Do not hide Your face from me or I will be like those who go down to the pit.
Let the morning bring me word of Your unfailing love. Psalm 143:7-8
I hear God’s unfailing love in the singing of His birds.
I see Your unfailing love in the Autumn colors.
I smell Your unfailing love in the scent of the pines after a rain.
I know Your unfailing love in the promise that Your Spirit is always with me.
I rejoice with all creation for Your unfailing love.
Give thanks to the LORD for He is good. His love endures forever. Psalm 136:1
His goodness plots the course of the sun and clouds to create a beautiful scenes. Though the beauty of the moment is fleeting His goodness and love are everlasting. Thank God His love is not limited by my ability to put it into words, or take a photograph.
It is greater than my imagination.
It is not measured by what I deserve.
It does not stop when I wander off,
but seeks me out and brings me back.
I cannot diminish it,
but I can increase it by receiving His love and giving it away.
It surrounds me like a shield,
and guides me on the right path.
God’s love gives me freedom to be all that He created me to be.
His love washes over me and will never leave nor forsake me.
I don’t have to worry about tomorrow,
because God’s love and mercy are new every morning.
Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed,
for his compassions never fail.
They are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness. Lamentations 3:22-23
He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? Romans 8:32
I can’t hold nor completely understand the Love of God in Jesus Christ. What I can do is praise Him for the glory He has shown me.
I have seen you in the sanctuary
and beheld your power and your glory.
Because your love is better than life,
my lips will glorify you.
I will praise you as long as I live,
and in your name I will lift up my hands.
My soul will be satisfied as with the richest of foods;
with singing lips my mouth will praise you. Psalm 63:2-5
Your righteousness is like the mighty mountains,
your justice like the great deep.
O Lord, you preserve both man and beast.
How priceless is your unfailing love! Psalms 36:6-7
I find even these psalms do not do justice to the love we have in Jesus. But like the seals in the photo, that doesn’t stop the fullness of His love being poured out to me. Truly, His love is better than life.
Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good;
his love endures forever. Psalm 118:1
This verse repeats frequently throughout the Psalms. Two reasons for this come to mind. First the psalmist wants to emphasize that God is good and you can trust Him. Secondly His love is endless and doesn’t fluctuate. I need to hear this over and over because I am like a child awakening from a bad dream—I need repeated reassurance from the Lord God. So read the rest of Psalm 118 it is one of my favorites and when you come to the end, you’ll discover your own pot-of-gold.
Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good;
his love endures forever. Psalm 118:29
But you, O Lord, are a compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness. Psalm 86:15
To understand what “abounding in love and faithfulness” means, look at the prayer of Jonah.
The engulfing waters threatened me,
the deep surrounded me;
seaweed was wrapped around my head.
To the roots of the mountains I sank down;
the earth beneath barred me in forever.
But you brought my life up from the pit,
O Lord my God.
Jonah 2:5-6
Jonah learned the greatness of God’s compassion and grace through his desperate ordeal. So it is for us when we go through our own travails. When I wander like Jonah of old, God’s compassion seeks me out and swallows me. In His abounding love, He rescues me from the folly of my actions. Thankfully, God’s faithfulness and love are not negated by my unfaithfulness. Though I plunge into the darkest depths of the ocean, I know He will be there with me, and I can trust my Lord God to forgive me and bring me safely to shore.
We can’t imagine the emptiness of life without God’s love.
We can’t imagine the fullness of life with God’s love.
So why do we ignore it?
Though we are faithless,
God remains faithful to give us mercy if we will just ask.
So why do we ignore it?
When we are hopeless, dying from the failures and wrongs in life.
We can find hope in the Lord who has triumphed over all even death.
So why do we ignore—God’s love, His faithfulness, and the Hope He offers?
We ignore it when we are distracted by other things
We have ears that do not hear above the noise of this world.
We have eyes that do not see beyond the glitter of this world.
