Isn't it somewhat discouraging that we as humans are so fickle in our love for one another? As long as everything is roses and rainbows and unicorns, we are as nice as nice can be, but the moment things take a turn for the worse, our halos turn into horns, the fangs come out, and we're down right mean to each other. Thankfully, God is nothing like us in regards to the way He loves us.
His love can't be earned.
And it can't be lost, either.
It doesn't depend on us at all, actually.
Nothing we say or do or don't do, for that matter, can make God love us any more, or less.
His love is a no-strings attached kind of love.
It's a never-ending, unfailing, forever and ever love.
It's a for better or worse, in sickness and in health, rich or poor, no matter what kind of love.
It's a patient love.
It is kind.
It is faithful.
It is gentle.
But it is also fierce.
It is abundant.
Lavish.
Gracious.
Abounding.
Ever-present.
It's a love like none other.
It's a divine love.
It's God's love for us. For me. For YOU...
But don't take my word for it. See what God Himself has to say about the way He loves YOU...
1 Corinthians 13 is an excellent place to start, since this section of Scripture is often referred to as the Love Chapter. You might have heard it read at a wedding. A good setting seeing as how the love between a husband and wife is supposed to mirror the love God has for us, the church, His bride. And although we humans pronounce our vows to practice this kind of love "until death do us part," the divorce rate proves we do otherwise. As bad as we are about keeping our promises, God is true to His word. He never lies. He never changes. He always does just as He says He will do. And He has committed to loving us in this way:
"Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance."
In our culture we use the word love for so many things. We love pizza. We love to shop (or in my case, I love to run and bike and hike and be outdoors, not at a shopping mall). We love a bargain (even I can't pass those up). We love football. We love the color pink (that would be my girls, NOT me). We love our spouse. We love our children. We love our dog or cat or horse or hamster or whatever pet(s) we may have. We love sunshine. We love, love, love... In using the same word for such a wide range of emotions, I think we lose the meaning and depth of this concept of what true love really is. We miss out on how "wide and long and high and deep" God's love for us is (Ephesians 3:!8). We simply don't get the intensity of His love. And that is tragic, affecting the way we live our entire lives, I believe.
I want us to at least try to grasp the reality of God's immense love for us. Granted, His love is far beyond what our tiny, finite human brains can even begin to fathom, but I think we do ourselves a service in taking a look at the Hebrew word for God's love. You see, the Hebrews weren't as casual in their vocabulary as we are today. They had a separate, special word used to describe this one-of-a-kind love God has for us.
Hesed.
Loving kindness.
Faithful love.
Steadfast love.
Love unfailing.
Love unending.
Mercy.
You see how we have to use all these words and phrases to capture the depth and richness of this one Hebrew word? That's how AWESOME (another highly over-used word in the English language) this HESED love of God is for us.
Those descriptions don't even come close to doing justice to expressing the full meaning of God's HESED love. I found an excellent article that expands on this Hebrew word, this love so amazing we won't ever be able to completely understand it in our lifetime or even a thousand lifetimes. But this might help us get a little closer and at least come to a much better appreciation of God's marvelous, gracious, absolutely ridiculous love for us. Norman Snaith is also much more educated than I am or ever will be and his knowledge of the Hebrew language and usage of the word HESED in the Bible is more much expansive than mine. So I strongly encourage you to read what he has to say in this article taken from A Theological Word Book of the Bible.
Pretty incredible, huh?
This concept of God's HESED love for us actually led us to chose Hesed as our 3rd daughter's middle name. When I was pregnant with Kyiah Hesed, God seemed to give me the words, "loyal" and "steadfast" to pray over her. Not only did we pray for our little girl to be a loyal and steadfast friend to those around her, but that in so doing she would she would be a living example of God's loyal and steadfast love for her, for us, for YOU.
What exactly does this loyal, steadfast, never-failing, always faithful, merciful, abounding love look like? Let's take a look at some Scripture verses to find out!
One of the first instances of the word HESED is found in Exodus 34:5-7 when God revealed Himself to Moses. "Then the Lord came down in a cloud and stood there with him; and He called out His own name, YAHWEH. The Lord passed in front of Moses, calling out, 'YAHWEH! The Lord! The God of compassion and mercy! I am slow to anger and filled with unfailing love and faithfulness. I lavish unfailing love to a thousand generations. I forgive iniquity, rebellion, and sin."
