Love in 4 dimensions

God’s love stretches from one side of the universe to the other. It also reaches from Heaven all the way to Earth. The width and depth and length and breadth of God’s love for us encompass all of Creation. So…why do we doubt His love for us sometimes? We see some bad things happening or we get a diagnosis that isn’t good for us or someone we love and we ask, “Why me, Lord?”. God allows bad things to happen but it is usually because we need to learn something. Sometimes that lesson isn’t easy to learn and we have to learn it the hard way.

God’s love is still there. He never leaves us and what He allows in our life, good or bad, is usually for our own good. We don’t see it that way but after the trouble is over or we make it through the problem, usually we will see the reason for it. Sometimes we don’t see it immediately or even a year or so later but as long as we don’t move away from God and seek His answer for the reason, we will find it one day.

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.

John 3:16,17: 16 For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that everyone who believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him.

Ephesians 2:4,5: 4 But because of His great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, 5 made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in our trespasses. It is by grace you have been saved!

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. Even when we know that we can’t “help” Him, we still try to and most of the time we get in His way or even try to take whatever we have prayed about back into our hands so that we can fix it.

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.

There is something else that we need to think about and remember about God’s love for us: He came to Earth as a human to give His Life to ransom us from hell and if we believe in His atonement on the cross…we will have eternal life with Him. If that doesn’t demonstrate God’s love for every person that He knows will accept His gift of grace…I don’t know what could.

“We rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope . . . because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit” (Romans 5:3–5).

The Bible does not say that we have to experience suffering to learn patience or to increase our faith in Him. Jesus did say that we would have trouble and persecution in this world. Although suffering did happen in Paul’s life and the apostles’ lives after Jesus was taken up. Suffering has been a part of the church since the beginning but it brings our faith and our patience to be perfected in our faith in Him. This is part of life and all of us have experienced it to one degree or another.

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 every 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. Just remembering this and doing this is not an easy thing for us to do because we’ve been brought up to think that we can do it ourselves…without His help. But, God will allow us to do that until we realize that we truly need His help in all of our lives and in everything that we do. Many times it takes something drastic to happen in our lives to force us to give Him the wheel of our lives and direct us toward a better outcome than we could’ve possibly steered our lives toward.

That empty place…

When I was younger, I felt that there was always something missing in my life. I didn’t know what it was but I searched for it and, for many years I never found that “fulfillment” that I felt was missing. No amount of reading books or meditation or smoking “pot” or drinking could fix that empty place inside. I didn’t try all of the “things” that I could have, thankfully. But I still craved something that wasn’t there.

It’s kinda like a puzzle. When you are trying to finish a puzzle and there is a piece missing it will never be finished and whole until you find the piece that fits. God placed a desire for Himself in our souls and that is the missing piece that we feel. Yet, we walk through life looking in all sorts of places for the “something” that we feel is missing. Each of us feels that something is missing and sometimes this feeling lasts for many years until we finally feel the touch of the Holy Spirit that lets us know exactly Who is missing from our hearts.

“You, God, are my God, earnestly I seek you; I thirst for you, my whole being longs for you, in a dry and parched land where there is no water.” Psalm 63:1 (NIV)

It is God and Jesus that we are searching for. It is their influence and their Presence in our lives that we long for. Many of us live every day thinking about all sorts of problems and worries that we can do nothing about when we should hand them over to God and thank Him for taking care of them. Then, go about your normal routine like those “problems and worries” are already taken care of. This is good advice but most of us rarely follow it. We pray about our worries and then after we finish the prayer we begin to worry about the problem we just prayed about.

Many Christians, who are born-again, attempt to “help” God even though we think we are giving Him control over our lives. When you are tempted to worry about a problem, ask God to help you give it back to Him. I know this works because I have to do this multiple times a day. My Mom and grandparents were “worriers” so I acquired this habit as well but since I began reading through God’s Word every year, I have gradually come to the point of letting go. It isn’t easy but it can be done.

When you feel a problem is becoming too burdensome, begin reading and praying through Psalms. It helps with depression and pain and almost any other emotional problem that you will face. God’s grace is with you, especially when you have given your heart to Him. Seek His counsel in all things and He will comfort you in all things.

