Category: God’s Love

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Stop the Leak!

I had the strangest experience yesterday afternoon.

I went in to clean the bathroom, you know, give it a good scrub and I was almost done. Just had the sink left and that’s when it happened. I was wiping the water spots off the faucet and the faucet broke off in my hand.

Water was squirting everywhere. I holler for Dave to come help. I had my finger over the hole but if I moved it water went everywhere. Dave came in and said, “Shut off the water.”

“I can’t reach it,” was my reply. At that, Dave simply pushed the handle down and the water stopped. Oh my! I was thinking the water supply needed to be turned off under the sink, in my desperation I didn’t realize it was as simple as turning off the water flow with the handle.

Now, he still has a faucet to replace, and we are currently brushing our teeth in the kitchen but the leak has stopped.

You might be thinking that was a dumb story and asking yourself what that has to do with the blog. Let me tie the two together.

We’ve been looking at the depth of God’s love for us and I hope you are coming to a greater awareness of His love. When we first come to Christ to receive Him as our Savior, we have this drawing from the Spirit that helps us understand that in spite of all our failings, our sin, and our shortcomings, God’s love for us is so great that it covers all those sins. By faith, we receive His sacrifice and His love.

As we go along in our walk with Christ, we begin to let that faith in God’s unconditional love leak. Looking in the mirror we see a few extra pounds and some gray hairs, and we become discouraged. Someone at work gets the promotion we think we deserve, and we question our talents. A marriage ends and we feel unlovable. We go to church and a preacher tells us we must do this and that to be good and since we have failed, we deem ourselves unworthy.

A guilty conscience puts our focus on our failures, and our focus on God’s love decreases.

“Then he says, ‘I will forget their sins and never again remember the evil they have done.’… 21 And we have a great priest who rules the house of God. 22 Sprinkled with the blood of Christ, our hearts have been made free from a guilty conscience, and our bodies have been washed with pure water. So come near to God with a sincere heart, full of confidence because of our faith in Christ. 23 We must hold on to the hope we have, never hesitating to tell people about it. We can trust God to do what he promised.” Hebrews 10:17-23 ERV

This verse tells us that the blood of Christ has freed us from guilt and filled us with confidence in our relationship with the Father. There’s only one way I know to be rid of a guilty conscience.

“We can trust God to do what he promised”. He has promised to never leave or abandon us. He has promised to be there to help when we are in need. He has promised us peace and joy. He has promised to never lie to us.

We must fix the leak caused by a guilty conscience and allow God’s love to flow freely in our lives. Focus on Him!

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Love Covers

Yesterday I was talking with some friends about our Christmas and what a wonderful time it was for me. Our children, with one simple act, made this my best Christmas ever.

As we were talking Steve mentioned the Scripture that “love covers a multitude of sins” as it says in the book of Proverbs. That really resonated with me and I thought on it off and on throughout the day.

It was on my mind again this morning as I sat down to write to all of you but this time it exploded in my heart!

“Hate starts fights, but love covers all sins.” Proverbs 10:12 NLV

Our prejudice, misunderstanding, cultural differences, and backgrounds are responsible for a great deal of malice. Wars are fought over such things. Families are divided, companies are destroyed, and friendships are broken.

But love covers! Love seeks a way to resolve and repair, to reconcile and restore. Take a look at what the Apostle Paul says in I Corinthians 13.

“Love does not give up. Love is kind. Love is not jealous. Love does not put itself up as being important. Love has no pride. 5 Love does not do the wrong thing. Love never thinks of itself. Love does not get angry. Love does not remember the suffering that comes from being hurt by someone. 6 Love is not happy with sin. Love is happy with the truth. 7 Love takes everything that comes without giving up. Love believes all things. Love hopes for all things. Love keeps on in all things. 8 Love never comes to an end.” I Corinthians 13:4-8 NLV

Now, let me remind you – this is what the love that God has for US does and when we follow the instruction in yesterday’s blog of love the Lord and our neighbors, this is what we should be doing as well.

God, who is love, and who loved us first covered a multitude of our sins with the blood of His Son.

“ Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross;” Colossians 2:14 KJV

“We had broken the Law many ways. Those sins were held against us by the Law. That Law had writings which said we were sinners. But now He has destroyed that writing by nailing it to the cross.” Colossians 2:14 NLV

Blotted out – covered. In the writings of ages past, there were no erasers, no back space, no white out or auto correct. If there was a mistake, it needed to be blotted out either by covering with more ink making a big spot on the parchment or by trying to remove the unwanted wording with a damp cloth which smeared the ink.

