1 John 4:10
“In this is love,
not that we have loved God
but that He loved us
and sent His Son
to be the propitiation for our sins.”
I could get into a really detailed and
well written sermon about this. However IBS is not a sermon, For a
sermon is for the one reading or the one listening. However IBS is
for the writer, it is something that should be as intimate as prayer,
and has been a way for me to walk in the light with my brothers and
sisters in Christ. To grow. So I am going to share what has been on
my mind lately. I have asked God to speak to me through this time as
much as when I worship or read His word or pray.
I had been rereading 1st
John over and over a week or two back. What I noticed most within it
was the word abide. Within this short book the words abide, abides,
and abiding in total show up about 23 times, that was just a quick
glance over so I may have missed some. The book was written as a
warning against false teachers. I don't like to abide very much, I
don't like to sit still, because it seems like I'm getting nowhere. I
see a mountain of things that need to be done, I don't want to abide
and wait for God, I want to just do it, or not do it at all. I can
often try to love in my own power. And for a little while it seems to
work. However I quickly become tired, grumpy, irritable, and feeling
incredibly depressed and defeated. I have felt this way almost daily
while being here. I have done what I knew I was prone to do during
field time. Push through in my own strength, took my eyes off Jesus
and looked at all the relationships and needs of others around me. As
John is writing this verse it is shortly after he admonished
believers to “Love one another”, that whoever loves is “from
God,” and has been “born of God.” He goes on to say the one who
does not love does not know God, because God is love. In this I find
two truths, Firstly that God is love, secondly since the man who does
not love does not know God, it is completely impossible for the
natural man to Love without God. I know this is all basic stuff,
still it has been on my mind. Now back the verse at hand.
“not that we have loved God” As a
human I could not of myself have initiated contact with God, as it
says “They all like sheep have gone astray.” I had no love to
give because I was broken. Daily I have no love to give of my own
because I am broken.
“but that He loved us” During my
months of training we so often talked about the why. It's important
to know why I'm doing something. I really need to, I get discouraged
often, and I want to curl up in a corner and give up. I had honestly
forgotten my why. Why I wanted to come down here was because I wanted
to grow closer to God. However as I sit here and think on this, I
realize that in reality as much as I wanted to be here for that
reason, I came here because God drew me here. I didn't come here
because I love God, even though I do love God. I was brought here
because God loves me.
“and sent His Son to be the
propitiation for our sins.”
He saved me from my sins in my youth,
and He called me to follow Him. Now as I walk through my time in
Guatemala He is saving me from trying to continue in the flesh, from
forgetting what it's like to know Him. That's love, He has loved me
in big ways and small ways. Our theme this month has been God seeking
us, and He brought me all the way to Guatemala to do that. As I see
that love poured into me I am too small a vessel to hold it all
inside and it pours out. God is love, and “if we love one another,
God abides in us, and His love is perfected in us.” from John 4:11
Application.
Allow God to pour into me, instead of
trying to love in my own strength.
How?
Tonight I will find some time to spend
with God and reflect on His love.
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