We see the Israelites being reminded of God's HESED love for them as they prepare to enter the Promised Land. They are taking a look back at His faithfulness to first rescue them from slavery in Egypt and then His constant goodness to them as they wandered in the wilderness for over 40 years and have finally come to Canaan, the land He promised to their forefather Abraham hundreds of years before any of them were ever born. Moses won't be going with his people into the Promised Land, but he wants to give them one final message before they go on their way without him. *Warning: it is a bit long (and I didn't even include all of Moses' address to the Israelite nation, so I invite you to read it in its entirety to fully capture what he was communicating to God's people, as the same truths apply to us today, thousands of years later)...
6 For you are a holy people, who belong to the Lord your God. Of all the people on earth, the Lord your God has chosen you to be his own special treasure.
7 “The Lord did not set his heart on you and choose you because you were more numerous than other nations, for you were the smallest of all nations! 8 Rather, it was simply that the Lord loves you, and he was keeping the oath he had sworn to your ancestors. That is why the Lord rescued you with such a strong hand from your slavery and from the oppressive hand of Pharaoh, king of Egypt. 9 Understand, therefore, that the Lord your God is indeed God. He is the faithful God who keeps his covenant for a thousand generations and lavishes his unfailing love on those who love him and obey his commands. 10 But he does not hesitate to punish and destroy those who reject him.11 Therefore, you must obey all these commands, decrees, and regulations I am giving you today.
12 “If you listen to these regulations and faithfully obey them, the Lord your God will keep his covenant of unfailing love with you, as he promised with an oath to your ancestors. 13 He will love you and bless you, and he will give you many children. He will give fertility to your land and your animals. When you arrive in the land he swore to give your ancestors, you will have large harvests of grain, new wine, and olive oil, and great herds of cattle, sheep, and goats. 14 You will be blessed above all the nations of the earth. None of your men or women will be childless, and all your livestock will bear young. 15 And the Lord will protect you from all sickness. He will not let you suffer from the terrible diseases you knew in Egypt, but he will inflict them on all your enemies!
The Israelites were a forgetful people, seemingly unable to remember for more than 2 seconds the miraculous deeds God had done for them and how He always took care of them, provided for them, protected them, defended them, and led them every step of the way. As soon as difficulty sprung up or something happened that took them off guard, they were quick to grumble and complain and whine and pout. But before we are too quick to point a finger, we must admit that we too let our situation or circumstances cloud our view of God. We too doubt and question. We have our fair share of pity parties and temper tantrums. Thankfully, God's HESED love for us doesn't depend on our faithfulness to Him!!! Despite our childish ways, God's love never fails or wanes. He never stops loving us, ever.
We see the psalmist David remind us of this time and time and time again (we must be more like the Israelites than we might care to admit if we too need a constant reminder of God's faithful, steadfast, loyal love).
He uses nature to help us grasp the depth of God's love:
5
Your love, Lord, reaches to the heavens,
your faithfulness to the skies.
6
Your righteousness is like the highest mountains,
your justice like the great deep.
You, Lord, preserve both people and animals.
7
How priceless is your unfailing love, O God!
People take refuge in the shadow of your wings.
8
They feast on the abundance of your house;
you give them drink from your river of delights.
9
For with you is the fountain of life;
in your light we see light.
~Psalm 36:5-9
All throughout Psalm 86, David recalls the HESED love of God:
O Lord, you are so good, so ready to forgive,
so full of unfailing love for all who ask for your help.
With all my heart I will praise you, O Lord my God.
I will give glory to your name forever,
13
for your love for me is very great.
You have rescued me from the depths of death.
But you, O Lord,
are a God of compassion and mercy,
slow to get angry
and filled with unfailing love and faithfulness.
I grew up singing and clapping a song that was taken from David's words in Psalm 100:
For the Lord is good and his love endures forever;
his faithfulness continues through all generations.
And in case seeing this concept of HESED love over and over in Psalm after Psalm isn't enough, David decided to include the phrase in the same Psalm multiple times to make sure we got the idea nailed into our thick heads and far too often hard hearts.
1 Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good!
His faithful love endures forever.
2 Give thanks to the God of gods.
His faithful love endures forever.
3 Give thanks to the Lord of lords.
His faithful love endures forever.
His faithful love endures forever.
2 Give thanks to the God of gods.
His faithful love endures forever.
3 Give thanks to the Lord of lords.
His faithful love endures forever.
4 Give thanks to him who alone does mighty miracles.
His faithful love endures forever.
5 Give thanks to him who made the heavens so skillfully.
His faithful love endures forever.
6 Give thanks to him who placed the earth among the waters.
His faithful love endures forever.
7 Give thanks to him who made the heavenly lights—
His faithful love endures forever.
