God’s Love for You

Counterfeit

Megan Breedlove July 30, 2012 No Comments

I bet counterfeit-money-making operations are a lot more sophisticated than what I imagine.

Even though I know better, in my mind, I always imagine a few guys hunched over machinery in their basement, cranking out—literally, as in actually using a crank—sheets of fake twenties.

See what I mean? Real counterfeiting is probably a lot different. It’s a lot more complex, because the counterfeiters know they have to make a product that closely resembles the real thing.

Okay, so let’s say some counterfeiters did a really good job, and their fifties and twenties are hardly distinguishable from the authentic stuff. And let’s say there was a pile of this pretty-good counterfeit money right in front of you. A million-dollar pile.

Let’s also say that right next to the cool million in fake money is another pile. Only, this pile is made of real money. It not only looks real, it is real. And it’s a much bigger pile. There’s fifty billion dollars of it. That’s right, a 5, and 10 zeroes. $50,000,000,000.

One million in fake money. Fifty billion of the real thing. And you have a choice. You can choose either pile you want.

Now that’s what you call a no-brainer. No sane person would choose money minted in somebody’s basement over money minted by the United States Treasury Department.

Maybe not. Yet we make far more foolish choices every day.

We choose to seek the love of human beings (represented by the pile of fake money, because even the best human love is never fully authentic) instead of God’s love (the bona fide $50,000,000,000). We spend all our time and energies pursuing what appears to be real because it seems huge to us, when little do we realize that it’s a mirage.

Even the best love a human being can give is only a shadow of what our heavenly Father offers us. And because it’s not the best, because it doesn’t originate from God Himself, human love will never satisfy us. Yet we think it will. We can’t imagine anything greater than a million bucks, so that’s what we pursue.

If we only understood that our other option is worth $50 billion (actually, it’s worth far more)! The mere million would pale into insignificance.

We are badly deceived. Satan and society have convinced us that human love is better than God’s. It’s more exciting, more comforting, more real. And we buy into the lie hook, line, and sinker, despite everything the Bible tells us. We keep insisting that we want the million bucks, and we have no clue that God is trying to offer us $50 billion. As C.S. Lewis wrote, “It would seem that Our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased.”

If we put all our energies to pursuing human love, we are destined for disappointment. If we pursue God Himself, He will pour out His love upon us in such measure that we can’t even absorb it all. In fact, He already has, and we haven’t fully recognized it! 1 John 3:1 says, “How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!” We’ve already received the fifty billion bucks, and we’re still looking for some Monopoly money.

If only we could truly grasp how wide and long and high and deep the love of God is! If only we had more than the faintest inkling of what His love is like, we’d never again be satisfied with merely human love. Instead of expending our emotional energy trying to get people to love us properly, we’d be throwing ourselves into God’s lap, or at His feet, and wrapping our arms around Him the way a two-year-old wraps her arms around her mother when she doesn’t want Mommy to leave. We’d experience the love that is vastly more than what our mind can understand, but exactly what our heart was made to receive. And we’d spend the rest of our life and then eternity marveling that we ever thought we could be content with anything less.

1 John 3:1—How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!

Ephesians 3:16-20—I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.

This I Know

Megan Breedlove July 23, 2012 2 Comments

Jesus loves me; this I know,
For the Bible tells me so.
Little ones to Him belong.
They are weak, but He is strong.

Yes, Jesus loves me.
Yes, Jesus loves me.
Yes, Jesus loves me.
The Bible tells me so.

For many years, I thought of this song as rather sweet but not terribly meaningful. At least, it wasn’t very meaningful to me. Yeah, yeah, Jesus loves me. Jesus loves everybody. Big deal.

But lately, this simple children’s song has become an eloquent and momentous expression of a truth that has only relatively recently begun to seep its way deep into my heart and soul.

You see…Jesus loves me. I mean, really loves me. Not just loves me because “For God so loved the world,” and I’m in the world, so He’s sort of obligated to include me in that. But loves ME. Me, Megan. Just the way I am, with my particular personality make-up, my interests, my abilities. Even my imperfections and all (though He’ll help me work on these). Jesus loves ME.

My friend, He loves you too. You, just the way you are, with your personality, your interests and abilities, your quirks and shining moments and imperfections. Not just because He “has” to—because He most certainly does not HAVE to love you, or me, or anybody. But because you are dear to Him. Because you have a special place in His heart. Not because of any quality you bring to the table, but just because you’re you.

