DAY 199--A REMINDER OF GOD'S MESSAGE OF LOVE
2008-07-16

Wednesday afternoon. Nine days from right now, I will be in Boston on vacation! I will keep these up while there, though. I'll have my laptop with me. And we should have wireless where we are staying.


Psalm for today: Psalm 51

This is the famous psalm that David wrote after his encounter with Bathsheba and her husband. He is broken before God.

Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean;
wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
Let me hear joy and gladness, let the bones that you have broken rejoice.
HIde your face from my sins, and blot out all my iniquities.
Create in my a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.
Cast me not away from your presence, and take not your Holy Spirit from me.
Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and uphold me with a willing spirit.
Verses 7-12

Great words. Great words.



Day 199

Malachi 1:1-5

I'm going to quote a section of the devotional book here.

God's overriding Message to his people, evident throughout all the books of Scripture, is this: "I love you." Bur our muddled and complex lives blur that Message, and we forget the power of it. We need constant reminders of what's important in life, and history is an important reminder of God's incredible love for us. Looking back on the past can help provide the clarity and focus we've lost and give us back a God-minded perspective. From The Message//Remix: Solo by Eugene Peterson, Day 199

That's exactly what Malachi starts off with in the first five verses of his little book. God tells his people, "I love you," and they have the gall to respond, "Oh, really?? How?!" (I paraphrased that.) So God reminds them how.

If I look back on my history, I can find so many ways that God's love has been exhibited that I lose count. I could sit here for hours, reminding my self of the ways that God has loved me since I was a child.

Just a few examples are the wonderful family that I have. I have a fantastic wife, of 23+ years, now, who has put up with me through a lot, and probably should have divorced me years ago. But she didn't. She forgave my stupidity and held on. God showed her how to do it, and our marriage has been preserved. I have two awesome children. One is brilliantly smart, the other, well, not so much, but she loves unconditionally!

There is just so much to be thankful of. I need to remind myself daily how much love God has lavished on me. The ultimate example is Jesus Christ. God came to earth and died. But before that happened, before the world was even formed, he knew me and chose me to be covered by that blood of Jesus! What better example of his love could there be??

I think I will begin a list on paper of the ways that God has been faithful to me. It will be a perpetual list. It will never end until I stop breathing.



Father, I thank you and praise you for your marvelous faithfulness! Your love to me has been undending and unconditional. You have loved me through all of my sin. You have loved me back into relationship with you many times. You have preserved my life when the enemy sought to destroy me. I love you, Father. I worship you. Thank you for giving me a heart of worship that I might lead others to do the same. You are so amazingly awesome!!


Take some time to remind yourself how God has loved you. I don't care how bad it's gotten. Well, I do care, so don't read that wrong. What I mean is, regardless of how bad it's gotten, if you've hit rock bottom, you can still find some ways in your past that God has loved you and been faithful to you. Start writing. And don't ever stop.


I'm going to close by referring to a quote that my friend Tricia put on her diary today.

Be kind, for everyone you meet might be fighting a harder battle.~~Plato

Grace and peace, friends!



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