But God sends His Spirit to stir our spirit with conviction for ignoring the Lord.
“The Holy Spirit spoke the truth to your forefathers when he said through Isaiah the prophet:
Go to this people and say,
You will be ever hearing but never understanding;
you will be ever seeing but never perceiving.
For this people’s heart has become calloused;
they hardly hear with their ears,
and they have closed their eyes.
Otherwise they might see with their eyes,
hear with their ears,
understand with their hearts
and turn, and I would heal them.” Acts 28:25-27
So stop letting lesser things hold your attention,
for they cause you to miss out on all of God’s good things.
Tears from heaven
“But now let me show you a way of life that is best of all (1 Corinthians 12:31).” Apostle Paul’s introduction to the love chapter.
Unfortunately, the church has lost its way and often allows politics to lead instead of love. Lust disguised as appropriate behavior has replaced what should be foremost—our love for God. Thus causing a dimming of the church’s light in the world.
Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken your first love. Revelation 2:4
Lust seeks to control others – Love seeks to free others.
Lust wants to be served – Love wants to serve.
Lust is self-seeking – Love seeks good for all.
Lust is self-promoting – Love does not boast.
Lust flees from hardship – Love always perseveres.
Lust lies to get what it wants – Love rejoices in truth.
Lust becomes angry when it doesn’t get its way – Love is patient and kind.
Lust seeks to gratify self – Love is willing to sacrifice self.
Lust sucks life from life – Love gives life to life.
The one who lusts becomes like the purveyor of lust. The one who loves becomes like the author of love.
Because Your love is better than life, my lips will glorify You. Psalm 63:3
Light on a hill
Where there looms fear,
There is need for drawing close to God.
Where there is no fear,
We invest little in prayer.
Where there is grief,
There is need for hope.
Where there is no sorrow,
We grip tightly to the present instead of Jesus.
Where there is doubt.
There is a need for faith
Where doubt does not exist,
There is little need to exercise faith.
Where there is love and forgiveness,
There is passionate devotion.
Where there is no love there is indifference,
and indifference makes the heart grow hard.
Where there is horrid ugliness
There is a longing for innocence.
Where people accept the grotesque,
There is no desire for salvation.
All the doubt, the fear, the sorrow, the ugliness does not show the absence of God, but quite to the contrary … Shows our need for Him.
In this world you will have trouble. But take heart I have overcome the world. – Jesus John 16:33
Rain on Eastern Washington
When the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet, he would know who is touching him and what kind of woman she is—that she is a sinner.”
Jesus answered him, “Simon, I have something to tell you.”
“Tell me, teacher,” he said.
“Two men owed money to a certain moneylender. One owed him five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. Neither of them had the money to pay him back, so he canceled the debts of both. Now which of them will love him more?”
Simon replied, “I suppose the one who had the bigger debt canceled.”
“You have judged correctly,” Jesus said.
Then he turned toward the woman and said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I came into your house. You did not give me any water for my feet, but she wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. You did not give me a kiss, but this woman, from the time I entered, has not stopped kissing my feet. You did not put oil on my head, but she has poured perfume on my feet. Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven—for she loved much. But he who has been forgiven little loves little.”
Then Jesus said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.”
The other guests began to say among themselves, “Who is this who even forgives sins?”
Jesus said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.” Luke 7:39-50
You can’t see others as God sees them unless you forgive.
You can’t see yourself as God sees you unless you forgive.
You won’t be able to forgive yourself unless you forgive others.
You can’t love others as God loves unless you forgive.
You can’t love yourself as God loves you unless you forgive.
You won’t know how much God loves you unless you forgive.
“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” John 13:34-35
We are to forgive as we’ve been forgiven.
We are to love as we have been loved.
Love and forgiveness are intertwined.
California Poppy opening to the morning sun
Where there is love, life is too short.
And too long where there is none.
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. John 3:16
Eternity is pure joy where there is love,
And pure hell where there is none.
Stephen L Hufman 