For God SO LOVED YOU...

In marriage counseling couples are often asked if they want to reignite their marriage. If one or the other says yes then the counselor tells them to return to the place where you last felt the love for one another. When couples are both willing to do this it usually rekindles the truth – that they do indeed love one another. An evangelist once preached about veering off from God’s plan. “Go back to the last place you felt close to God” he said. Not a literal place, but to remember where you were spiritually when you last felt you were right with God. It is heard often that we should “Go back to our first love”.

It’s easy to let things and circumstances get in the way of the love relationship. Kids, friends, church, work, activities in general all vie for our time. Busy-ness is a robber. It will steal every moment it can. Even in the relationship between Christ and His church the robber will come in and make the busy life look profitable and productive when oftentimes it’s the exact opposite. Couples grow apart when other things crowd out alone time. Christians grow cold when they perceive productivity as godliness.

The first thing that happens when we grow apart from Jesus is we quit believing Him. Just as talk is the first thing to go when marriages are in trouble, so too talk with the Lord is the first to go in our spiritual relationship. We quit talking, we quit praying, we quit believing. Then a couple finds themselves in crisis and they want to go back and fix things. It often works when they go back to that place in their hearts they last felt the love.

Sometimes it’s a crisis of our faith that drives us back to seeking God. But where should we begin? How to we reignite the love and faith we had in the Lord? We have to go back to the beginning. And start there.

For God SO LOVED YOU…John 3:16 personalized. Yes, God loved the world, but it’s a personal thing between you and Him. He so loved you, just as you were, right where you were – just as you are, right where you are now. He loves you apart from performance, demands, and limitations. He loves you so much that He will allow a crisis to motivate you back to your first love. I know that’s hard to swallow, but ask people who have been in crisis.

You may be in crisis right now. Your faith in God may be on the line. You were perfectly content to be busy – whether it was church work or family time or friendships or your vocation. You got very busy and it looked good. You were faithful to the stuff, but God is calling you to greater faithfulness to Him. He calls us all back to our first love – each and every one of us. And each and every time He does this, we grow stronger and more faithful and more knowledgeable of God Himself. Truly many of us can say we are thankful for crisis times for they brought us new awareness of the Lord and His great love.

Oh beloved, today is your day to stop a moment and let God have your first time this morning. While it’s early, before busy-ness tries to rob your day of a real relationship with the Lord. He’s waiting for you to speak to His heart and He’s waiting to speak back into your heart. He wants your first thoughts as you lift all your needs to Him in prayer. He wants to tell you the truth about you, first and then about your situation and your life. Since He loves you, you don’t have to fear that He will speak harshly or tell you He’s done with you. God never walks away, never gives up, never runs out of love for you. Whatever it takes, it is worth it. For God’s great desire is that you get closer and closer to Him in Spirit so that your life looks more and more like His. His purpose for you is love, His call over you is love and His desire for your life is love.

For God so loved you and that’s why you can trust Him and walk in the light of His Word, staying close to Him all the days of your life, walking in blessings, talking blessings and living it all out for His glory.

James 4:8 Come close to God, and God will come close to you. Wash your hands, you sinners; purify your hearts, for your loyalty is divided between God and the world.

Deuteronomy 6:5 And you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your strength

Job 42:5 I had heard of You [only] by the hearing of the ear, but now my [spiritual] eye sees You.

Psalm 9:10 Those who know Your name trust in You, for You, O Lord, do not abandon those who search for You.

Need a Good Reason to Celebrate Christmas?

A friend from Northwest Arkansas posted a little video of her boys, ages 6 and 3. She asked them what Christmas was all about.  They got very animated and said toys, gifts, fun!  Off camera you could hear her saying “and it’s Jesus’ birthday”.  They got wide eyed and whispered “Jesus birthday?”  and then they both said, “Happy Birthday Jesus!” They just smiled at each other and you could tell they liked the idea that it was a birthday.  The reason for the Season is easily lost in all the hubbub and celebration of the stuff we get, the places we go and the food we enjoy.  

But the truth about Jesus is all around us during this time of year.  There are the ornaments on the tree. Full of crosses and angels, along with stars atop shining brightly for the world to see.  There are the gift exchanges, signifying the giving of gifts by the Magi to the Christ child.  The evergreen tree reminding us that Jesus is the eternal, everlasting God. 

I saw a sign that I really liked and I think it says it all.  “Jesus is Not Just the Reason for the Season – He’s the Reason for Everything”.  Think about it. He’s the reason we live and move and have our being. We’re not here by accident but by divine decision. He’s the gift that keeps on giving. We receive Christ as our Savior, but that’s not the end of it. He continues to give us a reason to live every single day of our life, no matter what. And if God allows us another day on this earth, it is there to glorify the one who gives us breath.

We look for fulfillment probably more at Christmas than any other time. And yet, more people are sad and lonely and depressed at this time of year than any other. If Jesus is the Reason for the Season, then surely there must be more than this. It must be more than the gifts under the tree, the fellowship among friends, the hugs of family and the expenses incurred. It surely is more than the sorrow we’ve had, the sickness we’ve been through and the rejection, the pain, the loss and the questions that we are going through.

Look beyond the star and into the manger. Behold the Lamb of God! Behold the Christ who came to be all you will ever need! In Him is all your heart has ever desired. In Him is the meeting of every need you will ever face, every Truth you seek and every blessing you long for. This Holy season is a magnificent reminder that Jesus is the Reason for Everything.

Oh beloved, while you are rushing around trying to meet your own needs and the needs of every other person you have to buy for, impress and deliver to, there is Christ! He’s calling you to greater fellowship with Him. He’s calling you to be in tune with His heart so that your heart won’t grow cold in this season of stuff. There will never be another person, relationship, provision or source that can meet your deepest need. But He’s calling you to give you so much more than those gifts. He’s giving you Himself. And that, beloved, is all you will ever need. Let Him love you, let Him speak His truth into your heart, and let Him give you His rest and joy as you fellowship with Him. He will make your Christmas and every single of the 364 other days the most magnificent days as you lean on Him, learn of Him and live for Him.

Christ the Lord is your Savior and He loves you and He’s for you and He is your reason for living for Him all the days of your life.

Colossians 1:13-20  For He rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.  For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things have been created through Him and for Him. He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together. He is also head of the body, the church; and He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that He Himself will come to have first place in everything. For it was the Father’s good pleasure for all the fullness to dwell in Him,  and through Him to reconcile all things to Himself, having made peace through the blood of His cross; through Him, I say, whether things on earth or things in heaven.

John 10:10 The thief comes only in order to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have and enjoy life, and have it in abundance (to the full, till it overflows). (Amplified)