, I put in a lot of effort to live to up to these, tried to do what I could to overcome sin in my life. I frustrated myself with the law that i imposed on myself, I wore a yoke of slavery. Tired and exhausted, I grew hopeless in my efforts to try please God.
Then He began to show me more of himself. The freedom of grace. I have not been set free to live in bondage to the law. I am not expected to toil in hopeless efforts of the flesh to please God. New life is only something that the Spirit of God can accomplish and the fruit of the Spirit in a life is so much more beautiful, so much more bountiful than any works, any efforts, any strivings of the flesh.
"...'Rejoice, O barren one who does not bear; break forth and cry aloud, you who are not in labor! For the childen of the desolate one will be more than those of the one who has a husband.'" (Galatians 4:27)
The desolate one, the lifeless, with whom it is impossible, is promised more children than the one who has the ability to on her own. Because it is God who works. And when I stop working and rest in his work, fruit is borne from what was once lifeless and desolate.
I am finding that fruit and freedom result, not from rules kept and standards met, but from giving to God in dependance to do what I could never do myself.
"For neither circumcision counts for anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creation." (Galatians 6:15)
Friday, November 27, 2015
Matthew 25:21 "His master said to him, 'Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master."
Sometimes I wonder what the future holds. What will I do after I return home? How will it be living in the states again? What is God's plan for my life? I hardly even know what I want to do with my life, will God show me?
But through these questions, wonderings, and worries, the Lord has pressed onto my heart to simply just be faithful with what he was given me for this time. It is not a question of 'what is God's plan for my life?' and then wondering and waiting until it is revealed. It is a question of 'what is God's plan for the time I am in now?' and choosing to walk in it.
In this parable of the servants and the talents, the master entrusted to each of his servants a certain amount of talents based on their ability. He expected each of his servants to faithfully invest his talents. No matter how small the amount was that they were given, He expected the talents to be used to bring more talents and not to be wasted. To the servants who were faithful with the amount that they had been given, he rewarded them with more to be faithful with.
Likewise, he has entrusted me with this time and this ministry. Whether to me it seems like a big thing or a small thing it does not matter, only that i am faithful in it. Because, as Warren Wiersbe pointed out to me in "The Bumps Are What You Climb On", the small things are what show who I really am, they determine if I will be capable to handle something bigger. The small things may seem small, but the Lord is able to bring a beautiful harvest from seeds faithfully sown.
I was so encouraged by Pastor Chuck, the former head pastor of the New Life Church, and his testimony of how the Lord led him to Cambodia. When he was asked if he always had a heart to spread the gospel oversees, or if he had a vision for a long time to go to the people of Cambodia, he said that that was not necessarily true. After he and his wife became Christians, they started out their ministry to the church by cleaning the bathrooms. Just simply cleaning the bathrooms. As they served faithfully in that, they began working in children's ministry, and as they served faithfully in that, the Lord led them to the next thing, and then the next. Finally the Lord called them to simply take the ministry that they were doing in the United States and transfer it to a cross cultural setting. And of course, as faithful and willing servants of the Lord, they said yes.
Faithful in cleaning the bathrooms. The dirty work that nobody cared to do. The unimportant job that nobody really noticed. But the Lord did.
I desire to be faithful with what the Lord has called me to during this time. Some things may seem to me bigger and more important to me than other little things that seem like they don't matter. But in God's eyes, the small things are the big things too.
God has not called me to the future, he has called me to this time, to soak up and be faithful in what he has called me to for this time.
Sometimes I wonder what the future holds. What will I do after I return home? How will it be living in the states again? What is God's plan for my life? I hardly even know what I want to do with my life, will God show me?
But through these questions, wonderings, and worries, the Lord has pressed onto my heart to simply just be faithful with what he was given me for this time. It is not a question of 'what is God's plan for my life?' and then wondering and waiting until it is revealed. It is a question of 'what is God's plan for the time I am in now?' and choosing to walk in it.
In this parable of the servants and the talents, the master entrusted to each of his servants a certain amount of talents based on their ability. He expected each of his servants to faithfully invest his talents. No matter how small the amount was that they were given, He expected the talents to be used to bring more talents and not to be wasted. To the servants who were faithful with the amount that they had been given, he rewarded them with more to be faithful with.