In our case, concerning our sins, the handwritten charges against us were blotted out when they were nailed to the cross and “blotted out” by the blood of Jesus!

Don’t let our enemy satan start a fight by throwing up our past sins. Love, God’s love, has covered them.

His love covered our multitude of sins! Amen!

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Love Endures

I hope you have enjoyed the last two days writings on love. When I read my Bible, I find love on every page. Look what I found this morning.

“Praise the Lord because he is good. His faithful love will last forever.  Praise the God of gods!  His faithful love will last forever. 3 Praise the Lord of lords!  His faithful love will last forever. 4 Praise him who alone does wonderful miracles! His faithful love will last forever…24 He saved us from our enemies. His faithful love will last forever. 25 He provides food for all living things. His faithful love will last forever. 26 Praise the God of heaven! His faithful love will last forever.” Psalm 136:1-4, 24-26 ERV

Everlasting love! Never conditional, always the same, never-failing love!

Christmas Eve, we had the opportunity to attend mass with our granddaughter, grandson and most of the rest of the family. This was a wonderful service. I won’t be able to quote the priest completely so I will paraphrase.

He spoke of the reason for Christmas, the birth of Christ. He said that people look for peace but don’t find it without first finding love. Love brings peace. However, we don’t find love without finding Jesus and when we find Jesus that’s enough. We don’t need anything else. He is everything we need!

Amen!

I know that message will stay with me for a very long time.

God is love. He wrapped His love in a child and sent Him to earth. The life that Jesus lived was one of compassion. His life is our example for living. Jesus said this was the greatest commandment:

“He said, ‘Teacher, which command in the law is the most important?’ 37 Jesus answered, ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and most important command. 39 And the second command is like the first: ‘Love your neighbor the same as you love yourself.’ 40 All of the law and the writings of the prophets take their meaning from these two commands.” Matthew 22:36-40 ERV

Jesus was not proclaiming some new and novel teaching. These are the very same words that God gave to Moses in the desert as he was leading the Israelites to their promised land.

The greatest thing we can do is love God and then share that love with others. But where do we find such a love? I’m so glad you asked.

“Dear friends, we should love each other, because love comes from God. Everyone who loves has become God’s child. And so everyone who loves knows God. 8 Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. 9 This is how God showed his love to us: He sent his only Son into the world to give us life through him. 10 True love is God’s love for us, not our love for God. He sent his Son as the way to take away our sins…16 So we know the love that God has for us, and we trust that love. God is love. Everyone who lives in love lives in God, and God lives in them…19 We love because God first loved us.” I John 4:7-19 ERV

The love of God endures forever and we are the focus of that love!

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Scratching the Surface

Yesterday I started to talk to you about unimaginable love. Started, yes started. If I spent every day this year focused solely on the love of God, I still would only be scratching the surface of the subject.

There is an old hymn, The Love of God, written in 1917 that expresses it better than I can:

  1. The love of God is greater far
    Than tongue or pen can ever tell;
    It goes beyond the highest star,
    And reaches to the lowest hell;
    The guilty pair, bowed down with care,
    God gave His Son to win;
    His erring child He reconciled,
    And pardoned from his sin.
    • Refrain:
      Oh, love of God, how rich and pure!
      How measureless and strong!
      It shall forevermore endure—
      The saints’ and angels’ song.
  2. 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.”

To write the love of God above would drain the oceans dry and the whole sky would be filled with the acts of the love of God. And, that still wouldn’t adequately contain the depth of His love.

I think Paul and John were the best at conveying God’s love through Scripture. Back to Romans 8 this morning.

“God knew them before he made the world. And he decided that they would be like his Son. Then Jesus would be the firstborn of many brothers and sisters. 30 God planned for them to be like his Son. He chose them and made them right with him. And after he made them right, he gave them his glory.

