Psalm 42:8
By day the LORD directs his love, at night his song is with me – a prayer to the God of my life.
This is a beautiful picture of the love of God. What does it mean that He directs it? In Hebrew, that word direct is a military term. It means to command. Just like what a general gives to a soldier. God commands His love to reach out to us.
Think about that. His love is under direct orders to show up in our lives. Whether we know it or not, He loves us.
But there is something even more incredible about it. The Scripture say that it is by day that He commands his love. There is something that I have heard many parents say.
“My children are wonderful, especially when they’re asleep!”
I remember when my children were little. It was so easy to feel a warmth and love for them when I watched them asleep in bed. All of the messes, conflicts, and misbehaviors seemed to melt away in those moments.
In that sense it would be easy for God to love us at night, while we are sleeping. But that is not the case. He commands His love by day, when we are awake. While we are up and doing whatever we are doing is when He commands His love to us.
This is a very comforting thought – that God loves us wherever we are and whatever we are doing. It is all based upon His love and not my performance. He commanded His love toward us while we were still His enemies.
Let this truth motivate you to press in to the Presence of the Lord. Spend some quality time with the One who truly wants to be with you. Let His love flow through you and out to a world that is in desperate need of knowing it.
Tags: Bible, Christ, Christian, devotion, encouragement, faith, fellowship, God's faithfulness, God's love, Holy Spirit, Jesus Christ, joy, love, prayer, presence of the lord, sleeping, unconditional
2 Corinthians 3:18
And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.
In this verse, Paul is referring to Moses. When he was leading the children of Israel through the desert, they stopped for a while at the foot of Mt. Sinai. Moses went up to meet with God. At one point, upon his return, the people couldn’t look at his face because it shone like the sun.
The glory of God was reflecting off his face. Moses had to wear a veil until things were back to normal. He had an incredible encounter with God, but it eventually faded back to the way it was.
Understand this, the Lord has greater plans for us. The Holy Spirit is working in us to make us like Christ. Each day we are becoming more and more like Him. This is the glory of God in us.
This glory that God is clothing us with is different than that of Moses. First of all, it doesn’t fade. It is a glory that is always on the increase. My prayer in the presence of the Lord is that throughout my life people will see more of Jesus and less of me.
Another aspect of this glory is that we reflect it with unveiled faces. It is not a glory that frightens others and pushes them away. It is the warmth of love and freedom that draws men and women to the cross.
Spend some time in the presence of this glory. Let it continue to do its transforming work in you. Make it your goal to reflect more of His beauty.
Tags: Bible, Christian, Christian witness, cross, devotion, disciple, encouragement, glory, glory of God, God's love, God's will, goodness, Holy Spirit, holy worship, light, Moses, prayer, prepare, presence of the lord, reflect, testimony
Nehemiah 9:17
They refused to listen and failed to remember the miracles you performed among them. They became stiff-necked and in their rebellion appointed a leader in order to return to their slavery. But you are a forgiving God, gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love. Therefore you did not desert them.
In this passage, Nehemiah is praying, and remembering why Israel is presently in captivity in a foreign land. Time and time again they refused to listen to the Lord’s leading. They took no time to think and meditate on the many miracles that God performed on their behalf. Instead they had a history of outright rebellion against God’s leadership.
But here is the amazing part – in all that time God remained forgiving, gracious, and compassionate. I’m so glad that our God is not bound to emotional outbursts the way we humans are. Instead of writing them off and giving up on them, God worked with Israel. He tried to draw them in by His love for them.
This is truly a God who is abounding in love. This verse literally says that God has an over abundance of love. That only stands to reason. God is love. God is infinite. Therefore, His love is infinite.
What a comforting thought – God has more than enough love for us. You can personalize that and say that God has more than enough love for you. He will never run out. No one can ever say that they have done so many things wrong that God doesn’t love them any more.
Bask in the warmth of that love today. Let God’s overabundance minister to your soul. Allow the Holy Spirit to speak words of encouragement to your inner man. Be refreshed by this love that passes all understanding.
Tags: abounding in love, Bible, Christian, devotion, encouragement, faith, fellowship, God is love, God's love, Holy Spirit, inner man, love, loving God, miracles, Nehemiah, praise, presence of the lord, rebellion
This is my second post on what true love is all about. Yesterday’s post showed that the only way to know love is to know God. That is the basis for our understanding.
God is love.
Psalm 59:17
O my Strength, I sing praise to you; you, O God, are my fortress, my loving God.