Likewise, he has entrusted me with this time and this ministry. Whether to me it seems like a big thing or a small thing it does not matter, only that i am faithful in it. Because, as Warren Wiersbe pointed out to me in "The Bumps Are What You Climb On", the small things are what show who I really am, they determine if I will be capable to handle something bigger. The small things may seem small, but the Lord is able to bring a beautiful harvest from seeds faithfully sown.
I was so encouraged by Pastor Chuck, the former head pastor of the New Life Church, and his testimony of how the Lord led him to Cambodia. When he was asked if he always had a heart to spread the gospel oversees, or if he had a vision for a long time to go to the people of Cambodia, he said that that was not necessarily true. After he and his wife became Christians, they started out their ministry to the church by cleaning the bathrooms. Just simply cleaning the bathrooms. As they served faithfully in that, they began working in children's ministry, and as they served faithfully in that, the Lord led them to the next thing, and then the next. Finally the Lord called them to simply take the ministry that they were doing in the United States and transfer it to a cross cultural setting. And of course, as faithful and willing servants of the Lord, they said yes.
Faithful in cleaning the bathrooms. The dirty work that nobody cared to do. The unimportant job that nobody really noticed. But the Lord did.
I desire to be faithful with what the Lord has called me to during this time. Some things may seem to me bigger and more important to me than other little things that seem like they don't matter. But in God's eyes, the small things are the big things too.
God has not called me to the future, he has called me to this time, to soak up and be faithful in what he has called me to for this time.
Friday, November 20, 2015
Mark 9:22-24 "'...But if you can do anything, have compassion on us and help us.' And Jesus said to him, 'If you can'! All things are possible for one who beleives.' Immediately the Father of the child cried out and said, "I beleive; help my unbeleif!"
The Father of this demon possessed child had already brought his child before the disciples, they could not cast out the demon. In desperation he came before Jesus, "If you can do anything"! Here was this desperate circumstance, and the father cried out to Jesus to help him if he could, help him if it was in his power to do so!
How often am I the same as this man. My first inclination when fear arises, when I feel my weak capabilities loosing control, sadly is to try to figure it out myself. Tossing and turning the matter over in my mind, depending on my weakness for strength. Maybe even consulting those around me to help me to get control of the situation. Why do i hestitant to turn to Jesus for help? Why do I question the faithfulness of my Savior? The lack of my faith is so evident. Sure, I beleive that Jesus can but do I beleive that he will?
But I am finding more and more that in the midst of my frantic mind, when fear and dread begin to rise up in me, the freedom comes when I come to the Lord as this man did, "Lord I beleive, but will you help my unbeleif." Here, Lord, is my unbeleif. Here Lord is my heart and all of its rawness, not some patched up, masked up thing, so hidden by fakeness that it is indecipherable. I love to try to bring that before God, "Here is my heart God, I tried to fix it up a little."
He wants ALL of my heart. He just wants me to give it all to him. He doesn't ask me to work on it first before I bring it, he just wants me to bring everything, even the dirty parts. And when I show it all, when I talk about it with him instead of myself, that is faith. Here is my lack of faith God, here it is. I tried to pretend that it's not there, I tried to make it not be there but I cant. God will you take this.
It turns out that the demon plaguing the child, was one that could only be driven out by prayer. That is why all other sources were powerless. All Jesus wanted was for them to come before him and him alone with there great need.
And Jesus wants the same from me. To come before him, in rawness and honesty, believing that he will help my unbeleif.
Matthew 11:28-39 "Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light."
The Father of this demon possessed child had already brought his child before the disciples, they could not cast out the demon. In desperation he came before Jesus, "If you can do anything"! Here was this desperate circumstance, and the father cried out to Jesus to help him if he could, help him if it was in his power to do so!
How often am I the same as this man. My first inclination when fear arises, when I feel my weak capabilities loosing control, sadly is to try to figure it out myself. Tossing and turning the matter over in my mind, depending on my weakness for strength. Maybe even consulting those around me to help me to get control of the situation. Why do i hestitant to turn to Jesus for help? Why do I question the faithfulness of my Savior? The lack of my faith is so evident. Sure, I beleive that Jesus can but do I beleive that he will?
