Your Valentine

Hebrew literature put the crux of the poem, the pinnacle of thought, right in the middle of the composition. Here, in the middle of a month where we are inundated with messages about having a Significant Other (spouse, boyfriend, girlfriend--or you're nothing because no one thinks about only you), hear from God’s lips how He loves you.

This is how much God loved the world: He gave his Son, his one and only Son. And this is why: so that no one need be destroyed; by believing in him, anyone can have a whole and lasting life. John 3:16 MSG.

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. When you’re between a rock and a hard place, it won’t be a dead end—Because I am GOD, your personal God, The Holy of Israel, your Savior. I paid a huge price for you…That’s how much I love you! I’d sell off the whole world to get you back, trade the creation just for you. So don’t be afraid: I’m with you. Isaiah 43:1-5 MSG.

But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 5:8 NIV.

"Is not Ephraim my dear son, the child in whom I delight? … I still remember him. Therefore my heart yearns for him; I have great compassion for him,” declares the LORD. Jeremiah 31:20 NIV.

Jesus said, "The first in importance is, 'Listen, Israel: The Lord your God is one; so love the Lord God with all your passion and prayer and intelligence and energy.' And here is the second: 'Love others as well as you love yourself.' There is no other commandment that ranks with these." Mark 12:28-30 MSG.

But the people you redeemed, you led in merciful love; You guided them under your protection to your holy pasture. Exodus 15:13 MSG.

There are so many more. Look up “love” in your concordance, and read your Valentine from your Savior. He can’t wait to take you in His arms and whisper sweet words in your heart.

An old-fashioned Christmas

Throughout December, my parents loved to do traditional activities to prepare for Christmas: bake and decorate shaped cookies (to give to the neighbors), hold a Christmas-theme recital for Mom’s piano students, and decorate the house differently each year. We always cooked the entire Christmas feast from scratch. One year, we thought we’d do the “Little House on the Prairie” sort of décor. We strung popcorn to lay garlands on the Christmas tree, and baked gingerbread men and other frosted cookies, pierced their heads, and threaded yarn through them to make dangling ornaments. (Tragically, many cookies broke when pierced, and we were forced to eat our mistakes.) We finally had enough cookies and popcorn to decorate our tree, and we went to bed.

The next morning, I went to the living room to admire our — hey! What happened to all the cookies and popcorn? Gypsy, the 25-pound miniature poodle, lay behind the tree, looking guilty as sin, with probably two pounds of Christmas treats in her tummy. She’d stood on her hind legs and walked around the tree, eating everything up to 36 inches from the floor. The glass and paper ornaments remained pristine.

Gypsy didn’t know the Genesis story about not eating from the tree in the center of the garden, or the one about David eating the sacred bread in the tabernacle. She was smart, but she was just a dog with a sweet tooth. Stolen bread tastes sweet, but soon your mouth is full of gravel. Proverbs 20:16 MSG. Gypsy wasn’t completely at fault. Valuables are safe in a wise person’s home; fools put it all out for yard sales. Proverbs 21:20 MSG. We should have known that edible decorations would be too tempting for a dog!

Giving, not getting, is the way. Generosity begets generosity. Stinginess impoverishes. Mark 4:24-25 MSG. Pet lovers understand that whatever we give our animals in treats, toys, vet bills, and other expenses, we receive back in rich measure.

This is a worrisome time in the global economy. We’re trying to plan our personal, church, and corporate budgets for the next year, wondering whether we should freeze at current levels, invest now while prices are low, cut back on essentials, or conserve every penny against the time when pennies are again worth stooping to pick up. Pay off those bills to avoid interest, or take advantage of tax deductions and depreciation? Should we look for extra income from freelance or part-time jobs?

