puricare chronicles: God’s love

Showing posts with label God’s love. Show all posts

Monday, April 5, 2021

YOU ARE NOT AN ACCIDENT - Long before you were conceived by your parents, you were conceived in the mind of God. He thought of you first. It is not fate, nor chance, nor luck, nor coincidence that you are breathing at this very moment. You are alive because God wanted to create you! God prescribed every single detail of your body. He deliberately chose your race, the color of your skin, your hair, and every other feature. He custom-made your body just the way He wanted it. He also determined the natural talents you would possess and the uniqueness of your personality. Because God made you for a reason, He also decided when you would be born and how long you would live. He planned the days of your life in advance, choosing the exact time of your birth and death. God also planned where you’d be born and where you’d live for His purpose. Nothing in your life is arbitrary. It’s all for a purpose. Most amazing, God decided how you would be born. Regardless of the circumstances of your birth or who your parents are, God had a plan in creating you. God’s motive for creating you was His love. God was thinking of you even before He made the world. In fact, that’s why He created it! You were created as a special object of God’s love! God made you so He could love you. This is a truth to build your life on. The Bible tells us, God is love. But there is a God who made you for a reason, and your life has profound meaning!

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You Are Not an Accident

The Bible tells us, God is love. God made you for a reason, and your life has profound meaning!

Long before you were conceived by your parents, you were conceived in the mind of God. He thought of you first. It is not fate, nor chance, nor luck, nor coincidence that you are breathing at this very moment. You are alive because God wanted to create you!

God prescribed every single detail of your body. He deliberately chose your race, the color of your skin, your hair, and every other feature. He custom-made your body just the way He wanted it. He also determined the natural talents you would possess and the uniqueness of your personality.

Because God made you for a reason, He also decided when you would be born and how long you would live. He planned the days of your life in advance, choosing the exact time of your birth and death. God also planned where you’d be born and where you’d live for His purpose.

Nothing in your life is arbitrary. It’s all for a purpose. Most amazing, God decided how you would be born. Regardless of the circumstances of your birth or who your parents are, God had a plan in creating you.

God’s motive for creating you was His love. God was thinking of you even before He made the world. In fact, that’s why He created it! You were created as a special object of God’s love! God made you so He could love you. This is a truth to build your life on.

Rick Warren

“I am your Creator. You were in my care even before you were born.” – Isaiah 44:2a

“God does not play dice.” – Albert Einstein

You are not an accident.

Your birth was no mistake or mishap, and your life is no fluke of nature.

Your parents may not have planned you, but God did. He was not at all surprised by your birth. In fact, He expected it.

Long before you were conceived by your parents, you were conceived in the mind of God.

He thought of you first. It is not fate, nor chance, nor luck, nor coincidence that you are breathing at this very moment. You are alive because God wanted to create you!

The Bible says,

“The Lord will fulfill His purpose for me.” — Psalm 138:8

God prescribed every single detail of your body. He deliberately chose your race, the color of your skin, your hair, and every other feature.

He custom-made your body just the way He wanted it.

He also determined the natural talents you would possess and the uniqueness of your personality.

The Bible says,

”You know me inside and out, You know every bone in my body; You know exactly how I was made, bit by bit, how I was sculpted from nothing into something.” — Psalm 139:15

Because God made you for a reason, He also decided when you would be born and how long you would live.

He planned the days of your life in advance, choosing the exact time of your birth and death.

The Bible says,

“You saw me before I was born and scheduled each day of my life before I began to breathe. Every day was recorded in your Book!” — Psalm 139:16

God also planned where you’d be born and where you’d live for His purpose.

Your race and nationality are no accident. God left no detail to chance. He planned it all for His purpose.

The Bible says,

”From one man He made every nation… and he determined the times set for them and the exact places where they should live.” — Acts 17:26

Nothing in your life is arbitrary. It’s all for a purpose.

Most amazing, God decided how you would be born.

Regardless of the circumstances of your birth or who your parents are, God had a plan in creating you.

It doesn’t matter whether your parents were good, bad, or indifferent.

