Category: God’s Love

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Breath Taking

Dave and I have been watching a travel log on the islands of Greece. The host has been visiting many of the little islands and introducing the watchers to towns, food, history and the beaches of Greece. There had been many beautiful sunrises, olive orchards and shots of the gorgeous water and beaches.

Yesterday one of the episodes we were watching showed an aerial view of the sea and beach – it was breath taking. Literally! When I saw the beauty, I instinctively drew a breath and held it, not wanting to exhale. The scene was awe-inspiring and I didn’t want to move. I wanted to soak it in.

What God has created is marvelous!

This morning I was still thinking about the scenery and the beauty. I wondered if the word “breath-taking” had been used in Scripture. I searched and as far I can tell it never was but the word “awesome” is. Awesome: to be in awe. Synonyms: breathtaking · amazing · stunning · astounding · astonishing · awe-inspiring · stupendous · staggering · extraordinary · incredible · unbelievable · magnificent

There are times when I am reading the Bible that I am awe-struck, breath-taken, by the experience of God’s amazing love.

“Everyone, clap your hands. Shout with joy to God! 2 The Lord Most High is awesome.  He is the great King over all the earth.” Psalm 47:1-2 ERV

“Everything he does is good and fair. All his commands can be trusted. 8 His commands will continue forever. They must be done with truth and honesty. 9 He rescued his people and made his agreement with them forever. His name is awesome and holy. 10 Wisdom begins with fear and respect for the Lord. Those who obey him are very wise. Praises will be sung to him forever.” Psalm 111:7-10 ERV

God’s word is the written expression of His love. God’s word will never fail; love never fails. He has chosen to share His heart with us in the pages of His word.

Have you ever received a love letter? I bet you read it more than once! It’s possible that you read it so many times that you nearly had it memorized before the next one came. I don’t think love letters have quite the impact they did years ago. Letter writing was the communication of the day.

God loves us so much that He took the time to write the most amazing love letter! Reading it over and over again we find new things that we didn’t see the first time and reading it long enough we are impacted by His great love. It tells us of the awesome God who loves us so deeply.

“I will confess and praise You [O God] with my whole heart; before the gods will I sing praises to You. 2 I will worship toward Your holy temple and praise Your name for Your loving-kindness and for Your truth and faithfulness; for You have exalted above all else Your name and Your word and You have magnified Your word above all Your name!” Psalm 138:1-2 AMP

I hope that as you read God’s word today you are overwhelmed, awe-struck, breath-taken by the depth of the Father’s love.

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Sheltered From Danger

Have you ever been to a farm and seen a mother hen with her chicks? Perhaps, like us, you live in the desert and have seen the mother quail and her little ones. When danger is near they begin to cluck and call. The little chicks scurry quickly to the shelter of their moms. The hens raise up and all the chicks run under, then she settles down and becomes their protection.

That’s the picture that is painted for us in the Psalms. It’s a picture of the Father’s protection and His love.

Each day I am thankful that God has allowed me to share His word with you. I don’t know where I would be without the Father’s love or His wonderful love letter, His Word! In fact, I don’t even want to think about what my life would be like without Him.

God’s Word has brought me forgiveness of sins, health to my body, peace to my soul, healing for my children, enriched my marriage, provided wisdom when my human intellect was lacking, protection in physical and emotional storms and safety in the face of danger. God’s promises have let me know that He would always supply and He always has.

But I do have to tell you, it hasn’t always been this way. I lived a defeated life for a long time until I saw in God’s word that He had made provision for more than just eternal life and that He wanted me to live victoriously while I was here on earth.

All of God’s promises are the same. His Word is for everyone but we don’t all see the same results. Why? We must appropriate what God has given us; simply put, we must believe it regardless of how we feel or what circumstances tell us we should believe. There have been days that I wake up and don’t feel very saved; but my salvation isn’t founded on my feelings, it’s based on God’s love and Jesus’ sacrifice. There are days that I wake up and may not feel healed but I am because it’s based on God’s promise and Jesus’ sacrifice.

