All tagged love of God
The starting place for every good and faithful interpretation of Scripture must be the conviction that God is good. And if there is anything about how I am reading a particular text that makes it sound like that isn’t true – well, then I can be certain that I do not understand that passage yet.
Once you understand that your identity is grounded in God’s love, you are free to take risks, to grow and learn from your mistakes, and to try and fail because the outcome will not affect your identity in Him.
Out of fear that Mary was getting too much credit for her role in salvation history, we decided to give her none. Among us, there must not even be a hint of devotion to Mary. In the end, we might not have thrown the baby out with the bathwater, but we do seem to have thrown out the baby’s mother. And in doing so, I think we’ve lost quite a bit.
Consider the love the Father has for us. We experience God’s love in great depth not only because God has chosen to reveal Himself to us, but because He fully knows us and has chosen to love us. Love is fully realized by being known.
God is wanting to yield in us a fruit of righteousness and holiness. To do that, God must prune us. Jesus talks about this pruning that God does through Him.
Love is at the center of God’s most redemptive act. If we are to be reflections of God in this broken world, then we are to love others with the love of God.
The gradual climb up this figurative staircase leads us upward toward becoming virtuosos rather than just admirers of the Christian lifestyle.
Perhaps we need to commit to be more faithful in sharing not only the good news of Jesus, but the good news about what God has done in our lives.
Our posture is much deeper than a physical posture (sitting, standing, kneeling, etc.). It is a deep inner posture toward God or away from Him. Is our heart and spirit turned toward Him?
When at a crossroads, not knowing whether to go to the right or to the left, trust the voice of God who says, “Here is my way; walk in it.”
I now know (with all my heart) that I am deeply loved. Not because I have minimized my sin and helped others manage theirs, but simply because I exist.
When we love like Jesus loved, then we show all humankind that we are disciples of Jesus.
Our lives are not just sustained, they are infused with God’s love that overflows from need to sheer luxuriance.
In this installment I’m tempted to follow my own advice and write a little more about God’s love.
What would I do if I could go back to the days of full-time ministry, preaching week after week? What would I change?
