I love the idea of renaissance. Obviously, we need fresh starts every day, but I feel like I’m at a point in my life where it’s vital to have some kind of spiritual breakthrough. I can sense it just beneath the surface. It’s waiting for me to step up and claim it. (Does that sound too new-age-y?)
I know God has a great plan for my life even beyond the things that have already happened. No eye has seen, no ear has heard and no mind has conceived the wonderful things God has in store for those that love Him! I’m praying for a re-birth of sorts in my own family and heart – praying for one for you as well.
Filed under: Devotional, Inspirational | Tags: Devotional, sacrifice, surrender
The Church would look a lot different if we really lived what we say we believe. The world would look a lot different, too. Maybe God would have sped the day of Jesus’ return if we had all been following Christ’s example these past 2000 years.
One of my favorite C.S. Lewis quotes is:
“Love is not affectionate feeling, but a steady wish for the loved person’s ultimate good as far as it can be obtained.”
This runs so contrary to our romantic notions of what love is: swooning lovers on a big screen with just the right lighting, makeup and orchestral score. If that is all love is, then we’ve been wasting our time. I would actually add to Lewis’ quote and say that true love is much stronger than just a wish for the loved person’s ultimate good. It is that, indeed, and all the emotion and fervor that accompany it, but it is much more. It is the carrying out of all of those actions we know will, in the end, insofar as it depends upon us, result in the best possible scenario for that person.
For God, this means sending Jesus to take our sins on the cross, bearing our shame and punishment so that we can have life just by believing in Him. It means a relentless pursuit of all of our energies and emotions and will and decisions. He wants all of us for only then will we be truly happy and truly holy. “He has made us for Himself and our hearts are restless until they find their rest in Him” and His perfect will.
For us, this means lifting up not only our hands in worship (and that is important) to give Him glory, but laying down our lives so that He is glorified in every miniscule detail. It means death to sin and self and steady, disciplined growth in the grace and favor of Jesus Christ.
Jesus, God made man, the Word become flesh, shows us both facets of this love-in-action. He is the embodiment of perfect submission, true love, total and utter surrender. And it wasn’t easy for Him. We so often think that it was or must have been easy, but take another look.
See Him sweat great drops of blood in the garden of Gethsemane and wrestle against His own man-will. Hear Him pray, “Father, if it’s possible, take this cup from me. Nevertheless, not my will, but Yours be done.”
And, getting back to my original thought, maybe that’s why we haven’t made as much progress as we should have by now. We simply love our own wills and ways too much, our own ideas of what should be and how life can be lived. Jesus says a servant is not greater than his master, so if Jesus is our master, how much are we really struggling against our own fleshly will and spending ourselves for Him? Are we looking out for our own agendas or are we pressing in to His heart, listening to His will and really loving Him? Is my entire life one long, uninterrupted seeking of the “ultimate good” of God?
“And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him. Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.” (Romans 12:1-2, NLT)
“And He will be called…Everlasting Father…” (Isaiah 9:6)
My 3 year old is getting huge. I hoisted him into bed the other night after he fell asleep on the couch, incredulous that he used to be the same size as my newborn. Throwing one of his legs over the covers, he plopped his little white foot into my hand – except his foot isn’t that little anymore (I wear a size 12, so….). I thought about my father and how he must have done the same thing with me several hundred times.
No matter how old my kids get, I will always be their Dad. This is a truly amazing thought and glimpse into the eternal Father’s heart. When they start school, I will be their Dad. When they go off to college, I will be their Dad. When they get married (or not), I will still be their Dad. When they have families of their own, I will still be their Dad. Even lying on my deathbed (or however God chooses to take me), I will still be their Dad and they will be my children.
This gives us an amazing picture of how our God is and always will be our Father.
God of all time and space, outside our comprehension, thank You for being our Father and for adopting us as Your sons and daughters. There is no other relationship more important, more special to us – there is no other identity more central to our understanding of who You are and who we are meant to be. Thank you for loving us. We love you.
