Past Devotions

John 14:19-21: “Soon the world will no longer see me, but you will see me. Since I live, you also will live. When I am raised to life again, you will know that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. Those who accept my commandments and obey them are the ones who love me. And because they love me, my Father will love them. And I will love them and reveal myself to each of them.” [NLT]

God is doing such a work of love in my heart. It is a work that I am having a hard time explaining. That says something since I live by words. I bring messages made up of words, I write with words. My greatest desire is that my words speak with the power of the Holy Spirit to change people’s hearts.

So why am I having such a hard time explaining God’s love and His work of love in my heart? I think it is because God’s love is an experience, a deep experience, and an individual one. Communicating truth, right doctrine, encouragement, comfort, even conviction is easy. Communicating an experience of love is not. It leaves me tongue-tied, word-deprived. Nothing I say using words can truly communicate what I am experiencing.

Jesus promised that He would reveal Himself by His love. “I will love him and reveal myself to each of them.”

As I sit here, computer on my lap, staring at this screen as it waits for me to add my words, all I really want to do is lean my head back on my Savior’s breast, quiet my soul, and drink in His love. I want Him to reveal Himself to me in greater and greater measure.

So, I pray for you today, as you read these words¸ that you also experience the Love of God in greater and greater measure. Lean your head back, quiet your soul and drink in His love.

“Could we with ink the ocean fill / And were the skies of parchment made; / Were every stalk on earth a quill, / And every man a scribe by trade; / To write the love of God above / Would drain the ocean dry; / Nor could the scroll contain the whole, / Though stretched from sky to sky.”

That is the third stanza of the song, “The Love of God” by Frederick M. Lehman. Those words were found penciled on the wall in the room of an inmate in an insane asylum when he died, and it was thought that in a moment of lucidity, he had composed them. Lehman wrote later that those words were actually written by a Jewish songwriter nearly 1000 years before. The inmate may have simply remembered them and penciled them on his wall. Either way, they could not be truer words.

When Solomon’s temple was completed in 2 Chronicles 5, Solomon gathered the elders, priests, and Levites together to bring the Ark, the Tent of Meeting and all the sacred furnishings to install them in the new temple. They made many sacrifices along the route. At the temple site were the singers and the musicians who joined in unison to praise the LORD. Their song?  “He is good, His love endures forever.” 

Simple song. Following their song, God’s glory filled the temple in the form of a heavy cloud.  

We are now the temple of the Living God. His spirit fills our temple, but our song is still the same song.  “He is good, His love endures forever.”   

While Solomon’s Temple was eventually destroyed, and the glory of the Lord departed, we have the promise that nothing … absolutely nothing … will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.  For all eternity, our song will be “He is good, His love endures forever!”

Romans 8:38-39:  For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. [NIV]

Titus 3:3-5:  Once we, too, were foolish and disobedient. We were misled and became slaves to many lusts and pleasures. Our lives were full of evil and envy, and we hated each other.  But—When God our Savior revealed his kindness and love, he saved us, not because of the righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He washed away our sins, giving us a new birth and new life through the Holy Spirit. [NLT]

I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about God’s love. I was raised in a denomination that didn’t preach much on the love of God. I was always afraid I wouldn’t quite live up to God’s requirements and would have to spend time suffering in that holding place, Purgatory. When I left that church and entered a Pentecostal Evangelical one, I carried that fear of not measuring up with me, even though I now knew that there was no such place as Purgatory.

However, it was not until I found Pastor Jim at the Loomis Assembly of God that I began to hear about the love of God. Jim preached that God’s love was ours—not because we merited it—but because of His great grace and mercy. In fact, we could not merit His love, it was God’s gift.  As I listened, my thinking slowly changed.

More importantly, I began to experience God’s love. As God’s love permeated my mind and heart, I changed. The fear that I would not live up to God’s requirements disappeared. The fear that God was always mad at me and looking for opportunities to punish me vanished. I stopped hating myself and began praising God, all the while knowing that I was—AM—unworthy to receive such love.

To live in the love of God, and to teach others about God’s love and grace, became a passion. Pastor Jim has gone to his eternal reward, but as long as I can, I will proclaim what he taught me … God’s love is ours, not because we merit it, but because of His love, great grace, and abundant mercy.

Father, thank you for Your life-changing love. Thank you for Your great grace. Thank you for Your abundant mercy. Thank you that Your great love has driven my fears far from me.  Amen.

When King Nahash of the Ammonites died, David sent ambassadors to his son to show sympathy. He did it because as he said, “Nahash was always loyal to me.”