It’s gift-giving time in almost every culture, whatever the religious (or non-religious) beliefs. Should we limit our spending? Stimulate the economy with the purchase of a giant electronic marvel or gas-guzzling vehicle for the family? Think about handicrafts or homemade goods for gift-giving? Is there anything left of you to volunteer at a soup kitchen, tie quilts at the Dorcas meeting, deliver meals to the homebound, or rock preemies at the neonatal ward?

Perhaps instead of giving Dad another thing for his shelf (and eventually the garage rafters), we should consider giving a gift in his name. You know the kind: groceries or a check to help the local food bank, or one of many animal rescue organizations. And for your brother’s teenagers, a gift to a a child sponsorship group like Compassion or World Vision, or a Haitian relief organization, or to a charity like www.Heifer.org.

Doing good deeds motivated by love, and leaving the materialism and rush behind, will give us that feeling of an old-fashioned Christmas. Christmas is about the heart, not about stuff. It’s being like God: compassionate, merciful, loving and forgiving – not doing the expected thing for advertisers and corporations.

That applies to all of us. Let’s invest our tender care, our gentle touch, our careful respect, in people. It’s the best gift we can give. Material goods pale in comparison to pleasant relationships. We’ll all be blessed beyond measure.

The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love. Galatians 5:6 NIV. That is exactly what Jesus did when He came to dwell with us. Surprisingly, He expressed His faith in us: His faith that we would listen to His voice and learn to be like the One Who expresses Himself through love.

If we love Him, we will keep His commands, which are to love the Lord with all we are, and to love our neighbors as ourselves. That kind of love would blow modern Christmases out of the water! It would be a bright, guiding star in the darkness, leading seekers to the Light.

It starts with YOU.

Who do you trust?

Which theme shall we go with for this February devotional article? Primary elections and the future of America? Valentines Day and true love? Black History month? Heart-health awareness? Groundhog Day marks six more weeks until equinox? The evils of Carnival and the “redemptive” works of Lent? No, let’s go big — and controversial.

A friend at church said that his 85 year-old mother was declining in health and did not have hope of salvation after years of church membership and countless agonized prayers that she has not yet attained perfection.

Another friend says his mother is bitterly angry with her family when they talk to her of God’s grace, because she believes they offer “cheap” grace. Her name is on the wall and she’s found wanting, she says.

A friend in my Bible study group describes his “Romans 7 life” of struggling against his sinful nature instead of moving into the “Romans 8 life” of trust that God can and will give us the divine nature.

Who or what do you trust the most when it comes to spiritual matters? Take this list slowly and one at a time:

• Dr. Phil, Oprah, Joel Osteen, media preachers (even “ours”)
• Inspired religious authors
• Your parents or your spouse
• The person who brought you into “the Church”
• The people of your congregation
• Your pastor
• The denominational officers
• The church guide book or its list of fundamental beliefs
• Church pioneers
• The “way we’ve always done it” in a religious system set up by minds greater than your own
• Your ability to obey the 10 Commandments
• Your theological understanding of Bible truths

Or do you place your whole, entire trust in the Word of God, namely, Jesus Christ, our Savior?

If you answered YES to the last question, then you should have no dispute with what follows; only an affirmation of hope. If you answered YES or YES-BUT to any of the previous list, you are living in the dark and cold of spiritual winter, because none of those people, things, or behaviors has the power to save you.

The Revelation 14 messages given by the three angels are to worship Creator-God and give Him glory, to leave the false worship system and its death penalty, to obey God’s voice and have enduring faith in Jesus, and to rest in Jesus.

What does it mean to have “faith” in Jesus? That you believe He exists? (Even the demons believe that way.) That you demonstrate you are a follower by keeping the Law of Moses?

NO (Romans 3:21-22). You must have faith in Jesus’ ability to save you, even when you know — you remember all too well — that you are not worthy of saving.

I’ll be blunt here: Who are you to say that Jesus’ gift is not sufficient to save you? “How much more severely do you think a man deserves to be punished who has trampled the Son of God under foot, who has treated as an unholy thing the blood of the covenant that sanctified him, and who has insulted the Spirit of grace?” Hebrews 10:29 NIV.

