God’s Love – Page 4

Money Can’t Buy God’s Grace

February 18, 2016 by Dudley Hall

DUDLEY HALL -- The visitor saw an old sombrero on the rack in my house. "Boy!" he said, "I have always wanted one of those, but never been to Mexico to get one. Would you be willing to sell it?

"Why don't you try it on?" I said.

He did and it was pretty close to a fit. (Being rather short and slightly built, he looked like a thumbtack under the big sombrero.)

"What would you take for it?"

"You can have it. I have never used it. It's a souvenir from long ago. I'll be happy for you to enjoy it."

"Oh no. I couldn't just take it. Just give me a price."

"There is no price. It’s a gift."

"I just can't do that." He said sadly. "I really like it and will give you whatever you ask."

I stopped and looked him in the eye making sure I had his attention. "If you are ever going to have this sombrero you will have to receive it as a gift."

He turned sideways and reached back and took it and said, "Ok. But I would rather pay for it."

I can totally identify with him. Grace causes me discomfort. I like to make deals where I get the better of it, but it’s deception to think we can negotiate with God for blessings. He is ultimately gracious. To reject grace is to reject him. We can't use either our goodness or our badness as currency with him.

Before his conversion Paul (Saul) thought his moral achievements gave him some advantage with God. He looked with contempt at others whose lives were characterized by lawless deeds. Later, though, he considered all his badges of merit as manure compared to the privilege of knowing the God of grace. (Philippians 3:7-8)

Others have been convinced that God wants us to grovel, and the more we do, the better qualified we are for His blessings. This too is wrong. The very nature of grace means there is nothing in the recipient, neither goodness nor badness, that affects the exchange. It starts with God's love and concludes with His love. If we're ever to get what He offers, it will be simply by trusting Him as being fully gracious. This doesn't just apply to our initial conversion. It's for every blessing we get along the journey.

If you're longing to know this God of grace, it's because He has come all the way from heaven to stir your heart. Your desire to know God is a sure sign that He is here for you with His grace.

Don't turn away. Don't assume you don't qualify. You don't have to. He has done everything necessary to satisfy eternal justice so that He could come to you and offer what you have always needed.

You can't pay for grace. There is no human currency accepted in his kingdom. You can receive grace, though, not as some "thing" that's given, but as the very person of God revealed in Jesus Christ for you. To know Him is to live in grace.

Charlotte Elliot's old hymn says it well.

Just as I am without one plea But that thy blood was shed for me And Thou bidd'st me come to Thee O Lamb of God, I come.

Just as I am Thou wilt receive Wilt welcome, pardon, cleanse, relieve Because Thy promise I believe O Lamb of God I come.

Nothing is Wasted With God

February 18, 2016 by Michael Wilson

All of us have gone through hard times, suffered loss and tragedy, and at times even made some really costly mistakes. Many times we think that we have hit the end of the road. We wonder how things can be salvaged out of the mess that has been created.

What’s really frustrating, to me anyway, is when the mess I am in was created by someone else. It’s one thing to suffer at the hands of my own stupid decisions and choices. It’s another thing, and much more aggravating, to suffer due to someone else’s poor decisions and choices.

But, I serve a God that is able to make all things new, turn whatever mess I am in into a message of redemption and take every test and trial and turn them into a testimony of victory. I don’t know how He does it but He does.

With God, nothing is wasted. No trial, mess, tear, stupid decision or consequence is wasted with God. He can take everything good and bad in your life and use it for your benefit, the benefit of others and ultimately, His glory.

Right now, I am in a transitional season in my life. I have been going down a path that I did not choose for myself. Based on the decisions of others, I find myself in a place that I don’t really want to be. I have often wondered, “is this the best that it’s going to get?”

Have you ever been there? It’s so frustrating. Deep down I know that God is preparing me for something greater (or at least, most days, I am hoping so). Deep down I know that He is faithful and will not neglect me nor has He ever forgotten me. Deep down, I know these things to be true.

Unfortunately, there are days that I don’t live deep down! There are some days when I live in the shallow pit of my emotions. There are some days that I allow my thoughts to get carried away and I lose sight of the fact that NOTHING IS WASTED WITH GOD!

Everything that I have been through, God will use to grow me and to help me understand what others are going through. You cannot understand someone’s story unless you have a similar one. I will never know what it’s like to be addicted to drugs because I have never been addicted to drugs. For those that have, and have been delivered, God will use that to help someone else. It’s not been wasted.

Even though I don’t know what it’s like to be addicted, I have my own stories. I have my own issues. I have my own messes. On the days that I find myself swimming in the shallow end of self-pity and bad moods, I have to remind myself that nothing is wasted with God. Everything I am experiencing right now will be used for a greater purpose.

When I think about all the different characters in the Bible, I realize that 1) God can and will use anybody, and 2) our mistakes and messes don’t thwart Him a bit. Just reading the genealogy of Jesus shows us that God can and will use anyone. God’s not afraid of our messes or mistakes.

God uses the situations in our lives to mold us into better human beings that have greater empathy for those around us. That’s why I love Hebrews 4:15-16 so much.

For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin. Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

Because Jesus knows the weaknesses and frailties of humanity, He gives us grace and mercy. He understands the messes that we get ourselves into. He gives us grace and mercy to get out of those messes with a message of hope, love and forgiveness.

He takes all of our issues, problems, mistakes, messes, tragedies, disappointments, and failures, runs them through His grace and somehow, some way, something amazingly beautiful comes out of it all. The scripture is true that declares, “He gives beauty for ashes.” (Isaiah 61:3)

I have a dear friend that has just started blogging. Her blog is about her life’s story. In her blog, she shares about a lot of the messes that she has found herself in. And yet, God, her loving Father, is taking every single one of those messes and is turning them into an amazing tapestry that others will look at and see as beautiful. My friend is just one shining example of how nothing is wasted with God.

What about you? Have you ever felt that some decisions you made in life were wasted? Have you ever felt insignificant? Have you ever felt that things were too bad for God to redeem? I know that I have had my fair share of seemingly hopeless issues. I have to always remind myself that, with God, nothing is wasted.

Don’t Despise the Package!

December 24, 2015 by Michael Wilson

Gifts come in all shapes and sizes. My family Christmas tree is full of gifts in different colored wrapping paper, bows and ribbon. Some are big and some are small. Each of my children hopes that the biggest one goes to them. For some reason, we often get excited thinking that the bigger the gift the better it will be.

Do you remember the greatest gift you ever received at Christmas time?

Christmas is celebrated by Christians as the birthdate of Jesus. We consider Him to be the greatest gift of all. We believe that He is the Son of God that miraculously became a human, born of a virgin. We believe that He died on a cross for the sins of mankind that we could be restored to a rightful relationship with our Father in Heaven.

Truly, He is a great gift.

You would think such greatness would come in a great package. When we want to give someone we love and cherish a special gift we will go to great lengths to pick out the right wrapping paper and the perfect bow. We might even set up the surroundings to make everything perfect for when they open that gift.

But, He didn’t come wrapped up in a great package.

He was born around smelly animals. Truly not a place for a king, let alone the God of the Universe.

He didn’t look like royalty. He was born to commoner parents. No regal robes, no silver or gold plated rattles. He was wrapped in swaddling clothes and laid in a manger.

His birth was made known by angels to shepherds and not to anyone else. He was born in a little, out of way town that didn’t have much significance.

His birth was low-key and was not something that you expect of a great King.

In other words, a gift came wrapped up in an unassuming package.

Throughout Jesus’ life, He was not received by many of His own. He didn’t come wrapped in the package they were expecting. They were expecting a mighty warrior King that would free them from Roman oppression. He came as the Suffering Servant. He did not look or act like they thought he should look or act.

They missed the gift because of the packaging.

Have you ever missed the gift of God because it didn’t come the way you thought it should? I have. I looked at the package (the person) and didn’t like what I saw so I was unable to receive the gift.

God wraps His gifts in the packaging of humanity.

He wants us to be able to see beyond the packaging. He wants us to see the gift inside.

The gifts under the tree are not really about the wrapping paper. It’s not even about the box that the gift comes packaged in. It’s the gift itself. It’s what is wrapped up in the paper and the box.

It’s the same with people. It’s not about what’s on the outside. It’s about the inside. Learn to look beyond the exterior to see the heart. This Christmas season, and throughout the coming year, learn to see beyond the exterior of every human being and see the gift that is on the inside.

Why Won’t God Feel Sorry For Me?

November 9, 2015 by Michael Wilson

Have you ever had a bad time in your life where you prayed for things to change, but they didn’t? This is especially hard when someone has caused you great pain and done something to cause you loss. I’ve been in this season for a while now. It started about five years ago. I am in a much better place now, but I still feel the sting of pain and loss from the actions of someone else.

Throughout this ordeal, there have been many times where I have wanted God to feel sorry for me. I have wanted him to deal with others in the way that David prayed in the Psalms. “Lord, smash them, vindicate me, get them good, let them hurt as I hurt.” That’s not an actual translation….that’s the Michael Wilson version.

I am sure that you are a much stronger person than I am and have never felt this way.

But this is not the Jesus way!

So, why won’t God just feel sorry for me and get me out of this mess? Why won’t he just snap his fingers and cause my circumstances, which were not my fault, mind you, to just change for the better. How long until things are fully restored as I desire them to be?

Because with God nothing is ever wasted! No problem, no scar, no miscarriage of justice. No pain, no hurt, no wound. Nothing is ever wasted with God. He has the ability to make ALL things work together for our good.

He has a way of turning every test we go through into a testimony we can share with someone else. He has the ability to turn every mess we are in into a message of hope and deliverance for someone else. He can turn every trial and tribulation into a triumph for those that will just trust him.

It would be easier for God to feel sorry for us and turn things around but what would we learn from that? Many times our children go through things that are not comfortable for them. As much as we want to, we don’t always get them out of their situation because we use it for a learning experience. It’s a teachable moment about how to overcome adversity. It’s a way to teach them that life is tough, but they are tougher.

Yes, at times, I want God to feel sorry for me. I want him to just supernaturally move me from the trials I am in to a place of comfort, a place of green pastures and still waters.

But I won’t grow like I should if all I have is comfort. I won’t grow if it’s always easy. I won’t learn obedience unless I go through some suffering. That’s how it worked for Jesus. Even though he was the Son of God and sinless, he still had to learn obedience through things that he suffered (Heb. 5:7).

With God nothing is ever wasted! He has the ability to make ALL things work together for our good.
Click To Tweet

It’s easy to obey God when things are going our way when we feel we are on top of life and all things are good. It’s not so easy when we are suffering because of someone else’s mistakes and sins. It’s not as easy to trust God when our name is being dragged through the mud and people believe lies about us. We want vindication and justice. Many times, if not all, God simply whispers to us, “Let it go and trust me.”

Many times, we have a conversation like this with God:

“Can’t you just feel sorry for me and right all the wrongs done to me? That would make me feel better.”

“Let it go and just trust me.”

“Yea, but people believe stuff that’s not true and I am paying the price for their sins.”

“I paid the price for your sins and their sins, now let it go and just trust me.”

“But I am afraid you won’t come through for me. I mean look at them, they are prospering and happy. They are able to move on and I am stuck. I don’t like it here and it’s their fault. What are you going to do?”

“I am working all things out for you, and for them. Remember I love you both. I died for their sins as well as yours. My plans and purposes are greater than you will know, but you have to let this go and just trust me.”

“So you won’t feel sorry for me? You won’t make this easier on me?”

“No and no. My grace is sufficient for you, for in your weakness I am made strong. Trust me.”

I have had many conversations with God like this. While I will not say that this is one of those actual conversations, I can safely tell you that over the course of the last five years, this would be the summation of those conversations.

God will not feel sorry for us because he uses everything that happens to us to mold us, shape us, and form us into the human beings he created us to be . . . his sons and daughters reflecting his image and likeness.

God will not feel sorry for us, but he will lead us, guide us, work all things out for us and be strong in us as we simply trust and obey him. Even in the midst of deep hurt and pain, he is always there for us.

He won’t feel sorry for you but he will love the mess out of you!

A Man Did Time For Me

October 6, 2015 by Michael Wilson

Prison life has always fascinated me. It’s another world inside those walls behind the fence. I’ve watched numerous prison movies and documentaries. The whole concept of survival in a place like that is interesting to me. I once had a friend who spent eighteen years of his life behind bars. His stories intrigued me as I listened to the things that went on behind the barbed wire.

Prison Bound/Thomas Hawk /BY-NC

As much as I am interested in prison life, I definitely would not want to go to prison!

Just the thought of it brings on a sickening feeling.

I was watching a movie recently about the life of Christopher Wallace, aka Biggie Smalls or the Notorious B.I.G. In the movie, Christopher was running from the police and he was carrying a weapon. As he was running he ditched the gun in a trash can. He was eventually caught and the police found the gun. They just didn’t know if the gun belonged to him or his friend who was with him at the time. Christopher had already done time and his music career was in the beginning stages of taking off. His friend told him he would take the gun charge for him so that he could get his music career going. It would have been a three year sentence. Christopher reluctantly agreed. Being this was a movie, I don’t really know how true the story line is but I do know that there are men and women who are doing time for someone else. That is true friendship and love for a friend.

I wonder if I would ever do time for someone else. I think about my kids or wife and I think I would do it for them. I don’t believe I will ever be put in that position but the point of doing someone else’s prison time is a very curious concept.

In my thought process, I see Jesus as doing time for me. How could the Almighty Son of God become a human, deal with temptations and human issues and then die? How is that even possible? I know that we read about that happening in myths and legends. I also know that many people believe that Jesus wasn’t the son of God. I know that many people don’t believe that Jesus was fully God and fully man.

But I believe it! I don’t know and understand all the intricacies involved in it but I believe it.

Jesus “did time” as a human being. He willingly became “imprisoned” in a human body with human limitations. The most miraculous part of it all was that he chose to do it. He chose to lay aside all his abilities as God and experience life as a normal human being.

The Bible tells us that he was tempted in every way that we are. I don’t think that most of us have ever thought deeply about that. We read about his temptations in Matthew 4, but we don’t see any temptations beyond that listed in the Bible. I believe that he was tempted to lust after women, to steal, to lie, to cheat, to do things that would make life easier for him. I am tempted with those things and so is the rest of humanity.

Temptation is a part of our daily lives. The good news is that God understands our weaknesses as humans because Jesus did time as a human. I don’t understand prison life because I have never been there but someone who has been will understand the harsh realities of prison life . . . because they have been there.

Jesus has been there as a human being! He understands our weaknesses and frailties.

Because Jesus understands he is able to give mercy and compassion. He is able to sympathize with our weaknesses. He is able to come alongside us and help us carry the burden. He is able to pray for us because of his vast knowledge of the human experience.

The things I have experienced in my life bring me an understanding so that I can comfort, help and guide others who are facing similar experiences. However, I have found myself out of my league when dealing with someone who has gone through something I have never experienced. I have no point of reference. I have no understanding.

Jesus isn’t like that though. Somehow, during his time on earth, he managed to experience all that comes against humanity. I don’t think that he experienced every single little temptation that we do, like the temptation to smoke a cigarette. But I think that the basic temptations of life were experienced by Jesus. I believe that Jesus dealt with things that are related to the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life (1 John 2:16).

I believe that our entire temptations boil down to a few basic temptations, such as the need to feel loved, the need for acceptance, the need to feel validated, etc. I believe we all do things for a reason. Every time we do something wrong, there is usually a deeper reason for it. I believe that Jesus’ temptations were in the areas of trying to fill needs within his life that would replace his dependency upon God. That’s simply my opinion and it would make a great discussion but that’s for another time.

Jesus did time for me as a fellow human being. I wonder when Jesus realized that He was the Son of God. I wonder if he felt the limitations of humanity. I wonder if he was ever tempted to use his abilities as God to get himself out of situation. I know that in the Garden of Gethsemane on the night of his betrayal and arrest he appealed to God for deliverance. He admitted that he could call down angels to fight his battle but he didn’t. He accepted the mission of death.

I don’t believe that Jesus looked at his time as earth as “doing time.” When you love someone you will go to whatever lengths necessary to help them. That’s what Jesus did for humanity.

The Creator became the created. God became man. The Son became a son. Life experienced death. Jesus did time for me and you. He is the man that “did time” for all of us.

Unconditional Love is an Oxymoron

September 29, 2015 by Michael Wilson

All of my life I have heard Christians talk about the unconditional love of God. I’ve heard, and even spoken, about the love of God being without conditions, while people tend to love with conditions. As I think about love and what love really is, I have come to an understanding that “unconditional love” is really an oxymoron.

If love comes with conditions then it is really not love. Love has to be without conditions or else it becomes manipulation.

God does love us without conditions because He is love. Love is to be the standard by which all people will know who the true followers of Jesus are. Jesus tells his first followers to love others as He had loved them.

Think about a parent. Good parents do not love their children with conditions. They love them without conditions. They love their children, not for what they do or don’t do, but for who they are. They don’t love their children in spite of their children. They simply love their children because they are part of them.

Yet, I see so many people within the body of Christ that are better parents to their kids than what they believe God is to them. They will love their kids without conditions, yet somehow believe that God conditionally loves them.

Imagine your child coming to you and saying, “Dad, I know I am so unworthy of your love. I am just a worm. I am just a sinner that doesn’t even deserve to live under your roof. Dad, I am so undeserving of your love.” You’d probably flip out and ask what drugs they had been doing. You would not stand for such nonsensical talk. You would correct them and make sure they knew that your love for them has nothing to do with what they do or don’t do.

Why do we treat our children that way, yet feel God treats us differently? Why do we believe that God gives us a standard to live by but doesn’t live by that standard Himself? Many Christians seem to believe that God is a “do as I say, not as I do” kind of parent. God expects us to forgive others, even if they don’t ask for it, yet many Christians don’t believe that God will forgive unless you confess and repent. God says that we are to keep no records of wrong, yet many Christians believe that God is keeping an account of all our sins.

Now I know that some would argue that He is God Almighty and He can do what He wants. That is true, but I don’t see that manifested in Jesus, who is the perfect image of the Father. In Jesus, I see a God that is loving, kind compassionate and merciful. I also see a God that is tough on religion, pride, hypocrisy and people unwilling to forgive. In Jesus I see a God that would rather forgive and die for his enemies than to live without them.

That is love without conditions. That is what true love is.

True love is always concerned with the other person’s well-being, value and happiness. True love is being willing to put someone else’s needs before our own. True love is always without conditions.

If we believe that God loves us with conditions then how do we know what those conditions are? Some would say that God loves us when we obey. If that’s the case then we need to stop telling “sinners” that Jesus loves them and wants to save them. That would not be true because they are not obeying God.

If we believe that God loves us when we are living right, then wouldn’t that make us worthy of God’s love because somehow we are earning his love by doing what he wants?

If I can do something to make God love me then I become worthy of his love because of my actions. That’s not love . . . that’s reward. Unfortunately that is how many people give out their love….as a reward for other people’s right behaviors.

I don’t love my wife or kids because of what they do. I love them because they simply are! Even when my kids are rebellious, testing boundaries and my patience, I still love them without conditions. I will not stop loving them because of what they do or don’t do.

Love is an emotion that we feel, but more importantly, it’s a choice we make. We love people because we see the value in them. You don’t love what you don’t value.

God values us as His creation, and as His children. Therefore, he loves us. Our value is determined by him not us, our actions or even our right believing. God can love us unconditionally because He places great value on who we are to Him.

I can love others unconditionally when I see their value over their actions. To love with conditions doesn’t benefit the person I am “trying” to love. It only benefits me as the person does what I want in order to get my love. It’s manipulation and it’s not love.

God’s love is never manipulative. His love is perfect and unconditional because He is love and he is the standard of what true love is. May we truly learn to love others as Jesus has loved us.