In Pursuit of Us

And the LORD God prepared a gourd, and made it to come up over Jonah, that it might be a shadow over his head, to deliver him from his grief. So Jonah was exceeding glad of the gourd. Jonah 4:6 (King James Version)

Today was the first time I have ever read through the book of Jonah and saw God’s pursuit of him. God pursued him in his place of comfort. (chap. 1) He pursued him when he ran. (chap. 2) He pursued him when he repented. (chap. 3) And He pursued him when he retreated in anger. (chap. 4) That is the place of today’s verse. God meets him in his grief and ministers to him.

We so often think of God as One who leaves us in our time of rebellion and anger. And yet David writes in Psalm 139 that no matter where we go, God has us encircled, enclosed, and hemmed in with His right hand on us! The knowledge of that in its entirety was too much for David to fully grasp. Think of it! God remains ever present and ever personal no matter what! This is not to say He approves of our sinful choices or ignores our actions. He does not set aside the sowing and reaping principle nor does He simply ignore our behavior. That would not be loving or wise on His part. But He desires restoration and deliverance for us just as He did for Jonah.

This morning I am reviewing in my mind the many different places I have been where God was still pursuing me. He pursued me as a lost sinner in need of a Savior. He pursued me in my camps of performance and legalism. He pursued me in my pursuit of others. He pursued me in my repentance and brokenness. And presently He pursues me in a time of healing and restoration. Like David, I am unable to grasp the knowledge of it. But God doesn’t expect me to understand it all. He simply desires that I embrace this aspect of Him and live life as a recipient of His mercy, love, and grace. He has promised to finish the work He started in me and I marvel as I see Him doing just that! Undeserving but delighted by it!

As you read this, I don’t know where you are in your walk with Him. You may be closer to Him than you have ever been before or you may be farther from Him than you ever thought you would be. I don’t know which it is but I know this: God is pursuing you every step of the way! He has enclosed you and has His right hand on you if you are His child through faith in Christ. He is not leaving and He is not letting go. He has a vested interest in you! Delight in that truth and own it. Let it sink in!

Father, You have put me in awe once again. The best and worst of me has not distracted, dismayed, or discouraged You from pursuing and wooing me. I cannot wrap my mind around that truth but I open my heart to it! Amen.

Repairing the Break

So that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another. I Corinthians 12:25 (New American Standard Bible)

One of things Christ prayed for while He was here on earth (and I believe still prays for in Heaven) is that there would be unity within the body of believers. The same quality of unity He shares with His Father. His desire is that there would be no division in the body….His body. When I see the word division I think of separation, a pulling apart, a break, or tear. It is not meant to be that way and yet sadly it often is.

I can tell when I am unified with a believer and I can definitely tell when something has divided us. Division for me brings discomfort and difficulty in seeing them face to face. Conversations become strained and communication may become non existent. The flow of fellowship seems to come to a stop in much the same way that a faucet has been shut off…whether gradually or quickly. Closeness is replaced by distance. Warmth is replaced by a sudden chill. The scenario is all too common in my mind and the Lord is once again asking me some direct, heart searching questions. If I put up resistance to what He is trying to teach me I will lose in many ways. Relationships will sour and friendships will dissolve. It is never worth it in the long run.

For me the break down occurs when I have allowed a spirit of offense to take root and I have neglected to take care of it in a biblical way. It may have come because I misunderstood something, read something the wrong way, or took something personal. Suspicions grew, hurt set in, pride abounded, and my flesh ruled. Whether I want to admit it or not, I can usually tell the moment a shift has taken place within me and the battle of my will begins! But when I am finally ready to stop blaming others and excusing myself, the division can be properly attended to. God’s grace is so necessary as I ask Him to once again infuse within me a humble and honest spirit. If I allow Him, He will take me through a time of breaking my will in order to restore and bless a relationship within the body of Christ.

None of this comes naturally or easily for me. I would rather hide, deny, defend, and depart. I would rather not admit I have been hurt. I would rather crawl into the comfort of other relationships. I would rather give up. But I have a loving heavenly Father who is intent on teaching me that His ways are higher than my ways and His thoughts are higher than my thoughts. I will not grow and He will not be glorified if I do not cooperate fully in all areas!

Father, I need Your grace to take the necessary steps of reconciliation. I sense the division and I desire Your healing of a precious friendship. Fill me with Your love as I finally move in the right direction. Amen.

A Change of Relationship

And although you were formerly alienated and hostile in mind, engaged in evil deeds, yet He has now reconciled you in His fleshly body through death, in order to present you before Him holy and blameless and beyond reproach. Colossians 1:21,22

I love the beauty of the word ‘reconciled’ and it is so profound in this verse. It means to be made right, become friends, and brought together. Look at the comparison of words….formerly alienated, hostile, and evil deeds presented holy, blameless, and beyond reproach! Makes me wonder how I could have ever thought of God as tolerating me more than loving me. When a person puts their trust in Christ they enter into a whole new relationship with God. They go from being His enemy to His precious child (Romans 5:10). Where once they were far away from God they are brought near (Ephesians 2:3,12).

Many people are under the assumption that because God created each one of us we automatically are His children….hence the idea of the Fatherhood of God. Not true! Because of Adam and Eve’s sin in the garden we are all born separated from God….alienated if you will. We are foreigners to Him and His ways. Because we were created in His image we may possess some good qualities ….kindness, love, compassion, etc… But there is no relationship with Him. The Bible says we are children of wrath not children of God.

