Category: God’s Love

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Out of Balance

Several days ago, I was working in the resort office and a lady came in to tell me that the washing machine she was using was spinning out of balance.

Immediately my mind went to the commercials of the Maytag repairman that I remember from my youth. It was said he was the loneliest man in the world. Maytag machines were so dependable that they never broke down and so his services were never needed.

But this day we needed him or at least we thought we did. I directed her to one of the other machines, replaced the coins that were used in the machine that was working improperly and put “the guys” to work on it. It is now repaired and functioning correctly.

All of this got me to thinking. What do we do when the issues in our life are no longer in balance and spinning out of control? To answer that question, I found myself turning to the Psalms.

“God remembered us when we were down, His love never quits.
Rescued us from the trampling boot, His love never quits.
Takes care of everyone in time of need. His love never quits.
Thank God, who did it all! His love never quits!” Psalm 136:23-26 MSG

Unlike the Maytag repairman who never has enough to do, God, the Father, never quits. His love endures forever. That phrase is repeated in every one of the 26 verses in this Psalm. God, in His infinite wisdom, knows that the world is out of balance and so He provides us with His love that never quits!

The Apostle Paul asked and answered the question of God’s love and stabilizing influence in this way:

“Do you think anyone is going to be able to drive a wedge between us and Christ’s love for us? There is no way! Not trouble, not hard times, not hatred, not hunger, not homelessness, not bullying threats, not backstabbing, not even the worst sins listed in Scripture:

They kill us in cold blood because they hate you.
We’re sitting ducks; they pick us off one by one.

None of this fazes us because Jesus loves us. I’m absolutely convinced that nothing—nothing living or dead, angelic or demonic, today or tomorrow, high or low, thinkable or unthinkable—absolutely nothing can get between us and God’s love because of the way that Jesus our Master has embraced us.” Romans 8:37-39 MSG

Nothing – absolutely nothing – will be able to separate us from the love of God. Staying focused on His love will keep us balanced, grounded, secure.

Remember His love is constantly working – His love never quits!

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Is God Real?

Are you honest – really honest? I’ve had people tell me they aren’t sure if God really exists and if He does He sure hasn’t done anything to prove to them that He is real.

My response isn’t one to condemn them but to ask them to be honest with themselves and with God. I ask them to tell God they aren’t sure He exists, but they are willing to let Him show them that He truly is there and that He cares. Then I ask them to be honest enough to admit it when He does.

You see God is big enough to handle any question or situation. If someone really isn’t sure that He exists, God is certainly faithful and loving enough to prove that He does!

I will tell you that He has proven himself to be my loving, gracious, heavenly Father!

“I will tell of your greatness, my God and King. I will praise your name forever and ever.2 I will praise you every day. I will praise your name forever and ever. 3 The Lord is great and deserves all our praise! No one can fully understand his greatness!

4 Each generation will praise you and tell the next generation about the great things you do. 5 Your majesty and glory are wonderful. I will tell about your miracles. 6 People will tell about the amazing things you do, and I will tell everyone how great you are. 7 They will talk about your goodness and sing about your justice. 8 The Lord is kind and merciful, patient and full of love. 9 The Lord is good to everyone. He shows his mercy to everything he made.

10 Lord, all you have made will give thanks to you. Your loyal followers will praise you. 11 They will tell how great your kingdom is. They will tell how great you are. 12 So others will learn about the mighty things you do, about the glory of your kingdom—how marvelous it is!

13 Your kingdom will never end, and you will rule forever. The Lord can be trusted in all that he says. He is loyal in all that he does. 14 The Lord lifts up people who have fallen. He helps those who are in trouble. 15 All living things look to you for their food, and you give them their food at the right time.

16 You open your hands and give every living thing all that it needs. 17 Everything the Lord does is good. Everything he does shows how loyal he is. 18 The Lord is near to everyone who sincerely calls to him for help. 19 He listens to his followers and does what they want. He answers their prayers and saves them.

20 The Lord protects everyone who loves him, but he destroys all who do evil. 21 I will praise the Lord! Let everyone praise his holy name forever and ever!” Psalm 145 ERV

Today is a day to declare the goodness and the glory of God. His kindness is overwhelming, His ways are just and His judgments are true. He is love! I give Him my heart and my praise.

