REMEMBRANCE DAY

 All Bible quotations are taken from the New King James Version

            Long before we celebrated Remembrance Day, the Lord instructed the children of Israel to keep a memorial. “So this day shall be to you a memorial; and you shall keep it as a feast to the Lord throughout your generations. You shall keep it as a feast by an everlasting ordinance.” (Exodus 12:14).

          Why is the Lord telling the children of Israel to keep a memorial throughout their generations? The Lord is telling them to always remember the night He released them from Egyptian bondage. The children of Israel had been in bondage to the Egyptians for four hundred and thirty years. In Exodus 2:23, we pick up their story: “Then the children of Israel groaned because of the bondage, and they cried out; and their cry came up to God because of their bondage.” God heard their groaning and remembered the covenant He made with their forefathers.

          The Lord found Moses tending a flock of sheep on the back side of the desert. In Exodus 3:7 and 8, the Lord said to Moses: “I have surely seen the oppression of My people who are in Egypt, and have heard their cry . . .for I know their sorrows. So I have come to deliver them out of the hands of the Egyptians, and to bring them up from that land to a good and large land, to a land flowing with milk and honey. . .” The Lord told Moses that He has heard the cry of the children of Israel and He has seen their oppression and He is sending Moses to the Pharaoh to bring His people out of bondage.

          After telling the Lord how incompetent and unworthy Moses feels about this assignment, the Lord reminds him, “I will certainly be with you.” Moses finally submits to the Lord and goes before Pharaoh and performs the nine plagues as the Lord commands him to do. The plagues were to get Pharaoh to let Israel go from his bondage so they would be able to worship the Lord in the wilderness. Before each plague, Pharaoh promises to let the Israelites go. When the effects of the plague are over, the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart and he would not let the children of Israel go.

          The Lord is about to perform His final plague to cause Pharaoh to let the Israelites go. Before the Lord performs the last plague that was to kill all the firstborn of Egypt, including man and beast, He gives instructions to all Israel through Moses and Aaron. First, the Lord tells the Israelites the month of Abib was to be the first month of their year. Then the Lord instructs the man of each household to take a lamb without blemish for his household. On the fourteenth day of the month Abib, they were to kill and roast the lamb, and eat it with bitter herbs.

          The Lord instructed the Israelites to take the blood of the lamb and put some on the doorposts and on the lintel of their houses. This was done because at midnight the Lord’s angel was to slay all the firstborn of the Egyptians. When the angel came to a house where there was blood on the doorposts and lintel, he was to pass over that house. Once the angel had slain all the firstborn of Egypt, there was a great cry throughout the land. “So Pharaoh rose in the night, he, all his servants, and all the Egyptians, and there was a great cry in Egypt, for there was not a house where there was not one dead.” (Exodus 12:30). After this final plague, Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron during the night and said, “Rise, go out from among my people, both you and the children of Israel. And go, serve the Lord as you have said.” (Exodus 12:31).

          “It is a night of solemn observance to the Lord for bringing them out of the land of Egypt. This is that night of the Lord, a solemn observance for all the children of Israel throughout their generations.” (Exodus 12:42). From the night the Lord delivered the children of Israel from Egyptian bondage, after four hundred and thirty years, they were to keep the Passover throughout their generations. The Passover Feast was to be observed on the fourteenth day of the month Abib.

          After the first World War, which was from July 28, 1914, until November 11, 1919, we celebrate the ending of the first World War, and all the other Wars which have occurred since then on November 11. Remembrance Day is observed on November 11 at 11 a.m. as that was the day and time when the first World War was over with the signing of the Armistice Agreement which ended the War. Remembrance Day was first observed in the Commonwealth states. At first it was called “Armistice Day” in honor of the men and women who gave their lives so we can live in peace and freedom today. The first Remembrance Day was held on November 11, 1931.

          Each year, on November 11, Canadians pause for a moment or two of silence to honor the men and women who have served and continue to serve our country in times of war and conflict, as well as in times of peace. We remember the 2,300,000 men and women who have served our country, as well as the 118,000 who have given their lives in the line of duty that we may live in peace and freedom. “If it is possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men.” (Romans 12:18). The men and women who have served in times of War have made it possible to live in peace. Now, it is up to us to keep that peace.

          This Remembrance Day, as we wear the Red Poppy, we are remembering and honoring all the men and women whose blood was shed so we could live with all the freedoms we enjoy today. On November 11, may we observe one or two minutes of silence to honor those who have given their lives on the battlefields of the world so we can live in freedom today. We also need to give the Lord thanks and praise for the freedom and abundance He has blessed our country with.

          There is another kind of freedom which cannot be obtained with any weapons of war. I am speaking of a spiritual freedom which Jesus Christ, God’s Son purchased for us on the Cross. If you would truly repent of your sin, and turn from sin and live 100% for Jesus, then pray this prayer, “Father, I come to You, to repent of my sin and live totally for You. Please cleanse me from my sin and give me the freedom in the areas of my life that You alone know of. I will follow You for the rest of my life.”

          If you have a Bible, or can access one online, begin reading in the Gospel of John, which is the fourth book of the New Testament. It will explain to you how much God loves you and wants to have a relationship with you.

                              

 

 

HNDERANCES TO THANKSGIVING

 

All Bible quotations are taken from the New King James Version unless stated otherwise.

All through the Bible we are told to give the Lord thanks and praise for all He has done for us. “I will praise You, O Lord, with my whole heart; I will tell of all Your marvelous works.” (Psalm 9:1).  “Therefore I will give thanks to You, Oh Lord, among the Gentiles, And sing praises to Your name.” (Psalm 18:49). If we are honest with ourselves, and with the Lord, we will admit that we don’t always feel as thankful as we should be. What hinders our thankfulness?

          First, I think comparing ourselves to others, to what they have or can do, hinders us from being or feeling really thankful. As soon as we start comparing ourselves with others, our minds tell us how wonderful life must be for them. Throughout my life, I have made the mistake of comparing myself with able-bodied people, which is an unfair comparison. Almost everywhere I was, my mind would go to someone who could do things faster and easier than I was able to. I struggled with this in High School, Bible College, and even while I was volunteering for a Christian Ministry, which I had always wanted to do.

Instead of being thankful to the Lord for opening this opportunity for me, I was doing the opposite and complaining, within myself, and to the Lord because I could not be as productive as the person beside me. Paul, the apostle, speaks to this issue in 2 Corinthians 10:12, “For we dare not class ourselves or compare ourselves with those who commend themselves. But they, measuring themselves by themselves, and comparing themselves among themselves, are not wise.”

