Devotions

I Cannot Do This Alone

O God, early in the morning I cry to you.
Help me to pray
And to concentrate my thoughts on you:
I cannot do this alone.
In me there is darkness,
But with you there is light;
I am lonely, but you do not leave me;
I am feeble in heart, but with you there is help;
I am restless, but with you there is peace.
In me there is bitterness, but with you there is patience;
I do not understand your ways,
But you know the way for me…
Restore me to liberty,
And enable me to live now
That I may answer before you and before me.
Lord, whatever this day may bring,
Your name be praised.

--- Dietrich Bonhoeffer

God Loves You

What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? . . . Christ Jesus is the one who died - more than that, who was raised - who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? - Romans 8:31-35

It took me a long time to learn that God wants to bless our lives. I always pictured Him as somewhat reluctant to pour out His blessing. As in, "Okay, I guess you can have a little more." But I was so wrong. God wants to lavish all the fullness of heaven on us. He doesn't promise that everything will always be perfect or that He won't sometimes allow difficulty, but He does promise to be the Giver of good gifts to His children. He did absolutely everything He could to find us, to reach us, and to forgive us. Why? Because He loves us, as the following verses tell us.

John 3:16 says, "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son."

Romans 5:8 says, "God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us."

First John 4:8 says, "God is love."

Romans 8:31-32 says, "If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all."

If you've ever wondered if God cares about you, look at what He did for you in His Son, Jesus Christ. God "did not spare his own Son." Question: Did not spare Him what?

Because God loves you, He did not spare His Son the humiliation of becoming a man. Jesus, the Second Person of the Trinity, Creator of the universe, became a human being. Imagine the downgrade.

Because God loves you, He did not spare His Son the degradation of His atoning work. The mocking, the torture, the crown of thorns were all laid on the precious Son of God because your heavenly Father loves you.

And because God loves you, He did not spare His Son crucifixion. Jesus became "obedient to the point of death," Philippians 2:8 says, "even death on a cross"the most humiliating, torturous way for a person to die. But why did God not spare His own Son?

Because He loves you. He gave the best for the worst. He gave the highest for the lowest. He did the most for the least. That is God's message of love to you and me!