God is Love
by Billy Graham |
Who can describe or measure the love of God? Our Bible is a revelation of the fact that God is love. When we preach justice, it is justice tempered with love. When we preach righteousness, it is righteousness founded on love. When we preach atonement for sin, it is atonement necessitated because of love, provided by love, finished by love. When we preach the resurrection of Christ, we are preaching the miracle of love. When we preach the abiding presence of Christ, we are preaching the power of love. When we preach the return of Christ, we are preaching the fulfillment of love. No matter what sin we have committed, no matter how black, dirty, shameful, or terrible it may be, God loves us. We may be at the very gate of hell itself, but God loves us with an everlasting love. The proof? Jesus Christ, God’s only Son, went to the Cross for us. “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16). |
Wednesday, 21 February 2018
A Billy Graham Tribute
I know this isn't part of my one word blog for this year, but with Billy Graham's passing, I thought I would share his last devotional he wrote, which came in my e-mail this afternoon.
Sunday, 11 February 2018
More on abiding...from someone else!
I am currently reading a book by Wendy Blight called "I Am Loved". It is essentially a book that references the scriptures of John and how God loves us. It has questions that challenge your thinking and scriptures to look up and places to write notes. It's a little Bible study and I am really enjoying it.
Finishing day 5 of week 3, she made some profound statements about abiding, and I will copy them here.
"John closes this chapter by again reminding us of Jesus’s words on abiding. Jesus spoke thoroughly on this topic so that we would comprehend the value He placed on investing not only our hearts but also our time in our relationship with Him (John 15).
Abiding is key to walking in the confident assurance of God’s love and His Word. We comprehend the depth of His love through the sacrifice He made.
Abiding helps soften our hearts to His words, even the hard words.
Abiding tenders our heart to respond in obedience to the Spirit’s conviction. We desire to please Him. We want to obey Him.
Abiding continually exposes our hearts to the character, purposes, and voice of God. It’s the daily, systematic feeding of truth that helps align our decisions, our emotions, and our actions with His standard of truth. We filter every decision through the lens of His Word. It helps to ensure we walk in light rather than darkness, to live motivated by love not hate.
Abiding gives us the weapons we need to detect, defeat, and disarm the enemy. To recognize darkness, expose it to light, and claim victory over it!"
Blight, Wendy. I Am Loved: Walking in the Fullness of God’s Love (InScribed Collection) (p. 153). Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition.
I am amazed that, since starting this blog on abiding, I run into all kinds of devotionals on abiding...and now...in a book that I happen to be reading (which I bought before doing this blog).
I hope this blesses you! Until next time...
Finishing day 5 of week 3, she made some profound statements about abiding, and I will copy them here.
"John closes this chapter by again reminding us of Jesus’s words on abiding. Jesus spoke thoroughly on this topic so that we would comprehend the value He placed on investing not only our hearts but also our time in our relationship with Him (John 15).
Abiding is key to walking in the confident assurance of God’s love and His Word. We comprehend the depth of His love through the sacrifice He made.
Abiding helps soften our hearts to His words, even the hard words.
Abiding tenders our heart to respond in obedience to the Spirit’s conviction. We desire to please Him. We want to obey Him.
Abiding continually exposes our hearts to the character, purposes, and voice of God. It’s the daily, systematic feeding of truth that helps align our decisions, our emotions, and our actions with His standard of truth. We filter every decision through the lens of His Word. It helps to ensure we walk in light rather than darkness, to live motivated by love not hate.
Abiding gives us the weapons we need to detect, defeat, and disarm the enemy. To recognize darkness, expose it to light, and claim victory over it!"
Blight, Wendy. I Am Loved: Walking in the Fullness of God’s Love (InScribed Collection) (p. 153). Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition.
I am amazed that, since starting this blog on abiding, I run into all kinds of devotionals on abiding...and now...in a book that I happen to be reading (which I bought before doing this blog).
I hope this blesses you! Until next time...
Monday, 5 February 2018
Wallowing With God
Today, as I was doing a Bible Study I had signed up for called I Am Loved, the beginning of the week video had the author and 2 of the ladies from the Proverbs 31 Ministry talking about abiding in God and what it meant. This is what stood out to me. Abiding in God is like wallowing in God. I am sure most of us have heard the expression 'wallowing in self pity', but I had never applied that to God. Wallowing: indulging in an unrestrained way. Imagine that for a minute. Synonyms: luxuriate, bask, glory, indulge (oneself), delight, revel.
How do you indulge in God in an unrestrained way? I can think of a few. Worship....you can certainly be unrestrained there. Put on that wild worship song and dance with abandon. Sounds like fun to me! Prayer is another. God loves to hear us pray no matter how long or how short or what our words sound like. He wants to hear our heart, which comes out in our prayer. His Word. What better way to wallow (bask) in God than delving into His word to get to know His character even more. There's no restraint there at all. You can skim the scriptures or you can unpack them with the tons of study tools available out there on the internet. The possibilities are endless. There's one more way to wallow with God, to abide with God, that I absolutely love. Spend time out in nature. You can spend endless time looking at plants, animals, clouds, stars and marvel at the work. The intricate details of a tiny butterfly. The way that tides work relative to the moon. The masterful work ethic of ants. I even look at my little Yorkie and think, how tiny yet how perfect she is. Her personality is large and unique. There is no big bang theory that could ever explain how the millions of things in nature were formed. Just read up on the life cycle of the monarch butterfly. Not just it's birth, but the migration it goes through. Phenomenal. I can't get enough of that. I amazes me to no end....I could go on and on and on. Find what appeals to you and find God in that place....wallow with Him for a bit, bask in His Presence...sounds like a very rewarding thing to do. For me, it just sounds peaceful, like basking in the sun....or should I say, basking in The Son!
How do you indulge in God in an unrestrained way? I can think of a few. Worship....you can certainly be unrestrained there. Put on that wild worship song and dance with abandon. Sounds like fun to me! Prayer is another. God loves to hear us pray no matter how long or how short or what our words sound like. He wants to hear our heart, which comes out in our prayer. His Word. What better way to wallow (bask) in God than delving into His word to get to know His character even more. There's no restraint there at all. You can skim the scriptures or you can unpack them with the tons of study tools available out there on the internet. The possibilities are endless. There's one more way to wallow with God, to abide with God, that I absolutely love. Spend time out in nature. You can spend endless time looking at plants, animals, clouds, stars and marvel at the work. The intricate details of a tiny butterfly. The way that tides work relative to the moon. The masterful work ethic of ants. I even look at my little Yorkie and think, how tiny yet how perfect she is. Her personality is large and unique. There is no big bang theory that could ever explain how the millions of things in nature were formed. Just read up on the life cycle of the monarch butterfly. Not just it's birth, but the migration it goes through. Phenomenal. I can't get enough of that. I amazes me to no end....I could go on and on and on. Find what appeals to you and find God in that place....wallow with Him for a bit, bask in His Presence...sounds like a very rewarding thing to do. For me, it just sounds peaceful, like basking in the sun....or should I say, basking in The Son!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)