Nothing Can Separate Us!

"For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord."  Rom. 8:28

Wow!  That is an amazing truth.  I was reflecting on that verse this morning while I was on my walk and it occurred to me...NOTHING can separate us from God's love in Christ Jesus!   Not ADHD, not depression, not mental illness nor anything else in all creation!  On the surface, that seems like a no brainer until I thought of the ways I have let things separate me from Christ's love.

Sometimes I have said to myself after saying an unkind word to one of my children,

"Shoot!  There I go again.  My ADD's to blame!"  

Other times I have tried to recall a verse in the moment, but it was out of reach in my muddled mind.  Then I mutter:

"I guess I can't memorize Scripture.  I can never seem to remember anything."  

Lies, lies...all lies!  My excuses were just rationalization for not doing something differently.

As I was thinking about the truth of Rom. 8:28, I remembered that it's not a great memory or being the model parent that keeps me close to Jesus.  It's His love.  In this fallen world, there are lots of things that don't work right.  But here's the thing.  God already knows that we're all broken in some way.  Whether it be neurologically, emotionally, physically or morally, that's why Jesus had to die for each of us.  The very things that tend to become barriers to my relationship with Christ should actually be the things that draw me closer to Him!  The reason I was thinking this was because I was pondering what keeps me from experiencing this amazing love.  It's making agreements with the enemy of our souls.  John and Stasi Eldridge talk about agreements in their book, Love & War.  It has really helped me recognize when I am living out of a lie instead of God's truth.  They say,
                   

"Now, what this father of lies does is put his "spin" on a situation.  It typically comes as a "thought" or a "feeling."  ...What Satan is hoping for is to secure from us an "agreement," a very subtle

but momentous shift in us, where we believe the spin, we go with the feeling, and we accept as reality the deception he is presenting.  (It always feels so true.) ...Once we buy in to the lie and make the agreement, we come under the spell and come under the influence of that interpretation of events.  Then it pretty much plays itself out; becoming self-fulfilling."

It's so easy to believe that many things can separate us from God's love.  The agreements may sound like this:

"I'm not good enough".  

"Why try.  I'll just fail."  

"I don't know how to hear God's voice."  

"Maybe He just doesn't speak to me."  

"My thoughts are so confused. I can't make sense of reading the Bible."

Do these sound familiar?  They sure do to me.  However, I am coming to actually appreciate the fallen-ness of being human.  Sometimes I still struggle and I get sucked into an agreement, but I am reminded that even a spiritual giant like the apostle Paul struggled with something that he wanted to get rid of and asked God to take away three times, but God said,

 "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." 2 Cor. 12:9

So, when I am tempted to make agreements, it's really an opportunity to trust God and lean into Him instead of believing those negative thoughts.  I am so glad God left us a love letter, the Bible.  I can trust what it says. And what it says is that nothing, no, nothing can separate us from God's love!

The You That Is Yet To Be

Imagine back before there was anything.  There was God.

He says to the you that is yet to be:

"I have a wonderful plan for you.  I will create an individual with  a unique personality and energy in the womb of your mother that will grow into the fullness of who I've created you to be.  You think that you are just a combination of genes given to you by your mother and father.  You are much more than that!  You were made in My image. Body,soul and spirit.  Eternal.  A longing to be known.  A complex conglomeration of natural talents, spiritual gifts, physical traits that can reflect Me.

Your heart will be made to know Me. You will long for Me.  Even with all the things that life on earth can offer, you will have a void inside that can only be filled by Me.  There will be a lot of evil, ugliness and pain in the world.  My creations will think they can do life without their Creator. Though I will set the first created ones  in a beautiful garden where they can walk with Me, they will choose to tarnish the perfect life that I set before them.  People will look inward or to other created things, creating idols that will fit their idea of the Divine.  They will strive to make life happy and fulfilling but they will find that what they put in My place will never satisfy them.

The world in it's fallen state will be a shadow of the beautiful world I am creating for you. Despite your brokenness,  I will woo you to Myself.  I will not force your obedience or demand that you acknowledge Me.  I want you to know Me for who I AM and choose to relate to Me as I designed you to.  I know that you will become dissatisfied with what the world offers you, that you will ask questions like 'Why am I here? What is my purpose?  Is there a God?'

When you are ready, you will seek Me and you will find Me.  I long for you to draw near to me.  I knew that you couldn't fulfill the requirements needed to relate to My Holiness, so I am sending my beloved Son to live among you and give his sinless life for you.  Not just for you but for all who desire to live in relationship with Me, their Creator. That is what life is all about!  I long to pour My love into your life.  You will want to give your love and life to me in return.  As you grow in your knowledge of Me, you will grow more and more into who I've created you to be.  I will place you in a particular time and place where you will reflect my Glory, doing the good works I have prepared in advance for you to do.  Your life will matter.  You will make the world a better place and be a display case for my Glory.  Your life will matter not only for the short time you are on the earth, but your life will matter for eternity.  I have a wonderful place waiting for you after your life on earth is over.  You will pass from perishable to imperishable and you will dwell with Me, in My very Presence forever!  That is why I made you!  The hardships and trials of your earthly life will seem unbearable at times and you will wonder why you must endure them.  But all that you encounter and endure in your life I will use to mold and shape you, preparing you for your eternity with Me.