God knew that those two individuals possessed exactly the right genetic makeup to create the custom “you” he had in mind. They had the DNA God wanted to make you.

While there are illegitimate parents, there are no illegitimate children. Many children are unplanned by their parents, but they are not unplanned by God.

God’s purpose took into account human error, and even sin.

God never does anything accidentally, and He never makes mistakes. He has a reason for everything He creates.

Every plant and every animal was planned by God, and every person was designed with a purpose in mind.

God’s motive for creating you was His love.

The Bible says,

“Long before He laid down earth’s foundations, He had us in mind, had settled on us as the focus of His love.” — Ephesians 1:4

God was thinking of you even before He made the world. In fact, that’s why He created it!

God designed this planet’s environment just so we could live in it. We are the focus of His love and the most valuable of all His creation.

The Bible says,

“God decided to give us life through the Word of truth so we might be the most important of all the things He made.” — James 1:18

This is how much God loves and values you! God is not haphazard; He planned it all with great precision.

The more physicists, biologists, and other scientists learn about the universe, the better we understand how it is uniquely suited for our existence, custom-made with the exact specifications that make human life possible.

Dr. Michael Denton, senior research fellow in human molecular genetics at the University of Otago in New Zealand, has concluded, “All the evidence available in the biological sciences supports the core proposition… that the cosmos is a specially designed whole with life and mankind as its fundamental goal and purpose, a whole in which all facets of reality have their meaning and explanation in this central fact.”

The Bible said the same thing thousands of years earlier:

“God formed the earth… He did not create it to be empty but formed it to be inhabited.” — Isaiah 45:18

Why did God do all this? Why did He bother to go to all the trouble of creating a universe for us? Because He is a God of love.

This kind of love is difficult to fathom, but it’s fundamentally reliable.

You were created as a special object of God’s love! God made you so He could love you. This is a truth to build your life on.

The Bible tells us, God is love. (1 John 4:8)

It doesn’t say God has love. He is love! Love is the essence of God’s character.

There is perfect love in the fellowship of the Trinity, so God didn’t need to create you.

He wasn’t lonely. But He wanted to make you in order to express His love.

God says,

“I have carried you since you were born; I have taken care of you from your birth. Even when you are old, I will be the same. Even when your hair has turned gray, I will take care of you. I made you and will take care of you.” — Isaiah 46:3-4

If there was no God, we would all be “accidents,” the result of astronomical random chance in the universe.

You could stop reading this book, because life would have no purpose or meaning or significance.

There would be no right or wrong, and no hope beyond your brief years here on earth.

But there is a God who made you for a reason, and your life has profound meaning!

We discover that meaning and purpose only when we make God the reference point of our lives.

The Message paraphrase of Romans 12:3 says,

“The only accurate way to understand ourselves is by what God is and by what He does for us.”

This poem by Russell Kelfer sums it up:

You are who you are for a reason.

You’re part of an intricate plan.

You’re a precious and perfect unique design,

Called God’s special woman or man.

You look like you look for a reason.

Our God made no mistake.

He knit you together within the womb,

You’re just what He wanted to make.

The parents you had were the ones He chose,

And no matter how you may feel,

They were custom-designed with God’s plan in mind,

And they bear the Master’s seal.

No, that trauma you faced was not easy.

And God wept that it hurt you so;

But it was allowed to shape your heart

So that into His likeness you’d grow.

You are who you are for a reason,

You’ve been formed by the Master’s rod.

You are who you are, Beloved,

Because there is a God!

Points to Ponder: I am not an accident.

Verse to Remember: “I am your Creator. You were in my care even before you were born.” — Isaiah 44:2

Question to Consider: I know that God uniquely created me. What areas of my personality, background, and physical appearance am I struggling to accept?

Message to Hear: www.purposedriven.com/day2

Your Turn

What is your response to God uniquely making you exactly as He did, with the family He gave you, the physical traits He gave you, in the place and time He planned your birth?

Maybe that brings up a lot of confusion and emotion for you.

Or maybe, God’s intentionality is deeply encouraging for you.