When we confess our sins (not when we’re perfect or “cured” of them), God is faithful and just to forgive our sins and cleanse from ALL unrighteousness. (1 John 1:9.) When we confess, sins are instantly:

• Finished
• Done
• Forgiven
• Thrown away to the abyss

We remember our sins, but God has chosen — decided — to forget them eternally. He will not bring them up ever again, as Satan would have you believe. They’re not sitting on a sagging shelf in readiness to add back into your sin-bank when you fall, as you undoubtedly will.

Once your sin is forgiven and forgotten forever, God declares you “righteous.” Here is the part to remember: When Jesus created this world, He pronounced His creation GOOD, and when He creates in you a new heart, the divine nature, he also pronounces His new creation GOOD, “because by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy.” Hebrews 10:14 NIV.

Notice that God’s Word says that in the past, by one perfect sacrifice, Jesus “made perfect forever.” That’s where the Father chooses to see your bare-naked, deformed and sickly self as clothed in Jesus’ robe of righteousness. You are invisible because Jesus stands there. Then the Word says, “those who are being made holy.” That’s where God does the reparative work to develop you into that new creature with His holy character.

But you do NOT attain perfection in order to be saved. Before He created this world, God resolved to love and save us to His uttermost ability. Jesus bought you at His cross. You, nearly dead from the vicious torture of slavery to sin, He redeemed and declared perfect, which actually means healthy, whole, complete, and mature.

The same God who was satisfied with the perfection of His created world and all features and creatures within it, says the same about you: GOOD. RIGHTEOUS. PERFECT.

“By faith we have been made acceptable to God. And now, because of our Lord Jesus Christ, we live at peace with God. Christ has also introduced us to God's undeserved kindness on which we take our stand. So we are happy, as we look forward to sharing in the glory of God.” Romans 5:1-2 CEV.

“I came so that everyone would have life, and have it in its fullest. I am the good shepherd, and the good shepherd gives up his life for his sheep.” John 10:10-11 CEV.

The entire Bible is packed with words of hope and restoration. Therefore, there is no condemnation (Romans 8:1). Love sent His Son to save and not condemn (John 3:16-17).

“Who is a God like you, who pardons sin and forgives the transgression of the remnant of his inheritance? You do not stay angry forever but delight to show mercy. You will again have compassion on us; you will tread our sins underfoot and hurl all our iniquities into the depths of the sea.” Micah 7:18-19 NIV.

So is there any reason for bitterness? Is there any reason to hold back from shouting with all confidence that Jesus, for the joy set before Him, and for the sake of His own delight, saved you and you expect to either be caught up in the clouds or be awakened by your Creator's voice — with radiant joy!

Baby steps

Even in the life of a mature Christian, there are times when God seems very far away. We walk through the desert, crying for Him to just show us the way, to lead us to the oasis, to hold our hands and tell us it’ll be all right. What we see in our loneliness is burning sand and thirsty ground. The summer heat has chased away any pools or trickles of moisture. Our mouths are parched.

We remember being taught that we must have done something wrong, that we were in rebellion, or we’ve withheld confession of or repentance of some sin that keeps us from perceiving God’s presence.

And we feel even worse. Forsaken. Deserted.

But we know, by previous personal experience and by reading God’s word, that Jesus will never leave us or forsake us. We know that He does not condemn us, and that God so loved humanity that He gave His beloved and perfect Son to die that we could live the abundant life. We know that we have emerged from the wilderness in the past, and we will again.

Why in the world do we go through these trials? Why, when God has promised to comfort us with His Spirit, are we still tottering on weak knees?

Hummingbirds are lovely, tiny creatures that only live in the Western hemisphere. Their life spans average only three years. Their hearts beat 1,260 to 1,400 times per minute or about 23 beats per second. Their wings beat 55 to 75 times per second, creating the famous humming noise. Some migrate thousands of miles in a single season, following the blooming plants. They need to eat (flower nectar and tiny insects) about every ten minutes to maintain their metabolism.