          We know what happens when we compare ourselves with others. We see ourselves as inferior to them. We are never “good enough.” When that is the way, we view ourselves, eventually we give up and stop even trying to do anything. This kind of attitude will be sure to hinder us from being thankful to the Lord for creating us to be the people we are.  

A second hinderance to thankfulness is discontentment. A lot of discontentment comes from comparing ourselves with others and what they have. We have heard the phase, “keeping up with the Jones.” We become discontent with what we have compared to what the next person has. Then, for some reason, our focus begins to shift from being completely on the Lord to the people and circumstances around us. We become envious of the other person in our thoughts because we think they have it better than us.

At one time, we may have been content with what we had, as well as our life circumstances, when our eyes were focused completely on the Lord and what He has blessed us with, even though it was just enough to get by on. Because we were content, we were able to be thankful to the Lord, and able to serve Him with the gifts He has given us.

Consider the parable of the Vineyard. “For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard. Now when he had agreed with the laborers for a denarius a day, he sent them into his vineyard.” (Matthew 20:1-2). The laborers were content to work for a denarius a day. The vineyard’s owner kept going to the marketplace at various times during the day – at the third hour, the sixth hour, the ninth hour and the eleventh hour. Each time he went to the marketplace, he saw others standing idle in the marketplace. And he said to them, “You also go into the vineyard, and whatever is right I will give you. So they went.” (Matthew 20:4).

When evening came, the vineyard’s owner had the steward call the laborers in to give them their wages for the day. Starting with the last laborers hired, the owner gave them each a denarius. The laborers who started first supposed that they would receive more, but they also received a denarius. They complained to the owner. “And when they had received it (a denarius), they complained against the landowner, saying, ‘These last men have worked only one hour, and you made them equal to us who have borne the burden and the heat of the day. But he answered one of them and said, ‘Friend, I am doing you no wrong. Did you not agree with me for a denarius?” (Matthew 20:12-14).

The men who were hired first were contented with their wages at first, before there was anything or anyone to compare them to. Then they did what many of us would have done and started complaining. They had suddenly become discontented with the wages they were given because someone else - who had worked less time - was receiving the same amount. This laborer thought the vineyard owner was not being fair. “But he (the vineyard owner) answered one of them and said, ‘Friend, I am doing you no wrong. Did you not agree with Me for a denarius?” (Matthew 20:13).

On many occasions, we have the same attitude towards the Lord. As soon as we see others around us being treated better than us (from our perspective), we become discontented with our circumstances. Before we knew that someone else had better circumstances, we were perfectly content with our present situation.

 May I give you a personal example? I live in a Long-Term Care Home. I have always been a morning person; therefore, I like to get up as early as possible. As I am unable to get up on my own, I have to wait until a Personal Support Worker (PSW) comes and gets me ready for the day and transfers me into my wheelchair. Many times, I see residents who were gotten up before me passing by my room. Very often I have thoughts and feelings I am disappointed to have as a Christian. I am constantly asking the Lord to forgive me and let me be thankful for whatever time I get up.

A third hinderance to thanksgiving is self-pity or being self-absorbed. “Self-pity is having pity on oneself; especially a self-indulgent attitude concerning one’s own difficulties.” (Dictionary definition). There can be a number of reasons why we might feel sorry for ourselves. When we are depressed or have lost hope, we may feel sorry for ourselves. Solomon, in the book of Proverbs, says, “Where there is no vision, the people perish; but he that keepeth the law, happy is he.” (Proverbs 29:18, King James Version). I think this is the best definition of self-pity and depression.

This was the way I felt right after I graduated from High School. I felt like my “life” was over. I did not have a goal or vision to look forward to. At that time, “life” was like staring at a blank wall. I admit that during my time of depression, which lasted three years, I remember praying one day, “Lord, if this is all there is to life after High School, then why did You let me live at birth?”

When we are in a state of self-pity or depression, it is very hard to be thankful for anything or to anyone, including the Lord. Most of the time, we blame the Lord, instead of being thankful to Him. When I look back on that time of my life, I’m ashamed of the way I talked to the Lord, and the ungrateful attitude I had towards the Lord and everyone around me. “Looking carefully lest anyone fall short of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up cause trouble, and by this many become defiled.” (Hebrews 12:15).

Over the years I have learned, and continue to learn, to be content and thankful in every situation. Paul even had to learn contentment. “Not that I speak in regard to need, for I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content.” (Philippians 4:11).

   There are many other issues that may be hinderances to keep us from being as thankful as we should be to the Lord, and to those around us. May we practice thankfulness. It will help us feel more grateful for what we have, and for what we are able to do. Our thankfulness will bless those around us.

 Would you like to know Jesus as your Saviour and Lord? Are you willing to repent of your sin and turn completely from your sin to living 100% for Jesus?   If you are willing to live 100% for Jesus, pray this prayer: “Jesus, I want to invite You into my life to be my Saviour and Lord. I repent of all my sin and turn to living for You. Please cleanse me by Your precious blood. I surrender my life completely to You now. I also want to be thankful for all You have done for me.”

If you have a Bible, start reading in the Gospel of John, the fourth book of the New Testament which explains who Jesus is (the Word), how much He loves you, and what He has done for you in His life, death and resurrection.

 

                                        

            

 

  

EXPANDING YOUR TERRITORY

 

All Bible quotations are taken from the New King James Version

September. It is a month of change, a month full of new beginnings, new adventures and new opportunities. We can even think of new beginnings or adventures as expanding our territory. The Lord will build on the foundation He has already laid in our lives as He shows us new opportunities where we can reach out, using our particular gifts which the Lord has given each of us. “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God has ordained that we should walk in them.” (Ephesians 2:10).

As trees go through the changing of the season, so the change of one season gives way to another season or a further expansion in our lives. In order to expand our territory, the Lord often has to shake us out of our comfort zone, either in one, or many areas of our lives. If you look at a single aspect of yours or my life, that is changing, we may wonder how it blends into our lives as a whole. Yet, the Lord knows what He is doing and how all the different aspects will blend together. Sometimes we may know when the Lord is about to lead us into a new territory. Yet, sometimes we might be taken by surprize and suddenly be thrown into a whole new territory we never thought we would be in, even if others around us saw it coming.

