Undeserved Love

“I’m forgiven because you were forsaken; I’m accepted you were condemned. I’m alive and well your Spirit is within me because you died and rose again.  Amazing love, how can it be that you my king have died for me?” “You are my King” by Newsboys 

Have you ever stopped to think about the depth of Jesus’ love for you and me?  Undeserved love, undeserved life, undeserved grace and mercy, all for us.    

To be honest, it took me some time to understand that there is nothing I can do to earn God’s love or approval.  I was used to doing “good” things and being a “good” person; I liked approval and wanted to keep earning it.  When I finally understood that God’s love for me doesn’t depend on me, on what I do or don’t do, I finally could accept His love the way He intended it.  There is so much freedom when you do this… freedom from fear, comparison, guilt… there is just love. It may sound a little corny, but what can I say, it is true! But oh, sometimes it seems easier to do, to work, to earn than to believe, doesn’t it? 

“God saved you by his special favor when you believed.  And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God.  Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it. (Ephesians 2:8-9) It is interesting how our feelings can go from one extreme to the other in a matter of minutes. One moment we feel so unworthy, so wrong for all the things we have done, and the next something may happen and we feel so much better than the person beside us, there is always the danger for pride to sneak in and we don’t even know where is it coming from.  I love the way God works, He knows how dangerous pride is, and how easily it is to fall into its trap.  He makes it very clear that His mercy and His grace are unearned. They are a gift, which He gives to us because He loves us.  I really like what Paul says in Romans 12:3 “I give each of you this warning: Be honest in your estimate of yourselves, measuring your value by how much faith God has given you.” We need God to keep reminding us to be humble, the more He gives us, the more humble we must be because the greater the temptation to see ourselves in a different light.  If God decides to bless us with material things we need to thank Him, as always keep Him first and ask for wisdom to manage His money; if He decides to bless us with insight into His Word and time to study it, the same way we need to thank Him, put Him first and ask Him who does He want to help or touch through what He has taught us; and the same goes if He decides to bless us with opportunities, with leadership positions, with anything God decides to give us.  You see, God has an amazing plan for our lives and He gives us everything we need to achieve it, but He doesn’t give it to us ready; He expects us to be disciplined and learn, grow, develop our gifts, to allow Him to shape us and prepare us and when the time is right, He uses us, because it is not only about us, it is about others, “Give as freely as you have received!” (Matthew 10:8)  It is not about thinking how good we are, how we have earned what we have because we have worked so hard… no!  It is God who allows us to do what we do and to have what we have, remember what Jesus said “apart from me you can do nothing.”  (John 15:5)

“For all have sinned; all fall short of God’s glorious standard.  Yet now God in his gracious kindness declares us not guilty.  He has done this through Christ Jesus, who has freed us by taking away our sins.”  (Romans 3:25) God has made us right with Him through Jesus; just think about it, He has declared us not guilty, whatever we have done, He has forgiven us!  “He has removed our rebellious acts as far away from us as the east is from the west.”  (Psalm 103:12) Can you feel His mercy and favor?  Can you see how He wants to bless you abundantly? When we put God first, delight in His presence and recognize that everything we have or do has been given by Him, then we can truly receive His undeserved love, which is better than anything we have ever felt before.

Out of our comfort zone

When I go to the gym, I usually warm up in the treadmill but only in the manual workout, the other day I finally figured out why I do this. I realized that in manual I am in control of the difficulty level, I know what to expect and I like that.  The truth is I don’t make it too hard, just enough to feel I am working.  I think in life we also like the manual mode; it doesn’t exist, but we still like to pretend it does.  So as I was walking in the treadmill I kept repeating “please God… don’t let me get too comfortable!” you see, we enjoy our comfort zone and we don’t want to leave it.  I think deep inside we know that we have been called to do so much more, but we just stay in one place because it is familiar territory. Jesus said “The foxes have dens to live in, and birds have nests, but I, the Son of Man, have no home of my own, not even a place to lay my head.” (Matthew 8:20)  Are we ready to leave our comfortable space and do what God has called us to do?  And I don’t mean we are going to have to leave our home, material possessions and live in hardship… God decides what to do and each case is different, but many times the comfort is in the known, staying in the things we feel we can handle, it is an inner comfort.

