If you think God's love for you would be stronger if your faith was stronger, you are wrong. If you think His love would be deeper if your thoughts and actions were better, you are wrong again. Don't confuse God's love with people's love. Their love increases with performance and decreases with mistakes. Not so with God's love. He loves you just the way you are, but He refuses to leave you that way.Max Lucado writes:
'When my daughter, Jenna, was a toddler, I used to take her to a park... One day as she was playing in a sandbox, an ice-cream salesman approached us. I purchased her a treat, and when I turned to give it to her, I saw her mouth was full of sand... Did I love her with dirt in her mouth? Absolutely. Was she any less my daughter with dirt in her mouth? Of course not. Was I going to allow her to keep the dirt in her mouth? No way. I carried her over to the water fountain and washed out her mouth.
Why?
Because I love her.God does the same for us.
He holds us over the fountain. "Spit out the dirt, honey," our Father urges. "I've got something better for you."
And so He cleanses us of filth:
immorality, dishonesty, prejudice, bitterness, greed.We don't enjoy the cleansing; sometimes we even opt for the dirt over the ice cream.
"I can eat dirt if I want to!"...Which is true - we can. But if we do, the loss is ours.
God has a better offer. He wants us to be just like Jesus.'Soul Food: Gal 5:22, Isa 61, Heb 12:2, Jas 1:2-3 (Fruit of the Spirit: Joy)
Written by Bob & Debby Gass
Sunday, 23 March 2014
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