All of this is yet to be, my child.  Right now, you are just a twinkle in My eye.  I can't wait to knit you together in your mother's womb.  All of the days of your life are already written in my book.  My thoughts of you are constant and countless.   I love you, dear one. Put your trust in Me and look for My Fingerprints on your life.  You are mine.

Fountains of Blessings

Here's another daily devotion from Oswalt Chambers from My Upmost to His highest that spoke to me.
I hope it encourages you as well.

http://utmost.org/fountains-of-blessings/

The Purpose of Prayer

I am not reading My Upmost For His Highest by Oswald Chambers as the dates suggest.  The August 28 entry really spoke to me about the purpose of prayer.

http://utmost.org/the-purpose-of-prayer/

Wait on the Lord

Recently I was really battling negative thoughts and giving in to depression.  Old habits die hard.  After the holiday break of sporatic prayer time and being impatient and sharp tongued with the kids, I started my day yesterday just clearing the slate in a time of confession before the Lord.  He knows and is not surprised by my fallenness, so that was really an exercise for me to agree with Him with regard to sin and look to His word for reminders of who God is and what is true about His character and mine.  Afterwards, I continued to wallow in my discouragement hoping God would bring me out of that funk.  However, I kept my eyes on my failures instead of trusting God to answer my cry for help.  I remained in defeat.

I decided this morning to do a word study on "wait".  It started in Psalm 27: 13-14:

"I am confident of this:  I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.  Wait for the Lord;  be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord."

I got to wondering how the word "wait" was being used.  I followed the cross-referenced verses and with the help of my concordance discovered that in each case the word "wait" meant to be expectant.

Psalm 130:5-6 states: "I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and in His word I put my hope.  My soul waits for the Lord more than watchmen wait for the morning, more than watchmen wait for the morning."

That is a beautiful word picture.  Watchmen stand guard through the night, but wait expectantly for the first hues of dawn to rise above the horizon, knowing that it is coming.  There is certainty there.  I love what Matthew Henry says about this passage as he explains the degree of expectant dependence on God:

"...we must hope for it because He has promised it, and not from any opinion of our own merit.  The degree of that dependence, more than those who watch for the morning who are (1.) Well assured that the morning will come; and so am I that God will return in mercy to me according to His promise; for God's covenant is more firm than the ordinances of day and night, for they shall come to an end, but that is everlasting.  (2.) very desirous that it would come.  Sentinels that keep guard upon the walls, those that watch with sick people and travellers that are abroad upon their journey, long before day wish to see the dawning of the day; but more earnestly does this good man, for the tokens of God's favour and the visits of His grace, and more readily would he be aware of his first appearances that they are of day."

When I was praying yesterday morning, I cried out to the Lord, but still focused on my failure rather than the surety of God's grace.  It wasn't until I spoke aloud, later in the day, the promises of God and reset my gaze on the truth of His word that the cloud lifted and God spoke encouragement and purpose to my heart.

I reflected this morning on the fact that God longs to extend unending mercies to His children.  He takes great delight in us coming broken before Him, recognizing that His mercies are new every morning and great is His faithfulness.  (Lamentations 3:22-23)

This ongoing work of redemption and sanctification that God does in our lives comes from His endless
supply of grace.  All it requires of us is that we wait expectantly.  Matthew Henry states:

"The riches of this redemption; it is plentious redemption, is an all-sufficient fulness of merit and grace in the Redeemer, enough for all, enough for each, enough for me, says the believer."

Enough for me!

Oh the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God!  How unsearchable His judgements, and His paths beyond tracing out! (Romans 11:33)  Though that is true, God has already given us all that we need for life and godliness. (2 Peter 1: 3-5)  He allows us to be partakers of His divine nature!  He has given us His word and His Holy Spirit!  Amazing!  

As we depend wholly on God's unlimited resources, it is like drawing water from a well that never runs dry. We have the further promise that when we cry out to God, His eyes are on us and His ears are attentive to our cry. (Psalm 34:15)  I love the emphasis on the senses; sight and sound.  I can imagine my Heavenly Father's eyes looking lovingly at me and His ears attentively listening to my voice.

As I look to God and yield my life to Him, He then has the opportunity to show His glory through me.  

"Many will see and fear and put their trust in the Lord." (Psalm 40:3b)

It's not about me!  It's all about Him!

His story!

His glory!

His love!

Thank you God that You hear my cries.  Thank you that I can wait expectantly for You to respond when I am in the pit!  Thank you for your overwhelming forgiveness and limitless mercy and grace.  Thank you for showing Yourself faithful in ways that I can see and understand.  Thank you that the more You reveal of Yourself in my life, my faith is strengthened.  Oh, me of little faith!  Thank you for lifting me out of the pit and setting my feet on the sure foundation of Your word.  May I wait on You as the watchman waits for the dawn, expecting You to lavish Your mercies on me in all faithfulness.  For Your glory!  Amen.