"God so loved"

“I have decided” is an action we look to implement countless times throughout our lives; driven by varying intentions that make up our characters. Take yourself there and then stop and try to listen to your own heartbeat, do you hear it? The actual pounding of it cannot be heard without a stethoscope or an ear pressed to it. This is why we never accurately psychoanalyse ourselves as our perceptions about ourselves have been skewed by sin and why there is such a powerful lure that drives people to offload onto someone else. It is an industry that rakes in the big bucks; an industry that allows us the opportunity to facilitate our sin and get away with it, but only for a season!

For God has concluded all under the banner of sin; “as it is written: "None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God.” (Romans 3:10-11) – Religion teaches us to believe that if we apply ourselves to its doctrine that it will be well with our souls. It teaches us that we can find favour from God with our conduct when in fact we have been hoodwinked into believing a lie. “None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God.” There is nothing we can do or say that will make us acceptable to God outside of the righteousness that comes from Jesus Christ and Him alone. “How can this be true?” one may ask. The answer is an obvious one, we have all been tainted by sin, and we have all been condemned under the curse of sin. Ask yourself the question, have you sinned today? If not today then what about yesterday and do that all the way back into your childhood and it will soon become evident that we have all been tainted by sin in one form or another.

Did you know that the Apostle John was often afforded that privilege and at times was allowed to lay his head on the chest of the Lord Jesus; he would have heard His heartbeat; the rhythmic thud of it as it soothed his racing mind, and possibly the reason why he was known as the “beloved disciple”. The one who got closest to the heartbeat of Jesus, Wow! Did you know that we have all been afforded the same privilege? Sure, it is through the eyes of faith, but nevertheless still on offer to whoever would dare approach the Throne Room of Grace. It is here where the Lord Jesus is now seated at the right hand of God the Father and is waiting eagerly for the remaining few still to cry, “Save me Lord”! Only then will you be privy to His heartbeat.     

When I endeavour to consider the attributes of God, I must conclude that because He is perfect, mathematically, He must be exactly divisible into equal roots. There can be no lack in any of His characteristics. When something is perfect nothing we add to it will ever improve it. However I cannot help but conclude that it is the love of God that speaks the loudest to me, a sinner who was once condemned to death because of my sin but now freed from its penalty because of His love toward me. God the creator of the heavens and the earth sent His only begotten Son the Lord Jesus Christ to pay the price for the sins I committed. I have now been pardoned of my sin, WOW!

Who can with absolute and accurate assurance measure the love of God? It’s depths cannot be plummeted! Today I am driven by faith in my Saviour’s finished work and I have a hope that one day when I finally take my last breath here on earth and open my eyes in the spiritual world where I will see my Redeemer for who He is, I will appreciate Him in person and this is all the motivation I need to press on from day to day. That day will eventually arrive and I will no longer be driven by faith or need hope to fuel me as it drives me into a pursuit of holiness. And yet the love of God will never leave me, it will be mine for eternity, what an awesome thought!

We make many decisions throughout any particular day but more often than not it is driven by the pride of life, the lust of our eyes and the lust of our flesh. But “GOD SO LOVED”! Have you understood this, has His love personally engulfed your existence? If not the offer is still available and all you have to do is reach out and grab it. For those who can say I can relate to the love of God as I have embraced it, then my encouragement is for you to squeeze a little tighter for the riches of God’s grace will never run dry for the Christian.

For now we must all be driven by faith in our God and what He has accomplished on our behalf…

I will now leave you with this thought; “And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.” (Hebrews 11:6)

Signing off

Tyrone