When the young hummingbird is temporarily abandoned in the orchid tree, she chitters for her parents for ten minutes before she’s hungry enough to seek and sip her own nectar (which was why she was “abandoned” in the first place). Mom and Dad Hummer are busily seeking nourishment about 30 feet away, but keeping an eye on their baby. As soon as she leaves her branch and hovers before a blossom, her parents return to encourage her and they fly off together.

When babies first stand alone, and sway back and forth to maintain balance, we cheer with pride. When they take their first stumbling steps, we back up and encourage the child to toddle to us, and when they reach our arms, we enfold them with love and praise. “Well done, little one!”

What if, during our lonely desert experiences when we're looking down at the hot, burning sand, our heavenly Father is right in front of us with outstretched arms, encouraging us to take the steps necessary to develop strong muscles, to be ready to march and run? He’s never left or forsaken us, because He’s still here. He’s still our Immanuel and Comforter. When we begin to fall, His arms catch us and He sets us up for the next steps.

God is intent on maturing our souls to be ready for service. Some people need to see His power as expressed in an earthquake or lightning bolt. Others, in their pain or grief, prefer a gentle, healing touch and a kind word.

But when we do hear God’s whisper in our ears, a personal message that can’t be explained or translated, there is rejoicing in our hearts.

The desert and the parched land will be glad; the wilderness will rejoice and blossom. Like the crocus, it will burst into bloom; it will rejoice greatly and shout for joy. …they will see the glory of the LORD, the splendor of our God. Strengthen the feeble hands, steady the knees that give way; say to those with fearful hearts, "Be strong, do not fear; your God will come…he will come to save you." Isaiah 35:1-4 NIV

When Jesus was baptized, and the Father praised Him as His beloved son, Jesus left the crowds around John the Baptist, and the Spirit “drove” Him into the wilderness for prayer, fasting, and the devil’s temptations. (Mark 1:12) I’m sure that during those 40 days in the Jordanian wilderness, Jesus didn’t sit around thinking about pita bread and falafel. He was focused on the strength the Father had for Him in the scriptures. He experienced that loneliness and despair we do, and wondered if any human cared for Him. He wandered through the desert of His thoughts, too.

But Jesus had the faith that His loving Father was there, pleased with Him, ready to bear Him up if He stumbled. He had faith that God would turn His wordless, anguished prayer into the polished eloquence of heaven. He had faith that “Water will gush forth in the wilderness and streams in the desert. The burning sand will become a pool, the thirsty ground bubbling springs.” Isaiah 35:6-7 NIV

The burning sand and thirsty ground, just a depression that water runs through, is miraculously transformed into the opposite: a place that holds water, and the source of clean, bubbling, life-giving water. Grasses and trees grow in this oasis, and birds and animals come to live and thrive.

Then you will call, and the LORD will answer; you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I. If…you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then your light will rise in the darkness, and your night will become like the noonday. The LORD will guide you always; he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land and will strengthen your frame. You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail. Isaiah 58:9-11 NIV

When you go through a hot, lonely desert in your life, remember that the Lord is still close to you, but allowing you to grow and strengthen, and to lengthen your stride. Like the hummingbird’s parents, at the right time He will swoop in and lead you away to sweetness.

And if you sense that your friend feels abandoned, rejected, or needs a beacon in the darkness, hold out your steadying hand. Carry a light. Extend that gentle embrace for a few extra minutes (not seconds). Say nothing — but feel everything. Breathe in the same rhythm. You can be the Lord’s healing hand. You will be that oasis that is sought after, that cool, sweet spring water.

“Sharing God’s love” is not a catchphrase: it’s real and it’s one-on-one. It’s loving the Lord with all our hearts, and our fellow creatures as ourselves. That is the greatest commandment. It’s the only commandment!