There are credit cycles -- over time, as the economy booms and contracts, banks will either tighten or loosen their credit requirements. When the economy is strong, banks will loosen their requirements, lending money far and wide. When the economy begins to contract and loans start to default, the purse strings are tightened and the requirements increase -- at that point, the only people who can borrow money are the ones who don't need it.
Rachel received a letter in the mail the other day offering her an easy loan. This particular entity, which I had not heard of, promised not to do a credit check, a major red flag in my book. The entire premise was how easy the loan would be to get, with little mention of qualifications. As an underwriter, it seemed reckless to me. Banks should have some concerns and be willing to do research before handing out money.
This led me to think about God's willingness to extend credit. God recklessly invites any and all to dine at the heavenly banquet table, unconcerned about the background of those invited. Ability to pay isn't a qualifier, since none are able to pay the price necessary to sit at the table with God -- the price is too high, only Christ can pay. The same offer is made to anyone, from the most derelict sinner in prison to the proud business owner who isn't aware of their need to the minister trying to get by on their own -- each is offered a seat at the table.
Such is the love of God. A free offer is extended to all, with no concerns about the background. It is powerful love, given regardless of merit or station, and all are eligible for a seat at God's table.
Showing posts with label God's Love. Show all posts
Showing posts with label God's Love. Show all posts
Monday, January 13, 2020
Monday, December 9, 2019
Christmas Lights
We can all agree that one of the greatest technological feats of the last 150 years is the development of Christmas lights that don't all go out when one bulb dies. Many of us spent hours as children trying to find the one dead bulb that was preventing the entire strand from lighting up. One faulty bulb doomed the whole strand.
As Christians, we can rejoice that one little sin does not doom us to eternity without God. God is perfect and cannot tolerate the presence of sin, so any sin, no matter how small, threatens our ability to dwell forever in the throneroom of God. We would never be able to atone for our own sins -- especially given how high Jesus sets the standard, equating hatred to murder. Fortunately, Jesus is willing to pay the price for our sins. God's love is so powerful that we're set free from the penalty for sin by God's grace, and no one single sin will separate us from God forever. We can confess our sins with gratitude to God for grace and love and have confidence in the salvation God gives freely to us.
As Christians, we can rejoice that one little sin does not doom us to eternity without God. God is perfect and cannot tolerate the presence of sin, so any sin, no matter how small, threatens our ability to dwell forever in the throneroom of God. We would never be able to atone for our own sins -- especially given how high Jesus sets the standard, equating hatred to murder. Fortunately, Jesus is willing to pay the price for our sins. God's love is so powerful that we're set free from the penalty for sin by God's grace, and no one single sin will separate us from God forever. We can confess our sins with gratitude to God for grace and love and have confidence in the salvation God gives freely to us.
Monday, December 2, 2019
When it rains
My son loves sidewalk chalk. Personally, I struggle with the texture of chalk, and I'm a terrible artist, so sidewalk chalk and I are not a match made in heaven. He, however, would do it all day long if it were up to him. He'd skip school to draw maps and zoos on the driveway. It's astounding.
Once, he had completed a particularly complicated map of a zoo when it started to rain. Distressed, he grabbed an umbrella and was out standing over one spot, and then another, trying to shield his creations from the rain. It was touching and sweet, but ultimately futile, as the rains pounded down and slowly washed his creation away. (His sadness quickly passed as he anticipated a blank slate upon which to create anew).
I thought about how often I try to hold onto my own sins in light of God's onrushing grace. There are things in my life that I struggle to let go, things that I hold on to, that I'm certain God can't forgive me for. I beat myself up time and time again, as though God's grace can't cover those sins.
But God's grace covers all. The forgiveness is complete, despite it being unearned. I have no need to hold on to things -- that is only fear speaking. God's grace is strong enough for all of my sins, no matter how deep.
Once, he had completed a particularly complicated map of a zoo when it started to rain. Distressed, he grabbed an umbrella and was out standing over one spot, and then another, trying to shield his creations from the rain. It was touching and sweet, but ultimately futile, as the rains pounded down and slowly washed his creation away. (His sadness quickly passed as he anticipated a blank slate upon which to create anew).
I thought about how often I try to hold onto my own sins in light of God's onrushing grace. There are things in my life that I struggle to let go, things that I hold on to, that I'm certain God can't forgive me for. I beat myself up time and time again, as though God's grace can't cover those sins.
But God's grace covers all. The forgiveness is complete, despite it being unearned. I have no need to hold on to things -- that is only fear speaking. God's grace is strong enough for all of my sins, no matter how deep.
Monday, November 25, 2019
The County Fair
Not too long ago, my daughter wanted to celebrate her birthday at the amusement park. So away we went, and I was drafted to ride the rides with her and her friends, as I had the stronger stomach of the two of us (that's not saying much, though).