Sometimes I think about what others miss when I choose not to do anything and about what I miss when I am afraid to take that leap of faith.  I can see Jesus lovingly telling me “Why are you afraid? You have so little faith!”(Matthew 8:26) How can we really see God’s mighty power if we don’t take the opportunities He gives us so He can be glorified?   How can we be witnesses?  The www.freedictionary.com describes a witness as “One who can give a firsthand account of something seen, heard, or experienced” How can we witness if we are too busy protecting our life from experiencing God firsthand?  One thing is to read about God and to know about Him, another is when we hold on to Him for our life, when we believe Him for a miracle, when we finally realize that we can’t do anything without Him,   When we are so broken that we feel we can’t even breathe, and yet, we know there is hope. Experiencing God firsthand is powerful and even more when He sends us to shine a light into dark territory.

During the weekend I heard a teaching about how we are in a team, God’s team.  When you belong to a team you don’t decide when to train, what uniform to wear, what games to play; you follow instructions and do it.  The coach makes decisions because he knows better and everyone in the team must play according to the plan for the team to come victorious.  Makes sense doesn’t it?

If we read carefully in the Bible, we can see how God loves to take people out of their comfort places, prepare them in the journey and use them mightily for His glory.  God told Abraham “Leave your country, your relatives, and your father’s house, and go to the land that I will show you.”  (Genesis 12:1); Jacob had to leave the comfort of his home and so did Joseph when he was sold as a slave.  Moses escaped to the desert, Ruth had to live in a foreign land and Esther had to be part of the king’s harem, and those are only a few examples.  The disciples also had to go out of their comfort zone, and when Jesus was sending them out He told them “The harvest is so great, but the workers are so few.  Pray to the Lord who is in charge of the harvest, and ask him to send out more workers for his fields.  Go now, and remember that I am sending you out as lambs among wolves…Anyone who accepts your message is also accepting me.  And anyone who rejects you is rejecting me.  And anyone who rejects me is rejecting God who sent me.”  (Luke 10:2-3;16)  When the disciples came back they told Him all the wonderful things that happened and Jesus said “I have given you authority over all the power of the enemy and you can walk among snakes and scorpions and crush them. Nothing will injure you.  But don’t rejoice just because evil spirits obey you; rejoice because your names are registered as citizens of heaven.” (Luke 10:19-20)

May we become part of those workers out in the fields, spreading the peace of knowing God and may our hearts be full of joy as we hold on to God’s hand ready to be led where He knows we should be, out of our comfort zone and into His precious presence.

God's gifts

The other day I got a package in the mail. I don’t know about you, but I love getting packages so I was very happy and put it in the kitchen counter to open it later with more time.  From the counter I moved it to the table and then to the stairs where it stayed for exactly one week.  I knew the content of the package was good and I actually needed it, but I was too busy to open it.  I mean, does this make any sense? Couldn’t I find five minutes in my “busy life” to open a package?

So one day walking up the stairs, I saw the package and thought… maybe this is what happens with the precious gifts God gives us.  We know they are good; we know we need them, but we are just too busy to receive them.  

God has prepared for us amazing gifts, so I wonder why we don’t run to Him and open our arms to accept them, why do we prefer to fight our daily battles on our own when we have “the God of angel armies by our side” as Chris Tomlin reminds us in his song - Whom shall I fear. 

“He will give you all you need from day to day if you live for him and make the Kingdom of God your primary concern.”  (Matthew 6:33)  When we put God in His rightful place, first in our life, then He will give us everything we need, more than we can dream of!

Have you ever bought a gift for a special person? First you spend some time thinking what would they like, then you check out the options, think some more, go and buy it and carefully wrap it.  You are so excited and just can’t wait to see their face when they open it… you have put so much love into it because that person is really important to you and you want to find the way to tell them.  Well, God does the same for us but multiply everything: the time He spends preparing it, the love He puts into it and the excitement He feels when we finally open it. 

