Posts tagged ‘God’s love’

May 1st, 2010

How God loves us

by MB

For the last week, my kids and I have been watching this male and female Mallard that has come to our yard.  The kids have been feeding them bread, but then yesterday I read that wasn’t such a good thing to give them.  So now we have been throwing grapes cut in half out there (which is good) and they have been eating some bird seed.  I was watching them again this morning interact.  It reminded me of God in some ways.  I came up with this list of ways that a Mallard reminds me of God.

1.) The male is beautiful and he makes the female beautiful.  The male Mallard reminded me of God and His beauty.  When we see Him, we are reminded of just how beautiful our God is.  We can look at things like birds or ducks and be reminded of how very creative God is.  By herself, the female isn’t all that striking.  She is brown and white, with nothing really to admire.  When she is with the male duck, who is adorned with many beautiful colors, she shines.  Jesus does that for us too.  By ourselves, we are just ordinary.  Because of what Jesus did and continues to do, He makes us beautiful too.  Ecclesiastes 3:11 “He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end.”

2.) The male is overly protective of the female. Today I watched as a tiny cowbird came near the pair to get some seed from the grass.  The male Mallard stretched out his head and tried to peck the cowbird. It was as if he was saying, “Stay away from my woman!”  It was almost like an over reaction because the cowbird was not really even that close to her.  He was just looking for some food.  That didn’t make a difference though to the male.  He was doing everything he could to protect the female.  He kept his eye on the cowbird the entire time and let the female eat her food.  God is watching out for us too.  Psalms 1:6 says “For the Lord watches over the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish.” Another passage is Psalms 121:

I lift up my eyes to the hills—
where does my help come from?

My help comes from the LORD,
the Maker of heaven and earth.

He will not let your foot slip—
he who watches over you will not slumber;

indeed, he who watches over Israel
will neither slumber nor sleep.

The LORD watches over you—
the LORD is your shade at your right hand;

the sun will not harm you by day,
nor the moon by night.

The LORD will keep you from all harm—
he will watch over your life;

the LORD will watch over your coming and going
both now and forevermore.

3.) The male lays down his own wants to take care of the female. Just as Jesus did not come to be served, but to serve (Matthew 20:28), so does the male lay down his life for the female. He struts around the yard looking for food, but he never eats it first. He waits until she has eaten and then he will peck at some of it. His main job is to take care of her. Jesus reminds of us His love for us in Luke 12:22-31:

Then Jesus said to his disciples: “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; or about your body, what you will wear. Life is more than food, and the body more than clothes. Consider the ravens: They do not sow or reap, they have no storeroom or barn; yet God feeds them. And how much more valuable you are than birds! Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? Since you cannot do this very little thing, why do you worry about the rest?

“Consider how the lilies grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you, not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today, and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, how much more will he clothe you, O you of little faith! And do not set your heart on what you will eat or drink; do not worry about it. For the pagan world runs after all such things, and your Father knows that you need them. But seek his kingdom, and these things will be given to you as well.

I am reminded as I look at these beautiful creatures and have grown fond of them, just how much God takes care of His world. Then I am reminded that if He cares about nature this much, He cares about His people even more. Jesus came to be a servant, and so we must follow after Him. God is always watching over us. Even the minor circumstances in our lives are important to Him. He has His eye on us at all times. We do not have to worry about tomorrow because He does care that much about us. Be comforted, my dear friends, because you have a God that loves you more deeply and intimately than any person you have known.

Technorati Tags: , ,

CategoryEncouragement | Comment2 Comments »

Tags:
April 4th, 2010

Restoration

by MB

I love the passages at the end of the gospels which talk about Jesus returning.  People aren’t expecting it.  His face is not recognizable.  Jesus is a stranger, like on the road to Emmaus.  People are still mourning over the loss.  They thought Jesus would redeem Israel.  They are disappointed.  Then this man, this stranger, starts probing and asking them why they are sad and what they are even upset about.  Still, the people do not know it is Jesus. When Jesus is revealed to them, it is like an “ah ha” moment.  It makes sense again.  There is rejoicing.  Jesus ascends to heaven to be with the Father.

Jesus certainly is alive.  He is risen!  I’ve talked before about Simon Peter on this blog.  Still his journey to the cross always impresses me and brings me to tears.  The story of Jesus restoring Peter is one that touches my soul.  Peter denied ever knowing Jesus.  He did this three times.  Add to this the fact that Jesus dies on a cross and Peter knows in his heart that He is broken and wretched.  God wasn’t through with Peter though.  He had some big plans.