If you know someone who is wondering if God is real tell them to ask Him to show them His love. He will.

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It’s All I Need

I have such a love for the word of God but it wasn’t always that way. When I was young, going to Sunday School, I was taught the Bible stories – the stories of David, Daniel, Peter, Paul and Silas, Zacchaeus. That’s all they were, stories to keep a child entertained, stories to tell us how God had been but there was no correlation to my daily life.

I learned to love Jesus from a very young age. I realized He died for my sins and that He was no longer dead, but he rose from the grave and went back to heaven. Someday He would return to earth and take those who love Him to heaven. This was exciting to know that someday Jesus would come back for me but what about today.

The answer I heard most often was “pray about it but we just never know what God’s going to do”. I knew the church’s list of rules, the do’s and don’ts. But what about my instruction for everyday life. I floundered.

I remember specifically when I embraced God’s word as the truth and guide for my life. It was like a light went on. I was in a chapel service at college and the chapel speaker made a comment similar to this. “If all you have in this life is a secure knowledge of God’s love for you and the promises of His word, you have everything you need”. Those words, that concept, changed my life. Like I said, I had Jesus as my Savior but I didn’t know that His word had been written for me. All of the promises were mine.

“ I will lift up my eyes to the mountains. Where will my help come from? 2 My help comes from the Lord, Who made heaven and earth. 3 He will not let your feet go out from under you. He Who watches over you will not sleep. 4 Listen, He Who watches over Israel will not close his eyes or sleep.

5 The Lord watches over you. The Lord is your safe cover at your right hand. 6 The sun will not hurt you during the day and the moon will not hurt you during the night. 7 The Lord will keep you from all that is sinful. He will watch over your soul. 8 The Lord will watch over your coming and going, now and forever.” Psalm 121 NLV

These are the words I read this morning. My eyes began to tear up and my heart filled with joy. Jesus said that heaven and earth will deteriorate and be demolished but God’s word will stand forever. He will watch over my comings and my goings, now and forever more.

Reading God’s word should be a joy, not a drudgery. You don’t need to read chapters at a time. When you come to a verse that strikes a chord in your heart, stop and read it again. Make it your theme for the day. It’s better to read two or three verses that impact your heart than reading chapters and not having it impact you at all.

“When I discovered your words, I devoured them. They are my joy and my heart’s delight,
for I bear your name, O Lord God of Heaven’s Armies.” Jeremiah 15:16 NLT

It’s all you’ll ever need!

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The Heart of Serving

Each morning it is my duty, a labor of love really, to remind myself to act like Jesus. The first conscious thought is to say, “Father, I love you. Jesus, I love you. Holy Spirit, I love you. Good morning!” and then next is to remind myself to think like Jesus and honor Him with my thoughts, my words and my actions.

“But Jesus called the disciples together and said: You know that foreign rulers like to order their people around. And their great leaders have full power over everyone they rule. 26 But don’t act like them. If you want to be great, you must be the servant of all the others. 27 And if you want to be first, you must be the slave of the rest. 28 The Son of Man did not come to be a slave master, but a slave who will give his life to rescue many people…

30 Two blind men were sitting beside the road. And when they heard that Jesus was coming their way, they shouted, “Lord and Son of David, have pity on us!” 31 The crowd told them to be quiet, but they shouted even louder, “Lord and Son of David, have pity on us!”

32 When Jesus heard them, he stopped and asked, “What do you want me to do for you?” 33 They answered, “Lord, we want to see!” 34 Jesus felt sorry for them and touched their eyes. Right away they could see, and they became his followers.” Matthew 20: 25-34

This is the verse that struck my heart. “The Son of Man did not come to be a slave master, but a slave who will give his life to rescue many people.”

I remember the first time that verse had an impact on me – I had a house full of people, was preparing for some special meetings at a hotel conference room, had my family responsibilities and my “help” had been called away. I did what any self-respecting woman would do, I started to complain. Not outwardly but from my heart; I grumbled, I murmured and I wanted to kick the dog but that wasn’t acceptable. So, I just kept going and when I finally had a few minutes to myself, I picked up my Bible and this is what I read. WOW!!