God has given us life “My purpose is to give life in all its fullness.”  (John 10:10); He has given us peace “I am leaving you with a gift- peace of mind and heart.”  (John 14:27); He has given us power “For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline.”  (2 Timothy 1:7);  He has given us the  Holy Spirit “and he has identified us as his own by placing the Holy Spirit in our hearts as the first installment of everything he will  give us.” (2 Corinthians 1:22) He has given us eternal life “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16) Have you ever stopped to think about everything God has given us? Have you ever read the promises in the Bible knowing they are for you?  When He made them; He was thinking about you and me. 

Maybe there are some gifts by your stairs waiting to be opened, maybe you have opened them, but you are still not too sure if all the contents are for you, or maybe there are still some instruction manuals that you need to read to take full advantage of your gift, whatever stage you are in, you can be sure that God is by your side, beaming with joy because you are opening His presents.    

A new focus

Have you noticed how at an especial sports event or a performance everyone is focused only on the main court, the field or the stage, no one pays attention to what is going on around them.  Many times we do the same thing in our life, we concentrate on the big things, the main events and somehow we disregard the daily “little” things in life. The same way we may be focusing on something we have been praying for and we keep thinking that our prayers will be answered in a certain way when God does something completely unexpected and indescribably better.  We are looking one way and God is moving in the opposite direction.  We need a new way of seeing things!

“I am at war with the obvious” I love this statement made by William Eggleston, an American photographer.  The www.freedictionary.com describes obvious as easily perceived or understood, and that is what we are getting used to, things that we can comprehend quickly because there seems to be no time to ponder, contemplate or even think.  Are we too distracted, too busy, too entangled in our lives or just too lazy to go deeper?   

Eggleston believed that “by looking patiently at what others ignore or look away from, interesting things can be seen.”* I believe the key word here is patiently! 

We keep wanting to see something that we can understand.  We ask God to give us a sign, even if it is just a small one, but sometimes we get nothing, like when Elijah was praying for rain. “Elijah climbed to the top of Mount Carmel and fell to the ground and prayed.  Then he said to his servant, ‘go and look out toward the sea.’ The servant went and looked, but he returned to Elijah and said, ‘I didn’t see anything.’ Seven times Elijah told him to go and look, and seven times he went.” (1 Kings 18:42-43)  He kept praying and believing even when there was nothing to show that his prayers were being answered.  He could have doubted, but he didn’t have to see with his eyes what he knew God could do.  Even before he started praying he declared that God was going to send rain.  “Elijah said to Ahab,’ go and enjoy a good meal! For I hear a mighty rainstorm coming!” (1 Kings 18:41)

That is how God operates; He doesn’t work in the obvious, in the expected or in the easy.  He is God; He does big things and works in the impossible, the improbable and the amazing!   

For our journey of faith we need a new mindset, we need to let go our old views based only on logic. We need to be prepared to see further than we are used to and to go deeper than we think possible.  Remember when Jesus was walking and a multitude of people were around him and a woman who had been sick for twelve years “came up behind him through the crowd and touched the fringe of his robe… immediately the bleeding stopped, and she could feel that she had been healed.” (Mark 5:27-29) When Jesus realized what had happened, He asked who had touched his clothes, but the disciples couldn’t understand Him… everyone was touching his clothes!  God’s power can be seen, of course, but more than that it is felt.

“For we are not fighting against people made of flesh and blood, but against the evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against those mighty powers of darkness who rule this world, and against wicked spirits in the heavenly realms.” (Ephesians 6:12)

If we only focus on what we can see and understand then we will not be prepared for the battle and for the blessings, because there is so much more than we can see.  “We live by believing and not by seeing.” (2 Corinthians 5:7)

We can’t let our sight determine the extent of God’s reach, and the greatness of His plans for us. Why do we trust our eyes more than we trust Him? When will we realize that we can’t guess God, we can’t see everything He is doing, but we can hold on to Him and let Him guide us. “Your word is a lamp for my feet and a light for my path.”  (Psalm 119:105)

*http://www.egglestontrust.com/df_afterword.html

God heals

In the world we often see awful things happening sometimes in faraway places to people we don’t know and other times to friends and family close by.  It is difficult to understand why bad things happen and we may feel helpless as we witness things that we wish we could ignore and pretend they are not real.  