I rode the log flume 4 straight times, and then on to the roller coaster and some other stomach churning adventures, before finally we made it to some contraption designed to make you sick to your stomach, where the ride rockets up and then drops, only to repeat the process until your stomach is uncertain as to whether it's up or down.
Well, my daughter stood on her toes, but she was just a hair too short to ride, so she had to stand by the side while I reluctantly joined the other girls for the ride. As I was going up, I noticed her dejected face, as she just missed out on something she really wanted.
What's great about God's love is that it's not a measuring stick. It's not as if we are completely rejected and left behind if we miss out by an inch. We aren't trying to qualify, stretching to earn God's love and hoping that we're tall enough. No, we are enveloped by the love and grace of God, wrapped in unconditional love, and accepted in spite of our failures. Our qualifications depend on Christ, not on us, so we'll never be labeled as not tall or good enough. We are enough because we are Christ's.
I rode the log flume 4 straight times, and then on to the roller coaster and some other stomach churning adventures, before finally we made it to some contraption designed to make you sick to your stomach, where the ride rockets up and then drops, only to repeat the process until your stomach is uncertain as to whether it's up or down.
Well, my daughter stood on her toes, but she was just a hair too short to ride, so she had to stand by the side while I reluctantly joined the other girls for the ride. As I was going up, I noticed her dejected face, as she just missed out on something she really wanted.
What's great about God's love is that it's not a measuring stick. It's not as if we are completely rejected and left behind if we miss out by an inch. We aren't trying to qualify, stretching to earn God's love and hoping that we're tall enough. No, we are enveloped by the love and grace of God, wrapped in unconditional love, and accepted in spite of our failures. Our qualifications depend on Christ, not on us, so we'll never be labeled as not tall or good enough. We are enough because we are Christ's.
Monday, November 18, 2019
X-Rays
The other day I was having an X-ray on my arm. The technician positioned my arm on the plate, and then quickly scurried away to the other side of a wall before activating the machine*. Watching her walk away, I couldn't help but think that if what was about to happen was bad, I think I wanted to run away as well!
It also makes me grateful for the love of God. When things go sideways, when tragedy strikes, when the storms of life beat at the door, God doesn't rush off and find someplace secure. No, God walks with us through the valley of the shadow of death. God abides with us, even in the depths of the storms, so that we might have confidence that we are never alone and that nothing can separate us from the love of God! When trouble comes, God stays beside us!
*I realize that the x-ray technicians are at greater risk due to repeated exposure all day, every day. Just made me think as I watched her find shelter and safety.
It also makes me grateful for the love of God. When things go sideways, when tragedy strikes, when the storms of life beat at the door, God doesn't rush off and find someplace secure. No, God walks with us through the valley of the shadow of death. God abides with us, even in the depths of the storms, so that we might have confidence that we are never alone and that nothing can separate us from the love of God! When trouble comes, God stays beside us!
*I realize that the x-ray technicians are at greater risk due to repeated exposure all day, every day. Just made me think as I watched her find shelter and safety.
Monday, November 11, 2019
My Hat!
So there I was, sitting on a plane, waiting. The plane should have pushed back from the gate, but still we waited, for no obvious reason. I had a movie to watch and the time passed quickly, but 30 minutes into the delay, the pilot announces, "Sorry for the delay. To make a long story short, a mechanic's hat was sucked into the air conditioner and they have to take the whole system apart."
It was another 45 minutes before the repair was done and the paperwork completed. The hat was saved, but it cost a plane of several hundred people over an hour, and then delayed the next flight as well. All for a hat.
God's love works like that. There is no one too inconsequential that God would not pay the ultimate price to liberate them from sin and death. We all feel small and wonder about our role in the cosmic drama, but God pours his love out on each of us. As Augustine says, God loves each of us as if there was only one to love. Though the price may seem huge, God will gladly pay it to redeem even one from the bondage of death.
You are loved, and you are worth the price, even the sacrifice of God's own Son on a cross, to redeem you.
It was another 45 minutes before the repair was done and the paperwork completed. The hat was saved, but it cost a plane of several hundred people over an hour, and then delayed the next flight as well. All for a hat.
God's love works like that. There is no one too inconsequential that God would not pay the ultimate price to liberate them from sin and death. We all feel small and wonder about our role in the cosmic drama, but God pours his love out on each of us. As Augustine says, God loves each of us as if there was only one to love. Though the price may seem huge, God will gladly pay it to redeem even one from the bondage of death.
You are loved, and you are worth the price, even the sacrifice of God's own Son on a cross, to redeem you.
Monday, December 21, 2009
God's Love is Like...
Wood Stain
Why? Well, I just used a bunch of it, and it occurred to me while I was staining that it has something in common with God's love. (Perhaps it was the fumes talking. The warning labels on those cans are pretty scary.)
See, wood stain changes the wood it's painted upon. It soaks into the grain and you no longer see the plain wood, but rather the wood as it has been changed by the stain. It's a new color, despite being the same piece of wood.
