Although I was born again
Christian for many years I neither understood God nor His ways. For most of my
life I had attended church and, at times, taught Sunday school or sang in the
choir. If you had asked me if I was saved, I would have answered with a
resounding yes, but what I did not realize was, though I had made Jesus my
Savior, I had never made Him the Lord of my life because I had never completely
surrendered.
As a child, I do not
remember anyone telling me God loved me and religion had taught me God is a
stern judge who, if you were disobedient to Him, would punish you severely. I
also learned serving God meant to suffer for Him; like the greats who had gone
before and who were persecuted and even killed for their faith. By the time I
reached adulthood, I dared not think God loved me or that I would ever be
worthy of His love.
Then, shortly after I
married, I was born again and began to understand the great love God had for us
in sending Jesus. How could I resist such a grand gift and one exuding such
love? I couldn’t and began to love God in return. This became the most
important decision I had ever made because it was then I knew nothing would
ever separate me from God’s love.
“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten
Son,
that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have
everlasting life.”
(John 3:16)
Seven years ago my life
began to fall apart as problems began to mount one upon the other. Under severe
financial stress the pressure caused tension in my marriage and, though I
should have been focusing on my career, my mother became ill and needed my
care. I began to feel helpless and hopeless and, though I was a woman of prayer,
I did not know how or what to pray. I was desperate for answers and spent hours
in the Word, prayer and fellowship with the Lord.
One day, as I listened to
Christian radio I heard someone say how important it is
to surrender our lives to
Christ, and I knew he was speaking directly to me. Had I really been born again
and had I truly surrendered all? After searching my soul I knew I had not, and
on a Saturday afternoon in July prayed “here I am Lord and I am all yours”.
Six months later on a cold
winter’s night our God revealed Himself to me as Love; so pure and
unconditional, so faithful and everlasting I began to understand it is all
about Love who is God and His all encompassing love for us which will never
end. That was the beginning of what has become a marvelous journey and one
which I am, today, still traveling with my Lord and Savior.
In our society “God loves
you” has almost become a cliché and as common as saying “God bless you” when
someone sneezes, but do we truly understand our Father’s love and the spiritual
truth “God is Love”? It is true love is a human emotion and
one about which many beautiful songs have been written, but Love is also a
Person so awesome and so magnificent our human mind, in and of itself, is
unable to understand without Love’s personal revelation to us.
I must confess it was not
until I received this revelation that my life began to change. It was then the
Lord began to show me His will, His ways and things from His perspective, not
my own. To give an example I found myself asking why God did not obliterate man
after Adam and begin all over again. Why continue pursuing mankind who
continued to turn to sin and away from Him? These and other questions came to
mind and after much meditation in Scripture and pondering what I had learned
there could be only one answer; God truly is Love.
“When I consider Your
heavens, the work of Your fingers,
The moon and the stars, which You have ordained,
What is man that You are mindful of him,
And the son of man that You visit him?
For You have made him a little lower than the angels,
And You have crowned him with glory and honor”
The moon and the stars, which You have ordained,
What is man that You are mindful of him,
And the son of man that You visit him?
For You have made him a little lower than the angels,
And You have crowned him with glory and honor”
(Ps 8: 3-5)
When I began to understand Love
I also began to realize why forgiveness is so important. Though that is subject
matter unto itself I will say learning about forgiveness has taught me to look
at others in an entirely different manner and to be more compassionate of their
flaws. I am still a work in progress and, though I have grown by leaps and
bounds, I also know I will be learning long after I have walked through the
gates of pearl and on the streets of gold.
How marvelous is our God and
how worthy to be praised! It is only because of God’s great mercy to us, His
children, we have been made worthy by the cross of Christ and is there any
greater love than the willingness of our Savior to suffer and die in our place?
It is only our Father’s compassion to save us from ourselves, our sin and our
enemies that we can rest in the assurance Heaven is our Eternal Home. Who else
but Love would have sent His own Spirit to indwell us? It could only be someone
who is holy, perfect and one of a kind; it could only be our God and Father, who
is Love. Amen.
“But God, who is rich in mercy,
because of His great love
with
which He loved us,
even when we were dead in trespasses,
made us alive together with Christ
(by grace you have been saved),
and raised us up together,
and made us sit together
in
the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,
that in the ages to come
He might show the exceeding riches of His
grace
in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.
For by grace you have been saved through
faith,
and
that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God,
not of works, lest anyone should boast.
For we are His
workmanship,
created in Christ Jesus for good works,
which God prepared beforehand
that we should walk in them.”
(Eph. 2: 4-10)
Ronni K.
November 1, 2013