The circumstances said there wasn’t enough lunch to feed 5000 men with five loaves and two fish but the blessing of God flowed and there was more than enough. The circumstances said the apostles should lock themselves away and hide after the crucifixion but the power of God was released through His Word and resurrection came! The medical world said nothing could be done for the woman with the issue of blood but just one touch of Jesus garment brought healing to her body. Yes, the word of God changes our circumstances when we believe; it’s called faith! Not faith in ourselves, but faith in God’s unchanging, unfailing love.

Let the words of David’s Psalm be real in your life today.

“You can go to God Most High to hide. You can go to God All-Powerful for protection.
2 I say to the LORD, “You are my place of safety, my fortress, My God, I trust in you.”
3 God will save you from hidden dangers and from deadly diseases. 4 You can go to him for protection. He will cover you like a bird spreading its wings over its babies. You can trust him to surround and protect you like a shield. 5 You will have nothing to fear at night and no need to be afraid of enemy arrows during the day.
6 You will have no fear of diseases that come in the dark or terrible suffering that comes at noon. 7 A thousand people may fall dead at your side or ten thousand right beside you, but nothing bad will happen to you! 8 All you will have to do is watch, and you will see that the wicked are punished. 9 You trust in the LORD for protection. You have made God Most High your place of safety. 10 So nothing bad will happen to you. No diseases will come near your home.
11 He will command his angels to protect you wherever you go. 12 Their hands will catch you so that you will not hit your foot on a rock. 13 You will have power to trample on lions and poisonous snakes.
14 The Lord says, “If someone trusts me, I will save them. I will protect my followers who call to me for help. 15 When my followers call to me, I will answer them. I will be with them when they are in trouble. I will rescue them and honor them. 16 I will give my followers a long life and show them my power to save.” Psalm 91 ERV

Are you in a place of danger? Run to the Father, there’s safety under His wings!

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Good & Perfect

The last few weeks my heart has been drawn to the goodness of God.

Goodness is one of God’s attributes. He is always good! He can’t be anything but good. God is love and everything He does is motivated by love. His love is never tainted with selfishness or envy so everything is does is good.

This is what James was trying to get us to see.

“My dear brothers and sisters, don’t be fooled about this. 17 Everything good comes from God. Every perfect gift is from him. These good gifts come down from the Father who made all the lights in the sky. But God never changes like the shadows from those lights. He is always the same. 18 God decided to give us life through the true message he sent to us. He wanted us to be the most important of all that he created. 19 My dear brothers and sisters, always be more willing to listen than to speak. Keep control of your anger. 20 Anger does not help you live the way God wants.” James 1:16-20 ERV

Don’t attribute the bad in your life to God. When you do you are misguided in your thinking. The enemy, the one responsible for the destruction in this world, takes pride in getting you to mistrust God and to loose your confidence in His goodness.

Instead we need to focus on the good and the perfect. These are the gifts God gives to us freely. It started with the gift of salvation – there is no greater expression of God’s love and His goodness. He provided a way for us to have relationship with Him. It cost us nothing; it cost the Father his Son!

Jesus told his disciples that He came so we would be free from the enemy’s tactics and could have an abundant and good life.

“A thief comes to steal, kill, and destroy. But I came to give life—life that is full and good.” John 10:10 ERV

This is the same promise that the Psalmist, David, wrote about hundreds of years before Jesus came to earth.

“Let all that I am praise the Lord; with my whole heart, I will praise his holy name. 2 Let all that I am praise the Lord; may I never forget the good things he does for me. 3 He forgives all my sins and heals all my diseases. 4 He redeems me from death and crowns me with love and tender mercies.” Psalm 103:1-3 NLT

King David knew that God was good and His plans for our life were good. He never wanted to forget all that God had promised – He wanted us to remember that we were forgiven, healed, and crowned with love. Or as Jesus said, we have a full and good life.

Each day the Father is showering our lives with good gifts. Look for them and give His thanks.

“Praise the Lord because he is good. Sing praises to our God. It is good and pleasant to praise him.” Psalm 147:1 ERV

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More Than Enough Power

I love that my husband is handy – doesn’t really matter what needs to be done around the house he can do it.

