Dear Readers and Listeners, Friends in Jesus Christ,
Our watchword for today is taken from Psalm 32 verse 10, “Steadfast love surrounds those who trust in the Lord,” (NRSVB). The psalmist, David, teaches in this psalm that those who come to the Lord to confess their sins are blessed. They receive God’s instant forgiveness as they come to him and tell him of those things that keep them awake at night and oppress their thoughts during the day. All those things that one tries to hide from the world are not hidden from God. The psalmist felt as if his body was wasting away through all the tears that he was weeping concerning his past. When he came to God and told him about his wrongs, God took these upon him, forgave it and erased it as if it had never happened. God not only forgave, he completely forgot the wrongs, and reached out the the psalmist, covering his guilt and drying his tears. The forgiveness that God poured out over David when he came and stood before God in prayer, caused David to experience God’s love surrounding him and giving him the assurance of God’s mercy. Receiving God’s mercy brought him in the blessed estate of experiencing God’s instruction and protection, so that he could exclaim with shouts of joy, that God’s loving-kindness flows forever, for he is faithful in steadfast love and mercy towards his children.
The human heart needs to feel wanted and loved, purposeful on earth and tasked with a commission in order to feel meaningful. God assigns deep and ever-lasting meaning to each life. He planned each life in love and speaks his love and mercy over it. God tells us that he has called each one by name, each individual has a unique and planned purpose and future. God’s words are spoken to each heart, for God’s words give life, light and love. Through his words we are given his commission to dwell in him as he dwells in us. God is near to us and through his knowledge of the needs and wants of humanity, he answers their calls. He fills our deepest need, the need to be loved and known, to feel wanted and experiencing that our lives are meaningful. God speaks meaning, daily, into our lives. He assures us of his delight in us despite our mistakes. His hand will lead us and his eye will guide and instruct us in order to fulfil our purpose on earth. Our purpose on earth is to live for God! Living for God means that we take every day from his hand and live it with God, regardless of our circumstances, God will not disappoint us. The Father heart wants his children to enjoy being in his presence, coming to him and speaking to him, just like Adam came to him and spoke to him in the Garden of Eden. We can love God because he created his love in our heart, because we love him we can also love our neighbour. God’s steadfast love is the foundational truth of our lives, for God is love.
The Apostle Paul wrote in his letter to the Romans in Chapter Five verse 5, “Hope does not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through he Holy Spirit that has been given us,” (NRSVB). Our Christian hope is based on nothing less than the love and work of our Lord Jesus Christ on the Cross for us. Because of this hope, we have life on earth in Christ, and eternal life in heaven through Christ. Through his love we have life. Our life is a life of loving service in the world of our Lord, for love conquers all things. Love is stronger than evil and overcomes death, it cannot be quenched and it will never die. When we have attained life in heaven, through Jesus Christ, we would not have to hope any longer, for our hope would be turned into reality. Our faith would be completed, for we would see face to face, and our faith would be affirmed. The future life is a life comprising of loving God and our neighbour perfectly. God has given us a foretaste of heaven, for he has given us the joy of experiencing his love on earth. Because of God’s love we can receive and give love in this world.
Father, we thank you that you have created love in our hearts, because you are the source of love, we can give and receive love. Love never dies and goes beyond time, place, space and matter. Love exists in and through you, Amen.