Jesus Is My One True Constant ~ by Amy Vest

There is a reality that has been so profoundly real and sweet to me this week:

Jesus is our one true constant.

Nothing and no one else in this life is certain:
~ People are precious, but they fail us.
~ Circumstances can change in the blink of an eye.
~ Health can take a turn for the worse.
~ We make mistakes.       
   
Many of these things have taken place this week.  Yes, some of them very painful, but good in that they have driven me deeply to Jesus - knitting my heart to Him as my unchanging One.

I have seen once again, that anything that drives me to Jesus is a blessing.

“...we know that for those who love God all things work together for good...”  Romans 8:28

Tonight after I said goodbye to one of my best friends who will be moving across the country, I went to my room and knelt before Jesus.  Tears streamed down my face, and in the stillness of His presence that reality was so preciously sweet - so many things can and will happen in life, but one thing is sure - my Jesus is always the same.

I rest in and treasure these promises:
“Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.”  Hebrews 13:8
“I will never leave you nor forsake you.”  Hebrews 13:5
“I am with you always.”  Matthew 28:20

When Jesus is your rock, you can be secure and satisfied no matter what life brings.
                       
“My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.”  Psalm 73:26

Tonight as I go to sleep, my heart is secure.

Tomorrow is going to be good - because my rock, hope, and source will be the same tomorrow.

Jesus is my one true constant.

A BRAND NEW Loving the Lord Ministries website!

Announcing the launch of the BRAND NEW Loving the Lord Ministries website!

We are praising the Lord and are so excited for this new gathering place to seek and love Jesus together - including videos, articles, and more!

Please visit us, come back often, and invite your friends to join us - www.lovingthelordministries.org!

Seeing our Neediness and God's Full Supply in the Gospel ~ Part 1 ~ by Lydia

Outside my window, I see only a pallid sky and a wintry landscape made up of brownish-gray and white. It is a bleak sight – dismal, devoid of color, and slightly depressing. Something about it seems to mirror the insides of my soul at this time.

I wanted to sit down one cheery day, in high spirits and with a good grasp on life and everything else, and pen an elegant article on the gospel and its importance in our everyday lives. 

But that day hasn’t come. Maybe that’s a good thing. Don’t we sometimes appreciate the life-giving message of the gospel more when things aren’t going that great? Doesn’t the gospel sparkle just a bit more brightly when we come to grips with our utter inability to please God on our own?

Like the dreary wintry day outside, there are times when I’m discouraged, and worn-down, and zeal-less. Days when every path seems only to lead to a disappointing dead end.  I don’t always have a great “grasp” on life, either. In fact, these days I’m silently pleading with God to give direction and meaning to a life that sometimes seems to lack vision. I know, too, that I’m far from the only one who experiences a disquieted soul at times.

Not a very good time to write about the gospel, is it?

Then again, if the gospel doesn’t apply on our dullest, down-est days, when does it? When should its message be proclaimed – only on the bright, colorful days when there is peace and joy flooding my heart?

It would be strange to think that the marvelous, unparalleled message of Jesus Christ dying in my place, bearing all my sin, in order that I might be imputed with perfect righteousness and be right with God – only works or has impact on the days that I really feel like I need it.

The truth is, I need it all the time. And especially – especially – on days like today. 

I wonder if God allows us to pass through bleak wintry countrysides in our lives to show us that the gospel is what will keep us alive. It is our water and our bread and our very strength. 

It would do us well to ponder the significance of Christ’s gospel, contrasted with our own neediness. So, as I’m writing to myself as well as you, let us consider three separate emphases of a particular question:

Why do we (as Christians) need the gospel?

First, why do we need the gospel? In other words, if we’ve already been saved through trusting Christ alone to save us, repenting of our sins, and yielding our life to Him, why do we as Christians still need to hear the message of Christ crucified? The reason is because the gospel is necessary not only for salvation, but also for sanctification.
 

Sanctification is the ongoing process of the Holy Spirit helping us to become more and more like Christ. It begins the moment we are saved, and continues till we die. The gospel gives a foundation for sanctification in that it shows us what we’ve been saved from and how we are to live in light of God’s grace. If we don’t focus on the gospel, we may start thinking that our good works are earning us favor from God, when in truth, it is work of Christ alone that gives us favor in God’s eyes.

A veering away from gospel-centered thinking may also cause us to fall into sin. We forget the incredible sacrifice that Jesus made on our behalf to deliver us from bondage to sin. The famous first verses of Romans 6 state the absurdity of Christians remaining in the same sinful lifestyles: “What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it?” The following arguments for why we are to not “live any longer in it” include a comparison of Christ’s death and resurrection to our spiritual death (baptism) and resurrection (newness of life) by the power of God. This is a return to the message of the gospel. Paul uses the gospel to show us why we ought not continue in sin.