The world talks about love, but it’s not the real thing that they refer to. If you look at the statistics on marriage and divorce it becomes very clear. Couples go into marriage saying that they are deeply and truly in love. It is a love that will last forever. Then, years later, when times of trouble come they are suddenly incompatible.
The fact is that we throw the word love around very loosely in our society. We say that we love so many people and things, from boyfriends to French fries. Yet our love is as changeable as the wind. Some people or things that we loved last week have now been replaced with “better or newer” versions.
Love is actually a very serious matter. Before we say that we love God…we better know what love is. The Lord is our supreme example.
People talk about the various names given to God in the Bible. Names like Jehovah-Jireh, God my Provider. I have heard many sermons on the names of God. But somewhere down the road we missed one. I have never heard a sermon on the verse above.
The phrase translated “my loving God” is actually the name Elohiym-Checed, God who loves me. God and His love cannot be separated. Love is who He is. He doesn’t have to think about whether He will love me or not. God simply loves me because that is who He is and what He does.
Let God minister His love to you today. Maybe you have doubted His love for you. Let the knowledge of His character change your perception. You are loved. Let that thought override all others.
Tags: Bible, changeable, Christian, devotion, divorce, fellowship, God is love, God's faithfulness, God's love, loving God, marriage, names of God, presence of the lord, trust
Do you love God? Here’s a loaded question – do you really know what it means to love God?
I John 4:8-10
Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.
I am convinced that we, as believers, need to understand what it truly means to love God. I have decided to spend a few posts exploring this topic.
The big question is where do we even start to understand what it means to love God? He is so vast, so infinite. His ways are so far above our comprehension. How could we ever grasp love for a God so great and powerful?
In order to really love God, we have to start with the correct attitude. Scripture is clear that it’s not about our love for Him, but His love for us. Before I can ever love God, I must have an understanding of what love is and just how much He loves me.
The path is clear and simple. To understand love, I have to understand Him. That is the basis, the starting point, the foundation stone.
God is love.
If I want to know love, I must know God. That is the bottom line. I need to know God and the fullness of His love for me. It is because of His love that my sins have been atoned for. Spend some time in the presence of true love today. Go before God and let His love flow through you and work in you.
Tags: Bible, Christian, devotion, fellowship, first love, God is love, God's faithfulness, God's love, higher, love, loving God, presence of the lord
Psalm 103:11-12
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.
I love watching the sky in the evening. When you go outside on a bright starry night and gaze at the heavens, it seems to go on forever. Indeed, all the stars that you are able to see are light-years away. They are unreachable at our present level of knowledge.
That is how much God loves us – to a level unattainable by human thought. My finite brain cannot comprehend His love and compassion for me. That He would pay the price for my forgiveness at a point when I didn’t even know Him is beyond my understanding.
But there is more to it. If I were to travel in a direction – east or west – and continue on forever, I would still never come to my sin that was taken away. He has permanently removed the sin, guilt, and punishment that should have been mine. What an incredible thought.
These are basic truths that are known by most believers. Yet, it is a good thing for us to take the time to review and meditate on them once in a while. Spend some time in the stillness of your surroundings today, and allow these deep principles to work on your soul. Let them revive and renew your appreciation for the Savior of your life. Give Him thanks today for all He has done for you.
Tags: Bible, Christian, devotion, east, encouragement, faith, forgiveness, God's love, higher, holy worship, Jesus Christ, praise, presence of the lord, stars, thank God, thanks, west
Lamentations 3:22-24
Because of the LORD’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. I say to myself, “The LORD is my portion; therefore I will wait for him.”
Never get the idea that God is just waiting for us to mess up so that He can strike us down. It is just the opposite. He is looking out for our best. The Lord wants each of us to experience the ultimate fulfillment in life.
To bring this about, He walks with us, guiding us each day – showing us compassion and faithfulness. Let’s face it, if it were God’s goal to judge us, He would not have to wait long for us to make a mistake. Each one of us has a personal history such that if He wanted to, the Lord could lock us in Hell and throw away the key.
The fact is, God has proven His intent through the death and resurrection of Christ. He loved us enough to go to the cross. He wouldn’t have done that if He was intent on condemning us.
Come to God today in a spirit of expectancy. Be ready to hear and obey His plans for your life. Wait on Him in the stillness of trust and dependancy. Spend some time just listening for that still, small voice inside you. It will be well worth your time.
Tags: Bible, Christian, devotion, encouragement, faith, God's faithfulness, God's love, Holy Spirit, holy worship, presence of the lord, trust, wrath
The Spirit and the Word 