Be careful lest you fall

So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall! I Corinthians 10: 12

Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way as you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. Matthew 7: 1 – 2

We know it takes only ‘faith as small as a mustard seed and you can say to this mountain, “Move from here to there,” and it will move (Matthew 17: 20) but the converse is also true. It can take one tiny seed of criticism, judgment, doubt and unbelief to grow into something very unhealthy.

We know from our recent time in South Africa what a terrible and destructive fire can come from one small spark.  James tells us that ‘a great forest can be set on fire by a small spark and the tongue is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body’ (James 3:  5 – 6).

I have been dismayed recently by how one small negative remark about another person can grow into a feeling of deep distrust and suspicion about that person based on nothing more than another's idle remark.

Even worse I found out how quickly I can slip into terrible criticism and judgment of others based on what I have read in the media or seen on television. It feels so justifiable when leaders are corrupt and hypocritical or worse when the body of Christ starts taking large chunks out of one another, to feel angry and self-righteous.

However I quickly came to realise I was standing right on the edge of a slippery slope only a small step away from falling right over. Fortunately God reminded me from reading Steve Backlund’s book Igniting Faith in 40 days that ‘criticism and condemnation will actually decrease personal and corporate faith.’ Chastened I backed down from my anger and self-righteousness and extended the grace I like to receive but find hard to give.

So what do we do when faced by sin and shortcomings in those who we feel should know and behave better? Pray. Pray for them that God would open their eyes, not because we are right and they are wrong but because if they are sinning then they are damaging themselves as well as the church or nation.

We must forgive especially if it is personal and then hand the people to God for his righteous workings in their lives. Finally we must bless them. This moves us from the low ground of hatred and anger, judgment and criticism to the higher ground of grace. It sets us free and moves us away from the edge of self-righteousness which leads down the slippery slope to hypocrisy.

Jesus is our perfect example. Nailed to the cross, crucified as a common criminal yet having done nothing wrong, having spent an exemplary life of doing good to others he forgave those who were wronging him. Jesus life was a life of love and grace. He said ‘For I did not come to judge the world, but to save the world’ John 12: 47.

Next time the small seed of criticism and judgement gets sown in your heart whether by yourself or others, weed it out quickly. Set yourself free.  Let’s live the life of love and grace that Jesus won for us on the cross.

Psalm 18

David was not only a great king and ‘a man after God’s own heart’ but also an incredible poet.

Psalm 18 is one of those psalms where David just lets rip his poetic creativity and powerful imagery flows from his pen. David had been delivered from so many enemies; not only Saul in his bloodthirsty lust to kill him but also the armies of the surrounding nations. David had complete confidence that God could and would deliver him from them all.

This all started with a young man who stood fearlessly, armed only with stones and a sling, facing a giant who had intimidated every seasoned Israelite soldier. David was not an arrogant youth but a confident young man, confident not in his own abilities but in his God who had delivered him as a shepherd boy from the lion and bear.

David took this confidence in the Lord out into the desert where he hid from Saul’s bloodlust. He may have sheltered in desert strongholds, behind rocks and in caves but he knew his real rock and stronghold was the Lord. He and he alone could save him ‘from the cords of death that entangled him’.

David knew that if he cried out to God in his distress, God would answer and he would come down in a full display of awesome might calling upon all creation to deliver his precious son. The writing is exquisite. The mental pictures that are conjured up of creation trembling as the Creator comes forth with fire, smoke, clouds, darkness, rain, lightning and thunder  are incredible.

The Creator God parts the clouds and rides the cherubim, the royal attendants, as he comes to rescue his beloved one who is struggling against enemies too powerful for him who are threatening his very existence.

God reaches down from on high and lifts his precious one out of the deep waters that he is drowning in and from which he cannot escape and places him in a spacious place. He is no longer confined by the cords of death and their entanglement but he is liberated to live in openness and freedom.

The first section of Psalm 18 starts with a declaration of David’s devotion to the Lord and ends with an assurance of God’s delight in him. It is because of this delight that he rescues him from his enemies. This is not an irritated God coming to rescue a wayward child who has got into trouble again but a devoted father coming to rescue his beloved son who is being harassed by powerful enemies. The Lord comes in might, majesty, power and authority to overthrow every enemy using all of his creation to do so.