We’ve been talking for the last week that we need shelves in the garage for all the new camping equipment we have acquired. We both like things organized. So yesterday morning we headed to Home Depot and bought the building materials we needed. Upon arriving home, we pulled the car out of the garage and moved all the stuff to one side and building began. Measuring, cutting, nailing – it was all happening. And then…

Stopped by an uncharged battery. Limited power, low power and then no power! Not having the proper power source will stop us every time.

Life is like that nail (*screw) gun. Its filled with things that are beyond our ability. There’s a key element that must be present for blessings to overflow into our circumstances. What you ask?

Simple. The power of God!

“With God’s power working in us, he can do much, much more than anything we can ask or think of. 21 To him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus for all time, forever and ever. Amen.” Ephesians 3:20-21 ERV

Why would God fill our lives with power? It’s so people can see that it’s the Father who pours out good things on our lives! God, the Father, has always wanted His goodness and love known in the earth. The Apostle Paul wrote that it is the goodness of God that draws men to relationship with Him (repentance).

When Jesus walked this earth He healed the sick, raised the dead, cleansed the lepers, spoke with love and compassion to those who were hurting. People were drawn to Him. For the first time in their lives they saw unconditional love!

His unconditional love changed people. The tax collector gave back money to everyone he had cheated; the demon possessed were restored to their right minds; the prostitute left her way of life and followed Jesus. The disciples gave up their livelihood to follow this man. The thief on the cross defended him with his dying breath!

What was the dynamic force that changed those people and has changed million of lives through the ages? Love! God’s amazing love.

Each one of these people I mentioned saw their lives changed by the power of God working through them, doing exceedingly above all they could ask or think. They had plugged in to God’s source of power, His love.

Now look at the verses just prior to the two I have already used above.

“So I bow in prayer before the Father. 15 Every family in heaven and on earth gets its true name from him. 16 I ask the Father with his great glory to give you the power to be strong in your spirits. He will give you that strength through his Spirit. 17 I pray that Christ will live in your hearts because of your faith. I pray that your life will be strong in love and be built on love. 18 And I pray that you and all God’s holy people will have the power to understand the greatness of Christ’s love—how wide, how long, how high, and how deep that love is. 19 Christ’s love is greater than anyone can ever know, but I pray that you will be able to know that love. Then you can be filled with everything God has for you.

20 With God’s power working in us, he can do much, much more than anything we can ask or think of.” Ephesians 3:14-20 ERV

In knowing God, being in right relationship with Him, He strengthens us in faith and love. The love of God is so great that it’s impossible to understand with the human mind. The only way to truly understand it is to experience it!

When we begin to experience that love, His compassion, His UNCONDITIONAL love and see that He accepts us as we are; knowing that we can’t earn it or deserve it, we begin to grow in understanding of its depth, its height, its width and its length. God’s love knows no bounds!

Once we begin to know, truly know, the love of God we will experience the power of God working in us and through us for His glory! Take some time today to meditate on God’s love for you and you will see the circumstances of your life begin to change!

As we plug into our Father’s love we will never be without His power. Our battery will be charged and He will do more than we can possibly imagine!!

*Had to make a correction here. The nail gun is pneumatic and doesn’t require a battery. It was the screw gun that needed to have it’s battery charged.

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Coming Home

It’s hard to think of a day in my life without the Lord. Almost impossible! Even during the days when I wasn’t serving Him, when I was being the prodigal – I knew He was there!

Doing things my way, trying to find the “best” way without Him only brought frustration and disappointment.

“Lord, teach me your ways, and I will live and obey your truths. Help me make worshiping your name the most important thing in my life. 12 My Lord God, I praise you with all my heart. I will honor your name forever! 13 You have such great love for me. You save me from the place of death.” Psalm 86:11-13 ERV

By now you know that the story of prodigal son is one of my favorites. I use it often; I am still, after all these years exploring the depth of that Father’s love for his son; for both of his sons. One was wayward in his life style, the other was wayward in his understanding.