The ambassadors were rebuffed and shamed, which angered David. You’ll find the story in 2Samuel 10.

The Ammonites, realizing they had angered David, hired Aramean warriors to help them. Together, they drew up battle lines to fight David. Joab, leader of David’s army realized that he had two fronts for the battle. He divided his soldiers and sent his brother Abishai to fight the Ammonites on one front (entrance of the city gates), while he took other soldiers to fight the Arameans on the second front (in the open fields).

Joab’s instructions to his brother Abishai contain an important lesson. “’If the Arameans are too strong for me, then come over and help me,’ Joab told his brother. ‘And if the Ammonites are too strong for you, I will come and help you. Be courageous! Let us fight bravely for our people and the cities of our God. May the Lord’s will be done.’” [2Samuel 10:11-12]

We need each other. The enemy is on the prowl knowing that his time is short. He is not shy and comes at people from all directions. In Isaiah 52 God promised Israel that He would go before them and be their rear guard. That promise is true for His children today.

Still, we need each other. When we are battling the enemy, we need our brothers and sisters to join us in the battle. We need to hear someone promise us … If the enemy is too strong for you, I will come and help you.

I wrote this last Thursday while awaiting a scheduled 4-hour adrenal function test on Monday March 4. I am hoping to have the results by the time this devotion is posted, but right now all I have are the side effects and symptoms.

I hurt (everywhere), I am exhausted, I am nauseous. I guess that sums it up physically. Add in a little frustration with some circumstances and difficulties outside my control, and it is a recipe for tears and frustration. Maybe a little self-pity too?

So, of course, the LORD, who knows my every way put this in my email inbox. “Whom have I in heaven but you? I desire you more than anything on earth. My health may fail, and my spirit may grow weak, but God remains the strength of my heart; he is mine forever.” [Psalm 73:25-26 NLT]

This is another one of those questions that only have one right answer. “Whom have I in heaven but you?”

God is the strength of my heart. The LORD is mine forever. Everything around me and inside me might grow weak or fail, but God remains strong on my behalf.

Augusten Burroughs said: “When you have your health, you have everything. When you do not have your health, nothing else matters at all.”

Oh, Mr. Burroughs, I strongly disagree. So strongly do I disagree that I am revising this statement.

“When you have Christ Jesus the LORD, you have everything. When you do not have Him, nothing else matters at all.”

Ever been asked a question to which there is only one right answer?

John records a conversation in Chapter 6 where Jesus said some difficult things to His disciples. The chapter opens with the feeding of the five thousand. Afraid that the crowd might try to take and make Him King, He withdraws and then later walks on the water to join His disciples who were traveling over the sea toward Capernaum.

When the people finally track them down, looking for another free meal, Jesus begins a conversation that confuses some and alienates others. Many of His followers were offended by His words and “turned away and deserted Him.” [vs 66 NLT]

Jesus asks the ones remaining, “Are you also going to leave?” [vs 67]

 That is a question that has only one right answer and Simon Peter gets it right. “LORD, to whom would we go? You have the words that give eternal life.” [vs 69a]

Ther are times in life when things get difficult. Trials and tribulations seem to surround us. We might even wonder where God is or why He seems so silent. It is then that the enemy of our soul will try to convince us that God doesn’t care, and we should just walk away.

BUT … where would we go? To whom would we go? Christ Jesus our Savior and LORD is the ONLY One with words of eternal life. Abandoning Him would be to abandon all hope.

I have told this story many times but no matter how many times I tell it, I never grow tired of telling it. It ministers to my soul with each retelling.

When my son turned 18, I wanted to get him a special gift. His favorite football player was Walter Payton. I called around the Sacramento area looking for a Walter Payton rookie card and finally found one in Auburn.

When I arrived at the shop, I asked the owner how much a Walter Payton rookie card was worth. He told me it was worth what I “was willing to pay for it.”

That Walter Payton rookie card is nothing more than a piece of cardboard with a picture and some writing. It might have cost 5 cents to make. But because I love my son, that piece of cardboard is worth much much more.

That story always reminds me that I was not worth much until … UNTIL God paid for me with the precious blood of Christ.

“For you know that God paid a ransom to save you from the empty life you inherited from your ancestors. And it was not paid with mere gold or silver, which lose their value. It was the precious blood of Christ, the sinless, spotless Lamb of God.” [1 Peter 1:18-19 NLT]

Now God’s love and what He was willing to pay for us (the precious blood of His Dear Son) determines our worth. How amazing is that!