 For some people, it may be a change they never anticipated. A change can come at any time, whether we are ready for a change in our lives or not.

I don’t think that I was ready for the change which faced me in February 2020. Before I tell you of the change, I must go back and tell you what precipitated this change in my life. In 2015, I moved to Barrie, into a building which had five accessible apartments for disabled adults. I was assured that there would be PSW staff on site 24/7. It was like this for the first two years I lived there. Then, very slowly, the Head person began to make changes to the “24/7 on site PSW staff Policy.” The staff were required to move about in the community instead of being stationary in one location. This meant that there were several hour gaps when there were no PSW staff on site. I no longer felt safe in that environment. My family and friends also did not feel that I was safe in that environment. I needed the staff more than ever, at a time when they were not always available.

After two years of constantly being in and out of the hospital, one day the Director of Care came to me and said, “The next time you are admitted, you are staying here until a Long-Term Care bed becomes available.”

The Director of Care called for a Family Meeting in which she strongly urged my family to start looking for Long-Term Care Facilities. We could choose five, in order of preference.   

In February 2020, I moved from living independently in a one-bedroom apartment (I remember my brother saying to me as we were leaving the building, “Say goodbye to your apartment.”), to a shared-room at MacKenzie Health Long-Term Care. I knew all the physical and health reasons as to why I had to be here.

What I did not know was why the Lord had me here. For months, I felt like Abram. “Now the Lord had said to Abram: “Get out of your country, From your family And from your father’s house. To a land that I will show you. I will make you a great nation; I will bless you And make you a blessing…So Abram departed as the Lord had spoken to him, and Lot went with him. And Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran.” (Genesis 12:1-2, 4).

  Just as Abram had to leave his country and his father’s house before the Lord made any promise to him, so the Lord moved me away from family members when I moved to MacKenzie Health LTC in Richmond Hill. My brother and sister-in-law, who had been living in Richmond Hill for ten years moved to Oshawa in February 2022, exactly two years after I moved here. I believe that was the Lord moving my family members away from me. Now, I do not have any family members in close proximity to me. I feel a lot more freedom because of it.

In Genesis 13:14-15, it says, “And the Lord said to Abram, after Lot had separated from him; Lift up your eyes now and look from the place where you are—northward, southward, eastward, and westward; for all the land which you see I give to you and your descendants forever.”  The Lord is saying to Abram, and I believe, to us as well, “Look from where you are—which of course means yours and mine, location. Yet, I see it meaning far more than our location. The Lord also says to us, “Look at, and for all the possibilities which are ours, which I will give you if you are willing to step out of your comfort zone.”    

It has been, since I’ve been living here in LTC, that the Lord has expanded my territory in writing. Since I have been here, I finished writing my book, “Sufficient Grace—Living Victoriously with Cerebral Palsy.” I have also written over forty devotionals here, whereas in Barrie, I only wrote twenty-five devotionals.  One year after moving in, I heard a still, small voice, one night in bed, say, “Create a Newsletter to circulate your devotionals.” I thought I had heard the Lord. To be sure, the next morning, I called Irene, my life-long friend, and told her what I believed I heard the Lord say to me. Irene not only confirmed it was the Lord, she started helping me with it. I have been sending my “Sufficient Grace Newsletters” out for 17 months now.

I believe the Lord wants to expand my territory even further by sending my devotionals and short stories out to various Christian Publications.

What possibilities do you see before you that can expand? Perhaps you cannot see any possibilities in front of you. Maybe you once had a vision of what the Lord wanted you to do, but now all you see in front of you is a vision that has died, and you are in the midst of a valley of dry bones. “The hand of the Lord came upon me and brought out in the Spirit of the Lord, and set me down in the midst of the valley; and it was full of bones. Then He caused me to passed by them all around, and behold, there were very many in the open valley; and indeed they were very dry.” (Ezekiel 37:1-2). Is that what you see around you in your valley of depression. Take courage. The Lord may take His time, but He will not leave you there. It is you that needs to take action and speak to the dry bones that they (your vision) may live again.

“Thus says the Lord God to these bones ‘Surely I will cause breath to enter into you, and you will live.” (Ezekiel 37:5). The vision you thought was dead, the Lord will breathe fresh life into it and cause it to live again. Are you willing to pick it up again and see the Lord’s potential in it?  How far are you willing to go out of your comfort zone to fulfill the Lord’s plan for your life? Like Abram, the Lord will show you all the land He has for your vision to grow and bare fruit in.

 

Would you like to know Jesus as your Saviour and Lord? If you do, pray this prayer: “Jesus, I want to invite You into my life to be my Saviour and Lord. Please cleanse me by Your precious blood. I surrender my life to You now. I also want You to fulfill Your purpose in my life and expand my territory.”

If you have a Bible, start reading in the Gospel of John, the fourth book of the New Testament which explains who Jesus is (the Word), how much He loves you, and what He has done for you in His life and death and resurrection.

SUFFICIENT GRACE NEWS BULLETIN

 

If you would like to read more of my devotionals, please go to my Blog at: http://sufficientgracedevotionals.blogspot.com/ 

 

If you would like to receive my “Sufficient Grace Newsletter” on a regular basis, please provide me with your name and e-mail address and send it to me at: sufficientgrace59@yahoo.com  

 

Sufficient Grace Newsletters are provided entirely free of charge.

 

 If you are a financial supporter, I would like to sincerely thank you for your gift. Your contribution makes it possible for me to produce and distribute this publication.

 

If you would like to become a financial supporter of my writings with your monthly gifts or a one-time gift in any amount, you may send it by e-transfer to: sufficientgrace59@yahoo.com.  (I cannot give tax receipts at this time).  Thank you for your gift and your faithful support.

          I was notified that effective October 1 my room payment will increase by 2.5% or $67.50/month. If you are able to assist me with this additional expense, I will be very appreciative.

 

In March, I entered my book manuscript, "Sufficient Grace: Living Victoriously with Cerebral Palsy" into The Word Guild's Writers' Contest. In July, it was announced I had made the Short List. In November, I was notified that the Judges gave me a score of 93.7%. I give the Lord all the glory!

FOCUSED ABOVE

 

All Bible quotations are taken from the New King James Version

          As human beings, we are very fixated on the things of this world, the things that can be touched, seen, heard, smelt and tasted. The world is very real to us. I would even say the world is too real to us, even as Christians. We can see the things in nature and yes, God created everything for His pleasure and to enrich our lives, yet sometimes we are too attached to the world. We do not even entertain God in our thoughts. We often put our possessions first so that we do not have room for Jesus, just as the rich young ruler did. The ruler’s possessions caused him to turn and walk away from Jesus. (See Matthew 19:16-23). Would you do the same?