The imagery in this psalm is powerful and is a great assurance to us that if we cry out to God in our affliction, he can and will deliver us from every negative circumstance that would try and entangle us and he does this out of incredible personal devotion to each one of his beloved children.

Home

But our citizenship is in heaven Philippians 3: 20

Set your mind on things above not earthly things Colossians 3: 2

We were on our way home after a long journey round South Africa. We stopped for petrol just before the last leg of the journey – and the car broke down. Several hours later we were towed back the way we had come to a garage that could fix our car.

I cannot tell you how upset I felt about going away from home. I had been greatly anticipating getting back to our house, our things, the place where I feel most comfortable and at ease. Now not only were we not going home, we were driving in the completely opposite direction.

All of us are destined for our real home – heaven and if we are confident that is where we are going we too should look forward to it with great anticipation.  However the reality is that many Christians secretly believe that heaven will be boring; sitting around all day singing worship songs, maybe twanging a harp and hoping they can summon up enough enthusiasm to ‘worship the Lamb’.

Of course nothing could be further from the truth. As James Garlow says:

Take your deepest longings. Think of what you crave, what fills you with delight, joy you've never experienced but yearn for just the same. Remember your longing for home, for a lover of your soul, for the contented wholeness that leads you to the place you've never been yet can’t forget – the place where your every desire is satisfied more abundantly than you've ever dreamed. Heaven is that home.

That is the reality. The most wonderful thing is that we will be loved unconditionally, affirmed, appreciated and greatly valued just for who we are. Imagine that. No ulterior motives, no control, no manipulation, no rejection. Just pure love.

We will  be reunited with all the people we love starting with Jesus but including all our family and friends who have given themselves to serving the Lord. We will have eternity to get to know one another better but most of all to get to know Jesus and our loving heavenly Father and surely that will take eternity.

Out of that will flow the most awesome worship from hearts poured out in adoration to their Saviour and God.  Thousands upon thousands of voices raised in unity to honour and worship the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Nothing dull or boring about that.

There will be certainly be no opportunity to become bored in any other way. Mankind was created to look after the earth in all its amazing diversity and beauty and the new heavens and the new earth will be perfect just as God created them to be not tarnished in any way by sin. There will be wonderful ways to serve and work in a deeply satisfying, fulfilling and stress free manner.  Think of all the things you would love to do and then imagine all the endless possibilities to explore with the kiss of heavenly perfection on them. That is just the start of the wonders of heaven which are far beyond my imagination either to think of let alone write about.

Best of all will be the deep sense of being home with the ones we love and who love us. We are but pilgrims in this present earth; our destination is heaven where all will be well because the Creator of all things dwells  in great glory with his Creation – which includes you and me - his loved ones. 

Heaven or hell

For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.  John 3: 17 – 18.

Hell is not a word much in evidence these days except perhaps as a euphemism for a hard time; I had a hell of a day or it was hell.  However no one mentions hell as a place, a destination. It is considered at best politically incorrect or at worst downright rude to talk about hell.

Yet the reality is that hell is the eternal destination for most people because they have not chosen the alternative. Everyone will go to hell unless they receive God’s gift of eternity spent with him in the wonders of heaven. This gift comes free because Jesus paid for it completely.

No one wants to believe hell exists which is hardly surprising but if it does exist then people hope it will be a place of partying and doing everything ‘miserable sinners’ love to do together. Unfortunately nothing could be further from the truth.

The Bible makes it abundantly clear that hell is a place of eternal punishment and torment. The worst thing is that this will be away from God and everyone else. There is no partying in hell – partying is in heaven with Jesus, the angels and all the other believers. 

The tragedy is that no one needs go to hell. Everyone can go to heaven but only if they accept Jesus’ gift.  Most people hope to get to heaven by their good works but the truth is that no one can ever do enough to satisfy a perfect God – only Jesus did that.

As Randy Alcorn recounts in his book Edge of Eternity: I (Jesus) loved you as you were but I loved you too much to let you stay that way. Rather than give up on you, I gave myself up for you. I chose to go to hell for you rather than go to heaven without you. The gift I extended to you is free but not cheap. It costs you nothing. It cost me everything.