One other reason Christians need the gospel is that is continually reminds them of their hope laid up in heaven. 1 Peter 1:3-4 says, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to his abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you.” Here Peter is reminding his readers of the gospel that not only saved them, but also guarantees a hope laid up for them in heaven. Because Jesus died, those who believe in Jesus can live.  

When you and I have our “down days” and feel burdened with the cares of life, the message of the gospel lifts our eyes upward. There is a glorious heavenly inheritance for those who love Jesus!

So, the answer to the question is: Christians need the gospel because it reminds them of what they were saved from, why they should be continuing in godliness, and where their hope is laid up – heaven!

...Part 2 coming soon!

~ What Love ~

"See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God..."  
~ 1 John 3:1

The Heart of the Gospel ~ by Ruth

One dark midnight about a year and a half ago, in our home in a small town in Central African Republic, I woke up to find myself bleeding profusely. I had gone through a

miscarriage several weeks earlier, but something further was clearly going wrong now. There was nothing we could do to stop the bleeding. My husband rushed me into town to try to find help, but by that time I didn't have energy left to stand or even sit. So as we waited outside a gate of a French doctor, I was lying on the ground on my back, still bleeding. My hands and legs felt light.

I have often wondered how I'll feel when it comes to the moment of dying. Will I be afraid? Is it possible that at that point, the love of God will overwhelm me and all my fears and doubts will subside? It seems like in normal everyday life it's impossible to shake completely free of worries, doubts, fears. What if this happens? What about that? Many times before, I had wondered how I might feel when really faced with the end of my life on this earth.

Lying on my back under that dark sky, looking up at billions of stars, I realized that this could be it. Miles away from anywhere I could get a blood transfusion. Nobody there who actually could halt what was happening to me. Nobody, humanly speaking.

But I looked up at the stars and thought of Abraham, so long ago, looking up at the stars. About God promising him that his offspring would be as numerous as the stars he gazed at in that vast expanse. I’m one of those children. One of them, looking for a city whose builder and maker is God.

And I remembered a phrase from Psalm 23: even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil. 

The French doctor in our small town couldn't do anything to help me. So we headed out to the missionary-run hospital in another town. Many words of comfort came to my mind in the hours that followed, as my husband drove me along the long, bumpy road to the hospital.

The Lord is my Shepherd.  My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. And I give unto them eternal life, and they shall never perish. Neither shall anyone pluck them out of my hands.

And I did not feel afraid. I even felt a strange sense of happiness coming over me as I lay in the back of the truck, looking out the window at the stars all along that road. I knew I was hearing the voice of the good Shepherd, and that I belong to Him. I was at peace. Thank you, Jesus.

So what was it that could give me such deep peace, even joy, at a time when I was facing the possibility of death? That secret lies in the truth of the Gospel. Gospel literally means “good news.” And what is this good news? The entirety of the Bible weaves a story of God’s love which tells us what that “good news” is, but the heart of the Gospel’s “good news” can be summed up in this one beautiful verse:

“For God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us so that whether we are awake or asleep we might live with him.” (1 Thessalonians 5:9)

Let’s unpack that verse a little to get at the heart of the Gospel:

“For God has not destined us for wrath…” We are sinful by our human nature, and furthermore, we have chosen to disobey God’s commands and go our own way. Every one of us deserves eternal separation from God, and deserves His wrath as punishment for our sins. BUT, this wrath is not the destiny God has chosen for us!

“For God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us…” God loved us too much to leave us to a destiny of eternal wrath. He wanted us to be with Him. But for us to be reconciled to Him, God had to make a great sacrifice. He gave Jesus to die, taking the punishment due our sin, so that we could justly receive Jesus’ perfect righteousness and stand before God unashamed. Thanks to God’s loving plan and Jesus’ sacrificial death on the cross, we can obtain salvation—eternal life with Him—instead of the wrath we deserve.

“For God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us so that whether we are awake or asleep we might live with him.” God’s beautiful destiny for us is that we might belong to Him, and live with Him, forever—both in this earthly life and (in a far greater, richer way!) beyond the grave.

As John described it, “…to all who did receive him [Jesus], who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.” (John 1:12-13)

By receiving Jesus as your Lord and Savior, yielding your life to Him, and believing on His name, we become children of God. We are His forever. I pray that today you will rest fully on Jesus’ death and life that accomplished salvation on your behalf. You can belong to Him now, and forever. That is the heart of the Gospel—good news indeed!

I am the Lord’s! O joy beyond expression,
  O sweet response to voice of love Divine;
Faith’s joyous “Yes” to the assuring whisper,
  “Fear not! I have redeemed thee; thou art Mine!”