Christ does the same for us. Christ's love for us is so deep that, even in our sinful state, he came to earth and died for us. When we give our lives to Christ, he soaks into us, changing us, so that when God looks at us he sees not us, but Christ. Our sin is gone, broken by the power of Christ, and we are born anew through the blood of Christ. We can marvel at this miracle for every moment of our lives, and I believe we will still fail to understand the grace of it. We simply have to accept it--we are changed through Christ. We are no longer sinful, but rather covered in the grace of God, forever beautiful in God's eyes because of what was done on the cross. Sin has lost its sting, death has no victory--we are one in Christ, forever. Amen!
Wood Stain
Why? Well, I just used a bunch of it, and it occurred to me while I was staining that it has something in common with God's love. (Perhaps it was the fumes talking. The warning labels on those cans are pretty scary.)
See, wood stain changes the wood it's painted upon. It soaks into the grain and you no longer see the plain wood, but rather the wood as it has been changed by the stain. It's a new color, despite being the same piece of wood.
Christ does the same for us. Christ's love for us is so deep that, even in our sinful state, he came to earth and died for us. When we give our lives to Christ, he soaks into us, changing us, so that when God looks at us he sees not us, but Christ. Our sin is gone, broken by the power of Christ, and we are born anew through the blood of Christ. We can marvel at this miracle for every moment of our lives, and I believe we will still fail to understand the grace of it. We simply have to accept it--we are changed through Christ. We are no longer sinful, but rather covered in the grace of God, forever beautiful in God's eyes because of what was done on the cross. Sin has lost its sting, death has no victory--we are one in Christ, forever. Amen!
Monday, November 16, 2009
God's Love is Like...
God's Love is Like...
A Tree
Have you ever run into a tree? You've been out walking in the dark and you can't see which way you're going and all of a sudden you hit something solid and immoveable, you get that weird feeling in your nose and pain shooting through your body, and you know exactly how real that tree is no matter whether or not you could see it? God's love is sure like that, some days. Even when you can't see it, you turn a corner and then, bam, it hits you right in the face. It was there all along, though. You just didn't see it.
Tree roots also turn up in the strangest places. A sidewalk thirty yards from a tree will start buckling, and it turns out that a root from the tree has gone all the way out there to find water. It's changed the entire landscape. God's love does that. Ends up in completely different places than where we thought it was, and all we can do is marvel. It's changed our lives forever, even if we didn't expect it to show up.
Trees change through the seasons. From the promising buds of spring to the beautiful canopy of shade to the full palette of colors to empty limbs in winter, the tree is in constant flux. But the tree is always there, always present, never moving. Sounds like God to me! Always moving, never predictable, always there. Sometimes in the winters of our lives we wonder if God's love has left us, just as perhaps in the long winter nights we wonder if the leaves will come back, but spring comes, and we discover the tree is alive and well, just as it has been all summer. It was just in a different form.
Trees grow slower, often beyond our ability to comprehend it, but then we walk out the door and notice that the tree has grown three feet! God's love often moves in imperceptible ways until we look back and notice how much we've changed.
Trees also plant other trees. Some use pinecones, other use nuts or acorns, but each tree plants little seedlings around itself. God's love does the same for us, inspiring us to plant little miniature versions of God's love in our world. All of our love points back to God's love, showing the true beauty!
Trees can be cut down. Sometimes they're burned in fires or just die of disease or old age. God's love never dies. In fact, its stronger than death. My analogies aren't perfect. God's love is perfect. Thanks be to God for that! (And for trees, because most of them are beautiful!)
A Tree
Have you ever run into a tree? You've been out walking in the dark and you can't see which way you're going and all of a sudden you hit something solid and immoveable, you get that weird feeling in your nose and pain shooting through your body, and you know exactly how real that tree is no matter whether or not you could see it? God's love is sure like that, some days. Even when you can't see it, you turn a corner and then, bam, it hits you right in the face. It was there all along, though. You just didn't see it.
Tree roots also turn up in the strangest places. A sidewalk thirty yards from a tree will start buckling, and it turns out that a root from the tree has gone all the way out there to find water. It's changed the entire landscape. God's love does that. Ends up in completely different places than where we thought it was, and all we can do is marvel. It's changed our lives forever, even if we didn't expect it to show up.
Trees change through the seasons. From the promising buds of spring to the beautiful canopy of shade to the full palette of colors to empty limbs in winter, the tree is in constant flux. But the tree is always there, always present, never moving. Sounds like God to me! Always moving, never predictable, always there. Sometimes in the winters of our lives we wonder if God's love has left us, just as perhaps in the long winter nights we wonder if the leaves will come back, but spring comes, and we discover the tree is alive and well, just as it has been all summer. It was just in a different form.
Trees grow slower, often beyond our ability to comprehend it, but then we walk out the door and notice that the tree has grown three feet! God's love often moves in imperceptible ways until we look back and notice how much we've changed.