There will be people in our lives who don’t love us the way we hope they would or believe they should. And that hurts.

When there is someone whose love we desire, but who doesn’t give us that love, we have a choice. We can either stay stuck in our grief and disappointment, or we can turn to the only One who can ever love us completely.

Even if that person in your life did love you as he or she should, you still wouldn’t feel completely loved. Why? Because only God can meet the innermost needs of your soul. Only He can truly fill your heart to bursting with all the love you have received. And only He always and forever, without fail and without fault, wants to do so.

We can either stay stuck in our emptiness…or we can turn to God.

If we choose the first option, we stay empty and sad. If we choose the second, we choose abundant emotional life.

I know which option I want, and I bet you want that option too.

So how do we turn to God? How do we get to the point in our relationship with Him where we feel His love so strongly that even when human beings turn their back on us, we know that we know that we KNOW, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that we’re loved? And not just that we know it in our head, but that we feel it in our heart?

We spend time with God. We get to know Him.

I know that might sound like a too-simplistic answer, but I promise you, it’s not. I’ve tried it and found that it has worked in my life beyond all I’ve asked or imagined. That’s because when you spend time with God, you get to know Him. And when you truly know Him, the only possible response is to grow in your love for Him. And as you grow, your heart opens to Him, and somehow, He fills your heart with love in the way that only He can.

It’s not an instant process. It’s not even a quick process. If you’ve been hurt badly, it might take years of getting to know God and asking Him to help you receive His love before you truly begin to feel it. But even before you begin to feel it, it’s there all the same. And it always was.

You see, God loved you from before the world began, He loves you now, and He will love you throughout all eternity. First, you’ll come to believe it. Then you’ll ask Him to help you absorb it. And then, finally, you’ll begin to feel it, and you’ll know that even when the people on earth who should have loved you, didn’t—Jesus did. Even now while they don’t love you, He does. And even if they never come to love you in the future, He always will.

Jesus loves me! This I know,
For the Bible tells me so.

No love from any human being on earth could possibly be more perfectly deep and complete than that.

Psalm 27:10—When my father and my mother forsake me, then the LORD will take me up .

I Wouldn’t

Megan Breedlove April 9, 2012 No Comments

I am blessed to be the mother of five children, two of whom are sons. During this time of year, when we are supposed to think about one Son in particular, I’ve also been thinking about my two. I’ve discovered some definite similarities between God’s love for His Son and my love for my sons. But there’s one important difference.

First, the similarities. I love my sons deeply, as God loves His Son. I’m proud of my sons, as God is of His. I desire a close relationship with my boys, as God does with His. Admittedly, my best efforts to love and develop a relationship are but shadows of what God is able to do. But still, there are similarities.

There’s also an important difference. You see, there’s nobody on this earth that I would sacrifice one of my sons to save. I simply wouldn’t do it. Yet God, despite His infinite love for His Son, sacrificed Him on behalf of people who hated Him. Why? To further God’s glory. But also because He loved us.

Usually we look at the crucifixion from Jesus’ perspective. Today, let’s look at it from the Father’s point of view.

How the Father must have suffered as He watched His Son be arrested, tortured, and crucified (further torture). Even though the Father knew that some of those watching would eventually come to love His Son, it still must have been agonizing for Him to allow them to put Him to death, and then to have to turn His back on Jesus as He suffered.

Yes, it was all within His perfect plan. Yes, He knew this would happen since before the foundation of the world. But what agony it must have been to see it come to pass.

I can’t even imagine something like this happening to one of my sons. My mind recoils from the possibility before it can even envision the worst parts. Yet each Easter, I think about it, at least to the extent of reminding myself what the Father went through. Why? Because it gives me a glimpse of the magnitude of Father’s love for me.

I want you to see His love for you, too. That’s how much the Father loves you—enough to watch His Son be tortured and killed on your behalf. Yes, He loves you. You, with all your failures and imperfections. You, despite all the sins you’ve committed. You, regardless of the fact that you’ll never be perfect until you reach heaven.

You.

And me. Praise God, He loves me too. I’m no more worthy than anybody else to be loved by God. In fact, Scripture makes it clear that without Him, we’re all nothing but miserable sinners with no hope of ever entering His presence. But despite who I was, God loved me so much that He made a way for me to spend eternity with Him, beginning here and now on earth.

