Romans 5: 5,8:
5 And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out His love into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, whom He has given us. 8 But God proves His love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
God’s love for us is shown through the sacrifice of His Son for our salvation. But…God’s love also shows up in unexpected ways almost every day. Most of us don’t notice. A cool breeze on a hot day. A large cloud that shades our workplace wherever it may be. The rest we get after a long day, even if it takes a while. Finding our keys when we have lost them.
Some people may not think of these small gifts as showing the love of God, but they do. He cares for us far more than we can imagine. I believe that the fact that God loved us long before we were even born is the hardest part of His love for us to take in. He knew about each of us before Creation morning. Remember, Scripture says that God puts our sins away as far as the East is from the West. That is an infinite amount of space between Himself and any record of our sins once we have accepted Jesus and the atonement of His blood.
Jesus told His disciples to allow the children to come to Him and it is their innocence and complete faith that He desires. The problem that we have is our “grown” ideas and the fact that most of us want to help out even when we ask Him to take care of a problem. All of us want to pitch in and help but when it is cancer or something that we can’t do anything about we need to learn to depend on Him…like a child.
Even a pet or companion, like a little dog/Dachshund, depends upon us for their care, food, and well-being. We need to learn to depend on God for those things as well. We are hard-headed though and we tend toward trying to help God when He doesn’t need our “help” to take care of things.
God’s love for us, and all of His Creation, is far more intimate and deep than we can imagine. Remember, He is the One Who knitted our DNA together in the womb before we were born. He knows the kind of personality you will have and how smart you will be long before you are born. Every molecule that makes you and me who we are was designed and placed in us by Him. There is no part of you that you can keep from Him even when you want to keep something secret.
Remember, God is Life and it is by His pleasure that we live and have our being. Each breath and every heartbeat that we have is given to us by Him. That is why we need to seek Him each day before we go anywhere or even get out of bed because He provides us with the ability to talk, walk and live in His Presence every day.
God sent His Son to be the Lamb that takes the sins of the world on Himself. He did die on the cross but He rose from the dead three days later conquering death and the grave. Jesus is the embodiment of God’s love for humanity because He showed the effect of God’s love on everyone He ministered to during His three years of teaching.
So, why do we think we can’t be useful to the One Who called us to follow Him? If you have given your heart to Him and you are a born-again Christian, you were called by the Holy Spirit into His family. Your position in life or your lack of work to Him. You can be useful in His Kingdom in whatever way He has gifted you with abilities to do. Having money or a position or education doesn’t matter to Him because He equips those whom He calls. We are given gifts and abilities that only we have a real ability to use for Him.
When I titled this as “Love died on a cross”, I didn’t mean that God’s love died on that cross. I meant that the personification of His Love died on the cross. God loves us in such a way that we can’t understand it and His anger toward the people who reject Him is equally powerful but it is still tempered by His love. God can uniquely use each of us to reach people that others may not be able to reach.
God’s love is such that even if we only reach that one person, it is enough. God values each of us to the extent that your soul and mine would’ve been enough to send Jesus to Earth to die for us and save us. Even if we were the only two that were saved. It is very hard to understand compassion and love like that, in fact, we can’t understand it on this side of Heaven.
Like the story that Jesus told of the pearl that the merchant sold everything for just to acquire, a pearl of great price. Each of us is like that pearl to God our Father. We are each worth His Son’s life to gain souls and a place in Heaven. The biggest mistake that the early church made nearly two thousand years ago was using “man-made” wisdom or ideas to bring pagans into the church. Even two centuries past His crucifixion the church didn’t resemble the gatherings of believers that began the church in the late first century.
The divisions that have happened over the centuries since then show even more how easily Satan has gained a foothold in the church. There is a remnant of believers who embody the teachings of Jesus as much as possible today but it seems to be getting smaller. I pray that there will be a revival of faith in the church before He comes back. It is sorely needed today.
Many of us get into a rut in life. We think that we can’t change…even that we will never be able to change, but that is not what God says. When you give your heart to Jesus and become a Christian the Holy Spirit comes in and changes your heart and you are made into a new creation in Christ. You are not the old person. You are not the person that you were before Jesus came into your life. If you meant it when you felt His touch and chose to give your heart to Him, repenting of your old ways of life, then you are a new creation…a new person in Christ.
There will be some days that Satan will try to make you believe that you are the same person that you were but you are not! Yes, the devil will try to trip you up and make you stumble back into old habits and sometimes he will succeed but Jesus is there with you and you can rise up into a new life with Him. It doesn’t matter how many times you fall, as long as you don’t stay down and believe the lies that Satan is telling you through your family or “friends”. God is stronger and able to bring your life into a better place than where it was.
Keep your eyes and your heart pointed toward Jesus and follow His example. You can’t be as perfectly holy as He was but you can strive toward that goal with the Holy Spirit’s help one step at a time. One day at a time. Thank God for today and move into it with confidence knowing that God loves you and that He will be with you regardless of what you hear around you from family or so-called “friends”. You don’t have to stay stuck in that rut of depression and despair. Take Jesus’ hand and get up and walk with Him into your new life every day and your way will become more sure and real than you ever thought possible.
Amen
My reason for this title stems from the order that Jesus gave to His disciples. He said for them to “take the gospel out into the whole world“. So, have you given your heart to Jesus? Do you know Him as your Savior? Are you sure?
Many people seem to think they are Christians just because they have attended church for their whole life or because of their family history in the church. Neither of these brings salvation to anyone. Only deep belief, acceptance of salvation, and repentance from your sins will bring you to complete sanctification. Living your days and the rest of your life by learning about Jesus and studying His Words will truly mature your faith and give you the armor of God to keep you protected from Satan and his temptations in your life. Just because you become a Christian doesn’t make your life easier and it doesn’t make you immune from temptation. God’s Presence in your life gives you the strength to persevere every day.
I pray that each person who reads this post, even though it is short, will renew their faith in Jesus or even invite Him into their hearts. We are living in the end times and we are at the edge of the Tribulation. Please seek Him out as your Savior if you haven’t yet.
