Faith Archives - Page 65 of 117

God Loved You First {No Matter What Monday}

February 12, 2018 by Marissa 1 Comment

It’s the age-old question: Which came first, the chicken or the egg? I’m no philosopher, and I haven’t figured out the answer to that one. But there’s an even more important question that God’s Word answers for us: Which came first, God’s love for us or our love for Him?

The stakes are high with this question. If God’s love for me follows my love for Him, then His love for me depends on my faithfulness. If I stop loving God, He might stop loving me.

But if God loved me first, before I had done anything to earn His love, then I am secure. I am loved no matter how many times I fail Him, forget Him, or falter in my faith.

“But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved.” (Ephesians 2:4–5)

God loved us when we were dead in our sin. Before we ever loved Him, God sent Jesus to die for us (Rom. 5:8, I John 4:10).

God loved us because of His mercy. He made us alive with Christ and saved us by His grace. None of it depended on our love for Him—praise the Lord!

God’s love for us is secure. His love depends on His faithfulness, not ours. His love never fails. His love is guaranteed by His perfection, not our performance.

When you feel unlovable, remember God’s unchanging, unfailing, unstoppable love for you. When you feel overwhelmed by your sin, remember that Christ overcame sin and gave you new life. When you feel like your faith isn’t enough, remember that God loved you even before you believed.

No matter what you face this week, God loved you first, and He will love you forever.

God has Not Forgotten You {No Matter What Monday}

February 5, 2018 by Marissa Leave a Comment

Her dark brown eyes stared up at me from her bed, just above the bright floral comforter pulled up to her chin. She tried to sound casual as she asked her pressing bedtime questions: “Mom, which one of us do you love the most? Do you love Will more than me?”

I tell my daughter I love her and prove it with my actions every day. And yet, when she watched me stop to comfort her hurting brother on my way to tuck her in, my daughter began to doubt my love for her. She questioned a basic truth that has been proven to her every day for eight years.

Her doubts sound a little too familiar.

My heavenly Father has proven His love for me every day of my life. But when God delays in giving me something I think I need, I start to doubt. I question His timing, His provision, even His goodness. And the undercurrent of these doubts is this: “Does God still love me?”

We might not say it out loud, but as we look at our struggles, we wonder: “Does God still love me?” We cried out to Him for healing, peace, deliverance, or strength, but it feels like He’s stopped in the hallway to care for someone else.

And yet we see in Isaiah that God never forgets His children:

“Can a woman forget her nursing child, that she should have no compassion on the son of her womb? Even these may forget, yet I will not forget you. Behold, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands; your walls are continually before me.” (Isaiah 49:15–16)

God has not forgotten you, His beloved child. He has engraved your name on His hands. Our Savior stretched out those hands on the cross and felt the nails drive through them to demonstrate the extent of His unfailing love for us (Rom. 5:8).

When it seems like God is letting us down—when we don’t understand why He hasn’t swooped in and saved the day—let’s cling to the truth. We can have confidence in His unfailing kindness and love. His love for us is everlasting (Jer. 31:3).

No matter what you face this week, your loving heavenly Father has not forgotten you, and He never will.

You Can Rest in God’s Sovereign Care {No Matter What Monday}

January 29, 2018 by Marissa Leave a Comment

It was 4:15a.m., and I was having a pity party. I crawled under the covers that night without setting an alarm. I looked forward to getting the rest my mind and body craved after a long, busy week. But Samson had other plans for my early morning hours.

It doesn’t happen often (if it did, this devotional would include an advertisement for a free dog), but occasionally our dog decides he needs to go potty around 4 a.m. When Samson started pacing around our room and then scratching at the door, I was forced to abandon my hours of uninterrupted slumber and let him out.

I fumed as I got back in bed and worried that I wouldn’t get back to sleep. I wasn’t just angry at Samson—I was mad at God. “Don’t you know how tired I am, God? Don’t you know I needed sleep tonight?”

But then God’s Word flooded my mind, and I remembered that God is sovereign over all the details of my life—even dog’s bladders. He doesn’t withhold anything I need, and all that He allows is for my good. My anger subsided, and I eventually drifted off to sleep for a few more hours.

It’s one thing to find comfort in God’s sovereignty in the minor annoyances of life like a dog needing to potty in the middle of the night. But what about in the major hardships? Even in a cancer diagnosis, looming layoffs at work, or a difficult relationship, God’s sovereign care is an anchor we can cling to.

“Oh fear the LORD, you his saints, for those who fear him have no lack! The young lions suffer want and hunger; but those who seek the LORD lack no good thing.” (Psalm 34:9-10)

In His wisdom, God knows what we need. In His goodness, He desires to care for our needs. In His sovereignty, He is fully able to give us all that we need. We can trust Him to be the God on the throne who sees and knows and cares for each of His children. Those who are His lack no good thing.

No matter what you face this week, you can rest in God’s sovereign care.

(Photo by Carolyn V on Unsplash)

The Lord is Sovereign Over Every Detail {No Matter What Monday}

January 22, 2018 by Marissa Leave a Comment

By the time my daughter finished opening presents by the Christmas trees of various family members this year, she was thrilled to own several new beanie boos. If your home hasn’t been invaded by these tiny stuffed animals, let me fill you in on the craze. They are small stuffed animals with huge creepy eyes. The brilliant toy-makers have come up with an endless variety—cats, dogs, owls, tigers, and on and on. My daughter owns dozens of them, and each one is precious to her. She knows their names and celebrates all of their birthdays, which she finds printed on their tags. She loves them and cares for them because of their great value to her.

Do you know that you have great value to your sovereign heavenly Father? Jesus tells us so in Matthew 10:

“Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. But even the hairs of your head are all numbered.” (Matthew 10:29-30)

Two for a penny—back in Jesus’ day, sparrows were the cheapest animal you could buy for your sacrifice. (I wish beanie boos were that inexpensive!) Even the poor could afford to buy one or two. And we read in Luke that if you paid two pennies, you could get five sparrows—they were of so little value that they’d throw in an extra for free.

And yet, these insignificant birds are of great value in the eyes of their Creator. Not one falls to the ground without His knowledge and involvement.

God’s care for us, His beloved children, goes beyond an awareness of whether we’re in a tree or on the ground. He knows each and every hair on our heads. God is concerned with and sovereign over even the smallest details of our lives.

Nothing touches one hair on your head before passing through the hands of your loving, faithful, sovereign heavenly Father.

No matter what you face this week, the Lord is sovereign over every detail of your days.

(Photo by Josh Adamski on Unsplash)

« Previous Page