“O Daniel, man greatly loved. . .” Daniel 10:11 ESV
Child of God, do you hesitate to claim this title? Ah, has your unbelief made you forget that you are “greatly loved” too? You must have been “greatly loved” to have been bought with “the precious blood of Christ, the sinless, spotless Lamb of God” (1 Peter 1:19 NLT). When God punished His only begotten Son for you, what was that but being “greatly loved?” You lived in sin, and reveled in it—you must have been “greatly loved” for God to have been so patient with you. You were called by grace, led to a Savior, and made a child of God and an heir of heaven. Doesn’t all of this prove a very great and abundant love? Since that time, whether your path has been rough with trouble or smooth with mercy, it has been full of proofs that you are “greatly loved.” If the Lord has disciplined you, it was not in anger; if He has made you poor, you have become rich in grace. The more unworthy you feel yourself to be, the more evidence you have that nothing but unspeakable love could have led the Lord Jesus to save a soul such as yours. The more defective you are, the clearer the display of the abounding love of God—for choosing you, and calling you, and making you an heir of happiness. Now, if there is such love between God and us, let us live under the influence and sweetness of it—let us use the privilege of our position. May we never approach our Lord as though we were strangers, or as though He were unwilling to hear us—for we are “greatly loved” by our loving Father. “He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?” (Romans 8:32). Believer, come boldly—for in spite of the whispering of Satan and the doubting of your own heart, you are “greatly loved.” This evening, meditate on the exceeding greatness and faithfulness of divine love—and go to bed in peace. - C.H. Spurgeon Morning and Evening
This is from the Evening portion of Spurgeon's entry for today. But really look at it and realize it's importance!
I, for the longest time, longer than anyone knows but God, never put much value on me. I saw myself as defective, saw myself as sinful, and could never fathom how or why God would come near to me.
It's obvious that in reading any of the blogs since the blog began that something happened in my life that changed all that. Well something did and that something continues even today.
Jesus wasn't just a Teacher, nor was He only a Good Teacher, He was and continues to be THE Teacher. Through the Spirit He teaches from His Word. Shows us great and wonderful things we never knew.
In all my self loathing I felt like I wasn't untouchable by my Savior. In the Gospels you read over and over again of those who were ill that He TOUCHED. Go back into the Old Testament Law. To touch those who were like the ones He did wasn't to be done. It called for many things to be done to purify the person doing that touching of the ill.
Daniel is perhaps my favorite Old Testament book. Daniel stayed committed to a life lived for God even in hostile territory. His entire adult life spent behind enemy lines. No real support in the physical world but his few friends who were also exiles who shared his integrity.
Daniel faced all kinds of things and yet kept his focus on the Lord Jesus. His walk was so powerful that he was a special target of Satan. All out blitzes happened when he prayed. Trying to obstruct the answers to his prayers.
We who are in Christ are also greatly loved. Even in the pit of my personal despair He joined me and still shared that He loved me. He loved me too much to leave me where He found me.
I honestly now believe in a different aspect of the Prodigal Son. Yes the Father sits and waits, scanning the horizon for the return of the wayward Son or Daughter, but I also believe that those returning Son’s and Daughter's have Jesus holding them up, helping them to make it back.
You can sit in self loathing, can maybe even just not think you are all that important in God's scheme of things. But if the Lord would send a battle force through what Satan was attacking with to reach Daniel, He would do the same for us, for you!
In Christ we ARE the beloved. We are His Bride, His prized possession. We are those whom He reached out to touch when we were at our worst in our sins. No other so-called gods of this world, who are not gods but rather are demons, can ever do what our God did!
Look in a mirror and realize that Jesus loves you. Realize He is there with you. Realize that He will continue His work in you until either He calls you home or He returns.
Live life like you are His beloved. Live life like He meant for you to live.
No comments:
Post a Comment