Many people believe they are Christians because they go to church, love their neighbor, or attempt to keep the ten commandments. What they fail to realize is that none of those things make you a Christian. They are commendable things but unable to bring you into right relationship with God. There is only one way to become God’s child and that is by being born into His family. And a person is born into God’s family when he trusts Christ and accepts Him as his Savior. His death on Calvary and subsequent resurrection made it possible for people to be reconciled to God. But they must personally accept Him before that takes place. May we take the opportunities to share that with them.

Father, our reconciliation is a beautiful thing. You drew me near and now call me your daughter. May our Father/daughter relationship continue to be profound. Amen.

A Right View of God

For jealousy enrages a man, and he will not spare in the day of vengeance. He will not accept any ransom. Nor will he be satisfied though you give many gifts. Proverbs 6:34, 35

Ever know someone whom you offended and no matter what you said or did to try to make up for it they refused to forgive you? From that day forward you were no longer a recipient of their love or friendship. Arms that use to hug you warmly upon a greeting were no longer extended to you. Disgust marked their face, cold shoulders were apparent, and the permanence of their view of you was felt.

It took a long time for me to see that my view of God had such distortions. Every day was lived under the feeling that I had offended Him and I learned to shy away from the One who longed to draw me close. He wanted very much for me to see how willing He was to forgive me. I didn’t know that the father of the prodigal son was an exquisite picture of God when any of us return to Him. I didn’t know His longing and heart’s desire was for reconciliation. He is a God who invites us to come to Him for any reason!

I sometimes wonder what it would be like had there never been a ransom paid for my sin by Christ on the cross. If God had never been satisfied by the death of His Son. At the age of 14 I was very concerned about where I would spend eternity. I did not understand death, Heaven, or Hell. As a matter of fact, I thought when a person died they just stopped existing and that scared me…..at times even put me in tears. I cannot imagine what it would be like as an adult in my late forties if I still did not know the truth about God and where I would be spending eternity.

Thirty-three years ago God helped me to settle the issue of my salvation. Now decades later He continues to help me see His acceptance of me every time I come to Him with a need for forgiveness and reconciliation. I am cowering less and approaching Him more with the awareness that His love really is everlasting. No, He is nothing like the person described in the passage above. Today I walk in the awareness that He is my loving Abba and that definitely changes everything for me.

Father, the image I had of You never fit and for so long I didn’t understand why. Thank you for opening my eyes to the truth about yourself. Amen.

Changing My View of God

He went on turning away, in the way of his heart. I have seen his ways, but I will heal him. Isaiah 57:17,18

There are times, even as believers, when we are prone to turn away from God and His ways. It is the way of our heart. God sees that. He knows ahead of time when that is going to happen. And yet although He has seen our ways and our waywardness He says “I will heal him.” His intent is never to leave us in our wanderings. Before salvation He was purposefully wooing us to Himself. After salvation He still woos us back to Himself.

I am learning that the first steps back to God are in being honest before Him. To admit to Him what is happening and what is going on in my heart. I use to find that so hard to do. I struggled to get past the thoughts of Him being disappointed and angry with me. When I would blow it, rather than approach Him with the truth and a heart of repentance, I would just try to improve my behavior and hope with time He would forget about the offense. It doesn’t work that way! Avoidance of the issues leads to a feeling of separation from God. Although He never leaves me I sense a distance. Unbeknownst to me, His desire was always to remove the distance.

A lot of this had to do with my view of God. When I viewed Him as angry, unapproachable, and tolerating me at best, I shrunk back rather than drew near. It wasn’t until I began to see what He was really like that I could come out of hiding and actually come to Him. He used examples in Scripture to help clear up my misperceptions. One example was the father of the returning prodigal son. If you are not familiar with the story take time to read Luke 15:11-32. For any who cannot see God as a loving, heavenly Father, that story will revolutionize you.

It is not just at salvation that God embraces us and celebrates our coming to Him. It happens every time we come to Him with honest confession of what is going on in our heart, life, and actions. I am finding it is okay to admit to God that my flesh is getting the best of me. To admit to feelings of anger, jealousy, and a bruised ego. To confess again that my heart has turned to idols of various shapes and sizes. He has known it all along! When I come He welcomes me back….every time!

Father, Your love overwhelms me this morning. Continue to change my view of You in areas where there are still distortions. Amen.

Coming Closer

Then Joseph said to his brothers, "Please come closer to me." And they came closer. Genesis 45:4

Joseph has just revealed himself to his brothers. To say they are in shock is an understatement. The look on their faces must reveal the fear in their hearts. They saw Joseph's change as he sent everyone out of the room, went into an emotional release, and proclaimed to them his identity. All must have been done with great emotion and volume.

But now his voice softens as I am sure he sees their fear. I picture tenderness in his voice, eyes, and outstretched arms as he invites them to come closer to him. He wants nothing more than for them to receive his embrace, his forgiveness, and his acceptance. He is not telling them it is "pay back" time. He is telling them it is reconciliation time!

How little we experience this kind of grace in this world. How seldom we show it. We want things even. But when I see this is what Christ continually does for me it should change the way I deal with people who have offended or hurt me. God is the ultimate example of extending grace, compassion, mercy, tenderness, and forgiveness. He draws me closer as my heart is convinced of His acceptance.

When I feel like Joseph's brothers and want to stand in shame and fear, God begins to coax me to look into His eyes and see the depth of His forgiveness. He knows the regret I feel and the disgust with myself. As I admit in my heart that what I did was wrong He eagerly extends the invitation to draw closer. The sorrow my sin brings to Him is surpassed by the desire of His heart for reconciliation. May I really get that!

Father, I cannot fully grasp this aspect of Your heart. It is too extravagant for my mind to conceive. Make me like You! Amen.