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A Glory Seed Devotional
The mystery of God’s love solved???
Have you ever thought yourself undeserving of God’s love or am I the only one? Soon it will be Ash Wednesday, then Lent, then Palm Sunday, then Good Friday, and finally Easter Sunday which are times when we’ll come face-to-face with the fact that Jesus sacrificed his life for us. One of the most powerful songs for me at Easter is “the Hammer” a song sung by Ray Boltz, about the man who nailed Jesus to the cross but when he sings, “And I saw the hammer in my hand,” I immediately see myself with the hammer in my hand. And like the Roman Soldier in the song I feel undeserving of Jesus’ sacrifice. (Here’s a link to the video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k3xh8770ESA.)
A couple of days ago while reading chapter 3 of John and thinking about Easter and how I feel undeserving. Suddenly in my imagination I heard the Holy Spirit asking me, “If God loved you enough to send Jesus into your life and if Jesus loved you enough to give his life for you how can you feel undeserving?” Then as I began reading at verse 34 rather than feeling guilty and undeserving I began feeling loved, blessed, and humbled like never before.
“The One that God sent speaks God’s words. And don’t think he rations out the Spirit in bits and pieces. The Father loves the Son extravagantly. He turned everything over to him so he could give it away—a lavish distribution of gifts. That is why whoever accepts and trusts the Son gets in on everything, life complete and forever!” (John 3:34–36, The Message) It is because Jesus gave his life for us that we are deserving of God’s love.
I have come to the conclusion that when one thinks they are undeserving of God’s love they are in danger of isolating themselves not only from Jesus but also the “lavish distribution of gifts” he desires them to give them. I have also concluded that from Jesus’ perspective he died for me and not because of me. Yet there is no denying it was because of my sins Jesus died and so I find myself wrapped up in a mystery – the mystery of God’s love.
When we can see the totality of our life from Jesus’ perspective we then can see the truth and that truth will set us free! That’s not always easy but always necessary.
Believe it! Experience it!
Grace and PEACE!
Gary
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“When you’re in over your head, I’ll be there with you. When you’re in rough waters, you will not go down. When you’re between a rock and a hard place, it won’t be a dead end—” (Isaiah 43:2, The Message)
“When you’re in over your head, I’ll be there with you. When you’re in rough waters, you will not go down. When you’re between a rock and a hard place, it won’t be a dead end—” (Isaiah 43:2, The Message)
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Scriptures marked MSG have been taken from THE MESSAGE. Copyright 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group.”