Tag: god’s love

John 13:1-17, 31-35

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year BLeave a comment
            Today is Maundy Thursday.  On this day the church remembers the last evening Jesus shared with his disciples in the upper room before his betrayal and arrest.  It is a day to particularly remember the key events of Christ’s washing of the disciples’ feet; the beginning of what we observe as the Lord’s Supper; and, Jesus’ giving of a “new” command to love one another.
 
            Loving one another is not new in the sense that it did not exist before Jesus.  Indeed, the command to love is permeated throughout the Old Testament (see especially Leviticus 19:18).  Yet, when Christ gave the new command, it was distinctive in four ways:  Jesus is a new model of how to love, demonstrated through the servant-oriented meeting of needs regardless of who the person is; we now have a new motive for love in that Jesus Christ first loved me, so I can now love others as he has done (1 John 4:19-21); we now possess a new motivator, the Holy Spirit, who energizes us for the service of love; and, finally, we have been given a new mission in which the church exists not for itself, but to evangelize the entire world using the highest of spiritual tools, love.
 
            A true, genuine, and authentic follower of Jesus Christ will be deeply and profoundly characterized by love in all his/her words and actions.  We are called to put love where love is not.  The cross of Christ stands as the supreme sacrifice of love on our behalf.  We remember it this Maundy Thursday with humility and eternal gratitude.
            Holy God, your Son, the Lord Jesus, came as a servant not seeking to be served but to give his life as a ransom for many.  He came to wash away our sinful pride and feed us with the bread of life.  We praise you for inviting us to serve one another in love, to forgive one another as we have been forgiven, and to feast at his Table as members of one household of faith.  Amen.

Psalm 107:1-16

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year BLeave a comment
            The psalmist calls upon others to give thanks to the LORD, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever.  He furthermore exhorts those who have been redeemed to say so, to declare God’s praises for delivering them from trouble.  Whatever the circumstances and however difficult the experiences may have been, the believer is not to remain in silence but is to publicly thank the LORD.
 
            Speaking our spiritual stories to others is important both for those who share them, and for those who listen so that the community of the redeemed will be strengthened in their faith and emboldened to also share.  Far too many Christians are reticent to talk about what God has done or is doing in their lives.  Shame or embarrassment or a host of other reasons might prevent us from being vulnerable enough to let others in on God’s work within.  But the psalmist does not let us off the hook, even if we feel we are not articulate or are too afraid to speak.
 
            We all likely have had the privilege of hearing another person share his/her heart and experience of hardship and God’s deliverance.  It was uplifting, encouraging, and helpful.  Let’s not keep our stories to ourselves.  Stories are meant to be told, not hidden.  Bringing to light our faith journeys is healing for all, as well as declaring that Jesus is the light of the world.
            Great God of deliverance, I praise you that I have a story to tell of your grace and faithfulness.  Help me to tell of your mercy in my life so that the name of Jesus will be exalted, and that your people might be built up in the faith.  Amen.

Hosea 6:1-6

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year BLeave a comment
            My favorite word in all of Holy Scripture is the Hebrew word chesed.  It is such a rich word that no one English word can capture its depth.  So, chesedis translated in various ways across the English translations:  mercy, grace, steadfast love, covenant loyalty, kindness, and compassion are just a smattering of words used to try and grasp this wonderful idea that God shows chesed to people.
 
            It is no wonder, then, that since chesed so marks the character and activity of God that he very much desires his people to reflect this same stance toward others.  In this prophecy of Hosea, God is calling, even wooing his people back to himself.  God demonstrates chesed by not putting his people away, like a man divorcing his wife, but commits himself to loving the Israelites even when they are unlovely.  The response God is looking for is not simply going through the motions of outward worship.  Instead, God longs for his people to recommit themselves to proper fidelity.  “For I desire chesed, and not sacrifice, the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.”
 
            Returning to God means not simply doing a few outward shows, like showing up for church at Christmas or putting some loose change in the Salvation Army bucket.  Coming back to God means accepting the chesed of the Lord through Jesus Christ and allowing that same character of God to rule and reign in our hearts so that love and commitment come flowing out in our words, actions, thoughts, and dispositions.
 
            Let us today receive the forgiveness of Jesus and devote ourselves to prayer and works of love that come from a heart profoundly touched by grace.  May the result be healing of that which has been broken, and reconciled relationships with others.
            O God of love, forgive me for my wandering away from you.  Bring me back again to the grace of Jesus my Savior so that my heart will be renewed and aflame with love for others.  In the Name of the Father, Son, and Spirit, the Great Three in One.  Amen.

Why We Christians Do What We Do

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Exploring Church Ministry BlogLeave a comment
 
 
This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins (1 John 4:10).  When is the last time you have sat with this verse of Holy Scripture and let its truth wash over you?  Notice that this use of the term propitiation (atoning sacrifice), which means to satisfy God’s wrath, comes in the middle of a discussion of God’s love.  In other words, sin arouses the wrath of God because God is love (by the way, Scripture says clearly that God is love, and never says that God is wrath).  God stands against everything that damages and destroys and hurts others.  God is just, and seeks to overthrow injustice.  His great love is why his anger is kindled – he has no toleration for things that separate him from people, and which separates people from each other.
 
The wrath of God does not mean that God ‘flies off the handle.’  What it does mean is that God is steady, unrelenting, and uncompromising in his antagonism toward evil in all its forms and manifestations.  I am often asked the question, “where is God?” when a tragedy or calamity occurs.  But God is not found in the calamity; He is found in the remedy.  He is found in the thousands of people who risk their lives to rescue others in the rubble of an earthquake or in a blazing inferno; God is in the giving of supplies and money to tornado victims; God is always in the solution to the tragedy.  But we often look for God in the wrong place.  God provided the ultimate remedy in sending Jesus Christ as a propitiation, an atoning sacrifice, for our sin.
 
What is amazing about sacrifice is that God himself makes the propitiation – the satisfaction for appeasing God’s wrath does not come from us.  God is offended by sin, and nothing we can do can overcome the offense simply because our sin is so evil and heinous.  We cannot talk our way, or work our way, out of trouble.  God himself presented Jesus as the solution to the sin problem once for all.  Because of God’s love, Jesus came to die for us; he took our place on the cross.
 
People are alienated from God by sin and God is alienated from people by wrath.  It is in the substitutionary death of Christ that sin is overcome and wrath averted, so that God can look on people without displeasure and people can look on God without fear.  Sin is done away with, and God is satisfied.
 

 

It is this love of God which is the basis for our own love toward others, and the solution to the dark places of our own hearts.  Because I am able to love at all tells me that there is a God who lives in me.  As we live and minister and love, it is necessary to never lose sight of why we do what we do as pastors, church leaders, and committed laypersons.  It is all about the person and work of Jesus – and at the center of it all is the cross, the atoning cleansing blood-soaked cross.  Here is the life that is truly life.