Trees also plant other trees. Some use pinecones, other use nuts or acorns, but each tree plants little seedlings around itself. God's love does the same for us, inspiring us to plant little miniature versions of God's love in our world. All of our love points back to God's love, showing the true beauty!
Trees can be cut down. Sometimes they're burned in fires or just die of disease or old age. God's love never dies. In fact, its stronger than death. My analogies aren't perfect. God's love is perfect. Thanks be to God for that! (And for trees, because most of them are beautiful!)
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
God's Love is Like...
God's Love is like...
How is God's love like a good book? I know what you might be thinking--books end! Books have to have endings to make sense--if they didn't end, we'd never read them, because we would never have any great endings! How can this be?!?
As I have said before, these analogies aren't perfect. Since God's love is perfect, and we are not, all of them will fall short. This is just for fun.
When I sit down and read a good book, I get so wrapped up in the book that I can barely do anything else. I do not want to do anything else but read that book. It is the single most important thing that I have to do. Maybe this is just my personality, but I become focused on truly good books. I sat down to read the Lord of the Rings Trilogy and did nothing else for four straight days because I was engrossed. Dan Brown? They're not the greatest books in the world, but he can write an entertaining yarn, and I get sucked in. These are just a few examples.
God's love is like that. When we start exploring how deep and how wide and how amazing it truly is, we cannot focus on anything else. Unfortunately we get turned around and lose focus, but when we are centered on that amazing love, why would we want to do anything else? How could we turn away from love that is so selfless it is willing to die for us? How can anything in this world tempt us away from such love?
It takes work for an author to write something amazing that will suck in the reader and keep the pages turning. It takes dedication and a love of writing. I have heard God described as an author who created the story of the world, fell in love with the characters, and wrote himself into the story. There are a lot of holes in that comparison, but it also serves to remind us of how great the love of our God is.
A Good Book
How is God's love like a good book? I know what you might be thinking--books end! Books have to have endings to make sense--if they didn't end, we'd never read them, because we would never have any great endings! How can this be?!?
As I have said before, these analogies aren't perfect. Since God's love is perfect, and we are not, all of them will fall short. This is just for fun.
When I sit down and read a good book, I get so wrapped up in the book that I can barely do anything else. I do not want to do anything else but read that book. It is the single most important thing that I have to do. Maybe this is just my personality, but I become focused on truly good books. I sat down to read the Lord of the Rings Trilogy and did nothing else for four straight days because I was engrossed. Dan Brown? They're not the greatest books in the world, but he can write an entertaining yarn, and I get sucked in. These are just a few examples.
God's love is like that. When we start exploring how deep and how wide and how amazing it truly is, we cannot focus on anything else. Unfortunately we get turned around and lose focus, but when we are centered on that amazing love, why would we want to do anything else? How could we turn away from love that is so selfless it is willing to die for us? How can anything in this world tempt us away from such love?
It takes work for an author to write something amazing that will suck in the reader and keep the pages turning. It takes dedication and a love of writing. I have heard God described as an author who created the story of the world, fell in love with the characters, and wrote himself into the story. There are a lot of holes in that comparison, but it also serves to remind us of how great the love of our God is.
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
God's Love is Like...
God's Love is Like...
a river
Have you ever stood on the banks of a river and tried to contemplate how much water is rushing by? Even when I see the actual number of gallons, I can't understand the sheer quantity of God's love. It's beyond what my mind can grasp.
Rivers don't stand still; they are in constant motion, moving tons of water downstream. God's love is like that. It is in constant motion, not allowing us to stray but staying with us, always clinging to us and surrounding us with immense, eternal love.
Have you tried to swim upstream? I believe that it is possible to turn away from the love of God, but God loves us so fiercely that it is very difficult simply due to the quantity and quality of God's redeeming and precious love. To refuse God is not an easy choice.
A river is moving towards something, the ocean or a lake. In the same way, God's amazing love is always moving towards the fullness of time, when all of creation will be redeemed. We are all blessed to be a part of this amazing journey towards creation's goal of full life in Christ.
a river
Have you ever stood on the banks of a river and tried to contemplate how much water is rushing by? Even when I see the actual number of gallons, I can't understand the sheer quantity of God's love. It's beyond what my mind can grasp.
Rivers don't stand still; they are in constant motion, moving tons of water downstream. God's love is like that. It is in constant motion, not allowing us to stray but staying with us, always clinging to us and surrounding us with immense, eternal love.
Have you tried to swim upstream? I believe that it is possible to turn away from the love of God, but God loves us so fiercely that it is very difficult simply due to the quantity and quality of God's redeeming and precious love. To refuse God is not an easy choice.
A river is moving towards something, the ocean or a lake. In the same way, God's amazing love is always moving towards the fullness of time, when all of creation will be redeemed. We are all blessed to be a part of this amazing journey towards creation's goal of full life in Christ.
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
God's Love is Like...
