Devotions

“Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God.  Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.” [1 John 4:7-8]

 “But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners.” [Romans 5:8]

What joy! What amazing joy is found in those two verses. God is love. And that magnificent love flows to us while “we were still sinners.”

We are His enemies. We shake our fists and say that we will not have this God rule over us. And still He loves us. We crucified His Precious Son, and He loves us still.

His love sets us free. I heard an inspirational speaker (Ken David) say that God’s love means we have nothing to prove to anyone, we have nothing to hide, and we have nothing to lose. (Still ruminating on those thoughts.)

I know that God’s love, His overwhelming, never ending, reckless love has set me free. I know that with my head, and I am learning to immerse my heart deep in that love. Each day, I seek more and more of the knowledge and experience of that love.

There are many character traits and attributes of God. There’s more, but I want to focus on what I call “the final four.” They are Mercy and Grace, Love, and Holiness.

Mercy and Grace always seem to get lumped together. They are both involved deeply in our salvation. “’I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.’ So then it does not depend on the man who wills or the man who runs, but on God who has mercy.” [Romans 9:15-16]

Without mercy, we would have no hope of salvation, no hope of heaven, no hope of seeing this wonderful God who created us. As the Bible declares in many ways, we have all fallen short of the glory of God. Jesus reiterated that there are two great commandments. We are to love the LORD our God with all our heart, soul and mind. And we are to love our neighbors as ourselves. We have failed in both.

None of us have ever had the capacity to love that way and thus, we have broken the greatest commandments and are lawbreakers deserving death. But God doesn’t give us what we deserve, instead, He offers us mercy.

God is also gracious. “The LORD is gracious and merciful; Slow to anger and great in lovingkindness.“ [Psalm 145:8]

God gives us grace. In giving us grace for salvation, God gives us what we do not deserve.

Grace and Mercy. Two wonderful strands wrapped around the heart of God – reaching out as an invitation to His salvation, drawing His prodigal children home.

God is Good. All the Time. All the Time. God is Good.

“O, taste and see that the Lord is good.” [Psalm 34:8]

It is so easy to say “God is good, all the time” when we are surrounded with blessings, when every step we take is successful, when circumstances are pleasant and life is lifted on the breezes of comfort.

Not so easy to say “Good is good, all the time,” when life turns on us. When we suffer loss. When we lose our health, or our wealth. When every step is a struggle.

Yet God’s “Goodness” is like all His character … it is immutable … it never changes.

As Christians, we are not immune from difficulties. God’s goodness does not mean life will always be fair or pleasing. If you read the rest of Psalm 34, you will find an interesting thought in verse 19.

“The righteous person faces many troubles, but the LORD comes to the rescue each time.”

Praying through verses 15 to 22 today will give us much to be thankful for during any trouble.  (A Hint: The LORD’s attention to His own, His rescues, His closeness to the brokenhearted, His protection, His Salvation and Redemption.)  Amen & Amen

God is Infinite (eternal). God is Immutable (never changes). God is Self-Sufficient (has no needs). He is Omniscient, Omnipotent and Omnipresent.

I can appreciate and be grateful for those things, but my finite brain cannot truly grasp those things of God. But there is one characteristic of My LORD that is more understandable. That is God’s faithfulness.

“Know therefore that the LORD your God is God; he is the faithful God, keeping his covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love him and keep his commands.“ [Deut 7:9]

“If we are faithless, he remains faithful— for he cannot deny himself.” [2 Timothy 2:13]

If the past is any indication, I can pretty much guarantee that the politicians who were elected last Tuesday will not be unchangingly faithful to us. (written before the election)

They will soon forget what they promised. Excuses will begin to fall from their lips. Blame will be assigned to others for their own faithlessness.

But our God is not like that. He is unchangingly, eternally, completely faithful. He never forgets or fails. Even when we are faithless before Him, that does not alter His faithfulness to us.

“Great is Thy faithfulness, O God my Father. There is no shadow of turning with Thee. Thou changest not, Thy compassions, they fail not. As Thou hast been, Thou forever will be.” Amen & Amen

Ever try to run away from God? I have. But it doesn’t take long to figure out that there is nowhere to run and nowhere to hide. Our God is everywhere, all the time, fully present. The scholars call this Omnipresence.

“Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence? If I ascend to heaven, You are there; If I make my bed in Sheol, behold, You are there. If I take the wings of the dawn, If I dwell in the remotest part of the sea, even there Your hand will lead me, And Your right hand will lay hold of me.” [Psalm 139:7-10]

This is difficult to understand. We are limited by time and space, God is Spirit. He lives on a totally different level than we do. He is not hampered by the confines of space or time. I say that as if I understand it. I don’t.

I trust, however, that when God says there is no where I can flee from His presence, that is true. God has never abandoned me, nor left me out there all alone. There have been times I have abandoned Him with my actions and intents, but even then, He was there wooing me to return.

GOD IS WITH US! In our deepest and darkest hours.

GOD IS WITH US! In our greatest and highest moments.

GOD IS WITH US! Even in the mundane tasks of life.

What comfort. What joy! GOD IS WITH US!

God is All-Knowing (Omniscient). That means He knows everything that can be known.

“Remember the former things, those of long ago; I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me. I make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times, what is still to come. I say: My purpose will stand, and I will do all that I please.” [Isaiah 46:9-10]

God even knows what “might” happen. In 1Samuel 23, Saul was pursuing David around the countryside and David and his men had taken refuge in Keilah, a walled city. Saul found out and was on his way, so David asked God if Saul would come, and the LORD told him he would.

Then David asked a second question, “Will the leaders of Keilah betray me and my men to Saul?” And the LORD replied, “Yes, they will betray you.” So, David and his men left Keilah. [vs11-13 NLT]

Isn’t that amazing? God knew what would happen. And He protected David.

God knows! GOD KNOWS! And we can trust that no matter our circumstance, nor the intents of our enemies, nothing that we do (nothing anyone else does) will take Him by surprise! Glory!

“By the word of the LORD the heavens were made, their starry host by the breath of his mouth.” [Psalm 33:6]

“Who is this King of glory? The LORD strong and mighty, the LORD mighty in battle.” [Psalm 24:8]

Our God is Omnipotent – All-Powerful. That means He has the strength and power to do anything He wants without strain (always governed by His absolute Holiness and Unchanging Character).

One of the transitions of aging is finding out I no longer have the strength or energy to do anything I want to do. Often my day is governed by my body’s limitations.

My mind says I want to jump for joy … but my body lost its “jump” about a decade ago. My mind says I want to do a three-mile worship walk every day … but my body says half a mile and “you’re done.” My desire is to run and play … but my body says “rest so you can move tomorrow.”

Old age is often governed by diminishing power and strength.

BUT, our God, our blessed and wonderful Savior and LORD, is not governed by even one tiny limitation. He has All Power, All Strength – that never ever diminishes. I can praise Him today because I am confident that He is “this King of Glory … strong and mighty!”

He will never fail me. Amen

For the last months, the politicians have been flooding every media available. They want our support, they want our vote, they want our money. They have a multitude of needs, and they expect us to meet them.

Our GOD has no needs – no, not one!

“For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself.” [John 5:26

He is gloriously Self Sufficient! He does not need anything from us, which makes the fact that He “wants” us all the more glorious!

“I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being,” [Ephesians 3:16]

Our God has it all! Glorious Riches…And He never runs out! Riches, Wisdom, Glory, Power, Grace, Love.

The world around us proves it can never satisfy. It is always running out. We get periodic warnings that Social Security is set to run out. The government might shut down for lack of funding. We have had shortages of goods repeatedly over the last years. We have lived through gas shortages and food shortages and toilet paper shortages.

But our God has “life in Himself” (and “glorious riches”). And now He lives in us through the Indwelling Holy Spirit and graciously supplies all we need.

Tomorrow we vote, and rest assured everything will change. No matter which party get a majority in which place in government, everything will change.

Change in this life is a given. Even though we act like change is “unexpected,” deep down inside we know that change is “expected.” Not just in politics, but in every area of our lives.

There is one thing, however, that never changes (and never will change.) That is our GOD!

“I the LORD do not change.” [Malachi 3:6]

The scholars (of which I am not) call that Immutability. I PRAY that Scripture today with great joy! And immense thankfulness.

Governments will change. But our God does not!

I can absolutely trust My LORD and Savior’s dependability. I can trust His plans. I can trust His promises. Nothing about Him will change.

Oh my, today as I pray, “OH LORD you do not change!” I will do so with much gratitude! Amen