Have you ever tried to contemplate the greatness of God’s love? Of course, it can’t be done. His love is endless, eternal, immeasurable. It’s higher than the heavens and deeper than the seas. It encompasses all we can imagine. It’s rather mind-blowing to try and envision the vastness of God’s love, but it’s even more stunning to try and grasp His personal love for you as an individual.
His care for you as a solitary person is incalculable. There is an astonishing verse in Jeremiah 1:5, Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations (ESV). There is often debate as to the beginning of life: does it begin at conception or at birth? The Bible, our final and ultimate authority, clearly informs us that it begins neither at conception or at birth. No, it’s far greater: your life and my life began in the very heart of God. Before I formed you in the womb I knew you. Life is precious because it comes from God’s love.
Just think, before anyone else even thought of you, you were already living in the heart of God. He already had a plan for you. Jeremiah understood this. That is why he could write in Jeremiah 29:11, ‘For I know the plans I have for you,’ says the Lord. ‘They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope’ (NLT). Life is precious to God. Your life began in His heart of unfathomable love, continued on into conception and birth, lives on physically with His eyes never ceasing to watch over you, and promises to bring each of His children into spectacular eternity to live in Heaven where sorrow, pain nor tears exist. Who wouldn’t want that life with Him for eternity?
Almighty God loves you. Just meditate on that for a moment. Almighty God has a plan for you. Almighty God never stops thinking about you. Almighty God desires to be your everything to get you through anything, and to do so with His own peace and joy reigning in your heart and mind. Oh, how He loves, loves, loves, you. Therefore, why forfeit a day without spending precious moments with Him? Sit in His presence. Are you hurting? His presence will soothe. Are you confused? His presence with guide. Are you lonely? His presence will comfort.
He has loved you from the beginning of your life: it began in His heart.
Our dog, Jack, and I were taking a walk around the neighborhood as we often do in an afternoon. There are wide sidewalks and a park nearby. Jack happily trots and sniffs as we go along our way. On this particular afternoon a loud boom was heard in the distance. Jack stopped and stared ahead, nose twitching, body suddenly tense. Like most dogs, Jack doesn’t like loud sounds like fireworks and other unidentifiable loud sounds. I stood with him, watching, wondering what he would do. After several moments I said, “Jack, you want to turn around?” He looked at me and headed back in the direction in which we had come. He seemed to give no further thought to the loud boom. He just trotted along pausing and sniffing, enjoying the moments as if nothing had happened to disturb him earlier. It was like he knew — what’s the point in standing and worrying? Doing that is going no where.
Jesus said the same thing to His followers in Matthew 6:27 when He asks the question, Can all your worries add a single moment to your life? (NLT) We know the answer. Staring at what causes us anxiety, fretting over something we can do nothing about, worrying about the unknown, gets us no where. On the other hand, when troubling situations creep unwelcome into our lives, turning to look at Jesus, choosing to contemplate His words, walking along in another peaceful, trusting direction, brings a calm assurance that nothing takes Jesus by surprise. Therefore, all will be well.
Worry will not add one moment to our lives. It can take away plenty. It can increase our heart rate and blood pressure, resulting in lack of inner peace. It can snatch away, in an unsuspecting moment, the joy we had the minute before. It can eat away any courage we knew we had, reducing us to cowardly behavior, causing self-loathing which is always designed by demonic forces who never want us walking in the peace of God. Worry takes away tranquility, leaving us standing mute in disbelief as we stare frozen in fear of what’s out there.
In lovely contrast, choosing to go to Jesus brings instant hope. When we look to Him, we are immediately reminded that we don’t know but He does. We can’t see past the next minute, but He sees into all our tomorrows. We may or may not be able to conquer what scares us, but Jesus is Lord over all the earth at all times, most assuredly able to conquer anything at all.
We all have our “deer in the headlights” moments. Let’s encourage each other to choose to turn from the fear and walk in another direction. Walk with Jesus, the One Who can and will handle all our troubles for us. He will be our peace in any storm. He will be our comfort in troubled waters. He will take our hand and lead us back into the boat named — Trust In Him. Life is full of frightful moments but none of those instances need dominate our steps. Choose to listen intently as you take Jesus’ hand. You will hear Him say, This is the way, walk in it (Isaiah 30:21 NLT).
I looked up the dictionary definition of peace. It said simply — the absence of disturbance. When something agitates or upsets us we deem that we are in a situation of no peace. We want to somehow remove the unpleasant circumstance in our quest for peace. However, there are times when the offending situation cannot be changed. It’s there, lurking, attacking our senses. This is when we need a different kind of peace; a peace that is from God alone.
What does John 14:27 mean when Jesus says to His disciples, I am leaving you with a gift — peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give is a gift the world cannot give. So don’t be troubled or afraid. Jesus was completely aware that He was near to the time of His cruel death on the cross. He would bear pain, being charged for all the sin of the world, which would turn His Father’s face away for a short but agonizing moment as minutes turned into hours.
When someone dies they often leave something for their loved ones to inherit. Jesus did the same. He left His family a peace that the world could not take away. The gift of peace from Jesus is far more than the absence of difficult circumstance: it is the fulness of harmony with God in the midst of any painful difficulty. Jesus’ peace is personal. The same peace that would sustain Him through crucifixion, He would now pass on to His followers — that’s you and me. The peace of Jesus doesn’t always eliminate the storm, but it gives us strength and confidence that we will not be consumed by the waves of turmoil and sorrow that wash over us. Our head will stay safely above water when we have Jesus’ peace. No hurtful words will destroy us, and even death will not overcome us, for it is in death that, for the Christian, is a door opening into an eternity of perfect joy and solace.
