Loved Before Time

“So he ran on ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see him,
because Jesus was going to pass that way.” — Luke 19:4

Photo by Larry Koester

God’s love for us goes before the moment we realise the beauty of it. Like how He loves Zacchaeus, the Sycamore tree has already been there all along awaiting for Zachaeus’
“God moment”.

 

Timely

Time is a commodity we often times neglect. 

We thoughtlessly waste it when…

we fail to make time for our families, conveniently;
we fail to make time for the people whom we claimed we love and value, indifferently;
we fail to make time for people in need especially those around us, intentionally;
we fail to make time for ourselves, selflessly; and worse…
we fail to make time for the LORD who gave His all for us, nonchalantly. 

When we fail to make time, we fail to love; for love is spelled, T-I-M-E.

“Lord, remind me how brief my time on earth will be.
    Remind me that my days are numbered—
    how fleeting my life is.
 You have made my life no longer than the width of my hand.
    My entire lifetime is just a moment to you;
    at best, each of us is but a breath.”
Psalm 39:4-5

Make the most of your time by making time. 

 

Freed by Grace

And so the Lord says,
    “These people say they are mine.
They honor me with their lips,
    but their hearts are far from me.
And their worship of me
    is nothing but man-made rules learned by rote.
Isaiah 29:13

Legalistic people should stay in God’s church. 
For although they don’t own the church, though they behave as if they do,
it’s a hospital for dying sinners not a museum for living saints.

 

Live!

Still, it’s what GOD had in mind all along, to crush him with pain.

The plan was that he give himself as an offering for sin

so that he’d see life come from it—life, life, and more life.

And GOD’s plan will deeply prosper through him.

Isaiah 53:10 The Message

No matter who you are, no matter where you come from, no matter what you’ve done,

GOD bled his heart out for you because He loves you.

And He wants you to live.

 

Strive Thriving

The feeling of being pushed on the brink of losing yourself and
just when you were about to grope your way out of the darkness
to start gasping for air to breathe afresh survival,
a scheming reality choked you.
That you are surrounded yet alone;
Needed but needing;
Moving but drowning;
Living yet dying. 
Hopelessly hopeful.
Quitting…

…and with a fervid desire to feed the pain for mundane gain, you succumb to giving up. 
Yet all of a sudden, the churning within calms as the Comforter comes, saying… 

“Don’t be afraid, I’ve redeemed you.
I’ve called your name.
You’re mine.

When you’re in over your head, I’ll be there with you.
 
When you’re in rough waters, you will not go down…

Because I am God, your personal God,…your Savior. 
.
…That’s how much you mean to me!
 
That’s how much I love you!“

— GOD (Isaiah 43:1-4, The Message)

Strive thriving in living and loving HIM.
May God’s unfailing love always be your comfort.

 

Empty-hearted

One of the saddest parts of life is when we think that we have plenty when in fact, we are empty.

It is when we realized that more than being empty-handed, we are empty-hearted.

“Empty-hearted” that implies two resounding things:

First, it echoes the rhetorical classic,
“If a tree falls in the desert, and there is no one there to hear it, does it make a sound?”
Love without an object of love negates love itself.

Second, it’s a prequel to being brokenhearted.
A feeling of being pushed away; a constant subtle rejection that seems to never get tired of
breaking broken hearts. 

Negated love. Neglected love. 

Yet in this rock bottom quagmire, emptiness makes quintessential things clearer to see — that we are broken to be made whole again by the only One who can complete us and that the meaning of life that each one of us are striving to find can only be found in the One who created it. 

May our hearts cling on to this truthful statement made by the psalmist…
“If your heart is broken, you’ll find God right there…” 

God is love. He loves.

 

He Started It

Man is not made godly because he chose to love God.

Man can be made godly because God loved him first.

 

Loud Silence

Most of the time, when people confide and open themselves to us, we get so easily excited to immediately repair them by our own mindless lambasting words of pseudo wisdom…leaving them emotionally maimed.