Come join the conversation on our blog and tell us! We’d love to hear from you! ~ Devotionals Daily

Excerpted with permission from The Purpose Driven Life by Rick Warren, copyright Rick Warren.

Rick Warren

As founding pastor of Saddleback Church, Dr. Rick Warren leads a 30,000 member congregation in California with campuses in major cities around the world. As a theologian, he has lectured at Oxford, Cambridge, Harvard, University of Judaism, and dozens of universities and seminaries. As a global strategist he advises world leaders and has spoken to the United Nations, US Congress, Davos Economic Forum, TED, Aspen Institute, and numerous parliaments. Rick has also founded the global P.E.A.C.E. plan, which Plants churches of reconciliation, Equips leaders, Assists the poor, Cares for the sick, and Educates the next generation in 196 countries.

https://www.faithgateway.com/you-are-not-an-accident/#.X8TWqHAzbZ4

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Monday, March 29, 2021

BE GREAT? YES... - Jesus recognized desire and ambition for significance and accomplishment. He even affirmed them, and gave instruction how to direct these passions - but His perspective required an important reorientation. Desire and ambition should be intense, in the right expression, toward the right objective - because God is great, with great desires, so those whom He created reflect this characteristic. The critical element then, is not to kill desire but to sanctify it by yoking it to love for God and love for others, expressed by becoming a servant. Being great in God’s eyes comes from being great like Him, and in Him, who was the most exemplary servant ever. Jesus said that true greatness is achieved in servanthood. Jesus came from glory and lowered Himself from the heights of heaven - He taught us how to be great. The awesome paradox that the Son of God, entirely equal with the Father as His express image, became a flesh and blood human in order to die, is the quintessential act of loving servanthood. This qualified Him to receive the greatest Name above every name. Consecrate your passion, dedicate your desire, submit your ambition, by offering your body as a living sacrifice to God - His Holy Spirit will inspire your desire, fashion your passion, and condition your ambition, to bear the beautiful fruit of His Spirit for His Kingdom's sake. The greatest in the Kingdom will be the servant of all! Be a servant of His love, His compassion, and His grace. Exemplify Godly ambition!

Be great? Yes...

The greatest in the Kingdom will be the servant of all!

Jesus recognized desire and ambition for significance and accomplishment. He even affirmed them, and gave instruction how to direct these passions - but His perspective required an important reorientation. Desire and ambition should be intense, in the right expression, toward the right objective - because God is great, with great desires, so those whom He created reflect this characteristic.

The critical element then, is not to kill desire but to sanctify it by yoking it to love for God and love for others, expressed by becoming a servant. Being great in God’s eyes comes from being great like Him, and in Him, who was the most exemplary servant ever. Jesus said that true greatness is achieved in servanthood.

Jesus came from glory and lowered Himself from the heights of heaven and so He taught us how to be great. The awesome paradox that the Son of God, entirely equal with the Father as His express image, became a flesh and blood human in order to die, is the quintessential act of loving servanthood. This qualified Him to receive the greatest Name above every name.

Consecrate your passion, dedicate your desire, submit your ambition, by offering your body as a living sacrifice to God - His Holy Spirit will inspire your desire, fashion your passion, and condition your ambition, to bear the beautiful fruit of His Spirit for His Kingdom's sake. Be a servant of His love, His compassion, and His grace. Exemplify Godly ambition!

Worthy Ministries

“Then He came to Capernaum. And when He was in the house He asked them, ‘What was it you disputed among yourselves on the road?’ But they kept silent, for on the road they had disputed among themselves who would be the greatest. And He sat down, called the twelve, and said to them, ‘If anyone desires to be first, he shall be last of all and servant of all.’” - Mark 9:33-35

Yet as believers, we often consider ambition to be a bad and worldly thing.

But Yeshua (Jesus) said, “He who would be greatest among you must be the servant of all.”

So think about it … did Yeshua say we shouldn't desire greatness?

No, to the contrary, He recognized desire and ambition for significance and accomplishment.

He even affirmed them, and gave instruction how to direct these passions. But His perspective required an important reorientation.

C.S. Lewis had something illuminating to share about this subject:

"If we consider the unblushing promises of reward and the staggering nature of the rewards promised in the Gospels, it would seem that Our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased." (Excerpt from "The Weight of Glory").

