A Father's Extravagant Love.....

I must be getting old because there were a couple of other things that the Lord laid on my heart over the last month and for the life of me, I cannot access them and He is not bringing them to mind. So I just prayed and began reading in the Word, asking Him what He wants me to share. After reading in several different books, I found myself in Ephesians, began to read chapter 5 and ZAP! The first two verses were it! I was reading in The Message and this is what it says:

“Watch what God does, and then you do it, like children who learn proper behavior from their parents. Mostly what God does is love you. Keep company with him and learn a life of love. Observe how Christ loved us. His love was not cautious but extravagant. He didn’t love in order to get something from us but to give everything of himself to us. Love like that.”

Now is that a wonderful verse or what?! I was so touched by the description of how he loves us. I mean, isn’t it so true? “Mostly what God does is love you.” Well, the only word in that sentence I might change, which would be ok since it is a paraphrase BibleJ, is the “Mostly”. As I think about it, there is nothing that the Lord has done in my 42 years of living that has not been a reflection of His love for me. Like any truly loving parent, He has ALLOWED bad things to happen in my life because of lessons that I needed to learn. And because of this depraved world and the enemy himself, I have had some very bad, very hurtful things done to me. Yet, in His amazing love, He uses His power to turn even the worst events into things that have benefited me and actually made me a better person than if they had never happened. Now THAT is amazing love.

Then if you read further in the verse it says that Christ’s love for us is extravagant! I looked up that word and it was defined as, “excessive or unduly lavish” and unduly means “unsuitable”. There is no doubt that without His amazing grace it would be very unsuitable for this awesome God to love someone like me and even more, in an extravagant way! Then it concludes by saying “He didn’t love in order to get something from us but to give everything of himself to us.” (Italics mine) In a world that is so “me” oriented and selfish, it is hard to wrap my mind around the concept of someone giving of themselves with no hope of getting anything in return, even the pleasure of giving. But then you add to that concept, Almighty God of the entire Universe, One that has an unending amount to give and HE gives EVERYTHING of Himself to us!!!! WOW! How very humbling and thought provoking for this very undeserving woman to dwell on.

Being the economical God that He is, I am amazed by the fact that in a verse that so completely and beautifully conveys His amazing love for us, we also find advice on how to live our lives as well or maybe I should say… how to live our lives well. And interestingly enough, there are not a lot of instructions…..just, “Watch what God does”, “keep company with him and learn a life of love.” and “Love like that.” I can’t think of a much larger challenge than trying to love like God but it is one worth accepting, especially in a world that has grown so cold and devoid of warmth and human emotion. The next time that you are having a bad day or feeling blue, try reaching out to a stranger with a sincere, kind word and just see if the sun doesn’t seem just a little bit brighter and your step a little bit lighter.

To Accept or Reject...........My Choice

While this Christmas season was a blessed time for me, I have to admit that I am glad to be getting back into life’s regular routine again. I have missed sharing with you and my Father has laid several things on my heart over the last few weeks that I will share with you, one at a time.

Today I wanted to share what He laid on my heart over a month ago.

I was pondering the scripture in Matthew 23:37 where Jesus spoke to the city, Jerusalem and said, “How often I’ve ached to embrace your children, the way a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you wouldn’t let me.” as written in The Message. We all know that when He spoke of Jerusalem’s children, He was referring to His people Israel. I have heard quite a few sermons that make reference to this scripture but always in the literal context of Jesus speaking to Israel. Yet, as I reflected on this verse as one of His modern day children, He “spoke” to me and said, “You do the same thing to Me. When you are hurting and afraid due to situations or circumstances, in your fear you do not always turn to Me and allow Me to comfort you and reassure you that I am here and I will take care of things if you let Me.” Then I thought about another reference that the Bible makes about Him weeping over Jerusalem because of her rejection of Him and His love and I wondered just how many times He has wept over me and my rejection of His love for me.

Coming from a background of abuse makes it very hard for me to believe, much more, accept His love for me. And that is without the whisperings from Satan in my ear that He doesn’t care about me or my trials. But I think that even someone not coming from abuse would find it hard to embrace His love all the time, especially in the dark valleys of fear or condemnation from the enemy.

So I just felt that He wanted me to say that He is always here for you and for me. That He NEVER wants us to try and cope or handle things all by ourselves. There is not a single tiny little aspect of our lives that are not important to Him. He cares about ALL of it. Anything important to us is important to Him. So I hope and pray that the next time that you are hit with something out of left field and you begin to feel afraid or confused, that you will remember what He reminded me of………He is waiting to gather you in His arms and give you the exact thing you need at that moment for that situation. Remember…..He loves you no matter what!!