But I am finding more and more that in the midst of my frantic mind, when fear and dread begin to rise up in me, the freedom comes when I come to the Lord as this man did, "Lord I beleive, but will you help my unbeleif." Here, Lord, is my unbeleif. Here Lord is my heart and all of its rawness, not some patched up, masked up thing, so hidden by fakeness that it is indecipherable. I love to try to bring that before God, "Here is my heart God, I tried to fix it up a little."
He wants ALL of my heart. He just wants me to give it all to him. He doesn't ask me to work on it first before I bring it, he just wants me to bring everything, even the dirty parts. And when I show it all, when I talk about it with him instead of myself, that is faith. Here is my lack of faith God, here it is. I tried to pretend that it's not there, I tried to make it not be there but I cant. God will you take this.
It turns out that the demon plaguing the child, was one that could only be driven out by prayer. That is why all other sources were powerless. All Jesus wanted was for them to come before him and him alone with there great need.
And Jesus wants the same from me. To come before him, in rawness and honesty, believing that he will help my unbeleif.
Matthew 11:28-39 "Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light."
Sunday, November 15, 2015
Genesis 2:7 "then the LORD God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living creature."
Dust. This seemingly insignificant particle of the earth. The ugly filth that stains the feet. Dust is dirty, it is dirt really. This is what the LORD God choose to make man out of. And a song comes to mind,
"You make beautiful things, you make beautiful things out of dust."
God chose this ugly, this dirty, this insignificant thing that I hardly give a thought to except when there is the bothersome duty of removing it, God took it and made out of it a beautiful creature, he called that creature good and breathed the breath of life into his frame. But the part that encourages me the most was brought to mind as I thought of the next phrase of the song,
"You make beautiful things, you make beautiful things out of us."
Because I am that seemingly insignificant human, who has dirt and stains and scars. No matter how hard I try, I can't make them go away. I cannot make myself beautiful. But God has chosen to make me beautiful. He has chosen to take my messiness and create out of it something beautiful. Like the dust, dead and lifeless, he has chosen to breathe into me the breath of life.
"As a father shows compassion to his children, so the LORD shows compassion to those who fear him. For he knows our frame, he remembers that we are dust."
He knows that I am weak. And he is not this God who is looking down on me and wondering, shaking his head at the fact that all the time I fail. And yes I fail, again and again. But he knows that I am weak and he does not condemn me for it. I am the one who condemns myself for being weak, I am the one who has difficulty trusting him to make a beautiful thing out of me, so just in case, I try to do it myself. I like to think that i can, somehow i think that i am trustworthy more than God to do this work. This is a silly thing to do, because can dust make itself beautiful? Can dust breath on its own?
But no, as God created something beautiful out of dust, he is creating something beautiful out of us. I must rest that he is making a beautiful thing. It is his breath giving me life, and nothing out of my own strength.
"All this pain, I wonder if I'll ever find my way. I wonder if my life could really change, at all. All this earth, could all that is lost ever be found? Could a garden come up from this ground at all?"
"You make beautiful things, you make beautiful things out of dust. You make beautiful things, you make beautiful things out of us."
-Gungor "Beautiful Things"
To practically apply this verse, I will worship to this song
Dust. This seemingly insignificant particle of the earth. The ugly filth that stains the feet. Dust is dirty, it is dirt really. This is what the LORD God choose to make man out of. And a song comes to mind,
"You make beautiful things, you make beautiful things out of dust."
God chose this ugly, this dirty, this insignificant thing that I hardly give a thought to except when there is the bothersome duty of removing it, God took it and made out of it a beautiful creature, he called that creature good and breathed the breath of life into his frame. But the part that encourages me the most was brought to mind as I thought of the next phrase of the song,
"You make beautiful things, you make beautiful things out of us."
Because I am that seemingly insignificant human, who has dirt and stains and scars. No matter how hard I try, I can't make them go away. I cannot make myself beautiful. But God has chosen to make me beautiful. He has chosen to take my messiness and create out of it something beautiful. Like the dust, dead and lifeless, he has chosen to breathe into me the breath of life.
"As a father shows compassion to his children, so the LORD shows compassion to those who fear him. For he knows our frame, he remembers that we are dust."
