This summer during my renewal leave, I spent a good amount of time reading the Psalms. I have always loved them, but they especially spoke to me in this time. There are so many things that I love about them … Continue reading
The Apple of His Eye
Tag Archives: God’s Love
Nothing
You ever feel like God doesn’t love you? Ever feel like you are too far away from His love? That something has happened that is going to keep you from really knowing His love? Do you ever just feel like … Continue reading
Look Around
Today, God wants to show you His glory. God wants you to see something big, something beautiful, something powerful. God wants to change your life, change your perspective, change so many things. All you have to do is look around. … Continue reading
God Will Not Give Up on You
Have you ever read through any of the Old Testament prophets? There’s a lot going on there. They are some of my favorite books of the Bible. When you read them, you see a similar pattern. The people have done something wrong, something that they should have not.
God says, you will be punished for your sin. The sins that God normally punishes the most (or really seems the most upset with) are idolatry and how the poor are treated. Those two come down to what Jesus told us to do – love God and love our neighbor.
If we love God, we won’t worship idols, we won’t place other things above Him. He will be first in our lives.
If we love our neighbor, we will help our neighbors, we will care for them, we will do right by them and for them.
When the people of God in the Old Testament didn’t do right, they were then punished.
Boy, this sounds great, doesn’t it! But that’s not why I love the prophets. Why I love the prophets comes next. After those things, God always says – I love. I can’t destroy you. You are mine, I made you, I can’t forsake you. I will redeem you. Today’s reading in Isaiah 54: 7-10 is a great example:
For a brief moment I deserted you,
but with great compassion I will gather you.
In overflowing anger for a moment
I hid my face from you,
but with everlasting love I will have compassion on you,”
says the Lord, your Redeemer.
“This is like the days of Noah[a] to me:
as I swore that the waters of Noah
should no more go over the earth,
so I have sworn that I will not be angry with you,
and will not rebuke you.
For the mountains may depart
and the hills be removed,
but my steadfast love shall not depart from you,
and my covenant of peace shall not be removed,”
says the Lord, who has compassion on you.
God says – my steadfast love will not depart. Through mountains and hills are moved, though these things may fail, may be destroyed may be no more, my steadfast love will not depart.
God will not leave us. He will not forsake us. No matter what. He is for us. He is with us. He is our friend, our rock, our Savior, our God. Do not fear. Do not quake. Do not give up, give in, quit, or let go.
God will not give up on you. He won’t.
Though all the things of this life my fail. God’s steadfast love for you will not depart.
His covenant will not be removed.
He will show compassion. He will. He always has. He always will. Don’t doubt that truth today. God will not forsake you. God will not give up on you.
Don’t forget, you can click here to download Asbury’s mobile app and read these devotionals, as well as listen to my sermons on your smart phones, and you thought our app, you can now watch our worship services from Asbury too!
God Delights in You
Yesterday when we read in Psalm 18 about how our perspective on the day will determine the kind of day that it will be. Will it be good, or bad? A lot of that will focus on the way that we choose to look at things.
Today, we look again at Psalm 18, but this time, we focus on why in the world that God will save us in times of trouble. Why is it, when the perspective looks bad, that we can have hope? Why can we cling to that notion, even when things look really bad?
Listen to what the word says in Psalm 18: 17-19:
He rescued me from my strong enemy and from those who hated me, for they were too mighty for me. They confronted me in the day of my calamity, but the Lord was my support. He brought me out into a broad place; he rescued me, because he delighted in me.
God delights in you. It isn’t just that He’s proud of you, or He loves you, or any of these things. He delights in you.
You make Him happy. Think about that. You bring a smile to the face of our awesome God. You bring Him joy. You delight Him.
That’s how precious you are to Him this morning. Now, this doesn’t mean that things will be perfect. We see in the text that the the Psalmist was in a place of great trouble and great worry. He was afraid. He felt as though things were going to end badly. It didn’t look God.