If Jesus, the Son of God, creator of the universe, said that His role in life was to serve others and not be served, how selfish and self-centered was it of me to be grumbling over my lack of help. As quickly as I could, I said “Lord forgive me, let people see Jesus through me.”

Jesus touched the blind men, restoring their sight. He was moved with the compassion of the Father and served those men with love. I want that in my life.

Today, we will all have opportunity to be served and to serve others. In both cases we should think and act like Jesus. Being grateful and appreciative when we are served, not expecting it and then serving from a loving heart, not out of guilt or an act of responsibility. We know we’re doing it with the right motive when it brings us joy and not complaint.

Thank you Lord for a servant’s heart!

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Unending Love

Whether we’re married or single, a couple or alone, this Valentine comes to all of us from the Father above!

We can never truly love or be loved until we experience His marvelous, wonderful, unconditional, life-giving love!

The love we have, give and experience on our own is only a shadowed comparison of the love that He offers us through Christ.

“How great is God’s love for all who worship him? Greater than the distance between heaven and earth! 12 How far has the Lord taken our sins from us? Farther than the distance
from east to west!” Psalm 103:11-12 CEV

We’ll never experience a greater love than that of our heavenly Father.

“But God showed how much he loved us by having Christ die for us, even though we were sinful. 9 But there is more! Now that God has accepted us because Christ sacrificed his life’s blood, we will also be kept safe from God’s anger.” Romans 5:8-9 CEV

God the Father proved His great love for us when we were the most unlovely. His love knows no depth, no boundaries.

“Now I tell you to love each other, as I have loved you. 13 The greatest way to show love for friends is to die for them. 14 And you are my friends…” John 15:12-14 CEV

Jesus demonstrated His love for us when He willingly chose to die to save us! His love for us brought Him to death and our love for Him brings us to life.

“I am sure that nothing can separate us from God’s love—not life or death, not angels or spirits, not the present or the future, 39 and not powers above or powers below. Nothing in all creation can separate us from God’s love for us in Christ Jesus our Lord!” Romans 8:38-39 CEV

We are loved deeply, unconditionally, sincerely and eternally. Happy Valentine’s Day!

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Out of Focus

What’s the first thing you see when you wake up? Strange question?

The first things I see are generally out of focus – until I reach for my glasses. Then I try to get up quietly so I don’t wake Dave. By the time I start the coffee, my sleepy eyes are bringing my familiar surroundings into focus.

But things don’t truly sharpen until I spend some time in prayer, and in reading God’s word. For so many years, I was too busy and didn’t take time to get the Father’s perspective on my plans for the day. I didn’t realize that He wanted me to come to Him with all my problems, my insecurities, and my dreams.

Now, the first thing I do is say my I love you’s. “I love you Father, I love you Jesus, I love you Holy Spirit. Good morning.”

That’s when things really come into view properly. Acknowledging the presence of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit is my foundation for the day.

I was reading in the Psalms I found a comment by King David at the end of Psalm 17.

“I am innocent, Lord, and I will see your face! When I awake, all I want is to see you as you are.” Psalm 17:15 CEV

To see You as You are!

Psalm 17 is another one of David’s psalms of praise – thanking the Lord for being his strength, his defender, his protector, his creator. How much better would our day go if we just focused physically and spiritually on seeing God as He is?

“I pray to you, God, because you will help me. Listen and answer my prayer! 7  Show your wonderful love, Your mighty arm protects those who run to you for safety from their enemies. 8 Protect me as you would your very own eyes; hide me in the shadow of your wings…Use your powerful arm and rescue me from the hands of mere humans whose world won’t last. You provide food for those you love. Their children have plenty, and their grandchildren will have more than enough. 15 I am innocent, Lord, and I will see your face!
When I awake, all I want is to see you as you are.” Psalm 17:6-8, 14-15 CEV

For many, it’s hard to trust that God will really be there for us like King David is saying. Either their focus has been distorted by self-sufficiency or it has been blurred by teaching that God is vengeful and unforgiving.

Throughout the Bible God tells us again and again that He wants to be our help, our protector, our provider, our Savior.