The son who left was decadent, rebellious and immoral. The son who stayed appeared to be hard working and loyal but his heart was filled with resentment and bitterness. The one son saw his need for repentance and his broken spirit brought him home. The other, although home, felt like a distant outsider because he had never really developed a relationship with his loving father.

I have been like both of these sons.

I’ve been rebellious and walked far from my Father’s home and I have been close in appearance but distanced because of a hard heart and religious mind set. Is it any wonder that I love this story?

Is it any wonder that I love God’s word?

It is His word that has revealed to me the depth of my Father’s love and the expanse of His forgiveness.

“This is the agreement I will make  with my people in the future, says the Lord. I will put my laws in their hearts. I will write my laws in their minds.”

17 Then he says, “I will forget their sins and never again remember the evil they have done.” 18 And after everything is forgiven, there is no more need for a sacrifice to pay for sins.

19 And so, brothers and sisters, we are completely free to enter the Most Holy Place. We can do this without fear because of the blood sacrifice of Jesus. 20 We enter through a new way that Jesus opened for us. It is a living way that leads through the curtain—Christ’s body. 21 And we have a great priest who rules the house of God. 22 Sprinkled with the blood of Christ, our hearts have been made free from a guilty conscience, and our bodies have been washed with pure water. So come near to God with a sincere heart, full of confidence because of our faith in Christ.” Hebrews 10:16-22 ERV

Because of what Jesus has done for us, we can experience forgiveness and a depth of love we have never known before. Our sins are completely forgiven, He paid the penalty of sin with His life. No further sacrifice is necessary.

We are free to come to the Father; freed from a guilty conscience, free to live confidently in His presence, free to find help in our time of need. Free from the penalty of sin!

Coming home! What a joy to know the Father is always waiting with arms open wide!

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I Am Blessed!

This morning I woke and my regular Bible reading took me to a place I am very familiar with and it seemed the Lord was saying, “Happy Birthday, these are my gifts to you”.

“Now, if you will be careful to obey the Lord your God and follow all his commands that I tell you today, the Lord your God will put you high above all the nations on earth. 2 If you will obey the Lord your God, all these blessings will come to you and be yours:

3 “He will bless you
    in the city and in the field.
4 He will bless you
    and give you many children.
He will bless your land
    and give you good crops.
He will bless your animals
    and let them have many babies.
    He will bless you with calves and lambs.
5 He will bless your baskets and pans
    and fill them with food.
6 He will bless you at all times
    in everything you do.

7 “The Lord will help you defeat your enemies who come to fight against you. Your enemies will come against you one way, but they will run away from you seven different ways!

8 “The Lord will bless you and fill your barns. He will bless everything you do. The Lord your God will bless you in the land that he is giving you. 9 If you follow the Lord your God and obey his commands, he will do what he promised. The Lord will make you his own special people. 10 Then all the people in that land will see that you are called to be the Lord’s people, and they will be afraid of you.

11 “And the Lord will give you many good things. He will give you many children. He will give your cows many calves. He will give you a good harvest in the land that the Lord promised your ancestors to give you. 12 The Lord will open his storehouse where he keeps his rich blessings. He will send rain at the right time for your land. He will bless everything you do. You will have money to lend to many nations. And you will not need to borrow anything from them.” Deuteronomy 28:1-12 ERV

Now that’s quite a birthday present!

All those blessings weren’t just for the Israelites, they are for me…and they are for you too!!

“You belong to Christ, so you are Abraham’s descendants. You get all of God’s blessings because of the promise that God made to Abraham.” Galatians 3:29 ERV

“The Son of God, Jesus Christ, the one that Silas, Timothy, and I told you about was not yes and no. In Christ it has always been yes. 20 The yes to all of God’s promises is in Christ. And that is why we say “Amen” through Christ to the glory of God. 21 And God is the one who makes you and us strong in Christ. God is also the one who chose us for his work.” II Corinthians 1:19-21 ERV

The yes to all God’s promises come to us through our relationship with Jesus Christ. The promises that He made in the Old Testament are for us today because of our relationship with Christ.