Sameness of Days ~ by Kerry

Buzz...the alarm clock goes off and once again it all starts. Breakfast, devotions, teeth brushed, clothes on; ready to start another day. Another day that may look much like the previous day and the day before that and…. Many of my days look similar. Monday may play out different as it is my cleaning day. But most of my Mondays look the same; laundry, bathrooms cleaned, plants watered, etc. Sometimes that sameness gets boring. Life can begin to seem so repetitive that it might even be considered…pointless. Suddenly the battle is on to find truth not feelings.

Life is gift and a gift that God holds firmly in His hand. Ps 118:24, "This is the day which the LORD hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it." A gift held by God who is undaunted by my feelings or the sameness of my days. Isa 60:1, "Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the LORD is risen upon thee." Each breath is a gift He chose to give me and thus should be treasured and appreciated. So, what will I do with today’s gift?

Jesus said He left us an example, an example of how to live each day. That example was to be a servant! John 13:15, "For I have given you an example, that ye should do as I have done to you. Verily, verily, I say unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord; neither he that is sent greater than he that sent him. If ye know these things, happy are ye if ye do them."
 

Being a servant is not very popular. My flesh wants to do something important and accomplish mighty things for the Kingdom of God. However the Word, which we know is rock solid truth, tells me that my boring days are not worthless. They are chock full of potential. Potential that can be a deposit in His bank, where moth and rust cannot corrupt. Mt 6:19, "Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also."  

 Stop waiting for the “big one”  and look around you. Put your hands to what you can see right now. Mt 25:21, "His lord said unto him, Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord." Lu 16:10, "He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much."

I cannot do mighty things for the Kingdom today but I can….make a phone call to an elderly friend, send a card to one who is struggling with cancer, fold laundry for my family, keep the house in order, wipe a nose, change a diaper, create something for another with my skills, have a warm meal on the table when everyone gets home from work. God is on the lookout for those who will be His hands in individual lives.

Matt 25:40,  "And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me."

Take note of the women mentioned in the New Testament. These women were doers of little jobs. They did for Jesus, met His practical needs and met the needs of others. Tears were shed when Dorcas died. (Acts 9:36-39) She would be greatly missed as she had supplied many with clothes, loved them with her actions. Phebe was a servant of the church in Rome and a succourer of many. (Rom 16:1) She cared for the affairs of others, aiding them with her own resources. Mary (Romans 16:6) bestowed much labor on Paul and the other apostles.

These acts made up their days, so let’s fill our days similarly. Watch each day for the doors that stand wide open in your “normal” day; doors that will help or bless others, be the voice of encouragement, and extend comfort thus bringing glory to God. Oh, to face each day with an attitude of wonder – what does God have for me today. Pray that He will open your eyes, you will see, and do that small job heartily as unto the Lord.  Col 3:23, "And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men." Dare yourself to please God. Hebrews 13:16, "But to do good and to communicate forget not: for with such sacrifices God is well pleased."

When the alarm clock buzzes and you get up tomorrow ….do it again. And again. And probably again!

The Relentless Love of Jesus ~ by Amy Vest

It’s a relentless, beautiful love that our Jesus has for us.

A love so strong that it will do what is best for us, not what is easiest. 

And I am grateful.  Beyond grateful.

I see again and again when I am nearest to Him is when I am the happiest.  This is what we were created for.

When life is busy and things are going well, I can still love, seek, and grow in Him – but, I know that I can sometimes release my intensity of desperation in seeking Him and slowly, unconsciously begin to drift from the nearness to His heart.
He knows that sometimes what we need is something that will remind us of our need of Him, the fact that He never changes, and that He alone satisfies.

Sometimes it is not comfortable to begin with – hard circumstances, a friend fails you, you make a mistake, the future is uncertain.  But, it is a pain that rescues and heals, as the things that don’t last are stripped away and our eyes are lifted to the One who alone is the source of life, hope, and joy.
Jesus fully satisfies.  His gifts cannot.  They are the gifts, HE is the Giver. 

Because He loves you, He will not let you settle for less than Himself.
I was recently reading Jeremiah 2:13,
“…for my people have committed two evils:
they have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters,
and hewed out cisterns for themselves, broken cisterns that can hold no water.”

He is the Fountain that alone will satisfy the thirst of our souls.  The “cisterns” (pots) of things, people, circumstances, etc. can never quench that thirst.  Only Jesus can.

So today, look.  His relentless love is pursuing you.

Lean back in it.

Rejoice.

His is a love that won’t let go.

And my heart breathes, “Thank You, Jesus.”

~ Memorization March Invitation Video ~

Will you join Amy for "Memorization March" with the goal of memorizing one verse a day of the amazing Word of our God together all month? :-)

This is for ANYONE who wants to join in and we are so excited for what He has in store!