“So whenever we are in need, we should come bravely before the throne of our merciful God. There we will be treated with undeserved grace, and we will find help.” Hebrews 4:16 CEV

Today there are many things fighting for our attention but when we focus, set our hearts and minds to see God, our loving heavenly Father, we will see Him as He really is!

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Clean Slate

Several years ago I was preparing for a message on the love of God. Cowboy Church was just a couple of weeks before Valentine’s Day and it only seemed appropriate to make “God’s Love” my center focus.

If you have been reading my morning devotional thoughts for any length of time, you know that Colossians is one of my favorite books and Colossians 2 is my favorite chapter. It’s here that the Apostle Paul writes about what Jesus did on the cross for us and how his death set us free from our sin and made us acceptable to God.

“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

“Blotting out the handwriting of the ordinances against us” holds my attention every time I read it.

Writing a document in Jesus’ day required extreme patience. No erasers or delete buttons – every word had to be carefully written because if there was a mistake, the document had to be wadded up and thrown away. Some corrections would be acceptable, but the parchment would have to be saturated with ink so that the word or the mistake was completely blotted out and no longer legible.

This is the picture Paul is painting for us here. There was a document with a long list of sins we have committed, God’s laws we have broken and Jesus “blotted” out the list and then He took and nailed it to His cross. His blood, His shed blood, was more than enough to blot out the evidence of our sin. Amen!!

I have to tell you the image that comes to mind are those little writing tablets we had as kids. We would write on the slate and then lift the vinyl and the words would disappear. The evidence of our sin disappeared when Jesus nailed it to His cross.

Jesus completely defeated His enemy and ours and led him away captive and powerless for all the spiritual world to see! We are free to live for Christ, through God’s amazing love.

“You were spiritually dead because of your sins and because you were not free from the power of your sinful self. But God gave you new life together with Christ. He forgave all our sins. 14 Because we broke God’s laws, we owed a debt—a debt that listed all the rules we failed to follow. But God forgave us of that debt. He took it away and nailed it to the cross. 15 He defeated the rulers and powers of the spiritual world. With the cross he won the victory over them and led them away, as defeated and powerless prisoners for the whole world to see.” Colossians 2:13-15 ERV

God the Father chooses to hit the delete button; crash the hard drive; wipe the slate clean; He blots out our sin.

The Father’s love is so great! He gives us all the opportunity to start fresh with a clean slate.

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Love Forgives & Forgets

Love is… patient, kind, not envious, not boastful, not inappropriate or selfish. Love is hopeful, faithful. Love forgives and forgets. Love never fails!

Love is a determination of will; it isn’t a tingling feeling that just overcomes you and leaves you breathless and titillated. It is a lifestyle – one that will stand the test of time when the feelings are nowhere to be found. It is a determination that will overcome hurt and not be selfish.

That’s God’s kind of love. He doesn’t think evil of us when we fail and He doesn’t keep count of the things we’ve done wrong but He looks to see what we’re doing right and always, always thinks the best of us.

One day, I heard the Lord speak so loudly in my heart that I thought others could probably hear it. I was correcting one of the kids and in my frustration found myself bringing up a past infraction; one that they had already been disciplined for. As I did, I felt the Lord say – “I don’t bring up your past. I forget all your sins and shortcomings and I only think the best of you. Don’t bring that up again because they are my kids too.” With that I meekly answered “Yes Sir.” Then I had to apologize to my child. I went on to correct what they had done wrong without making them relive their past.

” 4 This love of which I speak is slow to lose patience—it looks for a way of being constructive. It is not possessive: it is neither anxious to impress nor does it cherish inflated ideas of its own importance. 5-6 Love has good manners and does not pursue selfish advantage. It is not touchy. It does not keep account of evil or gloat over the wickedness of other people. On the contrary, it is glad with all good men when truth prevails. 7-8a Love knows no limit to its endurance, no end to its trust, no fading of its hope; it can outlast anything. It is, in fact, the one thing that still stands when all else has fallen.” I Corinthians 13:4-8

Thank you Father for forgiving and forgetting and covering me with Your love!