And then God stepped in and saved the day. Because God delighted in him.
He does the same for you today. Trust. Hope. Believe. Know. God delights in you. And He will be there for you, in your moment of need. Today, we know that to be true.
Don’t forget, you can click here to download Asbury’s mobile app and read these devotionals, as well as listen to my sermons on your smart phone.
Naughty or Nice
This is our church sign at Asbury right now. Now this isn’t just plug for Asbury (though we’d love to have you worship with us sometime!) This sign makes me smile every time I see it? Why?
Is it simply because it’s a play on the “naughty or nice” part of the Christmas season? Maybe. But, mainly because it expresses something that I (and Asbury) believes fully about God. God loves nice people. God loves naughty people. God loves all people.
And God wants to be in a relationship with all people. Because God so loves the world. The naughty and the nice.
Santa comes to check if you are naughty or nice. Jesus came to save the naughty, and the nice. Because He loves both. And both need Him.
Listen to what Jesus says in Luke 19: 9-10:
And Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, since he also is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”
Jesus came, seeking out the lost. The broken. The needful. Because He loves them. He cares for them. And they are His. He was born to save them.
He was born to save us. No matter where we are. No matter what list we are on. That may matter to the world, or to Santa. But it doesn’t matter to God.
Naughty or nice, it doesn’t matter to God. He doesn’t love us because we are good. He loves us because He is good.
Never forget that. Ever. He simply loves you. No matter what.
Don’t forget, you can click here to download Asbury’s mobile app and read these devotionals, as well as listen to my sermons on your smart phones.
** Special thanks to Meghan Milligan for taking this picture
Why Does God Forgive Us?
God is a God that forgives His people. He is a God that longs to restore and renew His people.
We get that. You’ve heard me say that a lot. You’ve seen me write that a lot. If you’ve been around my ministry for any length of time, you’ve heard multiple times that God is a God that loves us and forgives us. That His love for us is more than we can ever understand.
Ok, Andy, sure.
But why?
Why does God forgive us? Why does God restore us? Why does God renew us?
Why?
There are lots of reasons why. Lots of reasons why the Lord forgives us our sins and renews us.
The first is because He made us. He created us. He made us in His image and He loves us. As a father loves His children, so does God love us. Jesus came, suffered and died for our sins to pay the price for our sins.
Why? He loves us.
He made us. He loves us. That’s one reason why.
But, that’s not the only reason.
We see Isaiah talk about another reason this morning. Listen to what he says in Isaiah 63:13-14:
who led them through the depths? Like a horse in the desert, they did not stumble. Like livestock that go down into the valley, the Spirit of the Lord gave them rest. So you led your people, to make for yourself a glorious name.
He says that the Spirit of the Lord lead the people, He gave them rest. He restored them. He forgave them.
Why?
To make for Himself a glorious name. God forgives us and renews us to restart that relationship with us. And as we are renewed and restored, we have so many reasons to praise God and to give Him glory.
His forgiveness in our lives makes us praise Him. His mercy in our lives makes us to praise Him. His grace in our lives makes us to praise Him.
He loves your and forgives you because He loves you. And wants you to live your life for His glory. To make His name great. To live with love. With purpose. With joy. With peace. With mercy.
To give Him glory.
We aren’t just here for us. But for Him. That’s really our purpose in all of our lives. To give Him the glory.
To live for Him.
Today, you are forgiven. Know that you are loved. And live today as a response to that grace and love. And in that you will find your purpose.
And in that you will bring glory to His name.
Don’t forget, you can click here to download Asbury’s mobile app and read these devotionals, as well as listen to my sermons on your smart phones.
What God Sees When He Looks at You
How do you see yourself today?
What do you look at when you look in the mirror? What image do you see? What do you see staring back at you every morning?
I want you to listen what God says through Isaiah 62: 3-4. Listen to what God says that He sees when He looks at you.