First, Jesus had some restoration to do.  He had to bring Peter to a place where his pride was low and yet his love and steadfast spirit for the work of God was strong.  John 21:15-19 shows this restoring work of Jesus:

When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” He said to him, “Feed my lambs.” He said to him a second time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” He said to him, “Tend my sheep.” He said to him the third time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” Peter was grieved because he said to him the third time, “Do you love me?” and he said to him, “Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Feed my sheep. Truly, truly, I say to you, when you were young, you used to dress yourself and walk wherever you wanted, but when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and another will dress you and carry you where you do not want to go.”  This he said to show by what kind of death he was to glorify God.) And after saying this he said to him, “Follow me.”

Jesus didn’t only ask Peter once. He asked him 3 times. Just like Peter denied 3 times knowing Jesus. Jesus was making a point to restore the love Peter had for Jesus. Then Jesus ends by saying to Peter that he would also die a death as Jesus did to bring glory to God. Then it ends simply, “Follow me.” Isn’t that the message of the gospel? Isn’t Jesus saying this to us? He is saying that He died for us, to restore us, and bring us to Him. He wants to use us to bring His Father glory. “Follow Me.” is His request. Following Him means taking care of His sheep–His people–and keeping them from harm. Following Him often means going where we don’t want to go for the sake of Christ. Are we willing to do that? When Jesus asks us personally, “Do you love me?”, what will our reply be?

Technorati Tags: , ,

CategoryEncouragement, King Jesus | CommentComments Off

Tags:
March 16th, 2010

The Woods

by MB

When I was a kid, I was often found playing in the woods behind our home.  My brother built a fort there as well and I spent much of my time imagining I was someone else.  I had no realization of God or the fact that He was with me.  I had heard of Him and had been taught to be fearful of Him, but He was completely unreachable and didn’t care much for my small world.  I didn’t realize that He was with me in the “woods” or that He could see the pain I was trying to hide from.

I suppose my imagination was much like those of most girls around that age.  I imagined I was a princess; the woods, my castle.  Sometimes I imagined I was running, trying to outrun the evil that might befall me.  I had lots of hiding places whether they be in trees, the fort my brother built, or in small dwellings that had been abandoned over the years.

The truth was, my homelife was not the norm.  Although, now I’d venture to say, “what is norm?” but that is another topic for another day.  My father was dying of lung cancer and an alcoholic.  He’d sooth his pain and agony with morphine and alcohol.  He would belittle my mother and call her names for being “religious”.   Indeed, she was “religious”.  She clung to religion more than anything else.  She thought my dad had an evil spirit.  In fact, most things that were evil, were an evil spirit.  She had her ways of ridding our home of such evil which involved my father getting upset and leaving, but not without some choice words for my mother and her religion.  Besides that, I had an older brother that hated my sister, brother, and I.  He had a different father so he always felt left out.  He tried to set our house on fire.  That is how much he hated us all.

All of that to say, the “woods” were not just trees to me.  They were were an escape.  I was only 10 years old, but I knew that I didn’t want this life full of hatred and uncertainty.  I tried to stay away as much as I could and the woods would always have me.

In Psalms 11, David’s word resound with me.  I wish I had heard them when I was a 10 year old kid, not understanding anything in my world.  David knew what it meant to escape.  He had done it many times.  He also knew that escape was not, in and of itself, his answer.  God was.  Look at Psalms 11:1 “In the Lord I take refuge.  How then can you say to me: “Flee like a bird to the mountain.” “  I think David is saying that fleeing and running were not the answer.  The mountains would not save him.  He was not going to hope in the mountains, but in the Lord.  Look at Psalms 11:4-7:

The LORD is in his holy temple;
the LORD is on his heavenly throne.
He observes the sons of men;
his eyes examine them.

The LORD examines the righteous,
but the wicked and those who love violence
his soul hates.

On the wicked he will rain
fiery coals and burning sulfur;
a scorching wind will be their lot.

For the LORD is righteous,
he loves justice;
upright men will see his face.

There are many ways to avoid our circumstances. You probably have your own “woods” that you run to. God wants to be your escape, the place you run to. You don’t have to pretend or imagine a new life. God has promised us that one day we will see his face (Psalms 11:7). I don’t know about you, but for me, knowing that makes all of this struggle and tears worth it. I get to see Jesus. Knowing that God sees me and still loves me and has a place for me, in His castle (heaven), and it’s His gift to me, shows me that I have nowhere else to turn but him. The words of Peter seem fitting to end with, “Lord, where else can I go? You have the words of eternal life.”

