Never Alone

God is so good!  He really meets us right where we are with comfort and guidance.   Even in the simpliest of things.  So sweet!

So we were talking in our Bible Study Fellowship group about John 16:5-7 5 “But now I go away to Him who sent Me, and none of you asks Me, ‘Where are You going?’ 6 But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your heart. 7 Nevertheless I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you.  The disciples were sad because Jesus told them He was going away.  From this side of the Cross we understand what He was talking about, but to them it was a statement that filled them with sorrow.  As we talked about it, I mentioned that I could understand their feelings. I said that I wished that we had Jesus right at our side too.  They had Jesus, physically, visually, touchably with them.  They could hear His voice, see and touch His body.  The Holy Spirit was an unknown at this point, and even now, the Holy Spirit is not a physical body, but a spiritual entity inside  and around us.  

But just like with the disciples, Jesus saw my need and sweetly answered my heart's cry.  A little bit after this discussion, I looked over at the wall beyond me and saw the words.  "I am always at your side."  LOL  How amazing is that.  Jesus not only sends His Holy Spirit, but He is at our sides as well.  And not only Him, the Father is with us as well.  The Trinity never leaves nor forsakes us!  I just love our God!  

Comforter.  That is one of the Names of the Holy Spirit.  And He is here to do just that.  In the Amplified Bible we are give a list of Names for the Spirit.  But I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper (Comforter, Advocate, Intercessor—Counselor, Strengthener, Standby) will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him (the Holy Spirit) to you [to be in close fellowship with you] (John 16:5-7).  He is the One Who "Comes along side."   What a wonderful gift!  As a physical man, Jesus could only be in one place at a time.  But the Holy Spirit transcends space.  He is omnipresent.  How awesome!

Thank You Lord, for the gift of the Holy Spirit.  Thank You for never leaving our sides.  Thank You for reminding us of all this.  You are beyond our comprehensioin.  Beyond our imaginations or wildest thoughts of Who You are and what You are like.  I worship You now.  And bless Your Name.  Amen.  

Happy Love Day

Human love can be sweet.  It lifts up our souls and hearts.  It can also crush us.  Human love, be from a parent or family member, spouse or friend is imperfect.  It often depends on mood, actions, or time.  Only God's love is perfect, eternal, not emotion or performance based.  So today, being Valentine's Day makes me think of God's love for us.  

Jeremiah 31:3  The Lord has appeared of old to me, saying: “Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love; Therefore with lovingkindness I have drawn you.

John 3:16  For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

Romans 5:8  But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Ephesians 3:14-19  14 For this reason I bow my knees to the Father [f]of our Lord Jesus Christ, 15 from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, 16 that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man, 17 that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, 18 may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height— 19 to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

These are just a few of the verses that speak of God's love for us.  And what is our response to this love supposed to be?  Loving Him back.  And how do we love God back?  By obeying Him.  By setting our hearts on Him, giving the whole of ourselves to Him.

John 14:21  He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him.”

Mark 12:30 And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ This is the first commandment.

We also show our love for the Lord by loving others.  This is a command not a suggestion by the way.

John 13:34  A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another.

Galatians 5:13  For you, brethren, have been called to liberty; only do not use liberty as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.

And our goal should be to love as God loves, unconditionally.  I believe this may take a lifetime of learning and practice!.  

1 Corinthians 13:1-13 Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal. 2 And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. 3 And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profits me nothing.  4 Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; 5 does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; 6 does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; 7 bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.  8 Love never fails. But whether there are prophecies, they will fail; whether there are tongues, they will cease; whether there is knowledge, it will vanish away. 9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part. 10 But when that which is perfect has come, then that which is in part will be done away.  11 When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child; but when I became a man, I put away childish things. 12 For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I also am known.  13 And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love.

Lord, thank You for Your love, Your everlasting, all encompassing love.  A love that sacrificed for us, a love tha saves us, a love the keeps us in Your care every day.  A love that is deeper and wider and higher than anything we can imagine.  I am so very grateful for this love.  Help us to grow in our love for You and for others.  In Jesus Name.  Amen.

Seek God's love in the Bible and meditate on it each day.  

Seeing the Father

Some times we have this version of God the Father that is based on the wrathful God of the Old Testament.  He's punishing and angry.  But that is so far off, even if you study just the old Testament.  We tend to see Jesus as the compassionate, loving Savior and the Father as the disciplinarian.  I kind of grew up thinking of God with a little of that mixed in.  The "God is watching, do good." kind of mentality that really comes short of His true nature.   This week in Bible Study Fellowship we were in chapters 13 and 14 of John and one of the passages jumped out at me in a fresh way.  And what a beautiful verse it is!

John 14:1-11 14 “Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. 2 In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also. 4 And where I go you know, and the way you know.”  5 Thomas said to Him, “Lord, we do not know where You are going, and how can we know the way?”  6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.  7 “If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; and from now on you know Him and have seen Him.”  8 Philip said to Him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is sufficient for us.”  9 Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; so how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? 10 Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me? The words that I speak to you I do not speak on My own authority; but the Father who dwells in Me does the works. 11 Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father in Me, or else believe Me for the sake of the works themselves.

Look at that verse closely.  Does it not seem as if the Father Himself is speaking to Philip?  "Have I been with you so long and yet you have not known Me, Philip?"   And He addressed Philip personally!  The Father was right there with them, in Jesus.  Doing the works of compassion and healing.  Teaching patiently.  Serving lovingly.  Washing their feet, even of the one who was to betray Him.  This is the Father.  Not only do we see Him in the Old Testament as a Father who corrects and disciplines those He loves.  Our Father in Heaven is compassionate and loving.  He is caring and tenderhearted towards His children.  Yes, He will discipline those who stray....but it's with a heart seeking to draw them back to safety and holiness.  To draw them back to Himself.  

Remember the words in Hebrews 12:3-11 And have you forgotten the encouraging words God spoke to you as his children? He said, “My child, don’t make light of the Lord’s discipline,  and don’t give up when he corrects you. 6 For the Lord disciplines those he loves, and he punishes each one he accepts as his child.”  7 As you endure this divine discipline, remember that God is treating you as his own children. Who ever heard of a child who is never disciplined by its father? 8 If God doesn’t discipline you as he does all of his children, it means that you are illegitimate and are not really his children at all. 9 Since we respected our earthly fathers who disciplined us, shouldn’t we submit even more to the discipline of the Father of our spirits, and live forever?   10 For our earthly fathers disciplined us for a few years, doing the best they knew how. But God’s discipline is always good for us, so that we might share in his holiness. 11 No discipline is enjoyable while it is happening—it’s painful! But afterward there will be a peaceful harvest of right living for those who are trained in this way.

He is so much more than the wrathful God of the Old Testament.  His wrath comes against those who continually and intentionally sin against Him.  But it's in order to correct and redeem them.  His heart is never petty, but loving. He hates sin because He knows how bad it is for us and the consequences and sorrow it brings to our lives.  Is it any wonder He seeks to draw us back from it in any way possible.  It's not just in the New Testament we see the love of God through Jesus.  The Father and Jesus, along with the Holy Spirit are one. The love of our Father is written all through the pages of the Bible...from start to finish, from "In the beginning" to "May the grace of the Lord Jesus be with God's holy people." It's paints the words in the Old Testament as well as the New Testament.  What a loving Father we have.

Lord, You love us with an everlasting love.  A love that blesses, protects, carries, corrects, forgives, encourages, redeems and covers us with Your care.  What a blessed people we are!  I pray that we will remember this love in each moment of our day, whether things go right or things go wrong.  Some days it's so easy to see You in a negative light.  But let us remember the love You showed in going to the Cross and know that it is enough.  You are preparing a place for us in eternity that far outweighs any of our "light affliction" (2 Corinthians 4:17).  And each and every circumstance we face and walk through on earth is used for Your perfect plan for us.  Romans 8:28  And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.  Lord, let us remember how much You love us.  In Jesus our Savior's Name.  Amen

Look in the Psalms and see the love of the Father.