          We are told many times in Scripture to keep our focus on the Lord Jesus and the eternal things which will never fade away. There will be a day when this world and all that is in it, will pass away. Paul, the apostle said, “If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is. Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth.” (Colossians 3:1-2). As a Christian, we should put our focus on things above. The Lord’s words should be occupying our minds more than worries, problems and pressures that this life brings:

“Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ Or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.” (Matthew 6:31-34).

          If we know that the Lord is taking care of us, and every detail of our lives, why should we be concerned about these things? Scripture says, “The Lord will perfect (complete) that which concerns me; Your mercy, O Lord, endures forever; Do not forsake the works of Your hands.” (Psalm 138:8).

          We can get overly caught up in our occupations, service or ministry for the Lord that diverts our attention from the Lord Himself. The disciples of Jesus experienced this. On one occasion, Jesus sent seventy disciples out to preach that the kingdom of God had come and to heal the sick. “Then the seventy returned with joy, saying, ‘Lord, even the demons are subject to us in Your name.’ And He (Jesus) said to them, ‘I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven…Nevertheless do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rather, rejoice because your names are written in heaven.” (Luke 10:17-18, 20). Here, Jesus’ disciples had returned from a mission Jesus had sent them on. However, the disciples lost their focus. They were focusing on and rejoicing in the results of their efforts, instead of rejoicing that their names were written in heaven.

          As well as having focus on possessions and occupations instead of the Lord, there is another factor that can divert our attention in a huge way. That is the area of suffering. Suffering is very real and very painful and all of us have suffered in one way or another. When we are deep in suffering – physical, emotional, or any kind – we become focused on our pain and that takes our communication and attention from the Lord. I remember the extreme pain I went through when my right hip had deteriorated. It was extremely hard to focus on anything but the pain. I will admit that my eyes were not on the Lord as much as they should have been. The pain was all consuming. The apostle Paul went through many trials and sufferings, including having a physical infirmity. Yet through it all, Paul was able to stay focused on Jesus (that is discipline) and in the midst of his sufferings, he was able to make the most incredible statements. Here is a partial list of the sufferings of Paul:

“Are they ministers of Christ? – I speak as a fool – I am more; in labors more abundant, in stripes above measure, in prisons more frequently, in deaths often. From the Jews five times I received forty stripes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods; once I was stoned; three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I have been in the deep;…” (2 Corinthians 11:23-24).

         

Paul also had a thorn in the flesh which he asked the Lord to remove three times. The Lord had an answer for him, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness.” (2 Corinthians 12:9a). What the Lord is doing is to re-focus Paul’s attention from his physical limitation and pain, and to put Paul’s gaze back onto Him. I can’t help being amazed at Paul’s response. “Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.” (2 Corinthians 12:9b). I want to have the same response to the Lord as Paul did. Paul also made this incredible statement: “For our light afflictions, which is but for a moment, is working a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory.” (2 Corinthians 4:17).  

          There are many times when we need our focus re-directed to the Lord, when He has to become more real to us than the things of this world. Paul encourages us not to look at the temporary things of this world, but to gaze on that which is eternal and said, “We do not look at the things which are seen, but the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal.”  (2 Corinthians 4:18).

          I want my gaze to be fixed on the Lord to the point that the things of this world will grow strangely dim, and the things of eternity will become more real to me. I pray that if you believe in Jesus, this would be your heart’s desire as well.

 

          Would you like to know Jesus as your Saviour and Lord? If you do, pray this prayer: “Jesus, I want to invite You into my life to be my Saviour and Lord. Please cleanse me by Your precious blood. I surrender my life to You now. I also want my gaze to be more on You than on the things of this world.”

If you have a Bible, start reading in the Gospel of John, the fourth book of the New Testament which explains who Jesus is (the Word), how much He loves you, and what He has done for you in His life and death and resurrection.

 

                                       

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

       

LOVE AND FEAR GOD

                     

                                     

 All Bible quotations are taken from the New King James Version

          How do you view God? Do you see Him as a God of love – a Father who is a loving Father towards His children? The Bible tells us that God is a God of love. “He who does not love does not know God, for God is love.” (1 John 4:8). Or do you view God as One to be feared? The Bible tells us God is a holy God and He is to be feared and worshipped. “And one (a seraphim – angelic being) cried to another and said: Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; The whole earth is full of His glory.” (Isaiah 6:3).

We, like the children of Israel, need to learn how to balance the love of God with the fear of God. There is a very fine line between the two. Yet, the Bible not only tells us to do both, but commands us to do both. We either go too far one way or the other.

God is a God of love as well as a holy God who is to be feared and worshipped by His people. We can see these two characteristics of God merged together in the first line of the prayer Jesus taught His disciples to pray. “Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your name.” (Mathew 6:9). Here we see God as “Our Father in heaven.” Jesus is instructing His disciples here to call God “Father” which was unheard of in the Jewish culture. When we think of a father, we have a picture of someone who loves and cares for every need his children have. Yet, the Father in heaven loves His children with a deep, everlasting love which is unfathomable. “The Lord has appeared of old to me, saying, Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love. Therefore with lovingkindness I have drawn you.” (Jeremiah 31:3).   His loving arms are always outstretched to us to draw us to Himself.

In the very next phrase Jesus teaches His disciples to pray, “Hallowed be Your name.” The definition of, “hallowed” is, “made holy, consecrated.” It also means, “greatly revered or honored.” Here Jesus is teaching that, even as God is our Father, His name is holy and is to be “greatly revered and honored.” To a great extent, the church has lost the reverence of God today. Very often, we do not worship the Lord as He deserves to be worshipped.

God is a holy God, and for that reason, He taught His people, Israel that they should not have any other gods before Him, or make any craved image, or bow down to them. We get a picture of God’s holiness by the way God instructed Moses to construct the Tabernacle in the wilderness. The Tabernacle was constructed very carefully according to the detailed design God showed Moses on the mountain. The Tabernacle had three main sections: the Outer Court, the Holy Place and the Holy of Holies. All of the children of Israel could go into the Outer Court, but only the High Priests who were appointed by the Lord (Aaron and his three sons) could go into the Holy of Holies once a year under very strict restrictions. Every Priest who entered the Holy of Holies had to wear special garments which had bells in the hem. These bells were to tell the children of Israel if the Priest was still alive in the Holy of Holies. If the bells stopped ringing, that meant the Priest was dead, as he did not meet the requirements of entry into the Holy of Holies of a holy God. The High Priest’s annual entry in to the Holy of Holies was a serious and exacting requirement to fear the Lord as they were instructed to do. 

