No Plan B

And BEFORE THE WORLD WAS MADE, God decided to make us his own children through Jesus Christ. This was what God wanted, and it pleased him to do it. [emphasis mine]
Ephesians 1:5 ERV

Through the years, I have worked for various employers who always had to have a backup plan for whatever plan they created. After hearing a proposed plan, there were also those who would ask, "What's your Plan B?" In reality and in their defense, I believe they were driven by a desire to succeed and were trying to provide for all contingencies, known and unknown, utilizing as many plans as deemed necessary to cover all the bases.

Today, I started a new (to me) Bible plan for reading God's Word all the way through in a year. This one is laid out in chronological order, starting with Genesis 1, 2 and 3. The focus of this plan is to look for who God is, and how His character is portrayed. In the first few chapters of Genesis, I've always seen Him as the Authority, the Creator, Maker of the Rules, Judge, Disciplinarian. How often have we read about the fall of man and thought, "Well, we messed that up - what's Plan B?" and maybe not consciously, but somehow believed God had to come up with another plan to fix that first one.

I'm embarrassed to admit that I have never connected the dots before. I've never seen "God as Love" in the creation story. But today, He revealed Himself as the Lover of my soul. I just kept thinking "before the foundation of the Earth..." and it finally connected. God is eternal - Alpha and Omega. Nothing shocks or shakes Him off the Throne. He planned for our redemption BEFORE the world was made. Read again our Promise for Today - "And BEFORE THE WORLD WAS MADE, God decided to make us his own children through Jesus Christ. This was what God wanted, and it pleased him to do it."

Christ coming to Earth as our Savior was NOT Plan B to fix what we had broken. He already knew we would be broken. God's Plan A was, is, and will always be eternal.

Prayer:

Father,
          Thank You for Your promises that never fail. For Your love that never fails. For Your Plan that cannot fail for those who choose Christ. Thank You for providing salvation before You ever created the first human. And thank You that Your Plan is eternal so we are included. Help us to grasp Your Truth and be as sure as Paul was "that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord." In Jesus' Name we pray. Amen

To Know God

 But you belong to God, my dear children.

1st John 4:4a NLT

Tonight, I want to send this to you and remind you the Spirit of God is greater than anything adverse that we will ever face. 

Adversity will come, no matter how well we plan our escape routes... But know this - in Romans 8:38-39, Paul assures us, For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

This is 1st John 4 - Dear friends, do not believe everyone who claims to speak by the Spirit. You must test them to see if the spirit they have comes from God. For there are many false prophets in the world. This is how we know if they have the Spirit of God: If a person claiming to be a prophet acknowledges that Jesus Christ came in a real body, that person has the Spirit of God. But if someone claims to be a prophet and does not acknowledge the truth about Jesus, that person is not from God. Such a person has the spirit of the Antichrist, which you heard is coming into the world and indeed is already here.

But you belong to God, my dear children. You have already won a victory over those people, because the Spirit who lives in you is greater than the spirit who lives in the world. Those people belong to this world, so they speak from the world’s viewpoint, and the world listens to them. But we belong to God, and those who know God listen to us. If they do not belong to God, they do not listen to us. That is how we know if someone has the Spirit of truth or the spirit of deception.

Dear friends, let us continue to love one another, for love comes from God. Anyone who loves is a child of God and knows God. But anyone who does not love does not know God, for God is love.

God showed how much he loved us by sending his one and only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through him. This is real love—not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins.

Dear friends, since God loved us that much, we surely ought to love each other. No one has ever seen God. But if we love each other, God lives in us, and his love is brought to full expression in us. And God has given us his Spirit as proof that we live in him and he in us. Furthermore, we have seen with our own eyes and now testify that the Father sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. All who confess that Jesus is the Son of God have God living in them, and they live in God. We know how much God loves us, and we have put our trust in his love.

God is love, and all who live in love live in God, and God lives in them. And as we live in God, our love grows more perfect. So we will not be afraid on the day of judgment, but we can face him with confidence because we live like Jesus here in this world.

Such love has no fear, because perfect love expels all fear. If we are afraid, it is for fear of punishment, and this shows that we have not fully experienced his perfect love. We love each other because he loved us first.

If someone says, “I love God,” but hates a Christian brother or sister, that person is a liar; for if we don’t love people we can see, how can we love God, whom we cannot see? And he has given us this command: Those who love God must also love their Christian brothers and sisters.

Prayer:

Father,

         We want to know Your perfect love and to walk in it with our brothers and sisters in You. Help us, Father, to become ever wiser in overcoming our flesh. and anything that would raise its ugly head to try to prevent us from loving as You love. Keep us ever close to You, Father. In Jesus' Name we pray. Amen

Which Part?

I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will empower you with inner strength through his Spirit. Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong. And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is. May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God.
Ephesians 3:16-19 NLT

The love of Christ - too great to understand. 1st Corinthians 13 tells us that now we only know in part, not fully. Which part? Which part do you know? I know - in part - His grace that forgives me and cleanses me from all unrighteousness. I know - in part - His mercy - that in spite of me, He pours out His blessing and provision.

Perhaps that's the beginning of understanding it - the Truth that God's love for us has NOTHING to do with who WE are or what we do, but is absolutely ONLY contingent on who God is and what only HE could have - and has - done for us! After all, if the Father's love was predicated on my actions, based on my moods or how I feel, it surely would not last. But His love NEVER lets go. Do we know that part?

Prayer:

Father,
            We believe and we declare Your Word that we will be anxious for nothing! But in everything, by prayer and supplication with Thanksgiving, we will make our requests known to You. Then Your peace which surpasses all understanding will guard our hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Then perhaps we can begin to grasp how wide, how long, how high, and how deep Your love is. We want to be found complete IN YOU - not in part, but the whole. In Jesus' Name we pray. Amen

And When We Can't

1 Praise the Lord, all you nations. Praise him, all you people of the earth. 2 For he loves us with unfailing love; the Lord's faithfulness endures forever. Praise the Lord!
Psalm 177 NLT

In the King James Bible, verse 2 reads, for his merciful kindness is great toward us: and the truth of the Lord endureth forever. At first, I wondered how could this short chapter - only two verses - be translated so differently? And then I realized it's only worded differently. It really says the same thing. After all, what is God? The TRUTH is that God IS love. He is unfailing, therefore His love is unfailing. Unfailing love IS faithful love, so that Truth endures forever.

In the good times, His love never fails.
In the bad times, His love never fails.
In times of war AND times of peace, His love never fails.
In life AND in death, His love never fails.

I'm just paraphrasing a few lines of the psalms, but the Truth remains. The love of God does not fail. It NEVER fails.
When we can see it and when we can't.
When we can feel it and when we can't.
When we understand why and when we can't.

In and of Himself, God is love. He loves us when we can't. And when we can't do anything or change anything or see how it all works, He can. And we will praise Him.

Prayer:

Father,
         There is so much we don't understand. There are many, many hard times, but You, O God, are faithful. Your Word tells us that many are the afflictions of the righteous, but YOU, O Lord, deliver us out of them all! You see the end from the beginning. You saw our need and gave us a Savior. Blessed be Your Name, O Lord, our Redeemer. Giving You all praise and honor and glory, In Jesus' Name we pray. Amen