What a wonderful gift we have – we have God’s unchangeable word!

And then when I finished reading I looked out my window and saw a beautiful sunrise. It was the Lord smiling on my day. I feel very blessed and I love that I get to share His blessings with you.

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A Loving Father

I am thankful for the example that my Dad lived before me and also for the man of character that I married. It’s important that we honor the men in our lives who live lives of integrity, compassion and wisdom. They are to be appreciated and valued.

A father’s love – tender-hearted, kind, forgiving, filled with compassion!

My father was strict but I knew he always loved me – he insisted I work hard, be respectful, do my best in everything. We worked hard but we played hard – enjoying fishing and hunting but there was never enough time to spend with him. My heavenly Father is the one who gave my earthly father those characteristics.

We don’t always see what our father, heavenly or earthly, is doing while we are in the midst of a situation. However, when we know our father, we know his motives and intentions are based on his love for us and we can trust him. They mold our character and are our examples of strength.

Even when we take off and manage to get ourselves in troublesome situations he is there. He watches and waits, He doesn’t come to “drag” us back but when we return He is overjoyed.

I guess the best gift we could give either our earthly or our heavenly Father is to come home. Ask for His forgiveness and be reconciled in our relationship.

“I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. 19 I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired servants.’ 20 So he got up and went to his father.

“But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him.

21 “The son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’

22 “But the father said to his servants, ‘Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. 23 Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let’s have a feast and celebrate. 24 For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ So they began to celebrate.” Luke 15:18-24 NIV

If your earthy father is still living remind him how special you feel he is and thank him for loving you. Also take time to thank your heavenly Father for His unconditional love, his unwavering support and for never giving up on you.

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Letters of Love

A while back I was going through some boxes of old pictures in the shed. While I was sorting through things I also found some old letters. These letters were written by my grandfather to my Mom and Dad when I was just a toddler. My grandfather was an eloquent man and although there was nothing poetic in the conversation on the page, there was a sense of well being and genuine compassion.

Mom just couldn’t bring herself to tossing them out and so she gave them to me.

For the past several weeks I have been reading through some other old letters. These were written by the Apostle Paul. Most of the letters are short; only four or five chapters. Each one tells of his love for those he is writing too. They also tell of God’s great love and the blessings, the inheritance, He has provided for each and everyone of them.

These letters contain instruction, correction and encouragement, lots and lots of encouragement. I did a word search on the word encourage in the Contemporary English Version (CEV) and it was found thirty-nine times in those New Testament letters. Paul knew what it was like to battle discouragement and he wanted to bring hope and strength of mind to those he loved so dearly.

“Even Christ did not try to please himself. But as the Scriptures say, “The people who insulted you also insulted me.” 4 And the Scriptures were written to teach and encourage us by giving us hope. 5 God is the one who makes us patient and cheerful. I pray that he will help you live at peace with each other, as you follow Christ.” Romans 15:3-5 CEV

There you have it – the Scriptures were written to teach us and encourage us.

There are some in this time of instant messages (IM), personal messages (PM), texts, emails and acronyms is the value of the written word. As a little girl, I remember going out to the mailbox and bringing in the letters to my Mom. How exciting it was when there was a card or letter for me!

When Dave and I were dating our relationship was long distance and I would hurry home from work each day, anticipating another letter. I still have all those letters in a box, they were priceless.

And I guess that’s why I have such a love for God’s word. He has taken the time to write to me personally. He word tells me of His great love and encourages me to excel in the things of life. His words bring me comfort when my heart is aching and He shares my joy when I am overwhelmed with excitement.

I envision the Father sitting down, pen in hand and filling the page with “Dear Kristi, I was thinking of you today and I just wanted to let you know I love you…”

“Christ encourages you, and his love comforts you. God’s Spirit unites you, and you are concerned for others. 2 Now make me completely happy! Live in harmony by showing love for each other. Be united in what you think, as if you were only one person. 3 Don’t be jealous or proud, but be humble and consider others more important than yourselves.” Philippians 2:1-3 CEV

It is my prayer that each of you realize what a treasure we have – the written word of God. The Bible is our love letter – see how much the Father loves us! His word is for our encouragement.