Technorati Tags: ,

CategoryChildhood Memories, Encouragement, God's Sovereignty | Comment4 Comments »

Tags:
February 26th, 2010

Lessons from a Tree

by MB

Oh Tree, What loss you suffer

At the hands of His bitter wrath,

As he chokes the life of color and beauty

You watch them fall on the path.

What lonely days lie in wait,

Imprisoned by an ocean of white,

Creatures of flight take their leave.

The sky’s radiance abandons your plight.

Oh tree, what loss you bear!

Abandoned by all you once knew.

A season of grief you suffer;

What will become of you?

Silence blows its bitter breath

Across the miles; It will seep

Taunting and nagging your core

Death is the company you keep.

Oh tree, Do not lose hope!

His mercies every morning are new!

The sun climbs the stairs to the sky

The Creatures of flight are in view!

Little green men sprout up to defend

To honor one crushed, yet steadfast;

Your beauty returns, your favor spreads.

The season of suffering has passed!

© MB 2010

Based on Psalms 1:1-3, Job 2:10 and Lamentations 3:22-23

Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers. But his delight is in the law of the LORD,and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season
and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers.

“Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble?”

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.

Technorati Tags: , ,

CategoryGod's Sovereignty | Comment2 Comments »

Tags:
January 27th, 2010

In this is love

by MB

The last few days I have felt worn out and “blue”.  The weather has not been nice at all.  My Bible Study plans were canned due to bad roads and I live 25 minutes from church.  I have been feeling somewhat isolated lately.  On top of that, my mom had hip surgery yesterday and I think some of my family members were irritated at me because she put me down as a contact.  Basically I get news first, although I really didn’t so I don’t know why that stuff matters.  It was not my idea.

My house has also been in a rut.  Actually, I have been in a rut and my house looks dilapidated.  Ok, not really, but it needs some major help.  I broke up the rooms by day and will have to tackle it that way.  It’s just too much work for one person.  My kids haven’t been overly helpful lately, but I’m working on getting them to help me.  They just want to watch TV and veg out.  Can I blame them?  That is all I want to do as well.  I dislike the midwest and wish for warmer temps and a lot less snow.  I don’t like skiing or iceskating or sledding.  I just want winter to be over, but I know I have atleast 2 more long months of this stuff.  The sun peeked out for about 2 hours today, but it doesn’t help much.  I just feel depressed when I look at all the snow and realize how cold it is.

How can one be joyful when the world feels so cold and lonely?  When I step into church and I feel like no one would notice if I vanished?  Or I talk with my family and they seem like my very existence is repulsive to them?  Well, the hope I cling to in days like today is that I have a perfect friend who will never leave me or forsake me.  He knows every step I take.  He knows everything about me.  He knows when I don’t show up to church or when my heart hurts because my family isn’t kind.  He knows when I can’t hardly make it out of bed.  He sees it all and knows all of it before I even do it.  That brings me comfort.

I have been trying to learn Bible Arcing.  It’s really hard, but I really want to learn it because I feel like my Bible Studies will improve if I do it.  But I’ve done pretty much all of the training online but I feel like I need to go over it again because my brain feels hazy in some areas.  Anyway, as I was doing the training yesterday, one of the verses stuck out to me.  It was 1 John 4:10:

In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.

In Bible Arcing, you look to see how each preposition relates to one another. I wouldn’t even have noticed this or thought through this had I not been doing the training. I have heard this verse many times, but for some reason when I heard it yesterday it really spoke to me. “Not that we have loved God” was what stuck out to me. It’s not how much we love God. Of course, we need to love God and seek to love Him more, but that is not the meaning of God’s love for us. To me, this verse is saying the true meaning of love is not based on how much we can love God or how much we love Him now, its based on the fact that He loves us. How does He love us? He loves us by sending His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. I know its a simplistic truth, but for some reason God wanted me to hear it in a new way yesterday.

Some days I wake up and I don’t feel like I love God, but that is not the basis of God’s love for me. He loves me. He already sent His son to die for all my sins not because He knew I’d love Him back. Not because I was good or did anything great. But because God is a loving God and the giver of good and perfect gifts and sent the most perfect gift – the one I most needed, His Son. So even if I’m feeling unjoyful and that the world around me is a cold and lonely place to be, God loves me. He loves my crabby, selfish, prideful, gloomy, unrepentant, ungrateful heart. In this is love. God showed it. I just have to accept it.

Technorati Tags: , ,

CategoryEncouragement | Comment4 Comments »

Tags: