Are you still having trouble understanding how much God loves you even in your mess? How crazy He is about you even if you don’t stand out in the crowd (or if you do stand out for all the wrong reasons)? If you are, have you considered:
Matthew, the hated tax collector who sold out Israel to Rome by becoming a tax collector but who God turned into a disciple?
Jacob who was a swindler until God in his steadfast love got a hold of him and gave him a new identity as a patriarch of Israel?
Saul the murderer who God transformed into the great apostle Paul?
The unnamed woman in John 8 who was in adultery and who (though everybody else wanted to condemn and even kill her) Jesus just could not condemn but instead forgave and loved?
Or how about Peter who betrayed Jesus in a deeply shameful way but who Jesus forgave and turned into Peter, The Rock.
Somehow people still seem to think that they have to be “good” Christians in order to be worthy of God’s transforming love. But they don’t.
Father may we know your radical, graceful, call of love in our life today. Amen.
Friday, March 5, 2010
Thursday, March 4, 2010
Thursday, March 4th
Before introducing us to Jean Valjean, the central character of Les Miserables, author Victor Hugo details the life of Monsieur Myriel. He is “an upright man…well-read, even learned…a sage.” He is well-versed in Scripture and wise. He is respected and eloquent. He is “one of those strong, tested, and indulgent souls, where the thought is so great that it cannot be other than gentle.” This is a man who knows God.
But he also knows God. When Jean Valjean - out of prison after nineteen years with no friends, no resources, and no place to stay - needs shelter, M. Myriel takes him in. When Jean Valjean steals his silverware in the middle of the night, M. Myriel accepts this as a contribution to a poor man. And when Jean Valjean, captured by the police for this crime, is brought back to M. Myriel, the priest not only forgives him, but gives him the candlesticks as well. Then he says, “Do not forget, ever, that you have promised me to use this silver to become an honest man.” The rest of the story is Jean Valjean’s attempt to do so.
M. Myriel acts in love, and changes a stranger’s life. This learned man, this eloquent priest, is also a man of heart. As Hugo writes, “He did not study God, he was dazzled by Him.”
Lord, help us to truly know you.
Jennifer Shaw
But he also knows God. When Jean Valjean - out of prison after nineteen years with no friends, no resources, and no place to stay - needs shelter, M. Myriel takes him in. When Jean Valjean steals his silverware in the middle of the night, M. Myriel accepts this as a contribution to a poor man. And when Jean Valjean, captured by the police for this crime, is brought back to M. Myriel, the priest not only forgives him, but gives him the candlesticks as well. Then he says, “Do not forget, ever, that you have promised me to use this silver to become an honest man.” The rest of the story is Jean Valjean’s attempt to do so.
M. Myriel acts in love, and changes a stranger’s life. This learned man, this eloquent priest, is also a man of heart. As Hugo writes, “He did not study God, he was dazzled by Him.”
Lord, help us to truly know you.
Jennifer Shaw
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
Wednesday, March 3rd
During my sophomore year in college, I was on the new student orientation team under the leadership of a Resident Advisor. I’d worked with that same Advisor during my freshman year, which was for me, as it is for so many adjusting to college and what lies beyond, a tough one. He knew this, and one day, when we were discussing the new student handbook, he stopped and said, “You know, Jen, God doesn’t just love you. He likes you. He chose you.”
I carry those words in my heart. I carry them along with the words of love, and encouragement, and correction, and guidance that people in my life have been kind enough to share. And I carry with these the wise words of C.S. Lewis, and William Law, and Dallas Willard. And Psalm 23, Jeremiah 29, Romans 8, Galatians 5, Matthew 7. And that still, small voice that stopped me in my tracks on a morning hike to tell me “it’s okay.”
I carry in my heart the Word, Jesus our Savior and Lord, who calls to us as surely as he called to Lazarus. He is the messenger and the message that God wants His children to hear. God doesn’t just love the world. He loves you.
Lord, we pray that being rooted and established in love, we may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge – that we may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. {Ephesians 3:17-19}
Jennifer Shaw
I carry those words in my heart. I carry them along with the words of love, and encouragement, and correction, and guidance that people in my life have been kind enough to share. And I carry with these the wise words of C.S. Lewis, and William Law, and Dallas Willard. And Psalm 23, Jeremiah 29, Romans 8, Galatians 5, Matthew 7. And that still, small voice that stopped me in my tracks on a morning hike to tell me “it’s okay.”