           As Christians we can learn something from this. First of all, Jesus Christ paid the ultimate price, it was His blameless sacrifice that paid the price for all of our sins, making the annual blood sacrifices obsolete / or no longer necessary.  Only God was able to provide such a covering for us through the Blood of Jesus Christ.  Jesus’ blood not only covers our sin but blots it out forever. “But Christ came as a High Priest of good things to come, with the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands, that is, not of this creation. Not with the blood of goats and calves, but with His own blood He entered the Most Holy Place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption.” (Hebrews 9:11-12). It was when Jesus yielded up His spirit on the cross that the veil of the temple was torn in two (the veil which separated the Holy Place from the Holy of Holies). (See Matthew 27:50-51). This means that we can now have full access into the very presence of a holy God. Once we have applied the precious Blood of Jesus to our lives, we can come boldly, but reverently into God’s presence. “Therefore, having boldness to enter the Holiest by the blood of Jesus. Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscious and our bodies washed with pure water.” (Hebrews 10:19, 22). 

Sometimes we are so casual as we enter the church. It's alright for us to socialize while drinking our tea or coffee in the church lobby, the outer court. Yet, we think we can continue to socialize and bring our drink into the sanctuary, the Holy of Holies. Let us have a fresh vision of God’s holiness and show Him the respect He alone deserves. Remember that if the Priest in the Tabernacle made even one mistake, he was instantly dead. I know that is not our vision of God today, but He has never changed. “For I am the Lord; I have not changed. Therefore you are not consumed, O sons of Jacob.” (Malachi 3:6).

          I like the way Jesus merges the two greatest characteristics of God together in the first two statements of (what we call) the Lord’s Prayer. What I also find interesting is Jesus mentions God as, “Our Father” first before He mentions that God’s name is, “hallow” or “holy.” One would naturally think that when we come to God in prayer, which is what’s happening here, we should reverently worship Him before we call Him, “Our Father.” For a long time, when I prayed, I started with, “Abba Father” but then I changed my praying to put worshipping God first. I had it right when I was putting, “Abba Father” first. I am just seeing this as I am writing it. Now, when I pray, I’m going to put it back in the correct order and fellowship with my “Abba Father.” Once I come to God as my “Abba Father,” then my heart breaks out into worship to Him for being a “holy” God who deserves even more honor and reverence than I could ever give Him.

          God wants us to see Him as “Our Father” and the One who loves us with a deep, everlasting love. God showed us how much He loves us when He sent Jesus, His Son to die on the cross for our sin. God had to satisfy His holy demands so we could come boldly, yet reverently into His presence as He is a holy God. “Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” (Hebrews 4:16).  As our holy God, He is to be revered, honored and worshipped from the depths of our being.

 

          At the beginning of this devotional, I asked, “How do you see God?” Do you view Him as a loving Father who takes care of His children? Or do you perceive Him as a Judge ready to make you pay for every mistake you have ever made? Then, I have good news. God sent His Son, Jesus to take yours and my punishment and blot out our sin forever by dying on the cross and shedding His blood. If you are serious about receiving Jesus and following Him, you must first repent of all your sin, turn from it, and live fully for the Lord. By accepting Jesus as your Savior and Lord, He will cleanse you from your sin so you can come into a right relationship with God the Father. If you would like to accept Jesus, pray this prayer or one similar. “Jesus, I ask You to forgive me and cleanse me of my sin by Your precious blood. I surrender my life to You and ask that You will bring me into a relationship with my Heavenly Father.” If you have a Bible, start reading in the Gospel of John, which is the fourth Book of the New Testament. In the Gospel of John, it will explain how much God loved you and sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to save you from your sin so you could have a relationship with both Jesus and your Heavenly Father. 

                             

                                                 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

THE FEAR OF GOD

        We, like the children of Israel, need to learn how to fear God with a holy fear. Yes, God is a God of love, but He is also a holy God. There is a very fine line between the love of God and the fear of God. The Bible not only tells us to do both, but it commands us to do both. We either go too far one way or the other. In this day and age, we tend to emphasize the love of God over the fear of God.

          We have even forgotten what the fear of God is and we have forgotten how to fear God. First, we need to ask, “What is the fear of God?” To fear God does not mean to be afraid of Him – we do not have to run and hide like Adam and Eve did after they ate the forbidden fruit. To fear God means to reverence or show respect for Him.

           An example would be The Royal Family. Even those within the Family have to follow certain protocols when coming into the presence of other members of the Royal family. You and I, as part of the general public, would not go running into the presence of Royalty in our workout clothes. We would put on our best clothes, then wait to be ushered in. You and I would also speak in an appropriate manner.  

            We, as the people of God need to fear Him with a holy fear.  The Bible says, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.” (Proverbs 1:7). To fear God means to respect and reverence Him for who He is. God is a HOLY God. “But as He who has called you is holy, so you also be holy in all your conduct; because it is written, Be holy as I am holy.” (1 Peter 1:15-16). As a holy God, He cannot look upon sin. Remember when Jesus was on the cross bearing the sin of the world. God, Jesus’ Father even had to turn His face away. Yet we can take the fear of God so lightly.   
 

       We need a fresh vision of God’s holiness, even as Isaiah had in chapter 6.  Isaiah saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up. “In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up, and the train of His robe filled the temple.” (v. 1). I wonder who, or what has to die in our lives before we have a fresh vision of God’s holiness? Our God has very high standards of holiness which He has never - and will never - compromise. “For I am the Lord, I change not…” (Malachi 3:6).  Today, even as Christians, we often live as if God’s standard of holiness no longer exists or applies to our lives. We go to church on Sunday, but during the week we live as if God doesn’t even exist. We find it hard to talk about God, but what’s even more astounding – we barely find time to spend in prayer and fellowship with Him. What rejection the Lord must feel when we act the way we do. We act worse than the children of Israel when they rejected Jesus Christ as their Messiah. We even go one step further and think that we can do anything and God will forgive us. Let’s thank the Lord for His mercy and forgiveness, but we should never take it for granted. Paul said, “I do not set aside the grace of God.” (Galatians 2:21).  

            Going back to Isaiah’s vision, above the throne there stood seraphim which are angelic beings. They each have six wings – two of which are used to cover their face as they cry, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of Hosts. The whole earth is full of His glory.” (Isaiah 6:2-3).  If angelic beings, who have never sinned in any way, need to cover their faces in the sight of God, how much more do we, who have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God many times over, need a covering in the presence of a holy God?  Only God was able to provide such a covering for us through the Blood of Jesus Christ.  Jesus’ blood not only covers our sin, but blots it out forever. “But Christ came as a High Priest of good things to come, with the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands, that is, not of this creation. Not with the blood of goats and calves, but with His own blood He entered the Most Holy Place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption.” (Hebrews 9:11-12). Once we have applied the precious Blood of Jesus to our lives, we can come boldly, but reverently into God’s presence. “Therefore, having boldness to enter the Holiest by the blood of Jesus. Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscious and our bodies washed with pure water.” (Hebrews 10:19, 22). 

            When we, the Church of Jesus Christ have a fresh vision of God’s holiness, it will change the way we live. We will have a fresh desire to honor the Lord and do what is pleasing in His sight in every area in our lives. As we grow in our fear of the Lord, He will draw us into His presence in a deeper way than ever before. The way the Lord draws us into His presence is by His lovingkindness. “The Lord has appeared of old to me, saying; I have loved you with an everlasting love; Therefore with lovingkindness I have drawn you.” (Jeremiah 31:3).

 

            Do you know the Lord’s lovingkindness in your life?

 

Have you accepted Jesus into your life, the One whose blood cleanses us from sin so we are able to come into the Holy of Holies and spend time with God the Father in His presence? Do you want to invite Jesus into your life so you can come boldly into God the Father’s presence? If you would like to accept Jesus into your life, pray this prayer, or something similar: “Jesus, I come to You, asking You to cleanse me of my sin by Your precious Blood so I may enter into the Father’s holy presence and fellowship with Him. Amen.” If you have a Bible, start reading in the Gospel of John, the fourth book in the New Testament.

                                                

LOVE THE LORD

 All Bible quotations are taken from the New King James Version

        All through the Old Testament, there was one commandment the Lord was always reminding His people, the children of Israel of: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.” (Deuteronomy 6:5). The Lord had to not only remind them of this first commandment, but He also had to keep telling the children of Israel not to have any gods before Him. Israel was constantly forsaking the One true God and going after other foreign gods from the nations around them.

I wonder if we ever forsake the Lord and put other “gods” before the Lord in our lives. You might ask, “How can I have foreign gods today?” A foreign god is anything we put ahead of the Lord. It could be a person, a job, a hobby or anything else that takes first place in our lives. Are we giving our first love to something or someone other than the Lord?

The church in Ephesus had been doing all the right things. “I know your works, your labor, your patience, and that you cannot bear those who are evil. And you have tested those who say they are apostles, and are not, and have found them to be liars;…Nevertheless I have this against you, that you have left your first love.” (Revelation 2:2-4).

I know that there have been times in my life when I had lost my first love for the Lord – when I felt like I had drifted away. I wasn’t praying, reading the Bible or worshipping the Lord. It took moving into a private room in a Long-Term Care Facility to renew my first love for the Lord. As I did, the Lord began to anoint me afresh to write and create this Newsletter.

   While Jesus was teaching, a lawyer spoke up, “Then one of them, a lawyer asked Him a question, testing Him, and saying, “Teacher, what is the great commandment in the law?” Jesus said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.” (Matthew 22:35-37). There are not only commands for us to love the Lord, but there are also promises to those who love the Lord. “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, Nor have entered into the heart of man the things which He has prepared for those who love Him.” (1 Corinthians 2:9).

Many of us who have been in church most of our lives have heard this truth time and again, as it is the first and greatest commandment. The Lord continually repeated this to the children of Israel, especially before and after they entered the promised land. The Lord wanted to make sure He had a people who really loved Him. But what does it really mean to love the Lord with all our heart, with all our soul, with all our mind and with all our strength?

Your heart is that part of your being from which your emotions or your true feelings about something or someone flow. If we truly love the Lord with all our heart, we would have such a passion within us that we would want to spend all our time with the Lord to satisfy our longing. The more you love someone, the deeper your passion would be to be with them. Spending time first in praise and worship, Bible reading and prayer, would be something we would look forward to, as if we can’t wait to be in our secret place with our Father where He can open the secret treasures of His heart to our heart.

The psalmist puts it this way, “Deep calls unto deep at the noise of Your waterfalls; All your waves and billows have gone over me.” (Psalms 42:7). From the deep places of our being, we cry out to know the deep secret treasures of our Father’s heart. Imagine being so completely immersed in our Father’s great waves of love, mercy, and all His fullness that can wash over us. That’s where I long to be. I pray every day that I would draw so close to my Father that I could hear His every whisper and feel His very heartbeat. Paul says, “For in Him (Jesus Christ) dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily.” (Colossians 2:9). If we are in Christ, then we have access to the fullness of God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.

If we love our Heavenly Father with all our hearts, we would want to remove everything from our lives that displeases Him. This could be anything from a physical object, a physical act, what we watch on T.V. or the internet. Sometimes, I have a hard time choosing what to watch. The title and promo may sound good, but 10-15 minutes into the movie, unclean language is used, then I stop it and search for something else to watch. If we love our Father, we would stop doing the things which would not bring glory and honor to Him. We would want to do everything we could to please our Father.

The same verse tells us to “…love the Lord your God with all of our soul…” First, we need to identify what the soul is. Our soul is the real us that contains our will and emotions. The will is where you make every decision, both short term such as what you are doing right now; and long term such as what school or job you are going to decide on, or where we would like to retire. Our emotions are our feelings about things or people. To love the Lord with all our soul is to love our Heavenly Father with our entire being. Again, the psalmist says, “As the deer pants for the water brooks, So pants my soul after You, O God.” (Psalm 42:1).

We have a free will to praise and worship our Father, and because we do this, our relationship and love for Him continues to grow.  Each day I pray that I would love my Father more and more. I desire to deepen my love for Him and for my Father to bring me into the secret treasures of His heart. I want to go beyond where I was yesterday in my love for Him.

From the decision to love our Father from the depths of our being comes a passion and desire to serve the Lord with the gifts and talents He has given us. Whether He has given us one gift or ten gifts, let us use every one of them to glorify Him and bless His people. That is what I pray my one gift of writing will do.   