When we feel crushed with the pain around us we need to remember how Jesus prepared us ahead of time by saying “I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows.  But take heart, because I have overcome the world.”  (John 16:33) Our peace is in Him, we can’t allow anything to take that peace away from us.

So what to do when bad things happen to people around us?  After we claim the peace that God has given us we need to remember that we are never bystanders; God has given us the power to act in every situation.  To those involved, He gives different responsibilities, all equally important because He wants us to put love into action.  “We know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.” (Romans 8:28)  We have to hold on tight to God’s promises, especially when everything looks the complete opposite; we need to say them out loud and be a witness.  Our attitude and our actions speak louder than our words, especially during difficult situations.

People who are suffering are looking for support, kindness and understanding.  They are looking for the healing and peace that only Jesus can give them. But so many times we offer long sermons and judgmental advice like Job’s friends, which made him feel even worst “Do you think your words are convincing when you disregard my cry of desperation?” (Job 6:26) or we are quick to offer solutions when maybe what they are looking for is someone that would listen to them.  

When others are hurting we need to reach out the way Jesus did, where they are, attending their immediate needs.  Love doesn’t have to be complicated; it can be a hospital visit, a homemade meal, a phone call, a ride to an appointment or an offer to buy groceries.  There are so many ways to bless people who are in emotional or physical pain, and we may think our actions are small and almost insignificant when compared to the huge problems they may be facing, but when we freely give, God multiplies our offering. He steps in and does His thing which can turn the smallest action into a life changing event.   

God’s plan for all of us is so much more wonderful than we could ever imagine that we can’t let sadness distract us from it, yes, pain and suffering are real, but so is the power of God over them. “Yet what we suffer now is nothing compared to the glory he will give us later.”  (Romans 8:18)  When people around us feel there is no hope, we need to remind them that there is and the best way is to show them. God has already healed us; Jesus “was wounded and crushed for our sins.  He was beaten that we might have peace.  He was whipped, and we were healed!” (Isaiah 53:5)

I pray for God to give us the wisdom, strength and courage to be light where there is darkness and joy where there is sorrow so everyone will see that He is powerful and many will receive hope, healing and restoration. ”The Lord is close to the brokenhearted; he rescues those who are crushed in spirit.” (Psalm 34:18)

How stubborn can we be?

Have you ever done something that you knew was not good for you, but did it anyway?

I did something like this just yesterday.  My daughter and I make delicious brownies, but we try not to make them too often because when we do we want to eat them all at once.  We made brownies this week and yesterday I was alone at home, I looked at them and decided to eat all that was left.  I knew I was going to be sick later, and I was, but for some odd reason I did it anyway.  I mean… how stubborn can we be?

So, eating too many brownies once in a while may not be a big deal, but it is a good example of how we make decisions based on what we want in the now, and how easily we give in to our flesh. 

Louis Gigglio once said that we are always two seconds away from making disastrous decisions, and that may sound very negative, but it is true!

In Jeremiah 44:4 God says    “Again and again I sent my servants, the prophets, to plead with them, don’t do these horrible things that I hate so much.  But my people would not listen or turn back from their wicked ways.”  God suffers when we turn away from Him, why?  Because He loves us! Just like when someone we love so much is doing something that in the long run is going to hurt them, we plead with them because we don’t want anything bad to happen.  “The Lord God Almighty, the God of Israel, asks you: Why are you destroying yourselves? (Jeremiah 44:7)

“Then all the women present and all the men who knew that their wives had burned incense to idols…answered Jeremiah, we will not listen to your messages from the Lord! We will do whatever we want.” (Jeremiah 44:15-17)  If we are really honest, doesn’t that sound like something our actions sometimes say to God? In big or small things in our daily life, many times we choose to go against what God has taught us.  Yes, we can come up with many excuses, such as… “It was too hard, I didn’t realized it, everyone else was doing it”… at the end there is only one real reason … we wanted to do it.