I carry in my heart the Word, Jesus our Savior and Lord, who calls to us as surely as he called to Lazarus. He is the messenger and the message that God wants His children to hear. God doesn’t just love the world. He loves you.
Lord, we pray that being rooted and established in love, we may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge – that we may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. {Ephesians 3:17-19}
Jennifer Shaw
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
Tuesday, March 2nd
Self-esteem gets a lot of air play as an essential way to feel good. Make people proud of their accomplishments and give them a sense of self-worth, we’re told, and their outlook on life will improve dramatically.
That’s never worked for me. It misses an important, very biblical, first step – allowing ourselves to be loved. Springtime only enters the winter of our lives once we open the gates to allowing others to love us and then returning that love.
In fact, author Smith in The Lazarus Life tells us – at least twice – “the crucial step in being transformed is learning to let yourself be loved. Skip this step and transformation will not happen” (pg. 73).
He’s right, isn’t he? Until I open myself to God’s love – as scary as that can be sometimes because it’s such a huge, gaping, pulsing heart of love – I cannot be transformed into the image of Jesus. And at the core of that image is love.
In fact John tells us, “We love because God first loved us” (1 John 4:19). In other words, our ability to love our God and one another is built on our ability to first open ourselves to the agape love that God has for us.
Frankly, it’s this concept that sets Christianity apart from every other religion – ever. That God so loves humankind that he sacrifices his own son so that we can have life with him today and forever. That’s the guts of John 3:16, right? No other religion or faith system professes that kind of love between God and humankind where God reaches out purposefully to initiate that loving relationship. It’s as unique to Christianity as spots are to a leopard.
I love that God loves us so much. Sure improves my self-esteem.
Prayer: Lord, thank you for continually reaching those big, ole’ loving arms around me, even when I don’t realize you’re doing it. Amen.
Ed Klodt
That’s never worked for me. It misses an important, very biblical, first step – allowing ourselves to be loved. Springtime only enters the winter of our lives once we open the gates to allowing others to love us and then returning that love.
In fact, author Smith in The Lazarus Life tells us – at least twice – “the crucial step in being transformed is learning to let yourself be loved. Skip this step and transformation will not happen” (pg. 73).
He’s right, isn’t he? Until I open myself to God’s love – as scary as that can be sometimes because it’s such a huge, gaping, pulsing heart of love – I cannot be transformed into the image of Jesus. And at the core of that image is love.
In fact John tells us, “We love because God first loved us” (1 John 4:19). In other words, our ability to love our God and one another is built on our ability to first open ourselves to the agape love that God has for us.
Frankly, it’s this concept that sets Christianity apart from every other religion – ever. That God so loves humankind that he sacrifices his own son so that we can have life with him today and forever. That’s the guts of John 3:16, right? No other religion or faith system professes that kind of love between God and humankind where God reaches out purposefully to initiate that loving relationship. It’s as unique to Christianity as spots are to a leopard.
I love that God loves us so much. Sure improves my self-esteem.
Prayer: Lord, thank you for continually reaching those big, ole’ loving arms around me, even when I don’t realize you’re doing it. Amen.
Ed Klodt
Monday, March 1, 2010
Monday, March 1st
“Accepting the reality of our broken, flawed lives is the beginning of spirituality not because the spiritual life will remove our flaws but because we let go of seeking perfection and, instead, seek God, the one who is present in the tangledness of our lives. Spirituality is not about being fixed; it is about God's being present in the mess of our unfixedness.” (Mike Yaconelli, Messy Spirituality)
I love this quote because it reminds us that God isn’t looking for perfect people. Instead, He is looking for open hearts. He is looking for people who are willing to make a little room in their lives for Him. It is why the spiritual life can truly be called the “Lazarus” life because “Lazarus” is a good Hebrew name that means “one whom God helps.”
I think it was author Ann La Mott who said that she really has just two prayers when it all comes down to it. The first prayer is “Help me, help me, help me, Lord. Amen.” The second is “Thank you, thank you, thank you, Lord. Amen.”
Help me, help me, help me, Lord. Amen.
I love this quote because it reminds us that God isn’t looking for perfect people. Instead, He is looking for open hearts. He is looking for people who are willing to make a little room in their lives for Him. It is why the spiritual life can truly be called the “Lazarus” life because “Lazarus” is a good Hebrew name that means “one whom God helps.”
I think it was author Ann La Mott who said that she really has just two prayers when it all comes down to it. The first prayer is “Help me, help me, help me, Lord. Amen.” The second is “Thank you, thank you, thank you, Lord. Amen.”
Help me, help me, help me, Lord. Amen.
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