Are you in a storm today? Are you looking for a way out? Trust Jesus. Focus on Him and His love for you. Just think, the very same peace that carried Him through the experience of the cross, is the peace that He leaves to me and you. Nothing can destroy the peace of God within you. The peace Jesus gives has been with every child of God who has suffered persecution for being a Christian, or has cried in sorrow, who has been hurt by painful words hurled unfairly. The peace of Jesus comforted Him when He was betrayed, when one of His disciples denied he even knew Jesus.
We can arrange things in our lives to ease our difficulties, but the peace that passes all understanding that fills us with hope and gladness in the midst of any hardship can only be the gift of peace from Jesus. Whatever you are facing today, call to Jesus to be your everything to get you through anything. His peace will sustain you.
We’ve probably all made compromises in life. It’s not always a bad thing. Compromise may be called for in business dealings or even in the home as husbands and wives make decisions on finances or what they allow the kids to do, or who does what chores. When an impasse takes place, to come to an agreement, an alternative solution is workable and even wise. Compromise can work in our physical world but never in our spiritual walks. Who tells us it’s okay to compromise concerning the things of God? Demonic forces are the ones who whisper such harmful lies.
Temptations to compromise God’s instructions will not build our faith; it waters it down, weakening it. Sadly, there are churches that compromise, accepting as today’s norm those things God calls sin. “We must show love,” the church exclaims, as it accepts sin with a smile and a welcome. This is harmful to those searching for something meaningful in life. When someone feels lost, wondering what brings joy and peace in life, searching for a reason to wake up each day, they don’t go to a church to find more of the same. They go hoping to find a solution to their quest for purpose. They don’t know it at the time, but they’re looking for Jesus. Only He can satisfy. Only He can give lasting joy and peace in any of life’s storms. Only Jesus and obedience to His leading brings blessings.
Too often Christians today want the blessing without the obedience. They want the joy without the commitment. They want peace in their personal worlds without the hard work of daily focus on the things of God. This is not how any soldier is made strong or rewarded. The Apostle Paul wrote, Soldiers don’t get tied up in the affairs of civilian life, for then they cannot please the officer who enlisted them (II Timothy 2:4 NLT). It is the same in our spiritual world. We cannot get tied up in sinful pursuits, for then we will not please Jesus who saved us for better things. We will never see the beautiful views from the mountain top if we are consumed with what lies in the valley.
Look up everyday! It’s a daily choice. Paul also wrote, Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think (Romans 12:2 NLT). We have free will to make our choices. In the book of Joshua 24:15 we read, Choose today whom you will serve (NLT). It is a personal choice that will lead either to a strengthened faith or a weakened confidence that dwindles away, leading us into feelings of despair and despondency.
Joy in the storm that comes from the blessings of obedience, or struggling in waves of discontent. The choice is a daily one to make. Let’s ask the Holy Spirit to change the way we think by revealing God’s wonderful truths found in the love letter of God’s Word. We are free to choose Jesus and His very best for us, or we can choose our own way. Choose each day whom you will serve.
Probably most of us reading this will know and understand the great gift of God’s forgiveness. When He forgives He remembers our sins no more and even casts them away as far as the east is from the west (Hebrews 8:12 and Psalm 103:12). As wonderful as those promises are from God our Father, it is at times hard to forgive ourselves. Of course, our arch enemy, Satan and his demonic forces, don’t want us living in the joy of forgiveness. They want us wallowing in self-pity, feeling loathsome towards ourselves for our transgressions. What can we do?
It greatly helps and releases us to walk in the joy of our forgiveness when we choose upon what we let our thoughts dwell. If we think upon how dreadful we can be, we will walk in despondency. On the other hand, if we think upon the unfathomable love of our Heavenly Father towards us, we will walk in the joy of our place in the family of God. I find Romans 8:1 helpful. It states simply but powerfully, There is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus (NLT). The dictionary definition of condemnation is, the act of expressing strong disapproval or sentencing someone to punishment for their actions.
Condemnation does not apply to any child of God. Why? Because Jesus took the condemning sentence for our sin upon Himself. He did that when He paid the penalty for our every sin on the cross. Never forget that when you asked Jesus to forgive you, He washed you clean of every sin you ever committed and every sin you ever would commit. We still confess our sins, not to be saved all over again, (once sealed for eternity, always sealed for eternity) but to renew broken fellowship with the Lord who loves us so much. He does not want us burdened down by unconfessed sin which lessens our joy. He wants us walking in the sheer bliss of the power of the Holy Spirit.
How do we maintain such joy in Jesus? By claiming as our own the freedom Jesus paid to give us. Jesus paid the penalty for sin and gave us victory over death (for now we will live in Heaven with Him when our time on earth comes to an end), Now we grow in joy and faith by meditating on His love letter to us which is the Word of God, by telling Him all our concerns, by talking with Him throughout the day, by always thanking Him for all He has done in our yesterdays, which builds our faith to be assured of His blessings in all our tomorrows.
We are free to walk in joy in Jesus. Therefore, stand strong in the grace He has bestowed upon each of us who know Him. Refuse to accept Satan’s condemnation. There is truly no such thing for the child of God. Walk free today. Walk in joy. Be blessed in all He has done and for all He has planned for your tomorrows. Truly rejoice for He is your strength. He is your joy, He is your courage. We stand clean in His presence. Our identity is in the One who loves us and forgives us, making us new, filling us with the beauty of the Holy Spirit.
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