The depth and width of God’s love

Romans 5: 5,8:

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.

Love died on a cross

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.

Are you stuck in a rut?

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

Are you sure?

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.

Nearly 47 years ago…

This message was given by Dr. Graham on New Year’s Eve in 1975. He talks of tomorrow’s football game being one of the biggest parts of everyone’s day on January 1, 1976. He also speaks of wars, possible nuclear war, drug use, poverty, and confusion. It is amazing and frightening to me that almost 47 years ago we were dealing with many of the same problems that we have today. Although, today’s problems are worse than they were then. In 1976 we were still more of a Christian nation than we are now. Much of the country still had “blue laws” on the books that closed many businesses on Sunday which is unheard of today. Television was not as focused on drugs for all sorts of diseases and the news actually reported real news rather than five and ten seconds worth of blurbs between drug commercials.

Much has changed in the last fifty years and none of it is for the betterment of our country. Some things are better but there are so many that are much, much worse until they outweigh the good things that have been done. If you look back at some sermons from preachers from fifty or one hundred years ago, the problems of society have not really changed all that much. The bad kids in school sixty years ago were putting gum under their desks or in girls’ hair. Now they are bringing guns and knives and drugs to school and the school can’t do much about it. I ask you to join me in praying for our country’s soul and that those who profess to be Christians will turn and become the disciples of Christ that they say they are.

Another day…

God has seen me through another year. It happened so fast it’s hard to believe it. There are so many things happening during this time that it is hard to know where to begin. First and foremost, God loves every one of us! He provides for us every day yet many people choose to concentrate on the things that are not going according to their plans. You need to remember that it is His plan that is important and it is His plan that will triumph in the end. I know there are many who do not see Him in the bad news all around us but He is in control regardless of how bad it looks.

With my allergies kicking up these past few days I don’t really feel like celebrating my birthday but I’m thankful that it isn’t covid or the flu. Life does have a way of showing us exactly Who is in charge whether we want to believe it or not. God is keeping His children, Israel, safe and secure and He is looking for all who will follow Jesus until that day comes when the trumpet sounds and we are caught up to be with Him.

Will life get harder one day? Yes, it will, but God is still in control. Our world seems to be so confused about almost everything these days. From which bathroom to use to the number of so-called “genders”. God created only two. Male and female. So regardless of the confusion all around, His plan has worked from the beginning until now. Is there confusion? Yes, even in the animal kingdom but God’s design has worked for many thousands of years and it will continue to do so.

How many days do you have? None of us know the answer to this. Some may have many days and some of us may not lie down to sleep tonight. The time to make sure of your salvation and your eternal home should do so today because we don’t know how many hours we may have left to us. God knows your life and He knows how many days you have left. Don’t squander them and don’t turn away from the Holy Spirit when He bids you to accept Jesus as your Savior. Because, just as the rich man who wanted to build larger barns to lay up his produce for his enjoyment, you do not know if your soul may be required of you tonight.

If you are reading this today, thank God for the day and the ability to learn about the salvation that is only found in Jesus Christ. Make sure of your eternal home now because if you do not, it may be in a place that is far from God.

Selfish…

How many of us feel this way? There are many I would suppose, although I suspect there are many who will not own it. Being selfish is a common theme in the Bible although it is characterized by pride more often than not. Pride in yourself and your accomplishments can also show itself as “selfish”. But aren’t we supposed to be proud of ourselves sometimes? Yes, but not exclusively so. This word is also associated with self-love or narcissism.

Why am I writing about this? Because being selfish seems to be one of the problems that many people in the Bible have. They want their way. They want to be in charge. They want to be like God.

Do you know anyone who fits that description? The only “person” that I know of that fits this exact description is Satan, but there are some people who act this way as well. God loves people and He gives us the opportunity to be saved from eternal separation from Him.

We have the opportunity to follow Jesus and be His follower for the rest of our life. Don’t turn away from the call of the Holy Spirit in your life. Don’t push Him away because He loves you. Your eternity with Him is the reward, seek Him.