Trust in God's Steadfast Love (Part 2)

Because of how foundational this message of trusting in God's unfailing love is, I'm going to add another thought or two to what I wrote last week along with a quote from Andrew Murray who says,

"His (God's) love lies at the back of everything, and we must rest upon that as the solid foundation of our Christian life, not growing up into that, but growing up out of it. We must begin there or our beginnings will come to nothing."

An understanding and acceptance of this unconditional love of the Father for His child is absolutely essential for healthy ongoing maturing to happen in the life of a believer. But in our fallenness and sinfulness, we are driven at our core to attempt to grow up into the love of the Father rather than to grow up out of the Father's love. The result is that "our beginnings come to nothing." In other words, as followers of Jesus, we don't mature out of babyhood.

We see this at work in our world today in natural families: children, deprived of unconditional love from their earthly father and mother, are living their whole life working hard to get love rather than working hard because they are loved. As generation after generation of children are being raised in this way, the whole of society is being impacted negatively.

I believe that as believers, we carry this mindset into our life in Christ Jesus, and our religious systems endorse and encourage this. Consequently, we are an immature Church, striving to please God rather than basking in the steadfast love of the Father and then bearing fruit for His glory as a result.

One way to cooperate with the renewing work of the Spirit in our minds is to regularly (daily, if possible) take 3-5 minutes, wait before God and listen for what He says about you to affirm you as His beloved child in Jesus and to affirm His deep affection for you, no matter what's going on in your life on any given day. As you do this by faith and consistently over time, His Spirit will renew your mind and reorder your way of thinking to align with His heart and mind. Growing up and maturing in God then becomes the natural outcome of receiving the unchanging love and affection of your Father.

My sense is that increased suffering and testing is coming in 2011 for God's children; when all is dark and confusing, the place of inner stability and peace can only be found in trusting in His steadfast love as demonstrated on the cross. He knows each of His own perfectly and is always motivated by perfect, selfless love. His love alone is the love that can be absolutely trusted! May His Spirit open our eyes to see His steadfast love in new ways as we move into this year ahead!