A friend gave me a little plaque that says "Be still and know that I am God." It sits above my "coffee station" where I see it first thing every morning. Since it's Saturday I took my coffee onto the back porch for some extended "still" time in the pre-dawn cool. The backyard birds woke up on the right side of their nests and sang their hearts out. A fresh morning breeze rattled the leaves enough to shake a few loose. God was waiting for me and we enjoyed sitting and being together, like good friends do sometimes.
After being still in His presence for a while He spoke to me in a fresh way through the familiar verse below: "May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that You sent Me and have loved them even as You have loved Me." John 17:23
How is it possible for God to love me "even as" He loves Jesus, His perfect child? Jesus is selfless; I'm bratty. Jesus followed God's will for Him every step of the way to the cross and through the tomb; I run amuck on simple days. Jesus loved everyone; I don't even love myself some days. I've accepted that God loves all of us sin-ridden humans the same: pharisees and publicans, Jews and Gentiles, saved and lost, yet, Jesus prayed we would wake up to the fact that God Almighty loves us "even as" He loves His only begotten, uniquely perfect Son. I'm humbled through the floor by Jesus' confirmation that the God of the universe submits to His own law to love others as we love ourselves.
Could we be divided over petty issues and opinions because we haven't accepted the depth, breadth, height, and length of our Father's love for us? These verses indicate that realizing and accepting He loves us "even as" He loves Himself leads to inner peace and unity between believers. I pray you feel the Love today.
Amazing and radical God, You love me and I'm blessed by that knowledge. You love me and if that isn't enough, You love me as You love Yourself. You love us because You are Love - unconditional, unstoppable, unprecedented Love. Your love isn't syrupy or shallow - it's penetrating and life-transforming. As uncomfortable as we may feel about accepting Your tidal wave of Love, help us be still and let Your "even as" Love wash over and through us. Open our hearts and minds to let Your Love seep in between all the rocks in our hearts until it transforms us into peacemakers and peacekeepers in Your family.
In the name of Jesus, the only begotten First Child of Love
"My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in Me through their message that all of them may be one, Father, just as You are in Me and I am in You. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent Me. I have given them the glory that You gave Me, that they may be one as we are one: I in them and You in Me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that You sent Me and have loved them even as You have loved Me." John 17:20-23
"You have made known to me the path of life; You will fill me with joy in Your presence, with eternal pleasures at Your right hand." Psalm 16:11
No comments:
Post a Comment