We are very stubborn; it would be so simple if we could accept that we are not able to run our lives on our own.  We are surrounded by too many distractions that look too good and satisfy the now, but what about the later?  Our feelings are like a roller coaster, we can’t depend on them and we base our actions on what we want.  We really need God! We need His instruction and guidance every single second of our lives.  The only way to fully live is according to God’s will, and sooner than later we will realize that His will is the best thing for us.  Only God can fulfill us, renew us and give us true happiness. 

I like the way Louis Gigglio finished his teaching; he said that since we are always so close to making a wrong decision, relying on our power to say no is not enough; instead we need to concentrate on the power of God to guide us and to help us make the right decision. 

When we have a relationship with God, when we talk and listen to Him daily our lives change from the inside out, there is more of Him and less of us and our stubbornness little by little becomes joyful obedience.

“Oh, the joys of those who do not follow the advice of the wicked, or stand around with sinners, or join in with scoffers.  But they delight in doing everything the Lord wants; day and night they think about his law. They are like trees planted along the riverbank, bearing fruit each season without fail.  Their leaves never wither, and in all they do, they prosper.”  (Psalm 1:1-3) 

Love waits

My niece bought a cute ring with the words: “Love waits”; when I first saw it, immediately I thought about one kind of waiting, the physical one, but talking to Shelly, my special friend, I realized that love waits in more ways… actually in all ways!  No wonder God reminds us so many times in the Bible that “Love is patient and kind… love does not demand its own way.” (1 Corinthians 13:4; 5) This journey is all about the waiting, the suddenly we love so much and the waiting again for the next suddenly.  

Waiting is hard, we want things in our own timing and that is usually “right now!” but what if we spin around the negative view we have of waiting and see it as an expression of love?

Have you ever stopped to think how long God waits for us?  He doesn’t say …”well, I give two years and if you don’t get it, that’s too bad.”  “The Lord still waits for you to come to him so he can show you his love and compassion.  For the Lord is a faithful God.  Blessed are those who wait for him to help them.”  (Isaiah 30:18) This is a beautiful portrayal of waiting; God waits for us to come to Him and then He blesses us as we wait for Him to fix our mess. It may take some time, but we are being blessed while we wait.   The waiting is the growing period, the opportunity to really get to know God and to allow Him to strengthen our faith.  I guess we could say waiting is a gift, one that we come to appreciate later on, when we have matured a little more.

Do you remember the father in the prodigal son story? Do you remember what he did when he saw his son coming back? “While he was still a long distance away, his father saw him coming.  Filled with love and compassion, he ran to his son, embraced him, and kissed him.”  (Luke 15:20) His father never lost hope to see his son again.  He waited for him and his joy was overwhelming once he finally saw him.  We can’t even imagine the joy in heaven when a child returns to God.   

I heard Beth Moore say that if God has not taken you from the place you are in, even if you have repeatedly asked Him, maybe there is something to treasure where you are.  Look at the place you are in now… is God asking you to wait?  Look at the people around you… Is He giving you the opportunity to love them while you wait? Are you being a witness to them?

“Be glad for all God is planning for you.  Be patient in trouble, and always be prayerful.” (Romans 12:12)

 God sees us; He knows what we are feeling and understands our frustration and hopelessness.  Keep asking Him to give you the joy you need to wait according to His will and to strengthen your faith so you can see what is not in front of you… yet.

Last week we celebrated our daughter’s fifteenth birthday with a surprise party.  She thought we were not going to do anything for her birthday and she saw no preparations being done, no shopping, no planning, no nothing, until the day came and it was surprise after wonderful surprise.  She then wrote in her Facebook wall “so today was just the BEST day ever. I'm so happy to have such amazing people in my life!! And the surprise was TOTALLY worth the wait :)”  The same way in God’s perfect time we will have our suddenly and we will be able to witness to all our friends how faithful our God is and with a big smile we will say … the wait was TOTALLY worth it!.

“Those who wait on the Lord will find new strength.  They will fly high on wings like eagles.  They will run and not grow weary.  They will walk and not faint.” (Isaiah 40:31)