Skip to main content
Happy Valentine’s Day!   A day to celebrate love.  LOVE IT!  What’s better than love?  Nothing – not even chocolate is better than L-O-V-E.  Whether it’s your spouse or your children, your friend or your dog, loving is universal.  It’s not easy nor understood all the time, but its everyday – and yes, as the song says, it makes the world go round.

So this love that God has – you all know that, right?  God’s love.  God’s love is perfect.  Nothing can separate us from His love – it’s never-ending, infinite.  Its called agape – my devotion for yesterday said that “it is not possible to have agape love and to be self-seeking or have self-interest.” 

This perfect love that God has for us – this agape love – has no “self” in it at all – God didn’t think of Himself ONE BIT when He offered up Christ for us.  Jesus Christ, God’s offering of love. 

Last night at Ash Wednesday services, on my way back from communion, I could not contemplate, in my own brain, how God could forgive me over and over and over.  How every time I confess, He forgives.  It’s never-ending.  I just don’t get it.  As I was thinking about that, we were singing the song, Amazing Love and I thought there’s my answer:  it’s amazing and so I will never understand it – ever.

I don’t normally sit in the back of our church, but I snuck in late and sat in the last row.  I had a perfect view of the cross.  We have a huge cross in our church, above the altar and I usually sit right under it.    

This time, however, sitting in the back, the cross was central, right in the middle – in front of me no matter which way I looked.  And it was far away – looming, so to speak.  I LOVED it!  To me, the cross is God’s reminder of His gift of love.  Some churches don’t have crosses – I’m glad ours does.  Its not that I need a reminder, but wait, maybe I do need a reminder.

In my sinful nature, I’m bogged down with fear and selfishness and pride.  I’m not feeling the love, if you know what I mean.  I’m too self-absorbed into what I want, etc.  But the cross reminds me of Who God is and how much He loves.
 

No one loves me like God loves me.  The cross reminds me of that.

Nothing can separate me from God’s love – the cross reminds me of that too.

God’s gift to me – His ultimate gift – was given on a cross. 

My unworthiness – my sin – my reality – was all erased by the cross.  By what happened there, by what was given there.

So, in other words, my start-over – my new life – my NEWness – it all started with the cross.  I’m just sayin – I LOVE THE CROSS!!!!

God, through Jesus Christ, His Son, loves us and He showed us this love through the cross.  Through what happened there – through the surrender there.  Nothing self-seeking – just true, never-ending, unfathomable love. 

I am sure I have used this verse in my blog before, because it is my favorite – one I quote and lean on and claim – one that saved my life literally – and put me back where I needed to be.  Romans 8:38-39:

For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Do you believe that?  That NOTHING can take God’s love from you.  NOTHING?  I mean everything is listed here - its pretty well covered.  Nothing will take God's love away from you.  NOTHING. 

Ash Wednesday followed by Valentine’s Day – this has been a wonderful week of God’s Love so far, hasn’t it?  God’s Love – given to us, through His Son, Who gave it up on the cross.

And, the truth of this never-ending love is shown to us on the cross.   No more convincing needed – at all.
 
Thank You for the Cross, Lord - by Hillsong

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

It all started before that.

As she talked, I sat there amazed.   Not at what she was saying, but at who she had become.   Confident.   Godly.   Faithful.    Respected.   It just hit me that she is now a leader in our church.    A true leader.   The next generation of leaders, in fact. But wait -- is this the same young woman who God brought into our lives a little over 10 years ago?   The anxious, nervous, only-just-started-going-to- church- wanting-to-please-everyone young woman my son introduced us to?   Watching her confidently taking her seat, I started thinking of those first days . . .   and seriously, my breath caught in my throat.   How amazing God is!   He molds, He holds.   He shapes and He grows.   And He does this over and over – and it still amazes me.   That got me to thinking.   God’s amazing work in my life didn’t start with my daughter-in-love.   It started before that.   It starte...
1 comment
Read more

I prayed for toilet paper.

    I left for a LONG walk by myself recently while vacationing at my sister's place.   Armed with a bottle of water, it was a perfect morning to get away.  The sun was shining and the birds were singing - what could be better??   Having walked this path before, I didn't have a worry in the world. Praying, humming and taking in as much of God's creation as I could, all was good.   Well, until . .   My bladder was full and no bathroom was in sight.   I figured I was still about two miles away from the nearest bathroom.   What to do?   Two miles is a LONG WAY when you gotta go.   Some of you know EXACTLY what I mean.   Or maybe you don't have problems like this and if you did, you at least wouldn't tell anybody about it.   But the older I get, the more of a problem it is.   And the older I get, I know that EVERY event in life has a lesson.   Yes, even one like this   So I did what an...
Post a Comment
Read more

Obligation or desire?

I had a question asked of me yesterday that quickened my heart and left me wondering.  I'm still wondering for that matter.  It actually makes me a little sick to my stomach to think that I even have to question myself and admit this out loud.  But here goes . . . . . do I worship God out of obligation or desire? We are studying 1 Kings on Wednesday mornings and King Solomon is the main character.  He's the son of David (known for being the man after God's own heart).  Solomon loved God and worshiped Him.  In fact, Solomon was allowed to build God's temple and became one of the wisest richest rulers of all time.  I Kings says,   5  Three  times a year Solomon sacrificed burnt offerings and fellowship offerings on the altar he had built for the  Lord , burning incense before the  Lord  along with them, and so fulfilled the temple obligations. I'm thinking to myself, WOW, this guy's doing it all rig...
Post a Comment
Read more