31 So what should we say about this? If God is for us, no one can stand against us. And God is with us. 32 He even let his own Son suffer for us. God gave his Son for all of us. So now with Jesus, God will surely give us all things. 33 Who can accuse the people God has chosen? No one! God is the one who makes them right…35 Can anything separate us from Christ’s love? Can trouble or problems or persecution separate us from his love? If we have no food or clothes or face danger or even death, will that separate us from his love?…37 But in all these troubles we have complete victory through God, who has shown his love for us. 38-39 Yes, I am sure that nothing can separate us from God’s love—not death, life, angels, or ruling spirits. I am sure that nothing now, nothing in the future, no powers, nothing above us or nothing below us—nothing in the whole created world—will ever be able to separate us from the love God has shown us in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 8:29-39 ERV

Is there something in your past that keeps haunting you – telling you, “You aren’t good enough”? None of us are, that’s why God’s love is so amazing. He sees our failings and loves us in spite of them!

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Unimaginable Love

There are a number of things on my heart this morning. My reading in Romans took me to Ephesians.

I love it when the Lord just opens up His word and drops it in my heart.

In Romans 7, Paul writes of his frustration of being human. He says he often ends up doing things he doesn’t want to do and finds himself lacking in doing the things he does want to do. His conclusion is that the fleshly desires of his old life are warring against the spiritual desires of his new life in Christ.

I know each and every one of us have experienced the same battles and probably with the same result. Paul deals with self-doubt and self-condemnation. But he doesn’t stop with those thoughts – thank God!

“What a miserable person I am! Who will save me from this body that brings me death? 25 I thank God for his salvation through Jesus Christ our Lord! So in my mind I am a slave to God’s law, but in my sinful self I am a slave to the law of sin. 8 So now anyone who is in Christ Jesus is not judged guilty. 2 That is because in Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit that brings life made you free. It made you free from the law that brings sin and death. 3 The law was without power because it was made weak by our sinful selves. But God did what the law could not do: He sent his own Son to earth with the same human life that everyone else uses for sin. God sent him to be an offering to pay for sin. So God used a human life to destroy sin. 4 He did this so that we could be right just as the law said we must be. Now we don’t live following our sinful selves. We live following the Spirit.” Romans 7:24-8:4 ERV

Paul goes on to explain that God isn’t condemning us for our failures. No, indeed. It is God who has provided the way of victory and freedom for us from our sinful life through Jesus. “He did this so we could be right”.

As we go to the end of Romans 8 Paul writes that if God is for us, who can be against us. Nothing can separate us from the love of God. Nothing! How can that be? Well, that’s when I moved to another of Paul’s writings in Ephesians.

“And I pray that you and all God’s holy people will have the power to understand the greatness of Christ’s love—how wide, how long, how high, and how deep that love is. 19 Christ’s love is greater than anyone can ever know, but I pray that you will be able to know that love. Then you can be filled with everything God has for you. 20 With God’s power working in us, he can do much, much more than anything we can ask or think of.” Ephesians 3:18-20 ERV

The power of love.

God wants us to know and experience the depth of His love which really is incomprehensible to the natural way of thinking. We have to accept the depth of His love by faith. It’s greater than we can ever know naturally. The love of God fills our lives with everything our loving heavenly Father has designed for us, it is so much greater than anything we could ask for or imagine.

That’s what God’s unconditional love is…its unimaginable. It’s all God.

I know I started last year focusing on the love of God and here I am doing it again. The reason, after all my years of walking with the Lord I am daily becoming more aware of the depth of God’s love for me.

It calms my fears, dispels the condemnation, removes the guilt and defeats all the attacks that the enemy launches against me.

I am loved not because of my goodness or my works. I am loved because God, who is love, says I am. Therefore, I am confident in Him and who He has called me to be.

I want to encourage you each day as you also grow confident in His unimaginable love.

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Time With Dad

I got up this morning thinking about my dad. He’s been in heaven now for almost 20 years, 19 years tomorrow, as a matter of fact.

Times with him were special. He worked out of town a lot, so I treasured the days he was home. Dinner around the table, playing a rousing game of 42 (dominoes), times when I got to go along on the hunting trips and sitting beside him on a riverbank or the shore of a lake as we fished.

Special times.

I miss the times we talked. I also remember the tone in his voice when I was about to get a spanking for something I had done wrong. Growing up wasn’t always easy but it was always loving.

Dave asked me last night if I felt I had a happy childhood. I did. His wasn’t.

Regardless of the experiences we have/had with our earthly fathers, the relationship we have with our heavenly Father is one of unconditional love, forgiveness, acceptance and guidance/correction for our well-being.

