"Love as I Loved"
This doesn't happen very often, but when it does, I listen.
I was struggling very hard with bitterness over the last few days, and I was hurting badly. I was angry, I was hurt, and then I became totally self focused and self centered- focusing wholly on me and my problems. But yesterday, during chapel, God very clearly led me to Psalm 36. I read through it and almost started to cry right there. Psalm 36:5 I read over and over again. It says, "Your steadfast love, O Lord, extends to the heavens, your faithfulness to the clouds." I realized that by being bitter at the particular person, I was failing to love them. God loves everyone unconditionally and He forgives to the extent that He does not remember our sins any more once we have accepted His Son as Saviour. And if God, the holy, righteous, perfect God can love even those that hate Him and deny His name and if He can forgive those people and is simply waiting for them to ask for His forgiveness, how can I not forgive? How can I not love? Who am I to remain mad and hold a grudge?
By reading that passage, I got my eyes back on God and off myself. Then I was convicted and I loved and forgave. Instantly, all the hurt and pain I had felt for all these years fell away. My heart was lighter and I was at peace. I ran back to God, repenting of my bitterness and I went back to sweet fellowship with my Lord.
And this brought me back to what I'm reading each morning in my Bible - Luke, and quite recently, the Christmas story.
I do love the Christmas story! God incarnate in the form of small child, born of a virgin, comes to this earth announced by the angels. As a boy the teachers at the synagogue marvel at Him, and then later, his cousin goes into the wilderness and prepares the way for Jesus. For three years He ministers and heals and the people flock to Him for healing and to learn. They cry Hosanna, and then later He is killed in the most horrific way, with out complaint, and willingly! He endures excruciating physical pain, and then He endures His very own Father turning His back on Him because He is bearing the sins of the entire world. The world grows black, the veil in the temple is torn in two, death works backwards and the dead are alive, then the Son of God dies. But Hallelujah it doesn't end there! He rises from the dead 3 days later and then after many days ascends to Heaven so that He may make intercession for us.
The perfect man, the Son of Man and God, who did no sin, thought no wicked thing, and only ever acted in love and compassion took on our wickedness and died so we might live. We, who have rejected Him over and over again. So many never accept His free gift, and even those who do at times wander away from Him as I have done. Praise His name that He loves us so much that He is willing to take us back, no matter what horrible thing we do. He is more than willing to forget the sins of His children and wants nothing more than to adopt those that are not His and forgive them as well.
This is the Christmas story. It is a tale of such great compassion and love that it has been foretold since the fall of Adam and Eve, echoing down through the ages, the hope and promise of many for centuries and millenia coming to reality in one night. In one night God's Son was born, and 33 years later on one day the Son of God died to fulfill the ancient promise of God to man so we might live.
What love!
And having read that story so recently, and then reading that verse in Psalms... Who am I to not forgive? What wondrous love and forgiveness was shown to me! I am so glad for the Christmas story, and I'm even more glad that it is truth, history even. History that has impacted every day since the dawn of time to the destruction of it.
What love! What love!
I was struggling very hard with bitterness over the last few days, and I was hurting badly. I was angry, I was hurt, and then I became totally self focused and self centered- focusing wholly on me and my problems. But yesterday, during chapel, God very clearly led me to Psalm 36. I read through it and almost started to cry right there. Psalm 36:5 I read over and over again. It says, "Your steadfast love, O Lord, extends to the heavens, your faithfulness to the clouds." I realized that by being bitter at the particular person, I was failing to love them. God loves everyone unconditionally and He forgives to the extent that He does not remember our sins any more once we have accepted His Son as Saviour. And if God, the holy, righteous, perfect God can love even those that hate Him and deny His name and if He can forgive those people and is simply waiting for them to ask for His forgiveness, how can I not forgive? How can I not love? Who am I to remain mad and hold a grudge?
By reading that passage, I got my eyes back on God and off myself. Then I was convicted and I loved and forgave. Instantly, all the hurt and pain I had felt for all these years fell away. My heart was lighter and I was at peace. I ran back to God, repenting of my bitterness and I went back to sweet fellowship with my Lord.
And this brought me back to what I'm reading each morning in my Bible - Luke, and quite recently, the Christmas story.
I do love the Christmas story! God incarnate in the form of small child, born of a virgin, comes to this earth announced by the angels. As a boy the teachers at the synagogue marvel at Him, and then later, his cousin goes into the wilderness and prepares the way for Jesus. For three years He ministers and heals and the people flock to Him for healing and to learn. They cry Hosanna, and then later He is killed in the most horrific way, with out complaint, and willingly! He endures excruciating physical pain, and then He endures His very own Father turning His back on Him because He is bearing the sins of the entire world. The world grows black, the veil in the temple is torn in two, death works backwards and the dead are alive, then the Son of God dies. But Hallelujah it doesn't end there! He rises from the dead 3 days later and then after many days ascends to Heaven so that He may make intercession for us.
The perfect man, the Son of Man and God, who did no sin, thought no wicked thing, and only ever acted in love and compassion took on our wickedness and died so we might live. We, who have rejected Him over and over again. So many never accept His free gift, and even those who do at times wander away from Him as I have done. Praise His name that He loves us so much that He is willing to take us back, no matter what horrible thing we do. He is more than willing to forget the sins of His children and wants nothing more than to adopt those that are not His and forgive them as well.
This is the Christmas story. It is a tale of such great compassion and love that it has been foretold since the fall of Adam and Eve, echoing down through the ages, the hope and promise of many for centuries and millenia coming to reality in one night. In one night God's Son was born, and 33 years later on one day the Son of God died to fulfill the ancient promise of God to man so we might live.
What love!
And having read that story so recently, and then reading that verse in Psalms... Who am I to not forgive? What wondrous love and forgiveness was shown to me! I am so glad for the Christmas story, and I'm even more glad that it is truth, history even. History that has impacted every day since the dawn of time to the destruction of it.
What love! What love!