We are also told to “…love the Lord your God with all of your mind…” When we think of our mind, it is the part of our being we think with. With that said, how do we love the Lord with all of our mind? The way to love our Father with all our mind is reading His Word. When you love someone very deeply, you cannot get them off your mind. In Colossians 3:2, Paul says, “Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth.” When we really love the Lord with all of our mind, we would want our thoughts to please Him. We would have no place for an impure, hateful or evil thought of any kind. Jesus said, “He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him.” (John 14:21). We understand the Lord’s commandments with our minds, but we do them with our strength.

 The same verse tells us to “...love the Lord your God with all our strength…” Loving someone means doing things for them, special things that you know they really enjoy. It really pleases the Lord when we serve Him by fulfilling His calling in our lives. Just by doing what we were created to do shows the Lord how much we love Him. There are so many ways we can show the Lord how much we love Him. We can reach out and meet the needs of the poor and needy. We can do acts of kindness, such as giving a cup of cold water in Jesus’ name. Jesus said that the person who does a simple act will not loose their reward. By doing simple acts of kindness, we are being rewarded for loving the Lord.

The Lord says, “If you love me, keep My commandments.” The Lord’s commandments are not meant to overwhelm us, or be burdensome. If we simply do things which we know will please our Father, that will show Him that we love Him. Just like each child in a family has their own unique relationship with their father and mother, so each of us, who know Jesus as Savior and Lord, have a very unique relationship with our Heavenly Father. Each of our expressions of love for our Heavenly Father will be as unique as He created each one of us to be.

If you do not know Jesus as your Savior and Lord, and would like to, pray this prayer, or something similar: “Jesus, I come to You and ask that you would forgive all my sin, and cleanse me with Your precious blood. I want to have a relationship with my Heavenly Father. In Jesus name, Amen.”  If you have a Bible, start reading in the Gospel of John.

 

                                                

FORSAKEN BY HIS FATHER

 

All Bible verses are taken from the New King James Version 

          Most of us, who grew up in church, know the Easter story as well as we know the Christmas story. Even though we know the story, let us stop and review it for the sake of those who may not be as familiar with it.  But before I plunge into the Easter account, allow me to remind you of some doctrinal truths. God is from everlasting to everlasting. “Before the mountains were brought forth, Or ever You had formed the earth and the world, Even from everlasting to everlasting, You are God.” (Psalm 90:2). Isn’t it absolutely incredible to think that we serve a God who had no beginning and has no end? Yet, there is something even more incredible. God exists in three Persons: God the Father, God the Son (Jesus Christ) and God the Holy Spirit. All three together are One Person. All three Persons of the Trinity existed together from eternity past and will exist into eternity future. Therefore, they have the most intimate relationship than any human being could ever come close to having or comprehending.

It all started in the Garden of Eden where God created man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, then Adam became a living being. God created Eve from one of Adam’s ribs. God gave man one simple commandment. “And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, ‘Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.” (Genesis 2:16-17). But Eve was tempted by the serpent to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, telling her that she would be as God, knowing good and evil. Eve partook of the fruit and also offered the fruit to Adam and he ate. Adam and Eve’s actions not only affected their lives and fellowship with God, but it also brought God’s punishment for their sin, as well as affecting the whole human race, and nature for all time. “For the creation was subjected to futility; not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it in hope; because the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.” (Romans 8:20-21).

God’s main purpose in creating man was to have fellowship with him. God would walk with Adam in the garden in the cool of the day. But when Adam and Eve sinned, their fellowship with God was severed. Adam and Eve’s sin did not just affect their relationship with God, but it affected man’s relationship with God down through the centuries. Yet God loved man so much, He knew He had to do something to draw man back to Himself.        

In John 3:16 it says, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” Jesus, the Son of God and the Second person of the Trinity, was willing to become a human being and dwell among us. “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.” (John 1:14). During His earthly ministry, Jesus was continually seeking a solitary place where He could be alone with the Father. “Now in the morning, having risen a long while before daylight, He went out and departed to a solitary place; and there He prayed.” (Mark 1:35). There were times when Jesus would spend all night in prayer. “Now it came to pass in those days that He went out to the mountain to pray, and continued all night in prayer to God.” (Luke 6:12).

Jesus came to earth to redeem us to the Father by being obedient to death on a cross. “And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.” (Philippians 2:8). Jesus knew the entire time He was on earth why He was here. As the time drew near for Jesus to face the cross, He tried to explain it to His disciples, but they did not understand what He was saying. “He (Jesus) said to them, But who do you say that I am? Peter answered and said, The Christ of God. And He strictly warned and commanded them to tell this to no one, saying, The Son of Man must suffer many things, and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised the third day.” (Luke 9:20-22). Jesus was tortured, beaten and wiped, leaving stripes across His back. The elders and scribes twisted a crown of thorns and put it on His head and mocked Him. All of this left Him physically weak. “He is despised and rejected by men, a Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him; He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.” (Isaiah 53:3). After all this, they led Jesus away to be crucified.  

As Jesus’ earthly ministry drew to a close, and the purpose for which He came was before Him, to bear the world’s sin upon Him, He felt the heaviness upon Him. “And He was withdrawn from them (the disciples) about a stone’s throw, and He knelt down and prayed, saying, ‘Father, if it is Your will, take this cup away from Me; nevertheless, not My will, but Yours be done. And being in agony, He prayed more earnestly. Then His sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground. (Luke 22:41-42, 44).    

When Jesus was crucified and had been nailed to the cross, the weight of the world’s sin was bearing so heavily upon Him, that God, His Father had to turn His face away as He is a Holy God and cannot look upon sin. God the Father had to forsake His only begotten Son, Jesus Christ. Here Jesus was hanging on the cross without anyone around as His disciples had forsaken Him long before Jesus was led away to the cross. You and I have probably been forsaken by those close to us and have felt alone.  Can you imagine what Jesus must be feeling during these most intense hours on the cross. Jesus had never, throughout eternity, been separated from His Father. Yet, during the most intense time of His existence, when Jesus needed His Father the most, He is forsaken by His Father. This time was so extremely intense that darkness covered the land. “Now from the sixth hour until the ninth hour there was darkness over all the land. And about the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” (Matthew 27:46). How many times have we just casually read this verse without really giving it much thought? There is something different about the way Jesus cries out. Do you see it? Almost every other time when Jesus prays, He addresses God, His Father as, Abba Father or My Father. Yet, here Jesus addresses God as “My God.” Can you hear the anguish in Jesus’ voice? He cried with a loud voice. By this time, Jesus has been hanging on the cross for six long hours with the weight of the world’s sin upon Him. For the last three of those hours, darkness hung over the land. When the darkness started, it could have been the very moment when the Father turned His face away from His Son. Jesus hung on the cross for three hours being abandon and forsaken by everyone on earth, and His Father in heaven until He could no longer bear the burden of the world’s sin and feeling forsaken. It was at the ninth hour that Jesus cried these words from the cross. “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me.” Sometime later, “And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice, and yielded up His spirit.” (Matthew 27:50).    

