Day 249: Love's Hardest Truth: While We Were Yet Enemies Of Love ....
Read: Psalm 10, Romans 5
Humor is a good thing for the most part and sometimes I will get a bit humorous with the devotions that God offers through me. I enjoy being humorous because it brings a certain levity to the Word of God that we all need. We cannot be serious all the time. You know the old adage "all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy."
Sometimes I guess levity also will help the reader relax and prayerfully
engage the devotion while they are feeling calmer and more at ease,
less tense. Humor helps to break the cycle of grief and anguish. The less of these in your life can only serve to increase the true reception of God's word in the readers heart. Sometimes too, humor is tough to find.
Today, as I was reading through the Psalms, I came upon these verses:
'Why do You stand afar off, O Lord? Why do You hide Yourself in times of
trouble? 2 In pride the wicked hotly pursue the afflicted; Let them be
caught in the plots which they have devised. (1,2). My friends, I have
been trying to convey to you over the last week or so the simple secrets
and truths that I have learned from Scripture about Love. When I
read these verses, I felt like I ran into a brick wall that suddenly
rose up from the ground. Suddenly I realized another truth about Love, a
hard truth that Love hurts, hurts badly. Our Love of sin hurts God.
Hurts God badly. And God Loves us so much!
This psalm is an
example of an “imprecatory prayer,” as it contains brutal honesty and an
earnest call for God to bring His justice to bear on the wicked. No
punches are pulled here. As C.S. Lewis once said, reading Psalm 10 is
like throwing open the door of an oven that is set to 500 degrees – you
immediately get hit full in the face with the heat of the psalmist’s
fury. Sometimes, Love seems to be cruel in what it is expecting of us.
We run up against all the things Love is and then we look square into the reality of our own circumstance and we want to lash out at Love,
call it down to the carpet, put Love on its knees, into our own shoes
and challenge it to prove itself.
The sinful person referred to in Psalm 10 is a classic example of a disillusioned, pride filled, selfish exploitative heart - namely us. We so firmly believe
that our sin will be left without any repercussions. God believes in
the potential of every human being, even the most obnoxious of
sinners like us because we are all made in the image of God. The problem
is everyone has a story, we like to rationalize a reason for our own obnoxious junk. But the love of God for every single obnoxious sinner
like you and me is so completely deep, so completely true so completely
hurtful to God that He sent His Son to die while we were yet bitter
enemies. Perhaps this is Loves hardest truth!
Let Us Pray:
Lord, I thank You for pouring Your love into my heart by the Holy
Spirit, so that I don't have to be unkind to those who are unkind to me.
(Romans 5:5) Help me to remember that people who hurt others are
usually hurting themselves. I beg You, Remind me often that Your Word
says, “Pray for those who hurt you,” and help me to pray the prayers of
Your heart for these people. (Luke 6:28) Thank You for giving me the
grace I need to seek and find the common ground, to “live a life that
Jesus would be proud of”! (Philippians 1:10 MSG). Thank You for the
burden of Love!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qXqvJb_IGak
All Sons & Daughters - Brokenness Aside [The Worship Band's EP.No.1]
www.youtube.com
The worship duo of David Leonard and Leslie Jordan was birthed in 2010 from Journey Church
Read: Psalm 10, Romans 5
Humor is a good thing for the most part and sometimes I will get a bit humorous with the devotions that God offers through me. I enjoy being humorous because it brings a certain levity to the Word of God that we all need. We cannot be serious all the time. You know the old adage "all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy." Sometimes I guess levity also will help the reader relax and prayerfully engage the devotion while they are feeling calmer and more at ease, less tense. Humor helps to break the cycle of grief and anguish. The less of these in your life can only serve to increase the true reception of God's word in the readers heart. Sometimes too, humor is tough to find.
Today, as I was reading through the Psalms, I came upon these verses: 'Why do You stand afar off, O Lord? Why do You hide Yourself in times of trouble? 2 In pride the wicked hotly pursue the afflicted; Let them be caught in the plots which they have devised. (1,2). My friends, I have been trying to convey to you over the last week or so the simple secrets and truths that I have learned from Scripture about Love. When I read these verses, I felt like I ran into a brick wall that suddenly rose up from the ground. Suddenly I realized another truth about Love, a hard truth that Love hurts, hurts badly. Our Love of sin hurts God. Hurts God badly. And God Loves us so much!
This psalm is an example of an “imprecatory prayer,” as it contains brutal honesty and an earnest call for God to bring His justice to bear on the wicked. No punches are pulled here. As C.S. Lewis once said, reading Psalm 10 is like throwing open the door of an oven that is set to 500 degrees – you immediately get hit full in the face with the heat of the psalmist’s fury. Sometimes, Love seems to be cruel in what it is expecting of us. We run up against all the things Love is and then we look square into the reality of our own circumstance and we want to lash out at Love, call it down to the carpet, put Love on its knees, into our own shoes and challenge it to prove itself.
The sinful person referred to in Psalm 10 is a classic example of a disillusioned, pride filled, selfish exploitative heart - namely us. We so firmly believe that our sin will be left without any repercussions. God believes in the potential of every human being, even the most obnoxious of sinners like us because we are all made in the image of God. The problem is everyone has a story, we like to rationalize a reason for our own obnoxious junk. But the love of God for every single obnoxious sinner like you and me is so completely deep, so completely true so completely hurtful to God that He sent His Son to die while we were yet bitter enemies. Perhaps this is Loves hardest truth!
Let Us Pray: Lord, I thank You for pouring Your love into my heart by the Holy Spirit, so that I don't have to be unkind to those who are unkind to me. (Romans 5:5) Help me to remember that people who hurt others are usually hurting themselves. I beg You, Remind me often that Your Word says, “Pray for those who hurt you,” and help me to pray the prayers of Your heart for these people. (Luke 6:28) Thank You for giving me the grace I need to seek and find the common ground, to “live a life that Jesus would be proud of”! (Philippians 1:10 MSG). Thank You for the burden of Love!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qXqvJb_IGak
All Sons & Daughters - Brokenness Aside [The Worship Band's EP.No.1]
www.youtube.com
The worship duo of David Leonard and Leslie Jordan was birthed in 2010 from Journey Church
All Sons & Daughters - Brokenness Aside [The Worship Band's EP.No.1]
www.youtube.com
The
worship duo of David Leonard and Leslie Jordan was birthed in 2010 from
Journey Church located in the Nashville suburb of Franklin,
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