When we are adopted into God’s family on the basis of what Jesus has already done for us, a relationship with God is established in which God is our Father and we are His children. It is a relationship that is personal and intimate. It is a relationship that is profuse with the stubborn, unyielding, unconditional, empowering, extraordinary love of God. Although we parallel that relationship with earthly ones, the comparison is flawed only because earthly relationships, even the best ones, are flawed. And God is the initiator in the love relationship we are privileged to have with Him. He first loved us. It is a love that was first identified in the Old Testament. In Zephaniah, “He will exult over you with joy, He will be quiet in His love, He will rejoice over you with shouts of joy.” And in Jeremiah, “I have loved you with an everlasting love.” Paul prays for the Ephesians to enter into the experience of God’s love knowing they will never fully grasp its depth or fully comprehend its reality and intensity.
In one of those mass emails that did give a poignant reminder of truth, a young girl is walking home from school when the skies darken, the thunder begins to rumble, and jagged shards of lightning flash intermittently. A concerned mom has already decided that today is not a good day for her daughter to be walking home, and she sets out in her car to meet her daughter on the way. As she approaches the school, her apprehension that her child is being taunted by the approaching storm is quieted. The young girl momentarily pauses every few steps to look up at the sky and smile. With apprehension turned to inquisitiveness, as her daughter settles into the car, her mom asks, “Why were you stopping and smiling and looking up at the sky?” “Oh, Mommy,” came the quick reply. “I kept smiling cause God kept wanting to take my picture!” The story brings on our own smiles, but why would the child smile? There is only one explanation. She was so confident in God’s love for her that a natural expression of that love was picture taking!
God’s love is a love that gives, first, His Son, and then an outpouring from His unlimited resources. His love is my safety, my security, my enablement, my encouragement. It softens the darkness and gives reason and purpose. It opens my heart to His unfailing presence and the truth He wants to replace lies with. Nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord. But now I have a choice. I can choose the security and gifts of His love that reflect His Father heart for me, or I can close myself off, wrapped tightly in my own self-made cocoon. He is calling to me. How am I responding?
(Related Bible reading: Zephaniah 3:17; Ephesians 3:16-19; Romans 8:38,39)
In one of those mass emails that did give a poignant reminder of truth, a young girl is walking home from school when the skies darken, the thunder begins to rumble, and jagged shards of lightning flash intermittently. A concerned mom has already decided that today is not a good day for her daughter to be walking home, and she sets out in her car to meet her daughter on the way. As she approaches the school, her apprehension that her child is being taunted by the approaching storm is quieted. The young girl momentarily pauses every few steps to look up at the sky and smile. With apprehension turned to inquisitiveness, as her daughter settles into the car, her mom asks, “Why were you stopping and smiling and looking up at the sky?” “Oh, Mommy,” came the quick reply. “I kept smiling cause God kept wanting to take my picture!” The story brings on our own smiles, but why would the child smile? There is only one explanation. She was so confident in God’s love for her that a natural expression of that love was picture taking!
God’s love is a love that gives, first, His Son, and then an outpouring from His unlimited resources. His love is my safety, my security, my enablement, my encouragement. It softens the darkness and gives reason and purpose. It opens my heart to His unfailing presence and the truth He wants to replace lies with. Nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord. But now I have a choice. I can choose the security and gifts of His love that reflect His Father heart for me, or I can close myself off, wrapped tightly in my own self-made cocoon. He is calling to me. How am I responding?
(Related Bible reading: Zephaniah 3:17; Ephesians 3:16-19; Romans 8:38,39)