He knows that I am weak. And he is not this God who is looking down on me and wondering, shaking his head at the fact that all the time I fail. And yes I fail, again and again. But he knows that I am weak and he does not condemn me for it. I am the one who condemns myself for being weak, I am the one who has difficulty trusting him to make a beautiful thing out of me, so just in case, I try to do it myself. I like to think that i can, somehow i think that i am trustworthy more than God to do this work. This is a silly thing to do, because can dust make itself beautiful? Can dust breath on its own?
But no, as God created something beautiful out of dust, he is creating something beautiful out of us. I must rest that he is making a beautiful thing. It is his breath giving me life, and nothing out of my own strength.
"All this pain, I wonder if I'll ever find my way. I wonder if my life could really change, at all. All this earth, could all that is lost ever be found? Could a garden come up from this ground at all?"
"You make beautiful things, you make beautiful things out of dust. You make beautiful things, you make beautiful things out of us."
-Gungor "Beautiful Things"
To practically apply this verse, I will worship to this song
Saturday, November 7, 2015
Psalms 13:5-6 "But I have trusted in your steadfast love; my heart shall rejoice in your salvation. I will sing to the LORD, because he has dealt abundantly with me."
I love the rawness of the Psalms. The heartfelt, honest prayers of the Psalmist, pouring his heart to God. The Psalm begins as the Psalmist desparatly cries out asking,
"How long O LORD will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me. How long must I take counsel in my soul and have sorrow to my heart all the day? How long shall my enemies be exalted over me?"
So often, when circumstances seem bleak, it is easy to wonder, where is the Lord? Why hasn't he come and saved the day by now? Where is victory? How long will it be before my enemies are silented? Situations and feelings threaten to defeat and discourage. Maybe we don't see the Lord work in the way we think he should.
These same feelings seem to bombard the mind of the one who wrote this Psalm. Although instead of harboring these questions, letting doubt eat away at his mind, he brings them honestly before the Lord. And then he remembers the character of the Lord, "But if have trusted in your steadfast love..." He is reminded of the love of the Lord. Whatever he is dealing with may seem out of control. It may seem like the Lord is hiding, is not showing his face. But there is his unfailing love. That love that i can go back to, that i can trust and rest in, even when I don't understand.
The Psalmist chooses also to give thanks. To rejoice because of his salvation. To sing because of the abundance of his blessings. Situations tempt to change our view of God, but he does not change. He is always good. He always loves me.
I must choose, in the good and the bad, to recognize God's goodness and his consistent love. His character is not transient like circumstances are, no, it is steadfast. As Roy Hession pointed out to me ("The Bumps Are What You Climb On"), when I have faith in the God who is love, I will be able to give thanks, even in what may seem like a difficulty.
To practically apply this verse, I will begin, on a sheet on my wall, a list of blessings he has abundantly given.
I love the rawness of the Psalms. The heartfelt, honest prayers of the Psalmist, pouring his heart to God. The Psalm begins as the Psalmist desparatly cries out asking,
"How long O LORD will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me. How long must I take counsel in my soul and have sorrow to my heart all the day? How long shall my enemies be exalted over me?"
So often, when circumstances seem bleak, it is easy to wonder, where is the Lord? Why hasn't he come and saved the day by now? Where is victory? How long will it be before my enemies are silented? Situations and feelings threaten to defeat and discourage. Maybe we don't see the Lord work in the way we think he should.
These same feelings seem to bombard the mind of the one who wrote this Psalm. Although instead of harboring these questions, letting doubt eat away at his mind, he brings them honestly before the Lord. And then he remembers the character of the Lord, "But if have trusted in your steadfast love..." He is reminded of the love of the Lord. Whatever he is dealing with may seem out of control. It may seem like the Lord is hiding, is not showing his face. But there is his unfailing love. That love that i can go back to, that i can trust and rest in, even when I don't understand.
The Psalmist chooses also to give thanks. To rejoice because of his salvation. To sing because of the abundance of his blessings. Situations tempt to change our view of God, but he does not change. He is always good. He always loves me.
I must choose, in the good and the bad, to recognize God's goodness and his consistent love. His character is not transient like circumstances are, no, it is steadfast. As Roy Hession pointed out to me ("The Bumps Are What You Climb On"), when I have faith in the God who is love, I will be able to give thanks, even in what may seem like a difficulty.
To practically apply this verse, I will begin, on a sheet on my wall, a list of blessings he has abundantly given.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)