Our son would follow Dave through the alfalfa fields trying to match his steps stride for stride, he wore his hat like his dad and the same kind of boots. Then when he got older Dave would take him to his surf competitions. Now the two of them enjoy fishing trips and just being together. Father and Son.

Our girls still call Dave daddy. When they write him notes or call on the phone it’s always “Daddy”. He would read to our youngest daughter when I was at work and comb her hair in the mornings if I had to go in early. Our oldest daughter had him chaperone her sweet 16 party and they went ice skating – then there were the times they went horseback riding together.

Times with Dad are special! They make an indelible impact on our lives and just because we may not have our earthly dads with us any more, we most certainly have our Heavenly One who desires to have us spend time with Him.

“Do as God does. After all, you are his dear children. 2 Let love be your guide. Christ loved us and offered his life for us as a sacrifice that pleases God.” Ephesians 5:1-2 CEV

“Since you are now God’s children, he has sent the Spirit of his Son into your hearts. The Spirit cries out, “ Abba, Father.” 7 Now you are not slaves like before. You are God’s children, and you will receive everything he promised his children.” Galatians 4:6-7 ERV

Make a commitment to spend time with your Father this year. He loves spending time with you!

“Jesus understands every weakness of ours, because he was tempted in every way that we are. But he did not sin! 16 So whenever we are in need, we should come bravely before the throne of our merciful God. There we will be treated with undeserved kindness, and we will find help.” Hebrews 4:15-16 CEV

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Happy Tears

This morning’s blog will be personal!

Like many of you I made Christmas ornament collections for our children and when they moved into their own homes each of them was given a box of ornaments for their Christmas tree.

One year I purchased a set of ornaments, J – O – Y.

I asked the kids if they would bring those ornaments any time they were all together and hang them on the tree. I told them, having the three of them together at Christmas would make my “joy” complete. Over the last two decades we have only been with all three kids and their families a handful of times. In 2002 we had a family Christmas in Canada, in 2009 we were in Lake Stevens WA. Kaci was only present via Skype since she was in China, and the third time was yesterday.

Unbeknownst to me, Kaci had contacted her siblings and asked them to bring their ornaments when they came to our granddaughter’s house. All the presents had been opened when the kids disappeared into the kitchen and came back into the living room holding their ornaments.

Of course, I cried! Big ugly tears.

This morning my heart is so full – filled with the Lord’s love and filled with J-O-Y.

“Be happy in the Lord. And He will give you the desires of your heart. 5 Give your way over to the Lord. Trust in Him also. And He will do it.” Psalm 37:4-5 NLV

Sometimes there are those prayers of a parent’s heart that no one hears but the Lord. When the Lord brings the answer it goes beyond your expectations. Your heart is overwhelmed, and you can hear the Father quietly say, “I did this just for you”.

Last night family began leaving, heading home. Some to Washington, some will stay here in California and some of us will head to Arizona.

I want this to be a message of hope. Life gets busy and families are pulled in so many different directions, to so many different locations. Some by choice, some by necessity.

“I pray that you will be able to understand how wide and how long and how high and how deep His love is. 19 I pray that you will know the love of Christ. His love goes beyond anything we can understand. I pray that you will be filled with God Himself. 20 God is able to do much more than we ask or think through His power working in us.” Ephesians 3:18-20 NLV

Our Father’s love goes beyond imagination. He dries our tears in our darkness times and fills our hearts with hope and joy. Thank you, Father, for happy tears!

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One Night A Year

Merry Christmas everyone!

I’ve been sitting here quietly anticipating the waking of the grandkids. Soon the house will come to life, and it will be Christmas…

But why only one night a year?

I saw a headline on my phone this morning that because of the fighting, Christmas has been cancelled in Bethlehem. Really – cancelled?

Christmas is more than just a day on the calendar, it’s an attitude of the heart. Christmas is a person. It’s the knowledge of our Savior’s birth and the impact that has made on our lives all year through. And yes, there are many things that cause us to lose sight of that wonderful joy we experience this time of year and Christmas is often cancelled in our hearts.

Bitterness, loneliness, financial pressures, illness, anger, war and busy-ness all have a way of creeping in and driving Christmas out.

This morning’s picture is of a flower that only blooms one night a year and then dies. How sad! I never want Christmas to be like that. There’s a song on one of my favorite Christmas CD’s, I play it often, “One Night A Year”.

