God Sees Me Through Jesus

Jeremiah 17:9-10:

 “The human heart is the most deceitful of all things, and desperately wicked. Who really knows how bad it is? But I, the Lord, search all hearts and examine secret motives. I give all people their due rewards, according to what their actions deserve.”

Does this verse scare you?

It does me.

How about this one?

Romans 8:1: Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus,

Is the bible contradicting itself? No. The scriptures are clear that God hates sin, and that our sin separates us from him.

The bible is also clear that God loves us and has provided a way to rescue us.

Let’s look at a few bridges which bring the above two verses together.

Romans 5:8: But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Isaiah 53: 5: But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed. We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.

John 3:16-17: For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.

Hebrews 7:25: Consequently he is able for all time to save those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them.

John 5:24: “Very truly I tell you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be judged but has crossed over from death to life.

Father God, thank you. Because of your love for me, you look at me and see Jesus.

Answered Prayer

The other day I was feeling a little down, and I prayed that God would help me to better see how he loves me.

I’ve always been good at focusing on things in the Bible that talk about how much God hates sin, and I’m sure that’s how God looks at me. I believe the truth about his love, that he gave his son for me, but it’s often hard for me to be assured of it.

Sunday, after my prayer, the songs we sang in church touched me with God’s love, especially “What A Beautiful Name It Is.”

The song talked about how Jesus, who is one with God, shared the glory of God from the beginning. But he didn’t want Heaven without us, so Jesus came down to get us. That thought made me want to cry.

Also God put verses in Psalm 103, one of my favorites, in my mind.

Psalm 103:8-14: The Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love. He will not always accuse, nor will he harbor his anger forever; he does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us. As a father has compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him; for he knows how we are formed, he remembers that we are dust.

Another way God has answered my prayer is by filling my heart with reminders and the desire to love those near me. I know that thought didn’t come from myself.

And then I found a verse which struck me as the best answer to my prayer so far:

Psalms 94:18-19: I cried out, “I am slipping!” but your unfailing love, O Lord, supported me. When doubts filled my mind, your comfort gave me renewed hope and cheer.

Thank you, Lord, for answered prayer, and for the love in my heart for you.

"Help Us Have a Fun Rest of the Day"

“Dear God, please help us have fun.”

This is a prayer we’ve taught our children since they were tiny.

We said, “Have fun” about everything—school, trips, all kinds of activities. I told them to have fun when they were taking big tests. I said it when they were going to the doctor.

They learned it well. For years, when the kids prayed at mealtime, they’d finish with, “Help us to have fun for the rest of the day.” Is that all I’ve taught my kids?

Truly, I think this is a good thing. We didn’t want them to be frightened or worried.

We are to have joy as Christians. Laughter is good medicine. We can’t be good witnesses for Christ by being glum-faced.

Proverbs 17:22: A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones.

So when my kids start a new job, I tell them to have fun as they walk out the door. When they’re doing something unknown or scary, I tell them to have a good time.

It’s good medicine for me too.

When Rebecca moved to another state to start her job, I told her to have fun, even while I was trying not to cry. When Benjamin moves to the dorm this fall, I’m sure I’ll say, “Have some fun,” again fighting the pain in my own heart.

No, I’m not sorry for putting the idea of fun into their heads. We have so many things to be nervous about, to be sad about, many problems and difficulties to climb in life. So let’s strive to have fun any time we can.

Philippians 4:4: Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!

Prodigal Father

God is a prodigal father.

A year ago on Father’s Day, we walked into Prodigal Church in Lakewood for the first time. They caught Murray’s attention by promising a free cigar to the first ten fathers. He doesn’t smoke cigars, but he thought it was a catchy draw.

We have loved the church. They stress God’s overwhelming love for hurting people, often referring to the story of “The Prodigal Son” in Luke 15.

But Murray and I both decided to look up prodigal the second time we heard them refer to God as “The Prodigal Father.”

We weren’t sure about that. Our idea of prodigal was of the younger son, wasting his father’s money with sinful living, then finding his way back home.

I looked up prodigal on dictionary.com. This is what I found.

Prodigal

1.

wastefully or recklessly extravagant:

Prodigal expenditure.

2.

giving or yielding profusely; lavish (usually followed by of or with):

Prodigal of smiles; prodigal with money.

3.

lavishly abundant; profuse:

nature's prodigal resources.

Number one seemed to relate to what I expected. The younger son was wasteful, reckless.

But I had to admit, the other listings pointed to the love God shows us: giving or yielding profusely; lavishly abundant.

The father in Luke 15, a picture of God, showed lavish and profuse love to both his lost sons.

He was watching for his younger son, the one who had taken his money and gone away to waste it. He was watching for him and ran to embrace him when he finally came home.

To think of God loving me this way almost brings tears to my crusty old heart.

This son had treated his father as though he wished he was dead. That is a good picture of how hatefully I’ve treated God with the sin in my life.

But Luke says the father had compassion on his son. I looked up compassion on dictionary.com.

Compassion

a feeling of deep sympathy and sorrow for another who is stricken by misfortune, accompanied by a strong desire to alleviate the suffering.

That certainly explains how God has treated us. Because of his sorrow for our suffering, he yielded himself lavishly and abundantly to alleviate our pain.

Yes, God is a prodigal father.

Luke 15:20: So he got up and went to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him.

Romans 5: 8: But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us