Day 18: The Relevance of Grieving Our God
Read: Ephesians 4:30 - 5:2, John 3:16-17
Tell me when you have heard this before: “Imitation is the highest form
of flattery.” Any parent knows this is true. You’re out in the garage,
carefully pounding some nails in that 2 x 4 you are going to use on that
long promised building project. As anybody with any wood working sense
knows, you must be very careful pounding those nails in lest you put
several gaudy dents in your final product. Suddenly, you hear another
hammer pounding the board next to you. There’s your child with the same
expression of deep concentration as you have on your face, tongue out
the side of their mouth, with a hammer in their hand. This is serious
father - child time. A serious time for bonding.
The same is true when it comes to Father
God and we who are His children. If we genuinely want to flatter our
Father God, there is no better way than trying our very best to stand
tall and confidently stride alongside of Him and trying to imitate him.
Remember, like any wonderful Father, he has blessed us with every
possible spiritual blessing; He looked upon us and He chose us to be his
children from eternity. If He had been my earthly father then there would have been no doubt how proud I'd be. Yes, it'd be wonderful except for the fact that there are fathers who miss the mark. There are earthly fathers out there for whom no child would not hesitate to grieve, they would definitely not hesitate to give great anguish to.
There are those who have endless possibilities in life, but for one
reason or another, they just walk away, leaving those possibilities
behind. They walk away from it all and before you know it they are
getting themselves into all kinds of circumstances that are completely
uncharacteristic. They are running amok, they are creating havoc where ever they go, with what ever they choose to touch. There is great wander lust and the strongest penchant for getting into the worst kinds of troubles imaginable. It is just unfathomable that if this were any one persons child the grief being inflicted! Some of you reading this can personally identify with it. God identifies with all of it.
What does it mean to grieve God? Grieve is a word used to describe
great sorrow. We use it to describe the sorrow that people feel when a
loved one suddenly leaves. The greater the love, the greater the
capacity to identify with the suffering requiring an even more intense
response on our part to grieve the loss. God's capacity to love is
limitless so when we continue to mire ourselves in our own ways the
intensity of God's suffering through it all is without limit too. God
grieves beyond our capacity to imagine. God loves with an everlasting heart. So try to connect the two and perhaps you can now understand a little better God's perfect motive for sending His Son to us.
Let Us Pray: Lord, I don't suppose I will ever arrive at a time in my
life when I will ever stop grieving You. I try to do better each day,
but sadly it can never be enough. I have tried to apologize so many
times that I guess you just shrug Your shoulders and move on saying to
yourself "Yeah, I have heard that a few times before." I thank you for
Your infinite patience with me. But more so for Your capacity to love
and to forgive through the life of Your Son Jesus Christ whom You sent
to die just for me.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dLDGVl8D5UU&feature=fvwrel
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dLDGVl8D5UU&feature=fvwrel
www.youtube.com How deep the Father's love Fernando Ortega
Read: Ephesians 4:30 - 5:2, John 3:16-17
Tell me when you have heard this before: “Imitation is the highest form of flattery.” Any parent knows this is true. You’re out in the garage, carefully pounding some nails in that 2 x 4 you are going to use on that long promised building project. As anybody with any wood working sense knows, you must be very careful pounding those nails in lest you put several gaudy dents in your final product. Suddenly, you hear another hammer pounding the board next to you. There’s your child with the same expression of deep concentration as you have on your face, tongue out the side of their mouth, with a hammer in their hand. This is serious father - child time. A serious time for bonding.
The same is true when it comes to Father God and we who are His children. If we genuinely want to flatter our Father God, there is no better way than trying our very best to stand tall and confidently stride alongside of Him and trying to imitate him. Remember, like any wonderful Father, he has blessed us with every possible spiritual blessing; He looked upon us and He chose us to be his children from eternity. If He had been my earthly father then there would have been no doubt how proud I'd be. Yes, it'd be wonderful except for the fact that there are fathers who miss the mark. There are earthly fathers out there for whom no child would not hesitate to grieve, they would definitely not hesitate to give great anguish to.
There are those who have endless possibilities in life, but for one reason or another, they just walk away, leaving those possibilities behind. They walk away from it all and before you know it they are getting themselves into all kinds of circumstances that are completely uncharacteristic. They are running amok, they are creating havoc where ever they go, with what ever they choose to touch. There is great wander lust and the strongest penchant for getting into the worst kinds of troubles imaginable. It is just unfathomable that if this were any one persons child the grief being inflicted! Some of you reading this can personally identify with it. God identifies with all of it.
What does it mean to grieve God? Grieve is a word used to describe great sorrow. We use it to describe the sorrow that people feel when a loved one suddenly leaves. The greater the love, the greater the capacity to identify with the suffering requiring an even more intense response on our part to grieve the loss. God's capacity to love is limitless so when we continue to mire ourselves in our own ways the intensity of God's suffering through it all is without limit too. God grieves beyond our capacity to imagine. God loves with an everlasting heart. So try to connect the two and perhaps you can now understand a little better God's perfect motive for sending His Son to us.
Let Us Pray: Lord, I don't suppose I will ever arrive at a time in my life when I will ever stop grieving You. I try to do better each day, but sadly it can never be enough. I have tried to apologize so many times that I guess you just shrug Your shoulders and move on saying to yourself "Yeah, I have heard that a few times before." I thank you for Your infinite patience with me. But more so for Your capacity to love and to forgive through the life of Your Son Jesus Christ whom You sent to die just for me.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dLDGVl8D5UU&feature=fvwrel
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dLDGVl8D5UU&feature=fvwrel
www.youtube.com How deep the Father's love Fernando Ortega
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