Why Should God Love Me?

“But God demonstrates his own love for us in this:

While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

Romans 5:8 NIV

Today I am pondering why is God so good to me. Why it is that God would choose to rescue any of us from sin. The fact is that humanity has always treated God poorly. A more sobering fact is that many in our world today still ignore God and treat him as if he is nonexistent!

I’m thinking that the reason for this is that people really don’t get it! They don’t understand the love that God has for each of them. Because we live in a selfish world, the selfless love modeled by Jesus is completely foreign to our way of thinking. People are clueless regarding the atrocity of the events that preceded the crucifixion and the actual act of crucifixion. People can’t see God’s provision for them because in their own egotistical controlling mind they don’t believe that they need to be provided for. But the greatest thing that people do not seem to get is the incredible blessing of Jesus’ sacrifice for them and what it will mean to them in eternity. For those who accept Jesus Christ, they are guaranteed a life in heaven with God the Father for all eternity.

So the question still begs to be answered. Why should God love me? I’m afraid I really don’t know. All I know is that he does. I too, am amazed by it all. God created us and he loves his creation. Sin kidnapped us and God wants us back! If I really “got it” and could understand the great cost of the ransom that God paid for me, perhaps I would be more obedient and trusting, and perhaps I would find more time to thank him for his blessings. Perhaps I would want to share the wonderful truth of this precious gift of salvation with more people. Perhaps I would pray more. Perhaps I would be more willing to love my neighbor and to forgive as I have been forgiven. Perhaps I would worship and praise him more. I believe that in heaven our gratitude will flow in non-stoppable praise and worship because we finally get it!

Questions:

Are you ever amazed that God loves you?

Have you accepted his love and forgiveness in you life?

Do you relate to the thought that we really don’t fully “get it?”

What are some ways that you might gain greater understanding of God’s love?


Prayer:

Dear Jesus,

I confess in the whole scheme of things I am pretty clueless regarding your selfless love! I pray today that I will continue to seek to understand your love and sacrifice for me more and more. Thank you for the understanding that I do have and I thank you for the understanding that is yet to come. Yes Jesus, I am totally amazed that you would love me. It is understandable that you would love me if I was perfect and good. But I can hardly wrap my mind around the fact that while I was still a sinner separated from you, you still loved me. I am comforted to know that even though everyday I continue to sin in word, thought and deed, yet your love and forgiveness is offered fresh and new every morning. I thank you Jesus for your amazing love. Please help me to “get it!”

In Your Name I pray. Amen.

An Understanding Heart

“…turning your ear to wisdom

and applying your heart to understanding,”

Proverbs 2:2 NIV

When my husband and I were raising our children there were a few things that we wanted them to recognize as constants in our home. We also wanted them to adopt the priorities that we were trying to instill in them. We desired that they would come to value the same things that we valued. When talking to them we would sometimes start the conversation by saying, “Now listen, this is important!” We wanted our children to develop an understanding heart for what we considered to be important.

God is very much the same way. He wants me to develop an understanding for the important things that I need to know. God says, listen, and turn your ears to hear my wisdom. God’s wisdom is the exact opposite of what the world teaches and there is absolutely no godly wisdom to be found in the value system of the world. God reminds me that when I hear his wisdom I must apply that wisdom to my heart and then it will become understanding.

Today I am thinking about some of the things that I believe God wants me to understand.

Paula, Life is not about you – it is about me.
You were created to bring me joy.
I love you and I want you to love me in return.
I want you to share my love with others.
Paula, your brief time spent here on earth is simply preparing you for eternity.
The refinement of your character is what prepares you for heaven and brings glory to me.
It is through your brokenness that you will be changed.
I will be your helper and it is possible for you to overcome every difficulty.
I will never leave you or forsake you because you belong to me.
Paula, when you choose to overcome this life you will receive eternal rewards.
Be joyful because Jesus is coming again!
Learn my truths and apply them to your heart.

I have been noticing that the longer I have been a Christian the more I love knowing God’s ways. I also find that at times I do understand some of the things that God wants me to understand. I have to admit that there are some things on the above list that bother me. One of those things is the part about my life needing to be totally about God instead of me. I really do want my life to be about God, but frequently in times of stress, fear, and anger, I fall back into the habit of my life being all about me. However, those selfish thoughts do not need to be the end of the story. I always have the choice of rethinking the situation and asking the Holy Spirit to help me redirect my thoughts and my attitudes.

Questions:

Do you understand the things that God thinks are important?

Where are you lacking understanding in your relationship with God?

Have you asked God for understanding?


Prayer:

Dear God,

Please forgive me for the sin of self centeredness. God I don’t think I will ever be able to love you as much as you love me. Thank you for reminding me how important it is to share my faith with others. God I do not desire to experience brokenness, but when it comes I pray for your help as I move toward the necessary submission that is needed for me to accept your will above my own desire. Thank you God for your faithful promise, that you will never leave me or forsake me.