We don’t have to wait until heaven to come into God’s presence. We can enjoy Him here and now. Our eternity with Him begins now, because His love for us began before the creation of the world.

That is love: not that we now love Him, but that He loved us while we were yet sinners and sent His Son to die on our behalf.

It’s amazing, incomprehensible love.

I wouldn’t do it. You wouldn’t either. But He would and did.

Praise be to God.

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 atoning sacrifice for our sins.

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

The Hands

Megan Breedlove March 19, 2012 No Comments

On a shelf in our dining room rests a sculptured pair of cupped hands. Nestled inside the hands are 19 smooth, polished stones. One is dark brown. Five are light brown. Thirteen are white.

The hands represent Father God’s hands. They are cupped in order that each stone be held in their palms, just as the Bible tells us that God holds us in the palm of His hand.

The stones represent our children. Yes, all nineteen of them. The dark brown stone represents Steven, the baby boy we were prepared to adopt years ago, whose birth mother changed her mind and did not let us take him home from the hospital. The five light brown stones stand for our five children alive on earth. And each of the thirteen white stones represents a child conceived during our IVF attempts who did not live long enough to have a chance at being born on this earth, and who is now waiting for us in heaven.

Someday, I will see those babies, look into their sweet little faces, and know what they look like. But until then…God holds them in His hands and hugs them in His arms.

Someday, we hope to see Steven again and to know that he had a good life, even if it wasn’t the life with us that we had hoped to provide for him. But until then…God holds Steven in His hands.

Even though five children live with us, so that we can see their precious faces every day, hug and kiss them and tell them we love them…God holds them, too. When we wrap our arms around them and soak in the feel of their precious hugs, and maybe even bow our head to kiss the top of theirs, God is ultimately the One holding them until the day they go to live with Him forever.

You see, children are precious to God. He loves them exceedingly. In fact, in a time when children were nothing special as far as society was concerned, where they were definitely supposed to be seen and not heard, Jesus made it a point to hold them, love them, and welcome them into His presence.

And Father God still does the same today.

Children are welcome in His presence. They are beloved. That’s why He holds them close—not because He has to, but because He wants to.

Not just the people whom society would consider children by virtue of their age, but those whom Father God considers children.

That includes all of us.

You. Me.

Right now, as I sit here trying to be faithful to the words God wants me to put on the screen so that His heart and intentions will reach yours, He is holding me in the palm of His hand. As you sit reading, he holds you too, wherever you are.

But not just for now. Just as those stones always rest in the pair of artificial hands, we nestle in the hands of the Father continually.

That will never change. In fact, when He walked this earth, Jesus took time to spell it out. “No one is able to snatch [you] out of the Father’s hand,” He said. That means no one can ever make us leave Father God’s love and care. Period. End of story. That’s because, as Jesus told us, “My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all.” God is so much more loving and powerful than anybody else that He is the one who gets to determine where we rest. And He has lovingly gathered us into His hands and offered us the privilege of resting there.

Not just right now, not even just today, but every second of every day for all eternity.

He’s promised to love us and hold us until we see His face…and then forever.

That’s a promise our souls can rest in. Starting now.

John 10:29—My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand.

Safe

Megan Breedlove January 9, 2012 No Comments

God has blessed my daughter Lindsey (now five-and-a-half) with a sweet, sensitive heart. The advantages of this are that she cares how others feel and is quick to notice someone who needs a kind or encouraging word. The disadvantage is that she gets easily hurt when others are unkind.

One particular day as I sat at the computer, Lindsey came back to join me with a solemn look on her face. I asked her what the matter was, and she explained that Kenny had been talking to her in some way she didn’t like (at this point, I don’t even remember what it was he said), and that things just weren’t going well between them. I swiveled in my chair so I could lift Lindsey onto my lap. “Do you need some time back here with Mommy?” I asked.

“Yes, ma’am,” she said, snuggling against me. “’Cuz I know nothing will go wrong with you.”

I cuddled her close, infinitely thankful that her little spirit felt safe with me, that I could be a refuge for her when things weren’t going right in her world. Not that I always get it right. But apparently, by the grace of God, I get it right often enough that Mommy’s presence is a safe place for her.

You and I have a safe place too, though our safe place is different from Lindsey’s. Our safe place—in our Father’s presence—is always safe. But we don’t usually think of God as a safe place. We see Him as Someone who is concerned with our proper performance to the exclusion of caring about our spirit. But in reality, though He will indeed convict us of sin, He will no longer condemn us. Jesus has purchased our peace with Him and He freely pours out His love upon us and offers us a place to be at rest.