Comfort Food
Sometimes you just need a meal that is going to remind you of home and bring a wave of emotions washing over you. For me, macaroni and cheese is one of those foods. It's just comfortable; you know what you're going to get, and it's going to make you feel good (unless you decide to follow the directions on the back of the box for 'a tangier taste' and make it with yogurt. Then it will be terrible). Yesterday was one of those days--I went home and made macaroni and cheese, read Calvin and Hobbes, and all was right with the world.
I think God's love is like that. It certainly challenges us and makes us uncomfortable at times, but first and foremost God's love is bigger and greater and more wonderful than we can begin to imagine. God's love wraps its arms around us and consumes us in grace. God's love is the thing that makes everything right in the world; in Jesus Christ we see the fullness of God's love, a love so strong that death and the tomb are not strong enough to bind it. God's love is only true comfort that we do have, and while it should make us uncomfortable, it also is more wonderful than anything humans can imagine.
Monday, September 21, 2009
God's Love is Like...
God's Love is Like...
Why a carpet fan? Mostly because there are two of them blowing here in the church and I can't hear myself think. (We have a bit of a flooding issue. And by 'a bit' I mean that there is a ton of water that is in the carpet and one of the saints of the church is busy vacuuming)
What do industrial fans do? They dry out the carpet after the carpet gets itself into trouble. Even if it isn't the carpet's fault, when water and storms dump all this garbage into the carpet, the fans stand guard as sentries and work tirelessly until the carpet is dried out. The carpet may be a little stained, but it is dried out and the storms have passed.
How is God's love like this?
When we get drenched, through our fault or not, we are often so helpless. We sit and we wait for help, for a deliverer, for a Savior. We are so filled with water we feel as though we might drown; our dreams and our hopes are all sopping wet, twice as heavy as they once were, and we are simply waiting for the end, for the world to swallow us up.
Fortunately, we have a Savior. God often does not prevent the water from soaking us. God does not put an umbrella over us and keep us dry from the rain. Tragedies and storms come and blow us about, and as much as we might long for God to undo everything that has happened, God doesn't work that way. But God never abandons us, even in the midst of the storms. And afterward, when we are sopping weight and the world weighs twice as much as it once did, God puts those loving arms around us and helps us dry out. We still may ask the big questions, but the pieces slowly begin to be put back together. We air out our hopes and dreams, discarding them if they no longer fit and often putting new ones in their place. God is with us all along, helping us to dry, to vision anew, to live once more. The stains are always there, and we never forget the storms, but we are able to live once again, anew, as the children of God.
A Carpet Fan
Why a carpet fan? Mostly because there are two of them blowing here in the church and I can't hear myself think. (We have a bit of a flooding issue. And by 'a bit' I mean that there is a ton of water that is in the carpet and one of the saints of the church is busy vacuuming)
What do industrial fans do? They dry out the carpet after the carpet gets itself into trouble. Even if it isn't the carpet's fault, when water and storms dump all this garbage into the carpet, the fans stand guard as sentries and work tirelessly until the carpet is dried out. The carpet may be a little stained, but it is dried out and the storms have passed.
How is God's love like this?
When we get drenched, through our fault or not, we are often so helpless. We sit and we wait for help, for a deliverer, for a Savior. We are so filled with water we feel as though we might drown; our dreams and our hopes are all sopping wet, twice as heavy as they once were, and we are simply waiting for the end, for the world to swallow us up.
Fortunately, we have a Savior. God often does not prevent the water from soaking us. God does not put an umbrella over us and keep us dry from the rain. Tragedies and storms come and blow us about, and as much as we might long for God to undo everything that has happened, God doesn't work that way. But God never abandons us, even in the midst of the storms. And afterward, when we are sopping weight and the world weighs twice as much as it once did, God puts those loving arms around us and helps us dry out. We still may ask the big questions, but the pieces slowly begin to be put back together. We air out our hopes and dreams, discarding them if they no longer fit and often putting new ones in their place. God is with us all along, helping us to dry, to vision anew, to live once more. The stains are always there, and we never forget the storms, but we are able to live once again, anew, as the children of God.
Thursday, September 17, 2009
God's Love is Like...
God's Love is Like...
This seems appropriate today, as rain pours down and the forecast is filled with more rain.
Rain is disruptive. It forces us to change our schedules. I may want to go play golf, and while I might be able to lower my head and plow through, usually I take the hint and do something else. If we want to insist on doing things our way, despite the rain, it is usually far more challenging and can cause all sorts of headaches. We end up driving down the road in the mud, wheels spinning, out of control sometimes simply ending up stuck.
God's love is like that. It forces us to change how we think, how we live, how we act. We can insist upon doing the things we want, but it often ends up so much harder than it should be. God longs for us to live faithfully, but so often we insist on taking the muddy road, and we end up stuck, mad at God, even though it's often our own fault for choosing that road in the first place.