       The Easter account does not end there. On the third day, Jesus rose from the dead, and lives forever, seated on the Father’s right hand, to make intercession for us. “Therefore He (Jesus) is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them.” (Hebrews 7:25).                                 

        Have you received Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Savior and asked Him for the forgiveness of sin? Through Jesus, you will have a relationship with God the Father. If you would like to receive Jesus and the forgiveness of sin, pray something similar to this: “Jesus, I thank You for the price You paid to forgive me of my sin, and bring me into a relationship with my Heavenly Father. I ask that You will cleanse me of all my sin. I receive You into my life and I desire to live for You. In Jesus name, Amen.” If you have a Bible, begin reading the Gospel of John.     

 

 

                                                  

 

 

 

 

 

 

GENUINE LOVE

        

All Bible verses are taken from the New King James Version

          We often think of February as the month we cerebrate love, particularly between couples. By thinking like that we are limiting ourselves to what genuine love is. First of all, we need to consider where genuine love comes from. In the Bible it says, “He who does not love does not know God, for God is love.” (1 John 4:8). This verse tells us that God’s very nature is love, and God’s love is the most perfect, unconditional love that we will ever know. Not only is God’s love perfect and unconditional, it is also everlasting, just as God is everlasting. “Before the mountains were brought forth, Or ever You had formed the earth and the world, Even from everlasting to everlasting, You are God.” (Psalm 90:2). There is no limit to God’s love. No matter what you have or have not done, God will always and forever love you.

          How are we, as mere humans, supposed to relate to such a high standard of love? The Lord knew we would need help in comprehending how deeply He loves us. In order for us to relate to His love for us, the Lord uses the most tender picture of love that exists – that of a mother caring for her newborn baby. “Can a woman forget her nursing child, And not have compassion on the son of her womb? Surely they may forget. Yet I will not forget you.” (Isaiah 49:15).   The Lord uses the most tender picture that we as humans know to describe His love for us – a mother nursing her newborn baby. A newborn baby is the most helpless human being who needs constant care.  If the mother did not nurse her baby constantly or look after all his other needs, he would die.  Yet there are times when the mother forsakes her baby.  How often we hear the tragic stories today of mothers leaving their babies in hospitals or even worse, in a garbage somewhere, or mothers neglecting to take proper care of their young children.  Yet even if a mother forgets her baby or young children, our Heavenly Father will never forget us. “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” (Hebrews 13:5). We have a Heavenly Father who will never stop loving us as His children. In fact, it would be impossible for our Heavenly Father to stop loving us as it is His very nature to love.

          Our Heavenly Father loves us more than we can ever imagine. Even as He is the God from everlasting to everlasting, so is His love for us.  “The Lord has appeared of old to me, saying, Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn you.” (Jeremiah 31:3). It is so far beyond our comprehension that the God of the universe would love each and everyone of us with an everlasting love. Yet it is true.

The greatest demonstration of God’s love for us is when He sent His only beloved Son, Jesus Christ. Jesus came into the world as a baby and lived among man as the Son of God, identifying Himself with us. The Bible says, “God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16). Have you reached out and accepted God’s love gift for yourself? Have you believed in Jesus as your Lord and Savior and asked Him to forgive your sin and give you the gift of eternal life? Why not do it now? Just pray this prayer, or something similar: “Heavenly Father, I thank You for sending Your only Son Jesus. I ask that you would forgive me of my sin and give me Your gift of eternal life. I surrender my life to You today.”  

After we have accepted Jesus, the Lord wants us to grow and experience His deep love for ourselves. “That Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height – to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.” (Ephesians 3:17-19). Have you ever experienced God’s love for yourself? I have, and it is the most wonderful feeling I have had. I remember after my step-father passed away, I grieved and cried uncontrollably, not because I was particularly close to him, because I wasn’t, but because I was once again without an earthly father. My dad passed away when I was only ten years old. I would lay in bed, looking up to the heavens, crying my eyes out. These were the times when I could feel my Heavenly Father wrapping me in His arms of love, and saying to me, “I want you to call Me, Abba (Daddy) Father and I love you more than you will ever know.” My Abba was drawing me into a more intimate love relationship with Him, while at the same time, healing my broken heart.

In the same way the Lord loves us, we need to love Him. Our love for the Lord must exceed and go beyond any other love relationship we have. He must have first place in our lives. “He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me.” (Matthew 10:37). Our love for the Lord must take priority in our lives.

The way we demonstrate that we love the Lord is by keeping His commandments. The Lord’s first commandment all through the Bible is that we love Him with everything we have within us.  “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.” (Deuteronomy 6:5).  When Jesus is asked which is the great commandment, Jesus answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first and great commandment.” (Matthew 22:37-38). Even though we are commanded by the Lord Himself to love Him, we cannot love the Lord in or of ourselves. The Lord must give us the love to love Him with. “We love Him because He first loved us.” (1 John 4:19).

The Lord must always be the first love in our lives. As Jesus said to the church of Ephesus, after He mentions all their good works. “Nevertheless I have this against you, that you have left your first love.” (Revelation 2:4). We can do all the good works we want for the Lord, but if we have lost our first love for Jesus, our works mean nothing. The Apostle Paul spends a whole chapter saying this very thing. In 1 Corinthians 13, Paul mentions several things that we could do for the Lord, and they may all appear good on the outside, but if they do not flow from our love for the Lord, they are meaningless. “And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profits me nothing.” (1 Corinthians 13:3).         

        Everything we do for the Lord must flow out of a heart of love for Him. Our work for Jesus needs to be an outward expression of our first love for Jesus. Why do I write for the Lord when I can only type with one finger and it takes me more time and effort than other people? There is only one answer: This is an expression of my love for my Lord Jesus, and it is the gift He has given me to minister to His people.