Interrupted Fellowship
Because of Who He Is
Moses reminds the children of Israel that it was not because of anything they had done to be chosen as His people. God had made a covenant with Abraham and promised him that his descendants would be more numerous than the stars. God showed Abraham the land in which they would dwell. God also told Abraham that his ?descendents? would have dark years of bondage. It would be several hundred years later before the Israelites would actually enter the Promised Land. But by the end of this appointed time, they consisted of twelve tribes and millions of people. God knew the end from the beginning. He knew how vast a nation they would be. He set His love on them because He is love, not because of who they were or what they did.
By God’s great mercy and grace, He chooses us today. He loves us beyond our understanding. He has plans for us beyond our imaginations, not because of who we are but because of Who He is. When we begin to appreciate God’s character, then we can begin to rest in Him. We cannot earn rewards by impressing God with our works. We can never be good enough or do enough good deeds. In reality, it is not about us at all. It is all about God. Everything God does, He does because He is God. God is love. God is righteous. God is faithful. God is perfect in every way. God is all-knowing, all-powerful and ever-present. God cannot be anything but who He is. Therefore, God will never not love us. God will never let us down. God can never go against His own character.
The Bible clearly teaches us God’s character. When we spend time in His Word, we learn more and more about Who He is. We learn of His activities throughout history and how He dealt with the people. We are given amazing insight into His plans and purposes through His prophets. We learn of His never changing love and faithfulness in ways that pierce our hearts. And most of all, we learn of how He transacted His covenant of love to us by sending His Son to die on a cross so we could inherit the land He has for us. As the song goes, “Not because of who I am, but because of what You’ve done, not because of what I’ve done, but because of Who You are.” We need to get to know who the Lord is and who He wants to be in your life today.
As I read this devotion I am reminded of Deuteronomy 7:9, Know therefore that the Lord thy God, he is God, the faithful God, which keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love him and keep his commandments to a thousand generations. We must make time to spend time in His Word to learn who He is and who we are to be. By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience; And patience, experience; and experience, hope: And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us (Romans 5:3-5). No matter what your facing just know that His love for you never changes and He will strengthen you to overcome whatever obstacle is in your path. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths (Proverbs 3:6).
Have a beautiful day in The Lord!
Today’s Reading is Romans 8:1-2
Adopted by a Great God!
Many times, we struggle in our prayer life with the Lord. We understand the issues at hand and even accept the blame and resulting consequence. But we don’t know how to express how we feel about it to the Lord. As a result, we experience depression and frustration, waiting for time to play itself out.
God tells us that He is our ?Abba? Father. He wants us to know that He is our Daddy, desiring to hear from us. He didn’t create us to be robots, but His children who can go to Him. He tells us to draw near to Him and He will draw near to us. Our opinions matter to the Lord regardless of the poor choices we may have made to reach our situation. The Lord loves us and if we include Him in our struggles and frustrations, He works with us to get through the difficulties, sometime miraculously. If we don’t share with Him and draw near, we will miss out on His intervention and in the nearness of His presence to walk through every part of life with Him. Do not fear; you have been adopted by a great God!
When I read this I am reminded of how incredibly blessed we are as children of God. He loves us beyond measure, it’s truly remarkable how unmeasurable His love is for us. He wants to be a part of every aspect of our lives if we will allow Him to be. 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. (Romans 8:38-39) He’s a great great God!!
Have a wonderful day in The Lord!
Today’s Reading is John 15:9-17
Knowing God Loves You
The Lord thy God in the midst of thee is mighty; he will save, he will rejoice over thee with joy; he will rest in his love, he will joy over thee with singing. (Zephaniah 3:17)
I remember a day a few years ago when I was talking with someone who kept quoting Zephaniah 3:17. He was deeply impacted by the words in this verse to the point that he could not withhold his emotions. What was interesting about this conversation was that this man had spent his life in the ministry, serving in various capacities from missionary to seminary professor. He knew the Lord, walked with Him, talked with Him and loved Him with all of his heart, but did he really understand how much God loved Him?
The same is true for many of us today. We proclaim our love for the Lord. We pray to know Him more. We deeply desire a life that is fruitful and pleasing to Him. And for the most part, I believe that we spend more time thinking and praying about how to please God and how to live our lives in accordance with His will, than we spend thinking about how much He loves us. How often do you personally stop and think, “God loves me…He is rejoicing over me right now”? We tend to think that God is disappointed or upset with us instead of thinking about how much He loves and adores us. Why? Because so much of our thought processes are shaped by the world, not by the love of God. And we have an enemy who feeds right into those negative thoughts and will do anything he can to keep us from experiencing that peace and joy that comes from Jesus.
I encourage you today to write down this verse, meditate on it, and memorize it. Keep repeating it over in your heart and mind and let the Lord Himself speak these words into the depths of your soul. The Lord God is with you and will save you. He rejoices over you, quiets you with His love and sings to you. Can you believe it? Yes! God’s Word is truth and you can trust that these words are spoken just for you. The man who spent his life in ministry was on the brink of retirement before he finally realized the truth of these words. Jesus wants you to know this truth today. Experience His love, peace and joy right now.
When I read this it blessed me so much. I honestly can’t think of a single thing to add to it. I pray it blesses you and opens your eyes to His love for you and how much He truly loves you and He rejoices over you.
Have a beautiful day in The Lord!
Today’s Reading is Zephaniah 3:17
His Everlasting Love
The Lord hath appeared of old unto me, saying, Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee. (Jeremiah 31:3)
God is love. You cannot separate Him from love and He works in our lives because of His love. Many of us know that God is love, but how many of us live like we believe it? Fear, doubt, guilt and thoughts of self-condemnation are all factors that wage against the love of God. So each time that we worry, we are not resting in the love of God. Each time we feel fearful regarding our finances or health, we are not resting in the love of God.
God loves you so much that you cannot do anything to separate yourself from His love. He understands your struggles and limitations. But through it all, He wants you to find rest as you accept His love and love Him back. After all, 1 John 4:19 says, “We Love Him, because He first loved us.”
When I read this it blessed me. It is short but powerful. What a mighty God we serve. Today, rest in the love of God. He will never leave you nor forsake you. For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind (2 Timothy 1:7).
Have a wonderful day in The Lord!
Today’s Reading is Ecclesiastes 10:12, Galatians 1