Rain also soaks through everything. After running through the parking lot in a downpour, I find myself sitting the car, breathless, just as wet as I would have been had I been walking. My glasses are covered, my clothes dripping, my socks wet.
God's love does that. Soaks us to the core. It is such a wondrous free gift that it cannot be confined. We can try and hide from it in our man-made shelters, but God's love is too strong. Where can we hide from God's love? Romans 8 says nothing will separate us from the love of God. It will find us and soak us.
Our responsibility is to go forward and live, soaking wet, showering those around us with the incredible love of God.
The Rain
This seems appropriate today, as rain pours down and the forecast is filled with more rain.
Rain is disruptive. It forces us to change our schedules. I may want to go play golf, and while I might be able to lower my head and plow through, usually I take the hint and do something else. If we want to insist on doing things our way, despite the rain, it is usually far more challenging and can cause all sorts of headaches. We end up driving down the road in the mud, wheels spinning, out of control sometimes simply ending up stuck.
God's love is like that. It forces us to change how we think, how we live, how we act. We can insist upon doing the things we want, but it often ends up so much harder than it should be. God longs for us to live faithfully, but so often we insist on taking the muddy road, and we end up stuck, mad at God, even though it's often our own fault for choosing that road in the first place.
Rain also soaks through everything. After running through the parking lot in a downpour, I find myself sitting the car, breathless, just as wet as I would have been had I been walking. My glasses are covered, my clothes dripping, my socks wet.
God's love does that. Soaks us to the core. It is such a wondrous free gift that it cannot be confined. We can try and hide from it in our man-made shelters, but God's love is too strong. Where can we hide from God's love? Romans 8 says nothing will separate us from the love of God. It will find us and soak us.
Our responsibility is to go forward and live, soaking wet, showering those around us with the incredible love of God.
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
God's Love is Like...
God's Love is Like...
A Hammer
How is God's love like a hammer, a blunt instrument that pounds nails into place, flattens fingers and elicits foul language from the calmest people? Well, as a (very) amateur carpenter, (just ask Shane--my work is not often pretty, but occasionally effective) God is nothing like the hammer I wield. I have bent over and destroyed more nails than I have successfully driven. Of course, my love only slightly resembles God's love. While God's love is perfect and selfless, mine is human and often driven by selfishness and ambition.
A hammer drives in nails that hold things together. It doesn't happen all at once, but takes several strikes. (Unless you're the Karate Kid) The nail probably doesn't enjoy it (I'm not sure nails can enjoy anything, but work with me here), but the nail cannot do its purpose without the hammer. (Or a nailgun, but I don't own one of those, and that's just making things too complicated)
We, too, cannot fulfill our purpose without guidance from God. If we try to succeed on our own, our human, selfish efforts will only lead to our destruction. If, however, we succumb to God's will and God's wisdom, we will manage to live spiritual, Godly lives. It is a question of submission to God's will of the triumph of our own. As it says in James, Draw near to God, and God will draw near to you.
This doesn't mean it is easy. It takes work, patience and diligence to commit to following God's will. It can be painful as we tear away the desires of our human wills and submit to God's will. It can feel like we are being pounded upon by a hammer. But it is for our own good. It is the only way we can fulfill God's purpose for our lives. It isn't easy to follow God's will, but it is the only way to truly live a Godly life.
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
God's Love Is Like...
God's Love is like...
Tea
And no, I'm not talking about sweet tea. Or any kind of iced tea. I love hot tea, drink it every day, even when it's 95 degrees outside and I start sweating the second I get out of bed. I just love hot tea. I go to the grocery store and stand in front of the tea section looking at all the different choices that await: white tea and green tea and oolong tea and tea from Africa and Asia and corners of the world unknown. Each box contains a mystery of scents and tastes that delight.
Tea warms my entire body. I get this warmth that starts in my chest and moves outward to the extremities. It leaves a wondrous feeling in my whole being, as though I am now better off because whatever chill I had has left. It leaves a presence in my body even after I have finished it.
But I have to be careful with tea. I'll often wait ten, fifteen, twenty minutes before I drink it, scared of burning myself due to the extreme heat. Sometimes I'll still be sipping on it an hour after I have made it, only then finding the temperature just right to drink it.
I also forget about my tea. Rachel gives me a hard time because I'll often make tea and then come back much later to find a lukewarm mug of tea sitting on the counter, brewed at some unknown point when it sounded so wonderful, only to become distracted by something else and abandon it on the counter.
God's love shares all these attributes with tea. God's love comes in so many wonderful colors: the orange of the sunset, the green of new leaves, the pink of a newborn child, the deepest blue of the wild oceans. God's love has such texture and richness, and often I stand before it, with no feeling but wonder at all that God has done.
When I get the chance to dive into God's love, it is joy unbounded. I am overwhelmed, and it warms my soul, warmth that travels to the corners of my body and beyond, as I seek to share the love of God with everyone. God's love brings us together so that we might love one another, sharing in the gifts of God.