“Once again the presents are resting by the tree
Once again we worship the One who came for you and me
I hear choirs of voices as they’re singing out His name
Again we tell the story of how the Christ Child came

One night a year we believe in peace on earth
One night a year we praise our Saviour’s birth
I wish every night the whole year through could be like Christmas Eve
When love’s pure light is shining everywhere, one night a year

Once again around the world heads are bowed in prayer
Once again the promise of peace is in the air
But soon will come the morning and the feeling will be past
And I can’t help but wonder why the feeling only lasts

One night a year we believe in peace on earth
One night a year we praise our Saviour’s birth
I wish every night the whole year through could be like Christmas Eve
When love’s pure light is shining everywhere, one night a year”

The prophets foretell the birth of Christ hundreds of years before it actually happened. Now, here we are hundreds of years later. May we always remember the event that changed the world and not just celebrate it one night a year.

“This will happen when the special child is born. God will give us a son who will be responsible for leading the people. His name will be ‘Wonderful Counselor, Powerful God, Father Who Lives Forever, Prince of Peace.’” Isaiah 9:6 ERV

Merry Christmas all year through!

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Christmas Eve

The family has all arrived; four of us came by plane, nine by car and three live here. Thank God for modern conveniences. Mary and Joseph didn’t have those.

It’s only been about the last 15 or 20 years that I have begun to see what that trip from Nazareth to Bethlehem was really like for them. 155 kilometers or approximately 96 miles. This trip would have taken many days, walking and riding a donkey.

“So Joseph left Nazareth, a town in Galilee, and went to the town of Bethlehem in Judea. It was known as the town of David. Joseph went there because he was from the family of David. 5 Joseph registered with Mary because she was engaged to marry him. (She was now pregnant.) 6 While Joseph and Mary were in Bethlehem, the time came for her to have the baby. 7 She gave birth to her first son. She wrapped him up well and laid him in a box where cattle are fed. She put him there because the guest room was full.” Luke 2:4-7

If they were able to keep a steady pace of 20 miles per day, it would have taken at least 5 days. Sleeping on the ground, cooking food over an open fire.

I do love to camp, sleeping in a tent – being around a campfire under the stars but breaking camp each morning and setting up again each evening would be a bit tedious and then add to that the discomfort of being nine months pregnant.

Dave and I used to travel a lot and it was always so nice to get to the hotel after twelve hours on the road, get something warm to eat and crawl into a nice bed. But when Mary and Joseph got to their destination their accommodations weren’t quite as welcoming.

Those of us who’ve had livestock know that even when we clean the stalls each day – removing the manure, putting down clean bedding- it still isn’t a place that we would like to give birth. Joseph was Mary’s birth coach and delivery team – he was the midwife! Just the two of them bringing God’s Son into this earthly home.

“Think how much the Father loves us. He loves us so much that he lets us be called his children, as we truly are.” I John 3:1

God loved us so much that He sent His Son so that we could become His children. AMAZING!!

And what manner of love Mary and Joseph had for God and for each other to go through this difficult journey and less than “perfect” birthing experience. Still they glorified God and gave Him thanks for His wondrous gift.

Is your Christmas this year difficult, not exactly what you had planned?

When our hearts are open God can, and does, fill them with His wonderful love. He can and will fill the loneliness, ease the ache and give us a reason to be thankful. May you experience that love in a very special way.

From our home to yours, Merry Christmas Eve!

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Advent

Yesterday our great granddaughter announced to me that “Christmas is 3 days away”! She was very excited.

I asked how she knew that and she said she had opened her calendar.

Advent. The looking forward to or anticipation of the birth of Christ.

Did you notice that “advent” is the root word for adventure? And what a heavenly adventure it was.

Yesterday we were together with family; the rest of them will be arriving today. I’m so excited for this time to spend with them.

Thinking of our Heavenly Father and how He must feel as He brings each of us to mind. His love is overwhelming, His peace reassuring and His comfort beyond comparing!

I can hear Him saying:

“I love you with an everlasting love” Jeremiah 31:3

“My peace I give to you; peace, be still.” John 14:27

“I will send the Comforter that will abide with you forever” John 14:16

“Let my joy be your strength” Nehemiah 8:10

” I know the thoughts I have for you; thoughts of peace”. Jeremiah 29:11-13

Yes, in the quiet of my morning I can hear my Father speaking to me and He’s speaking to you as well. Enjoy your time with Him. Each day is an amazing advent-ure!

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