In Jesus’ Name I pray. Amen.

Questions and More Questions

"Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see."

Hebrews 11:1 NIV

My grandchildren, Abigail and Joshua, can ask more questions! Sometimes I try to answer them all and other times I don’t know the answers. Sometimes their very young minds cannot comprehend the truth of the answer and so I put them off.

There are some really hard questions in life that beg an answer. We ask God for those answers. Sometimes he tells us, other times he says you cannot understand now but it will be revealed to you later. But one thing I am sure of, God knows all of the answers!

I have come to realize that I really don’t have to have all of the answers. Sometimes God chooses not to provide me with all of the answers so that I can learn to exercise my faith. There have been times in the past that it just seemed too hard to trust God. I needed to know the outcome before I could trust him. A lack of faith has sometimes kept me from trusting God with my life, the lives of those I love, or in some cases it has prohibited me from taking a risk. Other times it has affected my obedience to God because I didn’t feel qualified to do something that God was asking me to do.

Sometimes when I am faced with a project, a new venture, or a life changing decision I become paralyzed with fear because I do not have all of the answers. It is at this point that I reflect on how faithful God has been to me in the past and that allows me to launch out and trust him now because I know that God has been faithful to me in the past, he is faithful in the present, therefore he will be faithful in the future.

It would be my guess that people who do not know the Lord allow the “big questions” to keep them away from God completely. Satan insists on us seeing things with our own eyes and knowing all the answers. Satan encourages us to reject faith. Yet that is exactly what faith is. It is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we cannot see.

Do not be surprised if when you are alone with Jesus in the garden of your heart that all of a sudden Satan comes slithering into your mind whispering lies, raisings doubt, and demanding answers to hard questions like: Why do bad things happen to good people? If God is all powerful, why doesn’t he just fix it? Satan also plants thoughts in your mind that causes you to fear looking foolish and failing.

Trusting God comes by a leap of faith that says, “I don’t know what the future will bring, but I know the One who does know the future and can be trusted,” even if things end badly. God has promised us that he will somewhere down the line use the loss that we experience for our good. God is a god of love and will never leave us or abandon us.

This morning before the birds began to sing I spent time alone with Jesus. As I stepped out onto the deck there was not a bird in sight, I hoped to hear their song of praise to their creator and sure enough, six o’clock on the button the birds began to sing. I couldn’t see the sun as yet but I was certain that it would come up, just as it had everyday of my life. I hoped for the sun, and low and behold, up it came!

Before leaving the deck I begin to think about the beautiful daffodils that bloomed last spring. Now, the daffodils were nothing more than a memory. As I was walking into the house I realized that I do not know the answers to all of the mysteries in life, but just as I am confident that even though the winter snow covers all of the bulbs and the ground freezes, I am certain that I will again see the daffodils of spring. Because of God’s faithfulness in nature I know that I can trust God with all of the other things that I do not see or understand. I have become less dependant upon answers to my many questions but totally dependant upon God and his faithfulness. As always, it was good to be in the garden with Jesus. When I am in the garden I feel God’s peace and amazing love in my life.

Questions:

Have you experienced Satan in your garden?

Do you have a question that keeps tripping you up?

What do you need to trust God for that you cannot see or understand?

Prayer:

Dear God,

Help me by faith to give my unanswered questions to you. Give me your peace so that I will not stumble over unanswered questions but rather bask in the truth that I have come to understand. Help me today to take the necessary leap of faith regarding trusting you. Please take away my doubts and unbelief. Today I also pray that those who are currently experiencing the pain and suffering of an unexplainable event in their life. I pray that they will look to you God, so that they might find strength and courage during this difficult time. I pray that you would also grant them your perfect peace.

In Your Son’s Name I pray. Amen.

Will Heaven Be Worth It?

“No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived
what God has prepared for those who love him.”
I Corinthians 2:9 NIV

If you are like me, you may have at some point thought that heaven would be boring. I don’t know about you but I have no desire to ride around on clouds and play a harp. If that is what you and I think about heaven, then our minds are full of misconceptions! However, heaven will be being with God forever. It is the prize, the reward at the end of life’s race. It will be having the privilege to go back into God’s garden of perfection. The Bible tells us that, “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him.” Because of that scripture I know that heaven will be a wonderful place where I will get to lay aside all of my earthly problems.

The truth is that in heaven our non-productive, un-appreciated work will be over. There will be no one in heaven that will ever misunderstand us again. We will get to stop maintaining our 401-K’s, and our stock portfolios. We will no longer pay bills or taxes. There will not be any concern regarding the possibility of losing our jobs, or how we are going to make ends meet. We will not have to worry about the high cost of living, or how we are going to be able to afford college for our children. We will no longer care about the price of food and gas or if the economy will bounce back.