You shall be a crown of beauty in the hand of the Lord, and a royal diadem in the hand of your God. You shall no more be termed Forsaken, and your land shall no more be termed Desolate, but you shall be called My Delight Is in Her, and your land Married; for the Lord delights in you, and your land shall be married.
A crown of beauty. A royal diadem.
The Lord delights in you. Hear that. He delights in you.
He looks at you, and He loves you. He forgives you. He restores you. He breathes new life into you.
You are His light. You are His precious. You are His jewel of great worth.
This is not love, that we love God. This is love, that God love us.
What do you see when you look in the mirror? Your failures? Your mistakes? Your faults? Your weakness? Your trials?
What does God see? His child. That He loves and adores.
He loves you. Always has. Always will. You are loved. Today. No matter what. You are loved.
Live in that knowledge today. See yourself as God sees you, as one that He loves.
Today, remember how He sees you. You are His delight.
Hear that.
You are.
Live secure in that knowledge. No matter what.
Don’t forget, you can click here to download Asbury’s mobile app and read these devotionals, as well as listen to my sermons on your smart phones.
Quiet
I don’t like being quiet. It’s not in my skill set, not is it my spiritual gift. I’m a big fan of talking and running my mouth.
I don’t know if I’m any good at it, but I sure do enjoy doing it.
So, the notion of being quiet is not something that I look forward to or enjoy. For me, it seems more like a punishment than a reward.
But listen to what the text says today in Zephaniah 3:16-17:
On that day it shall be said to Jerusalem: “Fear not, O Zion; let not your hands grow weak. The Lord your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing.
It says that the Lord is a mighty one who will save. That He will rejoice over us with gladness.
And He will quiet us with His love.
Sometimes in life, we do a lot of kicking. A lot of screaming (literally or metaphorically). We can get really, really, really worked up sometimes.
Listen to this. God will quiet you with His love. It’s ok. It’s alright.
No matter what you are facing. No matter what you are going through. No matter what is happening.
God loves you. He is here for you. He will not leave you. He will not forsake you. He will quiet you with His love.
You are loved today. Breathe that in. Understand it. It’s going to be ok, no matter what you are facing. God will not leave you.
He will quiet you with His love.
Today, in this day, may we rest in His love. May we know that love, that mercy. That grace. May we rest in His love today.
And may we know the peace that comes from resting quietly in His grace.
Don’t forget, you can click here to download Asbury’s mobile app and read these devotionals, as well as listen to my sermons on your smart phones.
Who Am I?
The God of creation loves you.
The very God that spoke all things into creation, the very sovereign Lord of the Ages, the very God that is the King of all the universe, the Almighty God.
He loves you.
Really.
He gave His son for your sake, and for mine. He made you, He formed you, and He longs for a relationship with you.
He desires to see your salvation and completion redemption in heaven. He desires for you to be the person that He has created you to be.
Really. He does.
And what you, or me, or any of us done for this? Nothing. Who am I, that God almighty would feel this way. Or who are any of us that God would feel that way?
Yeah, it’s humbling. But we aren’t the only ones to feel that way. Listen to what David says today in 2 Samuel 7:18-19:
Then King David went in and sat before the Lord and said, “Who am I, O Lord God, and what is my house, that you have brought me thus far? And yet this was a small thing in your eyes, O Lord God. You have spoken also of your servant’s house for a great while to come, and this is instruction for mankind, O Lord God!
Who am I? Who are you? Who are any of us?
This is who we are. We are the beloved children of God, loved for no reason other than the fact that God loves us. He formed us, He made us, and He loves us.
No matter where you are, what you are doing, or what is going on, you are loved. Yes, you are. You are His beloved child.
Remember that. As the old saying goes, remember who you are. And remember whose you are. You are God’s. You belong to Him.
He loves you. No matter what.
Who are you? You are a beloved child of God.
Today, live like the beloved child that you are.
Don’t forget, you can click here to download Asbury’s mobile app and read these devotionals, as well as listen to my sermons on your smart phones.
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