8 the sun to rule the day,
His faithful love endures forever.
9 and the moon and stars to rule the night.
His faithful love endures forever.
His faithful love endures forever.
5 Give thanks to him who made the heavens so skillfully.
His faithful love endures forever.
6 Give thanks to him who placed the earth among the waters.
His faithful love endures forever.
7 Give thanks to him who made the heavenly lights—
His faithful love endures forever.
8 the sun to rule the day,
His faithful love endures forever.
9 and the moon and stars to rule the night.
His faithful love endures forever.
10 Give thanks to him who killed the firstborn of Egypt.
His faithful love endures forever.
11 He brought Israel out of Egypt.
His faithful love endures forever.
12 He acted with a strong hand and powerful arm.
His faithful love endures forever.
13 Give thanks to him who parted the Red Sea.[a]
His faithful love endures forever.
14 He led Israel safely through,
His faithful love endures forever.
15 but he hurled Pharaoh and his army into the Red Sea.
His faithful love endures forever.
16 Give thanks to him who led his people through the wilderness.
His faithful love endures forever.
His faithful love endures forever.
11 He brought Israel out of Egypt.
His faithful love endures forever.
12 He acted with a strong hand and powerful arm.
His faithful love endures forever.
13 Give thanks to him who parted the Red Sea.[a]
His faithful love endures forever.
14 He led Israel safely through,
His faithful love endures forever.
15 but he hurled Pharaoh and his army into the Red Sea.
His faithful love endures forever.
16 Give thanks to him who led his people through the wilderness.
His faithful love endures forever.
17 Give thanks to him who struck down mighty kings.
His faithful love endures forever.
18 He killed powerful kings—
His faithful love endures forever.
19 Sihon king of the Amorites,
His faithful love endures forever.
20 and Og king of Bashan.
His faithful love endures forever.
21 God gave the land of these kings as an inheritance—
His faithful love endures forever.
22 a special possession to his servant Israel.
His faithful love endures forever.
His faithful love endures forever.
18 He killed powerful kings—
His faithful love endures forever.
19 Sihon king of the Amorites,
His faithful love endures forever.
20 and Og king of Bashan.
His faithful love endures forever.
21 God gave the land of these kings as an inheritance—
His faithful love endures forever.
22 a special possession to his servant Israel.
His faithful love endures forever.
23 He remembered us in our weakness.
His faithful love endures forever.
24 He saved us from our enemies.
His faithful love endures forever.
25 He gives food to every living thing.
His faithful love endures forever.
26 Give thanks to the God of heaven.
His faithful love endures forever.
His faithful love endures forever.
24 He saved us from our enemies.
His faithful love endures forever.
25 He gives food to every living thing.
His faithful love endures forever.
26 Give thanks to the God of heaven.
His faithful love endures forever.
You might be thinking, "Okay! Enough already!!! I get the idea! His faithful love endures forever! How many times do you need to say it?!" And yet, I know I forget - or at least act like I have forgotten - how much God loves me and that He will never stop loving me, no matter what I say or do or don't do. Maybe David knew my tendency to let what's going on in my life affect what I think about God and His love for me.
And just in case you are wondering if the God of the Old Testament is the same God of the New Testament and the same God we serve today, He is. Hebrews 13:8 assures us, "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever."
This foundational truth is why we see this same concept of God's never-ending, unfailing, always abounding love in the letters Paul wrote to the believers all over the known world at the time.
Paul speaks of God's love for us while we were still His enemies in Romans 5:
8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
9 Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him! 10 For if, while we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life! 11 Not only is this so, but we also boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.
Lest we think we can earn this love, Paul reminds us in Ephesians 2 that God loves us not based on anything we have done, but purely out of the riches of His grace and mercy (both of which we do NOT deserve in the least):4 But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, 5 made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. 6 And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, 7 in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. 8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9 not by works, so that no one can boast. 10 For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works,which God prepared in advance for us to do.
Furthermore, since we did nothing to merit this lavish love in the first place, we can do absolutely nothing to extinguish God's love for us either. Paul clarifies that in Romans 8:
35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? 36 As it is written:
“For your sake we face death all day long;
we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.”
we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.”
37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39 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.
As I said before: God's love cannot be earned, nor can it be lost.
This goes completely against the way of the world.
The love the world offers me, offers you, is NOTHING like the love of God.