Wow. I know I sure need a place like that—a Person like that—and I bet you do too. We need Someone with whom we can be ourselves and still be completely safe. One of the most amazing things about God is that He Himself is that Person for us. You know how secure and loved you want your child to feel in your presence? Multiply that infinitely, and that’s how secure and loved you and I can feel in God’s presence.

Why then don’t we take Him up on His offer to be this for us? I think it’s because either we don’t fully understand what He’s offering, or we don’t fully believe He will give it to us. We just don’t grasp the immensity of His love for us. Yet the only reason we are able to love our children is because we are made in His image and therefore possess a fraction of His ability to love.

You want Someone who will comfort you when life’s not going right? You’ve got Him. You need Someone who truly understands you when nobody else does? You’ve got Him. You long for Someone who loves you infinitely, showers His love upon you, and offers you peace not just when things are going well, but always? You’ve got Him.

Crawl up into His lap this week. Better yet, do it today. Rest in His arms as you think about how much you love your children, and realize that He loves you far more. Any ideas of what you want to be for your children are mere shadows of what He is for you. So take Him up on what He offers. Receive His love and all the other benefits that come with being His child. And then, yes, extend those to your children.

Matthew 7:11—If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!

Romans 8:1—There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

Revelation 5:9—And they sang a new song: “You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals, because you were slain, and with your blood you purchased men for God from every tribe and language and people and nation.”

Dirty Slippers

Megan Breedlove October 31, 2011 No Comments

Sometimes when your kids wear their slippers outside and get them all muddy and dirty, it’s a matter for discipline. Other times…well, it just isn’t.

The other day, I was working on going through the house and getting rid of stuff. We just had too…much…stuff, and my husband and I decided we needed to pare it all down before the baby gets here, in order to simplify things as much as possible. Lindsey, who has a sweet, helpful spirit, and has been very in tune with how tired Mommy is, decided she would help me.

She sat down and made a list of all the chores she would help me do (in pictures, because she doesn’t know how to spell very many words yet). Then, she began with the first picture and started completing the tasks and checking them off one by one. She worked as hard as I did for as long as I did (which was several hours), all with a cheerful attitude and the desire to help. Several times, while I was working on something, she came to me and asked what specifically she could do next. I would give her a small task, and she would complete it, return, and ask, “Now what can I do?” It was truly amazing.

So it was no surprise to me when Lindsey looked at her list, checked something off, and announced, “Next, I’m going to water your plants.” Then she disappeared.

I have three porch plants, so I allowed her to go outside by herself. She’d been gone a little while, and I asked one of the other kids where Lindsey was. “She’s outside watering your plants,” came the answer.

Shortly after that, my husband appeared, holding two muddy Elmo slippers I recognized as Lindsey’s. “Look at Lindsey’s slippers,” he said.

Normally I don’t allow the kids to wear their slippers outside for precisely that reason—they’ll get dirty. Briefly, the idea flashed through my mind of disciplining Lindsey for wearing her slippers outside when I’ve told them several times not to do that. But I knew immediately there was a better response.

“I guess I can’t really say anything when they’re only dirty because she was outside watering my plants,” I said. I chose instead to be grateful those slippers were dirty—not because of the dirt itself, but because of what the dirt represented.

You see, Lindsey truly blessed me that day, beyond measure. Her attitude and work ethic went far beyond what a five-year-old should be capable of. She poured out her heart for me all day long, as well as the effort of her little body. Had I majored on the minors, and punished her for getting her slippers dirty…oh, I’m so glad I got this one right. This time at least, I saw her heart instead of her behavior. And I felt like I got a glimpse into how Jesus sees people.

Many times in the Bible, we read how Jesus saw and responded to someone’s heart, while the others around him reacted to the person’s behavior. Take, for example, the woman who anointed Jesus’ feet with costly ointment and wiped them with her hair. The other dinner guests were whispering to themselves about what a sinful woman she was—which was probably common knowledge. Look, she’s dirty. That woman with the dirty slippers is touching the Lord!

Okay, so that’s not exactly how it went, but you get the idea. They were focused on actions that were of far lesser importance than the attitude of the woman’s heart.

