Better Than Life

Last night our youth hosted a special valentine's banquet for our church family. Our guest speaker for the night talked about the Father's love for his children. He spoke of God's love being better than life. God's love is better than the love we share with our spouses, our boyfriends or girlfriends, our children, or any other earthly relationship. Gods' love is better than any thing we could ever experience in this world. But, the only way we know that in our innermost being is to experience God's love on a very personal level. Psalm 63: says, "Because Your lovingkindness is better than life..." Wow!

At the end of his message he asked each of us to close our eyes and ask the Father to let us see ourselves the way that He sees us? As I did that last night and again this morning these are the thoughts that went through my mind:

I had quick, but vivid snapshots of being a young boy and walking through the woods, or sitting by the creek, or even sitting up in a tree and I sensed His presence as if it were yesterday. I recalled moments of being filled with fear and worry, and I sensed Him holding me, I recalled tears and I sensed that He cried with me, I also remember being filled with happiness and joy and literally singing "This is the Day that the Lord hath made, or "I Love you Lord" and I sensed that He rejoiced with me.

And then it dawned on me, Father your presence and love for me was just as real and alive then as it is today, and still you pursue my heart with your lovingkindness. At 31 years old now with my own wife and family you still hold me when fear takes its grip, you still cry with me, and you still rejoice with me when my heart is flooded with your presence and peace.
Father, I trust in your loving kindness, you have been good to me! Your Love is better than Life!

"But I have trusted in Your loving kindness; My heart shall rejoice in Your salvation. I will sing to the Lord, Because He has dealt bountifully with me." -Psalm 13:5-6

"My Rock and My Fortress"

I Am your ROCK and your FORTRESS. I Am the rock that abides in the core of your being. You have all the strength that you will ever need in this life living inside of you. There is nothing in this life that we cannot face or endure together.
I Am the fortress that surrounds your entire being. Not only do I abide in you, but you abide in Me. I Am your shield keeping you and protecting you always.
As you continue to look to me as your source of life you will be like the wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain will fall, the floods will rise, the wind will be relentless at times, but you will not be destroyed, because your life is founded on the rock.
I Am the firm foundation, any other foundation outside of Me is merely sand and it will not stand. Today, affirm your trust in Me alone, your strength and your shield.
(Psalm 31:1-3; Matthew 7:24-27)

"The Cure For Self-Absorption"

I returned home to South Carolina yesterday after enjoying a men's retreat to Conroe, Texas. Perhaps the most memorable and most meaningful time was our visit with a beautiful 83 years young, Mrs. Billy Foster. After homemade dessert and coffee, Mrs. Foster opened up her heart to four broken men. She shared honestly and openly words of wisdom and grace. Her story could be described in these words: past, struggles, hard-ship, self-centeredness, pride, neediness, surrender, brokenness, humility, grace, healing, and love. Out of all that she said and shared one line stood out to me above all the rest.

"Grace is the antidote to all our self-absorption."

So, what does self-absorption look like? For me it many times takes on the form of insecurity, which leads to criticism, pride, fear, and anxiety. Maybe you can relate, thoughts like, I will never find my place, I just can't measure up no matter how hard I try, I am such a failure, I am alone in this, I should just stay to myself (ring a bell). Sounds like the voice of the enemy, but once owned quickly turns into self-absorption.

Or what about the other side of the coin. I have finally arrived, God must be proud of my recent good behavior and good deeds, I finally have something to offer now. No doubt, God is proud of His children and we do have something to offer if that something is Christ, but God's acceptance of us is not based on how well we think we are doing or measuring up.

The point is whether I am beating myself up or glorifying myself because of my good behavior it's still about me and it is all self-absorption. So, the only thing that will cure us from all this focus on self is Grace, Just Jesus. When I focus on Jesus and who he is and all that he has done for me and in me, and who I am now in Him it is there that I find true rest and peace within. It is then that I am able to fully experience and express His life within and it is there that He is most glorified!

A new year has begun and my presence is most certainly with you; even when you do not sense or feel it. I Am Immanuel, God with you! I will never leave you or forsake you!
You have your plans and your timeline and when they do not work out you become easily frustrated. Remember who I Am! My timing is perfect and My plans always work out. I had a perfect time and plan for my own Son, Jesus to be born.
Take delight in Me, meditate on me day and night. When you do this you will be "like a tree firmly planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in its season."

"BEHOLD, THE VIRGIN SHALL BE WITH CHILD AND SHALL BEAR A SON, AND THEY SHALL CALL HIS NAME IMMANUEL," which translated means, " GOD WITH US."
-Matthew 1:23

"So all the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen generations; from David to the deportation of Babylon, fourteen generations; and from the deportation to Babylon to the Messiah, fourteen generations." -Matthew 1:17

"He will be like a tree firmly planted by streams of water, Which yields its fruit in its season And its leaf does not wither; And in whatever he does, he prospers." -Psalm 1:3