In heaven, we will get to stop maintaining our diets and our aging bodies. We will not live inside a body that confines us and keeps us from doing the things that we were once able to do. There will be no more handicaps or mental illness. There will be no more physical, mental or sexual abuse. Failed marriages and personal rejection from others will be over. Worrying about our inadequacies, our failures, and our self-esteem will be a thing of the past.

Imagine this – the air we breathe will actually be fresh and clean. The food we eat will be better than organic. Recycling will be over, global warnings and thinking “green” will be obsolete. We will not have to deal with the heartache of war. All of the racism, prejudices, and intolerances of our world will be gone. Death, illness, pain, suffering, and poverty will all be over. We will never again have to elect a president or any other public official. Terrorists and dictators will be gone forever. Sin and the result of sin will be abolished! Satan will be cast into hell for all eternity and we will never have to listen to his lies or be attacked by him again.

Heaven will indeed be an amazing place! In heaven there will be productive work to do which will bring us great enjoyment and satisfaction. But best of all, in heaven we will get to see Jesus face to face. I cannot comprehend or image what meeting Jesus will be like, but I am sure it will be exceedingly wonderful! I really cannot wrap my mind around being in the presence of God, but I do believe that there will be both great and indescribable joy attached to the experience. When Jesus was on earth his followers adored him! Why would our experience be any different? Yes, in heaven we will adore Jesus! Will it be worth it? Absolutely!

Questions:

What is your view of heaven?

How do you feel about leaving all of the problems in life behind?

How does it make you feel to realize that no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him?

Do you know for sure that you will go to heaven when you die?

If you are unsure, pray and ask God to forgive your sins and give you that assurance.

Prayer:

Dear Heavenly Father,

You have given me much in this life that I enjoy, and people that I love. In my humanness it makes me sad to think of leaving those I love behind. Help me to enjoy all of those you have given me and my many blessings every single day. In addition, please give me spiritual eyes so that I might also anticipate the joy of your heaven and meeting you face to face. Help me to make time for you in this life so that I will indeed be comfortable with you in heaven.

In Your Name I pray. Amen.

Meeting God Face to Face

“Let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith,
having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience
…Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess,
for he who promised is faithful.”
Hebrews 10:22a-23 NIV

I am thankful that God’s Word tells me there is a heaven. “Rejoice and be glad, for great is your reward in heaven,” Matthew 5:12a NIV. The truth is; there is a heaven and someday soon every one of us will meet God face to face. Some people will get to stay with him forever and others will be asked to leave his presence forever.

If you have accepted Jesus Christ you need not fear meeting God face to face and standing in the presence of the one who gave his life for you. Yet, I have met some wonderful Christians who do fear this experience. I have been in that position myself. Today I would like to suggest one reason why you might experience fear upon meeting God. You might be afraid of hearing him ask this question, “What have you ever done that would cause me to allow you to enter into my heaven?”

My first experience in church found me in a “religion” that had a lot of rules to keep. I never could keep all of the rules or do all of the things that was required of me. I thought that if I could keep all of the rules I would have God’s favor. I was frustrated. I was fearful. There was no joy in that religion. I had two boxes. One contained “a list” of things I could NOT do and the other box contained “a list” of things I SHOULD do. I was a failure on both counts. Week after week I would sit in church and vow to do better. But I found that even before our Sunday lunch was over I would have said something that I shouldn’t have said and upon entering church the following Sunday I realized I still had left many things undone! Then I would become fearful because my attempt to be perfect had once again ended in failure. My spiritual focus was on religion and its rules vs. a personal relationship with God. I was trying to earn God’s favor.

My loving God saw my fear and frustration and showed me another way. It was the way of “grace.” God’s grace taught me that because of Jesus I was forgiven. It was a done deal. Then God began to teach me that I was to be responsible and accountable for my behavior. When I was faced with failure he reminded me that we were in this relationship together. I learned that it was my job to ask God for his strength to help me with the things that I found impossible to do in my own strength. I began to wonder why God was always faithfully there for me, and then I realized that it was because he loved me and we were on a journey together. I was no longer afraid of God but now filled with joy because of the knowledge that the Spirit of God lived inside of me, to be my helper and my friend. I left “religion” behind and moved into a “relationship” with Jesus Christ.

I realized that trying to be good and doing good deeds would never be enough to get rid of the sin in my life. I could never do anything that would provide me with a suitable answer to God’s question. I now know that when I meet God face to face I simply will reply, “The only thing that I have ever done that would allow me to enter your heaven is that I have accepted and put my trust in the sacrifice and forgiveness that your son, Jesus Christ, made for me.” Jesus has paid my admission price into heaven. “…there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus,” Romans 8:1 NIV. The fear of meeting God face to face is gone.