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A Real Budget Buster

Have you ever taken time to evaluate your spending habits? We have lived on a budget all our married life. Everything has a category and an amount and to the best of my ability I try to make it all line up each month. Need to be good stewards right?

This morning I was thinking about spending; spending for groceries, vehicles, clothing, furniture, entertainment, health and extragavences. The way we assign value differs from category to category. I want to get a “good deal” on vegetables and meat and so I set an amount that I won’t go over when it comes to a pound of meat or a pound of grapes.

We shop for the best buy when it comes to our furniture and vehicles and are always looking for a super sale. Then there are those things that we will willing go into our savings to purchase; a child’s wedding or college education, medical expenses for a loved one. These require sacrifice but a sacrifice of love.

As I was reading in I Corinthians I saw Paul repeat a phrase that he had used earlier in the book.

” God paid a high price for you,” I Corinthians 7:23 ERV

I want you to stop and think about your value this morning. Do you understand how priceless you are to the Father? We’re not like a bunch of grapes or a bag of tomatoes that can be bought cheaply for $.99 per pound. We’re not like the new dress or new car that He waited for the big sale to purchase. We are invaluable to Him.

Our value is so great that we are “Budget Busters”!

“God’s kingdom is like a treasure hidden in a field. One day a man found the treasure. He hid it again and was so happy that he went and sold everything he owned and bought the field. 45 “Also, God’s kingdom is like a merchant looking for fine pearls. 46 One day he found a very fine pearl. He went and sold everything he had to buy it.” Matthew 13:44-26 ERV

The earth is the world, God the Father is the man, we are the treasure or the pearl and Jesus is the price that was paid!

What is it that would cause you to sell all you have – your home, your jewelry, your cars, your boat, your horses, your RV, cash in the CD’s and empty the savings account? What would be valuable enough to have you sell all to buy one treasure?

We are that treasure! God gave His only begotten Son to purchase us!

No words can convey what I am feeling in my heart this morning as I realize in a deeper way God’s love for me.

” And I pray that you and all God’s holy people will have the power to understand the greatness of Christ’s love—how wide, how long, how high, and how deep that love is. 19 Christ’s love is greater than anyone can ever know, but I pray that you will be able to know that love. Then you can be filled with everything God has for you.” Ephesians 3:18-19 ERV

Father, I will take my words of praise from the Psalms
“Your faithful love is better than life, so my lips praise you. 4 By my life, I will praise you. In your name, I lift my hands in prayer” Psalm 63:3-4 ERV

Thank you for seeing me as valuable!

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I Love Your Hot Tub

This morning’s blog isn’t based on deep spiritual truth. It’s the words of my four year-old grandson.

“I love your hot tub, it’s nice and warm.”

He just said this to me and then flashed a big smile. Yes, he’s up! There is no quiet time for me…but that’s perfectly ok. I slept in a bit and woke to the smell of my coffee; it was on the automatic timer. I got up, fed Glory and poured my self a cup to find that just as I sat down Sam was also awake.

“Good morning Besta, is it time for breakfast?”

“No, not quite yet. We need to be quiet a little while longer so everyone else can sleep.”

He crawled up on the couch next to me and I got him a blanket and he’s laying down waiting patiently. Every few minutes he has something else to say. Yesterday, he and I were in the hot tub together. We played quite a while – not sure who had more fun, him or me.

Last night after we said bedtime prayers, Sam looked at me and said “This has been the best day!”

What would happen if we had that same attitude and ended our day by telling the Father “this has been the best day”? I think we would make Him smile and I can almost feel the kiss He would put on our cheeks as He leans forward to tuck us in.

“The Father has loved us so much! This shows how much he loved us: We are called children of God. And we really are his children. But the people in the world don’t un-derstand that we are God’s children, because they have not known him.” I John 3:1 ERV

How sweet it is to have a living example of a trusting, loving child sitting on my couch with me this morning. I hope you start your day with the realization that the Father loves you – dearly loves you!

He’s waiting to play with you in the hot tub!

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