Lewis agrees with the Lord that desire and ambition should be intense, in the right expression, toward the right objective.

Some people have great and passionate worldly desires and ambitions for wealth, power, fame, etc, and even these desires reveal an aspect of God's image which every man carries, because God is great, with great desires, so those whom He created reflect this characteristic.

The critical element then, is not to kill desire, as for example Buddhist religion demands, but to sanctify it... How?

Simply by yoking it to love for God and love for others, expressed by becoming a servant.

Being great in God’s eyes comes from being great like Him, and in Him, who was the most exemplary servant ever.

Yeshua said that true greatness is achieved in servanthood.

In this light, ambition, passion, and desire, under the unction of the Holy Spirit do not serve pride or vainglory, but are expressed in humility, servanthood and self-giving.

Yeshua came from glory and lowered Himself from the heights of heaven, and so He taught us how to be great.

The awesome paradox that the Son of God, entirely equal with the Father as His express image, became a flesh and blood human in order to die, is the quintessential act of loving servanthood.

This qualified Him to receive the greatest Name above every name.

Perhaps you have been seeking to beat down your ambition, squelch your desire, and quench your unquenchable passions.

Apart from being nearly impossible, short of becoming a self-flagellating monk, these energies ought rather to be redirected.

Consecrate your passion, dedicate your desire, submit your ambition, by offering your body as a living sacrifice to God [Romans 12:1-2].

His Holy Spirit will inspire your desire, fashion your passion, and condition your ambition, to bear the beautiful fruit of His Spirit for His Kingdom's sake.

The greatest in the Kingdom will be the servant of all! Be a servant of His love, His compassion, and His grace.

Exemplify Godly ambition!

Worthy Ministries is a Christian organization based in the United States and Israel with a global outreach to more than 120 countries on a daily basis.

Though we are an internet ministry, we are also significantly involved in the land of Israel.

Each week, Worthy Ministries delivers thousands of daily devotionals and news briefs across the globe. This past year alone, we have sent out more than 5.2 million news briefs and inspirational devotionals. We have received thousands of encouraging responses from appreciative subscribers. And many millions have utilized our sites and services, including Worthy News, Worthy Chat, Worthy Devotions, and Worthy Christian Forums.

https://www.worthydevotions.com/christian-devotional/be-great-yes

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Friday, February 26, 2021

THE SACRED ACHE: NO TEAR FORGOTTEN - Sometimes we feel alone in our heartache and wonder if God hears us or even cares - we may imagine God has abandoned us, forgotten us, dismissed us, or simply ignored us. God is listening and planning to bring beauty and restoration to our situation. So when you cry out to the Lord, asking Him your own version of “How long?” recognize that you’re in good company. But don’t allow your ache to remain merely an ache. Allow that truth to seep into your troubled mind so that your ache might begin its transformation into something sacred. Why does the Lord record each heartache, each grief, each sadness in some divine journal inscribed with heavenly ink? It’s because He has plans for those things. It’s because He wastes nothing. He intends to fill our sorrows and tears with His expansive love. When we remember this — when we recall that God does in fact notice our pain, that He collects each tear in a bottle so that one day He might replace each teardrop with an ocean of divine love — our souls stop shrinking and begin to expand. The small world of our pain gives way to something boundless… beyond measure… beyond our reckoning. God’s incomprehensible love. This is the biblical truth. This is the Christian’s hope. And this is the sacred ache. “My soul is in anguish. How long, O Lord, how long?” “How long, O Lord, must I call for help, but You do not listen?”

The Sacred Ache: No Tear Forgotten

Sometimes we feel alone in our heartache and wonder if God hears us or even cares - we may imagine God has abandoned us, forgotten us, dismissed us, or imply ignored us.

God is listening and planning to bring beauty and restoration to our situation. So when you cry out to the Lord, asking Him your own version of “How long?” recognize that you’re in good company.