Questions:

Are you a fearful or a joyful believer?

Are you trying to keep rules or do good deeds so that you will be sure you are going to heaven?

If so, what are those rules and/or good deeds?

How many rules do you need to keep?

How many good deeds are enough?

What if you are short one good deed?

Has God provided a better way?

What is that way?

Have you accepted the way God has provided for you?


Prayer:

Dear God,

It seems that it really is so simple! Why have I complicated your free gift of salvation? Help me to accept in simple faith that you want to get me safely home to heaven. You are indeed a God of love because you have made it so simple. Perhaps it is the simplicity that I have not been able to comprehend. So right now God, I am going to take a leap of faith and accept your free gift of salvation through your Son, Jesus Christ. Thank you God that I no longer fear meeting you face to face.

In Jesus’ Name I pray. – Amen

God's Valentines to You

“Cast all you anxiety on Him because He cares for you!”

1 Peter 5:7 NIV

Today I admit that many times in my life there have been days when I have been in the middle of a situation that consumed all of my thinking. At times I have had a heavy, dark cloud of dread that hung over my head. I confess that many times I have been worried and concerned for days and nights at a time. I have also experienced a heavy pain in my heart that would not leave. What is that circumstance that leaves you feeling fearful, helpless and out of control? Is there something in your life that you wish would go away?

No matter what it is that is plaguing me today or any day, I Peter 5:7 is a reminder that I am not alone in my situation! As I read that I am to cast all of my anxiety on God, because He cares for me, I realize that I must choose to embrace this verse and take it into my heart! The Bible has many examples of how intimately God knows and cares for each one of us. God does not loose track of a single human being that He has created.

This week we celebrate Valentine’s Day. Today I want to share some of God’s Valentines that carry the message of his everlasting love.

Valentine 1 – Jesus, the Good Shepherd knows your name.

“The man who enters by the gate is the shepherd of his sheep.
…and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.”

John 10:2-3b NIV

I am amazed that God knows my name and has not forgotten it! I can’t tell you how many people I have been introduced to and two minutes later I can’t remember their name. God knows my name and He knows yours too, and he never forgets it!

Valentine 2 – God has known all of your days even before you were born.

My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place.When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.”

Psalm 139:15-16 NIV

God knew me before I was even formed in my mother’s womb. Even before a single day came to be all of my days were ordered by God. When it comes to our lives, we are always surprised by what happens to us in life, no matter if it is good or bad. However, God is never surprised by the events that unfold in each of our lives. That’s why it is so safe to trust him, because God is prepared even when we aren’t.

Valentine 3 – God knows the number of hairs on your head.

“And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered.”
Matthew 10:30 NIV

I don’t know about you but every time I brush my hair some of my hair falls out. But God keeps track of each hair on my head and counts them all. I, for one, am amazed.

Valentine 4 – God watches you sleep.

“He will not let your foot slip – He who watches over you will not slumber;
indeed He who watches…will neither slumber nor sleep.”
Psalm 121:3-4 NIV

When was the last time you watched a precious little child sleep? When a little child is sleeping they are perfectly still. Sleeping children are precious! They not fussing or doing a single thing that could get them into trouble. As we watch that child sleep our love for that child just flows from our heart. Imagine this…God watches YOU sleep. What a vision that is and what a comfort. Even with all of our flaws and shortcomings, God’s love pours out of his heart towards you and me as he watches us sleep. Do you still doubt that God loves and cares for you?

Valentine 5 – God stores your tears in a bottle.

“You have taken account of my wanderings; put my tears in
Your bottle. Are they not in your book?”
Psalm 56:8 NIV

Our tears do not go unnoticed. God not only wipes away you tears He gathers them up and stores them in a bottle. What a loving reminder that God cares for us and never forgets our pain and sorrow.

Valentine 6 – God thinks precious thoughts of you.

“How precious to me are your thoughts, O God!
How vast the sum of them! Were I to count them,
they would outnumber the grains of sand.”
Psalm 139:17-18 NIV

God’s thoughts of you outnumber the sand. That means throughout your entire life God will think trillions of thoughts regarding you. Even in your sinfulness and failures, God’s thoughts regarding you are still precious! He hates the sin but loves the sinner!

Questions:

Have you ever doubted that God cares for you?

Are you amazed that nothing gets past God?

Which of God’s Valentines to you do you love the most?


Prayer:

Dear God,

These are truly wonderful Valentines that express your love for me in an incredible way. Forgive me for ever doubting your love and care for me. Please write all of these verses on my heart so that I will always remember how very much you love me. I pray that these verses will become so much a part of my thoughts that they will enable me to fall into your trusting arms each and every time that I am feeling overwhelmed, fearful, discouraged, or unloved.

In Your Son’s Name I pray. Amen.