I wonder how often we truly look into our children’s face and see their heart. Often, we merely see the jelly smudges on their mouths or the fact that they’ve been on our nerves all day long. Oh, would that when we looked at their precious face, we saw their heart.

Friend, when Jesus looks at you and me, He doesn’t see merely the things we have done. He sees our heart. Sometimes, true, our heart needs correction. But other times, our heart is right even if our actions don’t reflect it. How many times have you fallen into bed at night exhausted from taking care of your children, with the house still a wreck? Jesus knows the house is dirty, but what’s more important to Him is the heart you displayed in serving your children.

What does that mean for you, precious mom? It means that if Jesus were talking to someone who was accusing you, He would say, “Yes, I see the dirty house. But better than that, I see her heart, and that’s what I value.” Or, “Yes, I know she failed in that area. But she’s trying, and that’s all I ask. I’m proud of her.”

Yes, Jesus sees your sins, too, and His Holy Spirit will convict you of them when necessary. But take a minute right now and just close your eyes and sit in Jesus’ presence. If you need to confess anything, confess it. Then rest in His approval. Know that He loves you and that He knows how hard you’re trying. Know that He’s proud of you. And realize that as much as I valued Lindsey’s heart toward me, He values yours far more.

Matthew 26:10, 13—Jesus said to them, “Why are you bothering this woman? She has done a beautiful thing to me…I tell you the truth, wherever this gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her.”

Play with Me

Megan Breedlove September 26, 2011 No Comments

At three-and-a-half years old, Jessica is such a little person. I mean, she is absolutely full of personality (which, fortunately, is usually delightful). She loves to smile, and when she laughs, her laughter makes others want to join in with her. Yesterday, as she escaped giggling from my tickling clutches and darted a short distance away, I watched her go. And I thought, Wow, her legs look really long in those shorts. She looks…tall!

For a moment, instead of a toddler, I saw a little girl, and I realized she’s growing up.

I’m glad for her. I want her to develop as she should. But I hope that she doesn’t grow out of wanting to be with me for a long time.

Jessica has always been a mama’s girl. She loves being with me. Several times during the day, she will seek out my attention or ask me to play with her (“Will you pway wif me?”). Just this morning at church, she snuggled into my lap and closed her eyes.

I don’t want her to grow out of that anytime soon.

True, her clinginess gets burdensome sometimes. There are some days I’d rather she not need to be so close to me for most of the day. At times, I just wish she would leave me alone and play independently.

When it’s one of those times, and she’s needed more attention than I had energy or desire to give, I try to remind myself of this: God never gets tired of giving me attention.

Actually, I think God’s prepared to give me far more attention than I seek. He constantly loves me and continually thinks loving thoughts toward me. He’s never too busy or too tired for me to crawl up into His lap and close my eyes. He never gets annoyed when I want His attention because I’m bored or crabby, or simply because I want to be with Him. I’m the one who keeps our relationship at a distance.

Maybe you do, too. Maybe you know what it’s like to go through an entire day without thinking about God much, except when it’s time to thank Him for your food before eating lunch. But if that’s the only time you or I think about Him, we’re missing out.

You see, God is always available to listen to us, give us wisdom, or share happy moments with us. He’ll share the sad moments, too. He’ll even “play” and have fun with us. But we have to want to spend time with Him. Otherwise, we’re missing out on the best Friend in the whole universe. He’s right next to us—His Spirit is in us—and we ignore Him.

If you’re like me, you struggle to spend regular and consistent time with Him. But maybe it would help to remember that spending time with Him means not just checking off something on a chart, but staying in touch with our Best Friend. Imagine the best earthly friend you can think of, multiply it by about a billion, and that’s Him waiting for you to notice Him.

So why don’t we spend more time with Him? Sometimes, it’s because circumstances arise to prevent it. Other times, it’s because we don’t try very hard. But I believe that it’s usually because we don’t really appreciate what a great time we could have by spending time together.

Why not let God show you? Spend time with Him this week. Today, even. Ask Him to open your eyes to what a great Friend He is. Ask Him to help you get to know Him. Even if you’ve known Him most of your life, you can always know Him better. Ask Him to show you His beauty and desirability. And when He does, be prepared for your heart to respond in adoration. It’ll happen naturally. When you truly get a glimpse of God as He is, the only possible response is worship.

Psalm 27:4—One thing have I asked of the LORD, that will I seek after: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD and to inquire in his temple.