God's love can be too intense to understand, to comprehend, to draw near. I think of Moses, sheltered by God's hand, only allowed to see God's back. Surely God's love is too much for us to bear in its intensity. When God was revealed to us in Christ, we were so confused by how he chose to live that he ended up crucified on the cross, so different, so intense was the love of God. It has to cool in order for us to grasp and comprehend it.
And I am guilty of forgetting that, as well. I set it aside, leaving it for something shiny, something alluring, those distractions that flit across our minds, capturing our passions and leading us elsewhere. God's love cries out for our attention, but we wrap ourselves in our own delights.
Thanks be to God that, unlike tea, we never reach the bottom of the mug of God's love.
Monday, September 14, 2009
God's Love is Like...
God's Love is Like...
I thought this was particularly appropriate for a Monday morning! How is God's love like the weekend?
Don't we all long for the weekend? Starting with Monday morning, often even Sunday night, we begin to long for the next weekend. It is a rest from our labors. It is a time to relax and get outside, to break from routines and enjoy God's good creation. The weekend places demands upon us, but often we enjoy them, working in the yard or around the house, getting out to exercise or playing with children. The weekend often isn't easy, but it's a different kind of work, one that leaves us refreshed and renewed. The weekend often makes it possible to make it through the week.
God's love makes it possible for us to make it through the day. God sustains our very being--in Isaiah we read that the Lord has inscribed us on his hands. God's love also isn't easy--it's a different kind of work, a different kind of life that God's love calls us to live. It often forces us to work, to spend time in prayer or service, but I find I enjoy that kind of work more than any other--It leaves me feeling like I'm living the life God is calling me to live. We should long for God's love with the same energy we long for the weekend; we look forward to and treasure those moments where God's love is so clear in our lives, whether it is in the intricate beauty of a spiderweb or the sweet embrace of a child. God's love is a break from all that is going on in the world--God's love never leaves us, but we often have to set time aside to realize its presence with us.
May we celebrate the love of God in the same way we celebrate the coming of the weekend!
The Weekend
I thought this was particularly appropriate for a Monday morning! How is God's love like the weekend?
Don't we all long for the weekend? Starting with Monday morning, often even Sunday night, we begin to long for the next weekend. It is a rest from our labors. It is a time to relax and get outside, to break from routines and enjoy God's good creation. The weekend places demands upon us, but often we enjoy them, working in the yard or around the house, getting out to exercise or playing with children. The weekend often isn't easy, but it's a different kind of work, one that leaves us refreshed and renewed. The weekend often makes it possible to make it through the week.
God's love makes it possible for us to make it through the day. God sustains our very being--in Isaiah we read that the Lord has inscribed us on his hands. God's love also isn't easy--it's a different kind of work, a different kind of life that God's love calls us to live. It often forces us to work, to spend time in prayer or service, but I find I enjoy that kind of work more than any other--It leaves me feeling like I'm living the life God is calling me to live. We should long for God's love with the same energy we long for the weekend; we look forward to and treasure those moments where God's love is so clear in our lives, whether it is in the intricate beauty of a spiderweb or the sweet embrace of a child. God's love is a break from all that is going on in the world--God's love never leaves us, but we often have to set time aside to realize its presence with us.
May we celebrate the love of God in the same way we celebrate the coming of the weekend!
Friday, September 11, 2009
God's Love is Like...
God's Love is Like...
A Spider
(I can picture my wife cringing already)
Yes, God's love is like a spider. How? Spiders surprise us. They show up in unexpected places, usually eliciting some sort of reaction from us. Often we recoil, surprised at the presence of this small arachnid, wondering how it arrived in this place to dwell with us.
God's love does the same thing. It shows up in unexpected places. It's what made Jesus so hard for the Pharisees to understand; they kept thinking he would spend all his time in the temple rather than going out and eating with sinners. God's love does the same thing today, too. God's love is in the food banks and the battered women's shelters. God's love resides in the grandest mansion and underneath the freeway overpass. God's love shows up, sneaking in through the cracks in our lives to reveal itself in unlikely ways.
Often God's love makes us uncomfortable, just like spiders do. God calls us to interact with those who are different than us. God's love pushes us to understand this world through a different lens than we are used to viewing life through. God wants us to see all of this world as wrapped in love, rather than just the parts that make us happy. God loves the drug addict and the corrupt millionaire, and often we get all squeamish trying to figure out how to love this world like God does.
Spiders come in every shape and size, just like God's love. You can never predict what it will look like, except for the fact that it will probably amaze you when we catch even a glimpse of true Christian love.
See--that wasn't so bad!
Thursday, September 10, 2009
God's Love is Like...
God's Love is like...