Christians used to be happy to talk about hell but I think it usually came liberally laced with condemnation, judgement and hypocrisy. No one wanted to listen to that.

People need to know how much God loves them and has a wonderful plan and purpose for their lives. They do not need or want to be told they are sinners – they know that. What they need to know is that there is a Saviour who came to rescue them from their sin and its consequence.

Christians who know the love of God and live in it are a powerful witness to those still struggling to make sense of life. They can talk about the terrors of hell and the wonders of heaven with Godly conviction and love.

Christians have been intimidated and become embarrassed to speak about hell for fear of offending people. The thing is though that thousands are going to hell daily because we have been frightened into not talking about it.

Today I believe as Christians we need to learn afresh how to speak about heaven and hell in love and grace and talk about the wonderful gift  of eternal life in heaven that Jesus holds out to all who come to him.

I believe the Holy Spirit will help us if we trust him to be our teacher and guide. Let’s not be put off from declaring the truth but with great grace let’s promote truth about eternity as God gives us opportunity. 

Father and child

Too often in the midst of life’s difficulties, it is very easy to lose sight of who we are. Our view of God can become that He is the answer to our prayers and of course that he is what he is.  I need work, finance, healing, breakthrough, help with exams, healing of relationships, a spouse, security, protection, all sorts of things and God graciously answers our requests.

However I believe that instead of seeing God merely as our heavenly provider, what is so much more important is to see that God is our loving heavenly Father and we are his precious, chosen children.

Small children look at their parents and see them as the source of all they need, which they are.  They provide food, clothes, money, warmth, comfort, protection and so on but as they grow older children begin to value the relationship with their parents. Unfortunately the relationship may break down at some point due to the weakness and failure of one or both parties and too often we do not really come to appreciate our parents either till we and they are old or worse still when they've gone.

If we imagine the best possible dad, we don’t want to spend all our time asking him for things.  It would be embarrassing to have a relationship based on our wants and his provision. What we really want is to spend time with Him especially when things are tough.   Only he can provide the comfort and affirmation we need.

It is so much more wonderful is to have a relationship based not on provision but on love and confirmation of our identity as God’s chosen child. We can face a lot when we know who we are and who is always with us.

At this moment I am in the midst of a storm.  I have no idea why or how I got here.  All I know is that life is very bumpy at the moment.  I could spend all my time begging God to get me out or even to tell me how I got here or I can relax and remember who I am and who is in the boat with me.

The ride may be bumpy but I am being held by the strongest pair of arms in the universe. I may feel fearful and alone but I am not.  I am God’s child and he is not going to let me go or let me drown. I am safe with him.

I do not need provision, I need fathering. I need the reassurance that I am his child and he loves me more than I can ever know. 

The joy of the cross

.. fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy that was set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Hebrews 12:2

I am sure we are all familiar with this well known verse and when I read it my focus has always been on persevering and running a good race like Jesus. I have never really thought before about the joy that Jesus experienced or focused on as he endured the cross. It seems impossible for Jesus to experience or anticipate joy when facing the cross.

I believe that is because we only focus on our side of the cross; sinful man saved by a perfect Saviour. Wonderful though it undoubtedly is, the perspective of the cross from God’s viewpoint is quite different.

I do not know if you have ever enjoyed a relationship or friendship that was just wonderful but then it went wrong. For some reason, the relationship was broken and you no longer enjoyed the fellowship that you once had. This can cause grief and an enormous heaviness of heart especially if the one you no longer have fellowship or relationship with is a son, daughter or other family member.

God created man and woman to be with him, to walk with him, to love and be loved by him and the relationship went wrong, it was broken.  God yearns to enjoy that level of fellowship, friendship, relationship again with Man.  God loves us; the pain of separation caused by sin must be intense. I would hate to lose relationship with any of my children or grandchildren and I would do anything to try and restore that relationship.

In some infinitesimal measure that must be how God feels.  Jesus was prepared to do anything to restore relationship with sinful man – anything – including giving up his glory, confining himself to being a man and then dying the sinful, shameful death of a criminal in order to deal with sin and its consequences once and for all. He didn't do it because he had to do; he did it for the joy of seeing fellowship restored with his precious people. 