But don’t allow your ache to remain merely an ache. Allow that truth to seep into your troubled mind so that your ache might begin its transformation into something sacred. Why does the Lord record each heartache, each grief, each sadness in some divine journal inscribed with heavenly ink? It’s because He has plans for those things. It’s because He wastes nothing. He intends to fill our sorrows and tears with His expansive love.

When we remember this — when we recall that God does in fact notice our pain, that He collects each tear in a bottle so that one day He might replace each teardrop with an ocean of divine love — our souls stop shrinking and begin to expand. The small world of our pain gives way to something boundless… beyond measure… beyond our reckoning. God’s incomprehensible love. This is the biblical truth. This is the Christian’s hope. And this is the sacred ache.

Sheila Walsh

In the midst of our pain and grief — and especially at the front end — we may imagine God has abandoned us, forgotten us, dismissed us, or simply ignored us.

We’re not the first occupants of this broken planet to feel this way, nor will we be the last.

Even a quick stroll through the Psalms reveals how often human thoughts wander down this shadowy pathway:

o “My soul is in anguish. How long, O Lord, how long?” (Psalm 6:3).

o “How long, O Lord? Will You forget me forever? How long will You hide Your face from me? How long must I wrestle with my thoughts and every day have sorrow in my heart? How long will my enemy triumph over me?” (Psalm 13:1–2).

o “How long, O Lord? Will You hide yourself forever? How long will Your wrath burn like fire? Remember how fleeting is my life. For what futility You have created all men!” (Psalm 89:46–47).

o “Relent, O Lord! How long will it be? Have compassion on Your servants. Satisfy us in the morning with Your unfailing love, that we may sing for joy and be glad all our days. Make us glad for as many days as You have afflicted us, for as many years as we have seen trouble” (Psalm 90:13–15).

The prophet Habakkuk got in the act, too, crying out,

“How long, O Lord, must I call for help, but You do not listen?” – Habakkuk 1:2

That’s how we feel, and God seems to have no problem with our expressing it.

So when you cry out to the Lord, asking Him your own version of “How long?” recognize that you’re in good company.

But please don’t leave it there. Don’t allow your ache to remain merely an ache.

Remember the truth, and allow that truth to seep into your troubled mind so that your ache might begin its transformation into something sacred.

Remember what David whispered to God, after yet another near-death escape?

“You keep track of all my sorrows. You have collected all my tears in Your bottle. You have recorded each one in Your book.” – Psalm 56:8

Why would He do that?

Why would God keep track of all our sorrows?

Why would He collect all our tears in a bottle?

Why does the Lord record each heartache, each grief, each sadness in some divine journal inscribed with heavenly ink?

It’s because He has plans for those things.

It’s because He wastes nothing.

He intends to fill our sorrows and tears with His expansive love.

This was the glorious expectation of both the prophets and the apostles when each said of God:

“He will swallow up death forever; and the Lord God will wipe away tears from all faces.” – Isaiah 25:8

“He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” – Revelation 21:4

When we remember this — when we recall that God does in fact notice our pain, that He collects each tear in a bottle so that one day He might replace each teardrop with an ocean of divine love — our souls stop shrinking and begin to expand. The small world of our pain gives way to something boundless… beyond measure… beyond our reckoning.

God’s incomprehensible love.

This is the biblical truth. This is the Christian’s hope. And this is the sacred ache.

Your Turn

Sometimes we feel alone in our heartache and wonder if God hears us or even cares.

While we are doubting His goodness, God is listening and planning to bring beauty and restoration to our situation.

Join the conversation on our blog! We’d love to hear from you! ~ Devotionals Daily

Excerpted with permission from God Loves Broken People by Sheila Walsh, copyright Thomas Nelson.

Sheila Walsh is a powerful Bible teacher and best-selling author from Scotland with over 4 million books sold. A featured speaker with Women of Faith® conferences, she has reached more than 3.5 million women by combining honesty, vulnerability, and humor with God's Word. Currently completing her Masters in Theology, Sheila lives in Frisco, Texas with her husband, Barry, her son, Christian, and her two little dogs, Belle and Tink.

https://www.faithgateway.com/sacred-ache-no-tear-forgotten/#.YAHDxl4zbZ4

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