Sadly, though, we base our idea of love on what we see and hear all around us. We look at how our parents or friends or neighbors or co-workers or even complete strangers treat us, and we use those experiences to formulate our concept of love. If we were all living out God's command to "Love one another as He has loved us," then we would have a rock solid view of what true love is. However, far too many of us, myself included, are NOT loving the way God intended for us to love. Hence, the divorce rate is over 50%. Even those who remain married are not exempt from falling short in loving one another. Spouses are abused, physically and emotionally. Same with children. Human trafficking is a multi-million (probably billion) dollar industry. We are selling men, women, and children into slavery. Yes, today. Right now. In the 21st century. Where I live is actually one of the most heavily trafficked areas due to the intersecting highways that make it easy to transport slaves from one place to another. These may be extreme instances of NON-LOVE, but everywhere you look, even in the "safe," "posh" suburbs we don't have to look further than a billboard to see FALSE LOVE advertised at every turn. We are bombarded from every angle that we must do certain things, look a certain way, have a certain job, earn a certain amount of money, live in a certain house, drive a certain car, or meet a host of other "certain" criterion to be lovely, to be loved.
Listen closely. THOSE ARE LIES!!!
Don't for a second let Satan trick you any more.
Today is the day you will stop letting him deceive you.
Today is the day you will see his truth-twisting for what it really is.
Today is the day you will realize he's a wolf in sheep's clothing.
Today is the day you will recognize he has no place in your life.
Today is the day you will tell him to pack up his bags and take his no-good self somewhere else.
And not come back.
Ever.
And if you tell Satan to leave, he will. He has to. He has absolutely no power over you. None whatsoever. Not unless you give it to him. And you don't have to. Not at all.
Don't believe me?
See what God's Word says in James 4:7, "So humble yourselves before God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you."
So, tell him to go, and he will go. And he may even shut the door on his way out.
BUT, I guarantee you he won't stay away.
He'll come knocking again. All too soon.
Jesus shares with us in John 10:10 that Satan's life goal is to "steal and kill and destroy," and that he won't stop trying to rob us of the abundant life God has planned for us.
The choice is ours, YOURS.
To whom will you listen? Satan or Jesus?
They are both calling out to you.
They are both fighting for you. They are battling it out for your soul right this very moment, actually.
One wants to rip you to pieces and suck the life out of you.
One wants to wrap His loving arms around you and shower you with His grace and mercy.
Which will you choose?
Jesus went on in John 10 to explain how He is the Good Shepherd, how He would lay His life down for His sheep. David described this Shepherd earlier in Psalm 23:
1
The Lord is my shepherd;
I have all that I need.
2
He lets me rest in green meadows;
he leads me beside peaceful streams.
3
He renews my strength.
He guides me along right paths,
bringing honor to his name.
4
Even when I walk
through the darkest valley,[a]
I will not be afraid,
for you are close beside me.
Your rod and your staff
protect and comfort me.
5
You prepare a feast for me
in the presence of my enemies.
You honor me by anointing my head with oil.
My cup overflows with blessings.
6
Surely your goodness and unfailing love will pursue me
all the days of my life,
and I will live in the house of the Lord forever.
Did you see that? At the very end? God's HESED love will PURSUE you. And if you let Him, He will catch you and love you with a rich, lavish, abundant love that will blow your face off (as we like to say in our house).
The invitation has been extended. Jesus Himself offered it, to YOU, in Matthew 11:
28 Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light.”
Will you come?
Will you lay your burdens down?
The weight of the world's requirements to be loved can be quite heavy. We were never meant to feel that way, though. We were never meant to have to jump through hoops to feel loved and accepted. God has been calling out to us all along, trying to get our attention, to let us know He already loves us, loves YOU, just the way YOU are, RIGHT NOW.
Do you believe Him?
I am learning to.
As I spend more time looking at Scripture and less time looking at the TV or billboards or magazines or what everyone else may be trying to tell me, I am beginning to understand just how much God loves me.
And I pray for YOU, as Paul did for the believers in Ephesus:
When I think of all this, I fall to my knees and pray to the Father,
the Creator of everything in heaven and on earth.
I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources
he will empower you with inner strength through his Spirit.
Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him.
Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong.
And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should,
how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is.
May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully.
Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God.
Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us,
to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think.
Glory to him in the church and in Christ Jesus through all generations forever and ever! Amen.
I pray you are starting to realize the depth of God's HESED love for you. I pray you are beginning to understand that you truly are MADE FOR MORE...
As you reflect on what you have learned today about God's steadfast kindness and faithful, abundant, gracious, never-ending, ever-present love for YOU, listen to this song and let its words penetrate deep into your heart.
No comments:
Post a Comment