The joy God feels in restoring relationship is intense. He knows we will be together for eternity. He can love us face to face and he knows the joy we will feel in being able to see and love him face to face forever. The joy of having us as his children overwhelms God’s heart.

Not convinced?  Look at Song of Songs 4:9, Zechariah 3:17, Psalm 17:8 (apple of his eye), Exodus 19:5 (treasured possession) to name but a few. Just imagine Jesus taking you in his arms and dancing around with you, full of joy that you are his. ‘It’s finished!’ he cries, ‘nothing can ever separate us again.’

It was the joy of restored relationship that took Jesus to the cross. I believe that with thankful hearts, God wants us to revel in that joy and  rejoice in God’s love. 

A sense of belonging

There is a Hillsong song that says, ‘Jesus I believe in you, Jesus I belong to you. You’re the reason that I live, the reason that I sing with all I am.  A sense of belonging is essential to each one of us for our identity, security and general well being. We get this sense of belonging from the people and places around us. 

As Christians our sense of belonging should come from our identity as children of God. This is strengthened by our Christian family of friends and church. The family is God’s plan for people, both naturally and spiritually. It is in our natural family where we initially forge our greatest sense of belonging. The same is true in God’s family but it is when the family breaks down, either in the natural one or in the church that some big problems can occur.

It is when we feel let down, hurt and rejected by parents, brothers and sisters or in the church by our Christian friends or leaders that our sense of belonging to these invaluable institutions begins to unravel..  We may then exchange our family or Christian sense of belonging by finding  people and communities who have not hurt us. This situation is always made worse in churches by the feeling that Christians shouldn't behave like this; that they should know better.

I am sure we can all think of people who have left the church or even backslidden because of what a Christian or a church has said or done.  It is heart breaking when this happens. These people have found greater love and acceptance from the world than from Christians and the church.

However, when the church loves, honours and works together in unity and always tries to deal with difficulties it becomes a very powerful family and individuals have a strong sense of belonging and identity. When churches then try and work together across denominations or even nations, the sense of belonging it engenders can help people feel they are working together for something much bigger than themselves or even the locality.  As Psalm 133 says, ‘How good and pleasant it is when God’s people live together in unity! … For there the Lord bestows his blessing, even life for evermore.’ God blesses unity.

The church is at it most effective in outreach when we show love to the world based on love within the local church and even more love across churches. Jesus said, ^‘By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.’(John 13: 35). 

When the world looks at a church full of saints who have such a strong sense of belonging both to God and one another that instead of complaining and criticising one another they love and honour others, then that becomes extremely attractive to unbelievers.

A sense of belonging is so important to each one of us. If you don’t feel you belong either to God or the local church, ask him today to help you understand why, to forgive any who have hurt you and to forge the strong bonds of love and unity with others that will help you feel the love and acceptance that a child of God should have. 

Thank you for the cross

But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities;
the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed. Isaiah 53: 5

God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. II Corinthians 5: 21

On Good Friday, as we consider again Jesus’ suffering and death on the cross, I am overwhelmed by a sense of wonder of what Jesus did for us.  I have been reading J John’s Holy Week devotional and yesterday he wrote, ‘Jesus went to a place of separation so that we might never need to be separated from God. He cried out these words of abandonment (My God, My God why have you forsaken me) precisely to ensure that his followers should never have to say them.’ Today he wrote, ‘Christ became cursed that we might be blessed, became empty so that we might become filled and became nothing that we might become something. That’s what the cross is all about’.

 Everything Jesus went through was for us. We know this but it has hit me afresh this Easter. The perfect Son of God suffered unimaginable torture, humiliation, abandonment, betrayal and crucifixion for people like you and me. That just blows my mind away.  I know what I am like. I am not sure I would have done that for me so how can perfection do that for people so imperfect, so broken, so impure?  The answer of course is love; a love so pure, so perfect, so holy that he will do anything to make sure that the object of his affection can be saved from their self imposed sin and wickedness.