We fail to realize that all they actually need is genuine love and care expressed in silence. Thus, we ought to listen. 

‎”…when we are listening to somebody, completely, attentively, then we are listening not only to the words, but also to the feeling of what is being conveyed, to the whole of it, not part of it.”

I find genuine wisdom with what the Bible says in James 1:19, “Understand this…Let every person be quick to listen, slow to speak…”

Speak in loud silence by listening more. If you want to put words into it, make sure that your words are better than your silence. 

 

The Happiest Feeling…

…is when God takes away something you dearly love…but your heart remains at peace.

“I give you peace, peace that you will never find in the world…”

                                                  —John 14:27

If My grace fills your heart, your heart may be broken, but your faith will not be shaken.

 

Worth Pondering…

Lift up your eyes and look to the heavens:
Who created all these?
He who brings out the starry host one by one
and calls forth each of them by name.
Because of his great power and mighty strength,
not one of them is missing.

Isaiah 40:26

…What is mankind that you are mindful of them,
a son of man that you care for him?

Hebrews 2:6; Psalm 8:4

 

The Fulfilled Cup

“Life apart from God is meaningless, but life with God at the center is full. It’s satisfying. It’s purposeful. It makes all the difference.”

“Right where I Am, God is.

All that I need I already have because the fullness of God

is right where I Am and ever shall it be so.”

 — Anonymous

“The Lord is my shepherd;
    I have all that I need…
   …My cup overflows with blessings.
Surely your goodness and unfailing love will pursue me
    all the days of my life,
and I will live in the house of the Lord
    forever.”

— Psalm 23:1,5b-6 (NLT)

 

Never Think Twice About Coming Home

Very often what God first helps us towards is not the virtue itself

but just this power of always trying again.

— C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity

Commitment to God is not just working to be a holy man,

not just laboriously living life by His book.

Commitment to God is also tirelessly running back to His arms despite guilt or sorrow when one fails Him.

 

Useless

“The highest form of vanity is love of fame.”

—George Santayana

…and it’s utterly useless.

 

Through It All

You are forever in my life
You see me through the seasons
Cover me with Your hand
And lead me in Your righteousness

And I look to You
And I wait on You

I’ll sing to You Lord
A hymn of love
For Your faithfulness to me
I’m carried in everlasting arms
You’ll never let me go
Through it all

Friend, if you’re struggling right now, if you’re fed up with everything, or if you feel so lonely as if the whole world has walked out on you, know this—God’s hand will always be on your shoulder no matter what.

What is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him?

—Psalm 8:4 (ESV)

He WILL ALWAYS love you. He will NEVER leave you nor forsake you. Even before you were born, He already had His great plans laid out for you.

If there is a song of love in your heart right now, sing it to Him. Let Him know that you love Him too.

Know this, before the whole world even knew you and even after the whole world is through with you, He will definitely see you…through it all.

 

All For You

Thank you, God for everything…
The big things and the small,
For “every good gift comes from God,”
The Giver of them all.

And all too often we accept
Without any thanks or praise,
The gifts God sends as blessings
Each day in many ways.

And so at this Thanksgiving time,
We offer up a prayer,
To thank You, God, for giving us
A lot more than our share.

First, thank You for the little things
That often come our way,
The things we take for granted,
But don’t mention when we pray.

The unexpected courtesy,
The thoughtful, kindly deed,
A hand reached out to help us
In the time of sudden need.

Oh, make us more aware, dear God,
Of little daily graces
That come to us with “sweet surprise”
From never-dreamed-of places.
 
Then, thank You for the “miracles”
We are much too blind to see,
And give us new awareness
Of our many gifts from Thee.

And help us to remember
That the key to life and living,
Is to make each prayer a prayer of thanks
And every day Thanksgiving.

~ Helen Steiner Rice ~

“Not to us, O Lord, not to us,
    but to your name goes all the glory
    for your unfailing love and faithfulness.”

—Psalm 115:1 (NLT)