Tag: god’s love

No Further from God’s Love in the Lows of Life

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We live in a culture marked by insecurity – ups and downs. Walking into a coffee shop, I spotted near the front door a leading newspaper with charts strewn across its front page. Each one showed lines shifting sharply upward and downward in spurts – all describing financial markets. Every morning, my blood tester shows me whether or not my blood sugar level is high or low compared to normal. Our ministry’s website analyzer graphs peaks and valleys according to people’s interest in our site. We are inundated with ups and downs. Even our emotional mood changes with circumstances, body chemistry, and human interaction.

In the midst of continual fluctuation, what a comfort it is to realize that God’s love never vacillates. No high or low – no up or down – can ever change the care and love of our God who transcends a fickle world. Though riding the roller coaster of an unstable world system may tend to make us feel insecure, God’s faithfulness never lessens and never ceases. We may be tempted to feel less loved because we endure a particular shift or low point, but – in reality – NOTHING separates us from God’s love. Take the poetic words of Romans 8:38-39 (ESV) at face value:

    “For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Did you catch that all-important phrase, “Nor height nor depth”? The highs of the stock market or my savings account make me no more a receiver of God’s love than do the lows of the same. The zenith of my physical health makes me no more accepted by God than my illness. I see God in the peak of my joy and favorable circumstances, but the pit of sadness and suffering do not move me any further from my Creator. Nothing separates me from His love – no height and no depth – nothing.

We rest secure and accepted because God’s love is relentless. His love does not wane when circumstances do. His love does not increase when blessing comes. Why? Because His love is infinite in strength. Compared to the changes and situations of life, God’s love cannot be measured. His love is always at full capacity. His love consumes whatever would sever us from Him. The appearance of angels in our lives does not make God love us more, just as the attack of demons cannot remove one bit of His love from us. Life itself cannot divide us from God’s love, yet neither can death. No matter the place or way in which we find ourselves, God’s love is greater and unyielding in its grip on us.

Let no man of earth or demon of Hell steal from you this truth. Let no circumstance of life – good or bad – high or low – take from you this hope. Let no argument, speech, or false teaching rob you of this fact. Nothing in all creation can separate you from God’s love. He is the Creator. He loves you. Everything He made ultimately bows to His will. All creation belongs to Him. Nothing under His sovereignty can diminish His love for you, because He is THE Sovereign!

Come high, come low. Come angel, come demon. Come today, come tomorrow. Come life, come death. Come anything. God’s love is with me. Always. Highs don’t draw us closer, and lows don’t take us further from His love.

Splattered Spaghetti and the Heart of God

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“Wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.” – Psalm 51:7 (NIV – 1984)

The other day I made for myself a simple plate of spaghetti. Of course, spaghetti is not inherently simple when you consider the red tomato sauce in which it is covered. My dinner was fully prepared – spaghetti drenched in sauce with some added mushrooms and parmesan cheese. I loaded the carbs onto my plate after a day of activity and exercise. My husband was out of town, so I grabbed my dinner from the kitchen counter to take it to the living room. My spaghetti was in one hand; my iced tea was in the other. Before I got past the edge of the kitchen, my balancing act proved unsuccessful, as the spaghetti slid off one side of my plate and splattered everywhere as it landed. The four-foot drop produced quite a mess! The white linoleum in that corner edge of my kitchen was covered in wet noodles, red sauce with cheese, and various mushrooms, which – just seconds ago – looked very appetizing. But now, it looked like someone had gotten quite ill. The dinner hit the floor with such force that sauce splattered onto the surrounding walls and carpet. In fact, I found sauce on the front door of my house, a half-story down and seven feet from the accident!

Though I was hungry, tired, and much wanting to eat; my immediate concern was to clean up the mess before stains set in. I went to the carpet and painted walls first, scrubbing with a good cleaning solution. The more I cleaned, the more I recognized additional spots of the sauce in unbelievable places. Finally, after picking up large heaps of the mess and dumping it into the garbage can, I got down on my hands and knees and started wiping away at the linoleum.

As I cleaned and scrubbed while kneeling on the floor, I thought, “What an inconvenience. What a dumb thing I just did. What a waste of time. This is annoying.” My busy arm came to a standstill as God dropped this beautiful reminder in my heart, “Shelli, this is what I do all the time – clean up the messes of the people I love. My heart is a heart of restoration. Though I don’t have to – for I have no obligations – I choose to be in the business of cleaning up messes, both big and small. People sin and turmoil comes; I forgive and I restore.”

Suddenly, my whole perspective changed. I was no longer bothered by the work I was doing. This inconvenience was now a hint of God’s unfathomable grace. He does not have to, but He willingly works continually to clean up our hearts and make them like new. He will even apply His heart to the restoration of this entire universe one day; though the sum total of its current pain, disaster, confusion, and messes seems insurmountable. God’s love and power are infinite and far-reaching. Just as I went to the farthest places spaghetti sauce splattered, so God goes to the furthest and deepest places human sin wreaks havoc. Projecting into the future, the Bible boldly declares, “Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away…He will wipe away every tear from their eyes…And he who was seated on the throne said, ‘Behold, I am making all things new.'” (Revelation 21:1, 4, 5, ESV)

In the meantime, our God gets down “on the floor” where we are to clean things up. He sent His Son to live here, suffer here, and pay for sin here. God continually works in the business of cleaning and restoration. Out of pure and unbelievable love, He keeps cleaning and restoring.

Do you see nothing in front of you but a terrible mess? Do you see nothing in you but a disaster? Do you see nothing around you but wreckage? Hear the heart of God, the One who cleans so much more than splattered spaghetti:

“Wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.” – Psalm 51:7 (NIV – 1984)

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!” – II Corinthians 5:17 (NIV – 1984)

“You will be called Repairer of Broken Walls, Restorer of Streets with Dwellings.” – Isaiah 58:12 (NIV – 1984)

“The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me, because the LORD has anointed me to bring good news to the poor; he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted.” – Isaiah 61:1 (ESV)

“Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits, who forgives all your iniquity, who heals all your diseases.” – Psalm 103:2-3 (ESV)

“I will cleanse them from all the sin they have committed against me and will forgive all their sins of rebellion against me.” – Jeremiah 33:8 (NIV – 1984)