We should not shy away from the horrors of the cross but look them full in the face, as far as we are able, even though it breaks our heart, and be thankful for what Jesus did.  He has prepared a wonderful place in heaven for each one of us to enjoy with him forever.  However he also has a wonderful life for each one of us to live here and it is wonderful because no matter what we go through, we will never be abandoned, forsaken or alone. The God of love is always with us.  Jesus took it all on the cross. The divine exchange is complete and all that we should have suffered for our sin has been paid for and all the perfection of Jesus and the fullness of his life is ours for eternity. 

 What can we say but thank you from the bottom of our hearts?

 

Love your neighbour as yourself

Love your neighbour as yourself Leviticus 19: 18

Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” Matthew 19: 26

Joyce Meyer says she found it impossible to love other people when she didn’t love or like herself.  I can agree with that!  I was at my most prickly, awkward and downright difficult when I didn’t love, let alone like myself.  I constantly compared myself to others and came up short every time. In order to try and make myself feel better, I would criticise others. I covered it all over with a veneer of jollity but there was a harsh, unkind edge to it. There was not a lot I could do about it because I needed a God who loves me more than I will never understand to come and set me free from all that criticism and unkindness.

This is the greatest miracle of all; that God, who created the universe with his word, would come down to earth to love and die for me.  He took a hurt, bitter, rejected and under it all dissatisfied person, cross with herself and everyone else, and with love draw her to himself. He took all my sin, shame and guilt and nailed it to the cross and then loved me till all that angry bitterness was soaked away in his love.

I am not perfect but I am forgiven and when I do sin, God in love points it out, not to make me feel bad but to set me free. It truly is incredible – beyond belief but that is the amazing God who loves us. He made each of us to be unique, completely different to everyone else so comparisons are useless. There is no way we can compare ourselves other than we are all humans and some are saved and some are not. God’s command to us is to love them; the saved and the unsaved, the lovely and the unlovely, the disagreeable and agreeable, the friend or enemy.

I used never to be able to say anything nice about anyone including myself but other Christians by being kind to me showed me the way of kindness; others being gracious to me to showed me grace. I marvel now at the longsuffering patience of people and when I get irritated with other people’s lack of grace or kindness, I remember how I used to be.

Underneath every angry, prickly, difficult person is a hurt, rejected human being who needs the love of God shown to them by those who have already received his love, mercy and grace.  I am so thankful to those people who put up with me long enough to show me the Father’s love and tell me about his forgiveness freely given to everyone who asks. That was the start of the Great Adventure.  It is a process that will continue to the day I die but as I receive more and more of the Father’s love, I am able to love myself and therefore to love other people.

 

Praise the Lord!

¹ Praise the Lord, O my soul;
all my inmost being, praise his holy name.
² Praise the Lord, O my soul,
and forget not all his benefits—
³ who forgives all your sins
and heals all your diseases,
⁴ who redeems your life from the pit
and crowns you with love and compassion,
⁵ who satisfies your desires with good things
so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s. Psalm 103:  1 – 5

There are times when, like David, we need to encourage ourselves about the goodness of God. If we wake up one morning and just feel a bit out of sorts, or life is not going well, this is a great psalm to read to remind ourselves of all God’s wonderful ways.

The psalm exhorts us to praise the Lord. Praise is a gateway into the presence of God. Psalm 100 tells us ‘to enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise’. This is not because God’s gates only open with praise; indeed there are times to rush to God in our distress for his comfort and grace. However, praise reminds us of who we are worshipping and why. As we think, speak, sing or shout his praises, it is our hearts and spirits that are enlarged and our vision of both God and the wonderful possibilities for our lives that is changed.

David then goes on to encourage us to remember all God’s benefits – and who do they benefit-  us!  He forgives our sins, heals our diseases and redeems our life from the pit. If that is not enough he crowns us with love and compassion.  A crown is what a king or queen wears to show their royalty or in past times the winner was crowned to show their success. God elevates us with love and compassion. The psalm says many times that God is compassionate to us. He feels deeply for us in our weaknesses and distress.

God also satisfies our desires with good things – God only gives good gifts because God is good. God does not give us bad gifts anymore than we would give bad gifts to our children, no matter how wayward they were. God does not send sickness, pain, poverty, unhappiness and so on. Indeed his desire is to lift us out of these things and give us good gifts. He wants to satisfy our desires, not keep disappointing us. ‘Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights’ (James 1: 17).  

