Lamentations 3:22-26 says, 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. I say to myself, “The Lord is my portion; therefore I will wait
for him. The Lord is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks him; it is good to wait
quietly for the salvation of the Lord.”
I love this passage of scripture. It brings hope to the darkest of days. It is hope for us when we mess up, like I did yesterday with my kids. My bad attitude did not deserve to be rewarded with good night hugs and kisses from my girls. But that's what I got. They forgave me when I asked them to, without hesitation. What an example and great blessing my children are to me. The love and mercy my girls showed me was a glimpse of what the Lord does for us, whether we deserve it or not. Because He is Love.
When I was growing up, I loved watching the "Anne of Green Gables" movies. I loved the books, too. One of my favorite quotes from the first movie is when Marilla tells Anne, "Tomorrow is always fresh, with no mistakes in it." I love that quote. It reminds me that no matter what has happened today, there is a fresh tomorrow waiting for me in the morning. Even if I did a poor job of showing love to my children yesterday, I had a new chance today. And I've done much better.
Many of you know that we traveled to Washington State in December to be with my family for Christmas. While we were there, we visited my Dad's church. It was wonderful to be there and hear him preach. Especially knowing how exhausted he was. (That's a story for another day, about why my Dad is also my hero.) Anyway, part of his message was based out of 1 Corinthians 13, which is commonly referred to as "the love chapter" in the Bible. I love the way my Dad approached the familiar scriptures. He asked us to read it, but to insert "God" in place of the words, "love" or "it". So, it would read like this:
God is patient, God is kind. God does not envy, God does not
boast, God is not proud. God does not dishonor others, God is not self-seeking,
God is not easily angered, God keeps no record of wrongs. God does not delight
in evil but rejoices with the truth. God always protects, always trusts, always
hopes, always perseveres. God never fails. ~ 1 Cor. 13:4-8
That was so refreshing to me. I don't know about you, but when I would read about this kind of love, I found myself feeling like I could never measure up to these standards, and really, I can't. Only God is capable of loving us in this way, every day, for our whole life. We should, of course, try our very best every day to show this kind of love to the people in our world. But what my Dad was saying was that we shouldn't take it on as a burden or feel condemned when we fall short.
Micah 7:18-19 says, Who is a God like you, who pardons sin and forgives the transgression of the remnant of his inheritance? You do
not stay angry forever but delight to show mercy. You
will again have compassion on us; you will tread our sins underfoot and hurl
all our iniquities into the depths of the sea.
I love that it says God hurls all our iniquities into the depths of the sea. I just imagine myself standing with Him at the edge of the ocean, placing all of the wrong things I've done, or said, or thought, into His hands; then watching as he throws them out to sea, where they can never be washed up on shore again. That's the God I serve and I am so thankful for him. I am so in love with my Savior.
I hope you've been encouraged by this post. I pray for every person who reads my blog, even though I don't know who you are. I pray that you have a personal relationship with Jesus. If you don't, and you'd like to, please send me an email. I would love to pray with you. :) Until tomorrow then...
Love,
Tracie
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