A waterfall
Do you ever stop and wonder how waterfalls don't run out of water? I do all the time. For some reason this question has never come up when I stand before a river flowing through a city, but if I'm standing at the base of a waterfall, I'm staring up asking that very question. I know the logical answer, but the reality is that there, at the base of a waterfall, the sheer quantity of water seems so much more real than when I'm staring at a river. Standing before a river I can't quite grasp how much water is in there. I don't see the depth and realize how fast it is moving. Sometimes it seems like it's barely moving at all. But a waterfall forces us to contemplate, to wonder, to stand in awe of the sheer volume of water rushing over the falls. I believe that only at waterfalls do we truly understand how much water is in the river.
God's love is like a waterfall. God's love surrounds this world. God created the universe, and all that is in it. God loves all of it. God is gracious and merciful and wonderful, and God's love extends so deep and wide that we often miss most of it. But every now and then, we have those moments where we get a glimpse of how big God's love is. We realize, in a sweet embrace, in a tender moment, that God's love is bigger and wider than we can even begin to imagine. We get caught up in it and simply have to praise God for having such amazing love.
So maybe God's love isn't like a waterfall. Maybe it would be more appropriate to say that we have waterfall moments in life where we recognize how powerful God's love is.
Thanks be to God for love.
A waterfall
Do you ever stop and wonder how waterfalls don't run out of water? I do all the time. For some reason this question has never come up when I stand before a river flowing through a city, but if I'm standing at the base of a waterfall, I'm staring up asking that very question. I know the logical answer, but the reality is that there, at the base of a waterfall, the sheer quantity of water seems so much more real than when I'm staring at a river. Standing before a river I can't quite grasp how much water is in there. I don't see the depth and realize how fast it is moving. Sometimes it seems like it's barely moving at all. But a waterfall forces us to contemplate, to wonder, to stand in awe of the sheer volume of water rushing over the falls. I believe that only at waterfalls do we truly understand how much water is in the river.
God's love is like a waterfall. God's love surrounds this world. God created the universe, and all that is in it. God loves all of it. God is gracious and merciful and wonderful, and God's love extends so deep and wide that we often miss most of it. But every now and then, we have those moments where we get a glimpse of how big God's love is. We realize, in a sweet embrace, in a tender moment, that God's love is bigger and wider than we can even begin to imagine. We get caught up in it and simply have to praise God for having such amazing love.
So maybe God's love isn't like a waterfall. Maybe it would be more appropriate to say that we have waterfall moments in life where we recognize how powerful God's love is.
Thanks be to God for love.
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
God's Love Is Like...
Ever try to describe the love of God? It's impossible. How can we, with our humble words, describe something so big, so deep, so great? We can't. We can only use analogies. With that in mind, I'm going to start trying to come up with some fun analogies for God's love.
God's love is like an elephant
Elephants are the biggest animals in the room.
They go where they like, do what they like, and neither you nor I can say much of anything to make it change its mind.
God's love is like that. It's the biggest thing in the room. It's larger than anything we could draw or conjure up. It goes where it likes, loves who it wants, and there isn't a single thing in this world we can do to make God change God's mind about who receives that love. That's how amazing God's love is.
They say elephants never forget. I doubt that's true, but if it was, God's love would be like that, because God never forgets us.
Elephants are unique. There isn't anything else in this world like an elephant. They look different than a lion, different than a mouse. Is there anything else in this world like God's love? There are things that are similar, that point to God's love, but nothing is the same as God's love.
No two elephants are the same. They are each different, and there are even different breeds of elephants. God loves each one of us in a different way, even though the love for us is the same. God doesn't just love us as one big group; God loves you and I, each of us, and holds us in the palm of God's great hand. God's love also looks different in different places. How we live out God's love might look different in the streets of Chattanooga than it does in our living rooms.
Elephants love peanuts. God made peanuts. God loves what God made, so God loves peanuts.
Even the elephant can teach us something about God's love.
God's love
is like
an elephant
is like
an elephant
God's love is like an elephant
Elephants are the biggest animals in the room.
They go where they like, do what they like, and neither you nor I can say much of anything to make it change its mind.
God's love is like that. It's the biggest thing in the room. It's larger than anything we could draw or conjure up. It goes where it likes, loves who it wants, and there isn't a single thing in this world we can do to make God change God's mind about who receives that love. That's how amazing God's love is.
They say elephants never forget. I doubt that's true, but if it was, God's love would be like that, because God never forgets us.
Elephants are unique. There isn't anything else in this world like an elephant. They look different than a lion, different than a mouse. Is there anything else in this world like God's love? There are things that are similar, that point to God's love, but nothing is the same as God's love.
No two elephants are the same. They are each different, and there are even different breeds of elephants. God loves each one of us in a different way, even though the love for us is the same. God doesn't just love us as one big group; God loves you and I, each of us, and holds us in the palm of God's great hand. God's love also looks different in different places. How we live out God's love might look different in the streets of Chattanooga than it does in our living rooms.
Elephants love peanuts. God made peanuts. God loves what God made, so God loves peanuts.
Even the elephant can teach us something about God's love.
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