Finally, as if all that was not enough, God renews our strength like the eagle. In the Bible the eagle is a symbol of vigour and God does not want us weak – he wants us strong in him. God has such wonderful plans and purposes for our lives. He wants to fulfil our dreams; he wants to give us good things; he wants our lives dripping with his love and grace. This psalm is a source of huge encouragement to us and as we read it, let our spirits soar again with praise and thankfulness to our amazing, wonderful God.

Grace and truth

The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. John 1: 14

Jesus always operated in grace and truth. He never denied or overlooked sin; he never said. ‘That’s alright, it doesn’t matter’ He always dealt with sin but in grace and truth. 

I love a story Bill Johnson tells in his book The Supernatural Power of a lady who came to the front in one of their worship services but ‘her movements did not seem to flow from the Holy Spirit’. Instead of confronting the woman and telling her to sit down, Bill got the leader of their dancers to begin to dance on the stage ‘to break something in the spiritual realm’ that was not of God. Immediately the other woman collapsed on the floor and they were able to pray for and minister to her. The lady had ‘real sincerity and a heart that was right but she needed deliverance and salvation’. They dealt with the situation in truth but with great grace.

In another story I heard there was a new café for homosexuals about to be opened somewhere in America. Many Christians wanted to picket the place to show their outrage but one group of Christians instead asked if they could help in any way. Naturally the homosexuals were very suspicious but the Christians showed their seriousness by getting some new T shirts printed for them. On the opening night they just served them in the kitchen. The café staff were just blown away by the sincerity of the Christians’ faith and their obvious love for them and some came to faith themselves as a result.

Unfortunately many Christians feel the best way to deal with other people’s sin is to point it out and castigate them but this rarely works. For instnace, there is nothing more upsetting than Christians shouting at homosexuals that they are perverts and going to hell. Coming in an opposite spirit – a spirit of love and grace – is a powerful testimony. People need to be loved and accepted, just as we do, not have their weaknesses and failings, sins and compromises pointed out by people less than perfect themselves. They need to be dealt with graciously.

Let’s encourage one another to be gracious to others and to show them the love and mercy that we all need. 

Amazing love

Who being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death, even death on a cross   Philippians 2: 5 – 8

These words perhaps sum up, more than any others, God’s amazing love for mankind made in his own image. This is what God did to win back man from the self inflicted life of sin. This is a love we will never truly understand but which we can spend eternity plumbing its depths.

When Adam and Eve were disobedient in the Garden of Eden and did the one thing God had told them not to do, the consequences were so awful that if they had known what would happen, I am sure they would have kept well away from the tree. It doesn’t seem possible that just eating an apple can cause all the devastation and distress in the world that we see today. But it wasn’t the eating the apple, it was doing the one thing they had been told not to do. It was not trusting God that his way was best. As a consequence of this one act, sin was unleashed to touch every part of creation with its cankerous, deathly fingers. The results were devastating.

Why didn’t God just wipe it all out and start again? The answer is out of love and a sure knowledge that another Adam would do exactly the same again. What was needed was a man who would live the life of obedience that Adam did not live. And that man was God’s Son – Jesus; leaving all the glory and majesty of heaven and becoming man – 100% man and 100% God.

Paul tells us that though he was God, he did not consider equality with God something to be grasped. As Andy Stanley says that means he never played the God card. He may have been God but he lived his life on earth as a man. Everything he did on the earth; all the miracles, healings, teaching and even his death – on a cross – was done as a man. The sacrifice had to be 100% perfect, obedient man.

That level of amazing obedience blows my mind away. That depth of love that endured the cross because of the joy it would bring (Hebrews 12: 2) was all for us. So we could live forever with him, free from sin and in wonderful intimate relationship with our Creator. Today let us spur ourselves on to greater obedience knowing the joy it will bring to the Father, Jesus and the Holy Spirit.

Thank you Father for sending Jesus. Thank you Jesus for your obedience even to death on a cross. Thank you that everything you did was as a man and is such a great encouragement to us that all things really are possible through Jesus Christ who gives us strength and is such a source of inspiration to us. Amen