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Unconditional

This morning my mind is filled with memories; a Montana sunrise, an Arizona sunset, snow sparkling on the branches of a fir tree, a baby’s smile, my husband’s blue eyes, a cup of steaming hot coffee, a plate full of rolled tacos with guacamole. Seeing our daughter as she walked down the aisle at her wedding, my oldest daughter and I as we sat in the middle of a mountain stream in our lawn chairs, our son at the helm of his boat, friends gathered on the deck/patio of our home for good bbq; yes, it was quite a way to wake up and start the day!

Then I asked, “Father, all of these images that I see can be described but how do I describe Your love?” For the most part, I’m pretty good with words but when I try to describe God’s love I am seriously at a disadvantage. However, this morning I heard the answer to my question and it was “You just did!”

You see, every good and perfect gift comes down from the Father. Every good thing that we enjoy comes as an outward expression of God’s love; that’s the way He has always been and that’s the way He’ll always be!

In every circumstance and situation that I live, I can sense the love of God and know that He is there because God is LOVE!

“In the past God spoke to our people through the prophets. He spoke to them many times and in many different ways. 2 And now in these last days, God has spoken to us again through his Son. He made the whole world through his Son. And he has chosen his Son to have all things. 3 The Son shows the glory of God. He is a perfect copy of God’s nature, and he holds everything together by his powerful command. The Son made people clean from their sins. Then he sat down at the right side of God, the Great One in heaven.” Hebrews 1:1-3

Jesus’ purpose in coming to earth was to bring God’s love to each and every one of us. He brought the message that God isn’t mad at us and that God desires to have relationship with us – a real, where-the-rubber-meets-the-road, every day, I’m always here type of relationship.

I’m not saying that everything will be perfect in our lives because our lives aren’t perfect! But I do know that in the imperfect, trying, challenging, frustrating, ugly times of our lives that God is always there and He doesn’t abandon us! He’s always there to offer comfort, help, wisdom, peace and joy even in the midst of our storms. God is love!

Jesus brought comfort to those who had lost family and friends to death, He brought compassion to the prostitute, food to the hungry, wine to the wedding, sanity to the demonic and love and forgiveness to all.

“You know about Jesus from Nazareth. God made him the Messiah by giving him the Holy Spirit and power. Jesus went everywhere doing good for people. He healed those who were ruled by the devil, showing that God was with him.” Acts 10:38

The experiences we hold most dear are tangible expressions of God’s unconditional love for us!

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Falling In Love

Last night in moments of nostalgia, Dave and I discussed old friends and acquaintances, wondering where they were and how their lives had turned out. We talked of childhood friends and wondered if they remembered us with the same kindnesses as we remember them.

Dave asked me if I had any regrets for things I had done or dreams I didn’t pursue. Although there are a few, I really wouldn’t want to go back and do them over. I would be concerned that I might make the wrong choices again or even worse ones.

I am so thankful for God’s grace! His grace is truly one where He forgives, removes our shame and then forgets our past, never holding us in bondage to a guilty conscience.

“And since we have a great High Priest who rules over God’s house, 22 let us go right into the presence of God with sincere hearts fully trusting him. For our guilty consciences have been sprinkled with Christ’s blood to make us clean, and our bodies have been washed with pure water.” Hebrews 10:21-22 NLT

There is one thing I would do again; it was a favorite time for me. Times of faith building and relying on the Father’s goodness for every need.

It was a time when we brought ranchers and farmers together on a Friday night or Sunday morning or even those weekend long gatherings. We would worship, study and grow together in the love of Jesus.

A song we use to sing in Cowboy Church was “I keep falling in love with Him over and over and over and over again. He gets sweeter and sweeter as the days so by – oh, what a love between my Lord and I; I keep falling in love with Him over and over and over and over again.”

This has been my daily ambition. Falling in love with Him and getting to know the depth of His love for me. That’s what the Apostle Paul prayed for Christians nearly 2000 years ago when He wrote these verses. It is my prayer for you today.

“ I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will empower you with inner strength through his Spirit. 17 Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong. 18 And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is. 19 May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God.” Ephesians 3:16-19 NLT

May you experience the depth of the love of Christ and the complete fullness and power of life in God.

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