God’s Love for You

No Thoughts

Megan Breedlove September 19, 2011 0Comment

I have a confession to make. I love writing devotionals; I really do. But sometimes, when it comes time to write one, I sit down at the computer, and I think to myself, I have absolutely no thoughts today. I can’t think of a single thing to write. At those times, I ask God what He wants His people to hear. Then I write that.

Today was a little bit different. This time, even before I had a chance to say “Dear God”, God spoke to me. Even when you don’t have thoughts, He said (not in an audible voice, but in my spirit), I always have thoughts. I am always thinking about you.

Then, He brought Psalm 139:17 to mind. This verse appears only 3 verses after the verse that tells us we are fearfully and wonderfully made. It says, “How precious to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them!” Read the passage in context, and you will see that in this case, His thoughts are about us.

First, let’s look at the “how vast is the sum of them” part. Most of us don’t realize how much God thinks about us. We tend to assume that because we don’t always think about Him very often, He doesn’t think about us frequently, either. That assumption is wrong. The verse says that God’s thoughts toward us are vast in number. Vast. That’s more than 5. More than 100. More even than a million. Vast. An incomprehensible number.

Sure, we think, He thinks about me a lot when I’ve messed up. But those aren’t the kind of thoughts this passage is talking about. The Psalmist wrote this entire section because He was so overwhelmed at how much God loves us. He didn’t say, “God really loves us. He thinks irritated thoughts about us most of the time, but He really, really loves us.” No, God thinks so many loving thoughts toward us that we can’t even count them all. It’s such a big number the writer of the psalm didn’t even want to limit it by putting a number on it.

Now, let’s look at the first part of the verse. “How precious to me are your thoughts, O God!” Are they really? I think most of the time, they’re not. That’s because we don’t really get it. We don’t truly understand how God lovingly thinks of us all day long, every day. How He’s in love with us. If we really grasped that, His thoughts would, indeed, be very precious to us. After all, what could be better than to know that God thinks loving thoughts about us all day long, so many that we can’t even count them?

I have a specific reason for telling you the process I went through in writing this devotional. My reason is this: I want you to know that God was thinking of you in telling me what to write today. You. I didn’t have any thoughts of my own until He filled my mind with today’s theme. I believe this is His extra way of emphasizing to you how much He is, indeed, thinking about you. He thought about you and planned something specific for you to read today because He loves you.

So how do you respond when faced with a love like that? I suggest you spend some time with Him today, thinking about Him. He’s always thinking about you; it would be an awesome, loving response on your part for you to reciprocate out of love. How long should your time be? I don’t know, but I do know this: God is the Lover of your soul. Spend some time with the One who, as the song says, “knows you best and loves you most.”

Psalm 139:17—How precious to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them!

Stolen

Megan Breedlove August 22, 2011 0Comment

A few days ago, my husband and I took the kids to Chuck E. Cheese for dinner. We had some coupons and some free time, and we figured, Why not? Of course, when we told the kids, all four mouths dropped open, and for a moment, there was no sound, as if the air had been sucked from the room. Then…”Yay!” they screeched repeatedly, dancing around in joy.

We got there, staked out a table, and waited for out pizza to arrive. That is, I waited. The kids went off to play games, with Phil helping Jessica. I reminded Kenny to keep close track of his cup of game tokens, since the last time we were there, he had set his down and forgotten where he put it. And then, of course, it got stolen.

After supper, we all went back to playing games. Phil and I circulated among the kids, making sure everyone was having a good time and finding games at his or her level. Then I heard it. Kenny was crying.

I turned and saw Phil and Kenny walking towards me. Kenny’s eyes were red, and tears streamed from them and wet his cheeks. He tried to explain to me what happened, but I couldn’t understand him. Phil told me that Kenny had been playing Skeeball and set his cup down by his feet while he played. When he finished his game and tried to pick up his cup…it was gone, along with the couple remaining tokens and all his tickets. “Some kid stole it,” Phil said.

“Mommy, I’m sorry,” Kenny cried, grief flowing from his eyes.

“Oh, son,” I said, stooping down beside him. “I’m so sorry that happened to you. How many tickets did you have?”

“Forty-nine,” he said. His little shoulders shook as he tried to gain control of his tears.

“Then here’s what we’ll do,” I said. “I’ll give you two quarters. That will be good for fifty tickets. That will make up for what you lost. I’m so sorry.”

Ultimately, Kenny was able to choose some prizes he really wanted, and he was happy. But my heart still hurts for him. He was doing the best he could to take care of his tickets, and they got stolen from him. Some other greedy kid, who didn’t care at all about my son, his feelings, or doing the right thing, stole my son’s tickets and wounded his heart.

What hurts me the most in remembering this incident are two things. First, remembering Kenny’s big, brown eyes filled with tears, and seeing his precious face so sad. Somebody hurt my beloved son, and in that moment, I was ready to track that child down and take care of business. If I had known what the child looked like, I surely would have done so.

I wonder how it feels for God, who has the power to avenge any offenses against me, to have to hold back His hand sometimes. If I had been able to, I would have done something about the offense committed against my son. There’s no way in the world I would have let it go. Standing by and allowing my son to suffer when it was in my power to do something about it would have just about killed me. I wonder, then, how God feels when it is in His power to do something, and He has to restrain Himself in accordance with His greater purposes? I wonder how He feels when His greater purposes call for allowing us to suffer rather than making everything right right now.

The second thing that hurts my heart is the fact that Kenny apologized to me. He was afraid he might have done something wrong in “allowing” his tokens and tickets to be stolen. He had been as careful as he could be. His actions were reasonable. Yet he was afraid that somehow, it was his fault, and he thought he better apologize in case I thought he had done something wrong.

Likewise, we are often afraid that somehow what happened to us is our fault. Even when it doesn’t involve any sin on our part, and even when we were being careful, we’re afraid that we did something wrong in failing to prevent it from happening.

Precious mom, there are some things that simply cannot be prevented. Just because something happens to us doesn’t necessarily mean it was our fault somehow. And it sure doesn’t mean God is going to be mad at us for not preventing it. Sometimes, tragedy happens. Sometimes, we’re victims. Sometimes, there was no way to foresee or prevent what happened—at least not by employing ordinary standards of care. There was no good reason for Kenny to feel that he should have prevented what happened, and I told him so. “It wasn’t your fault,” I said. “You were being careful, just like I told you. It wasn’t your fault someone decided to sin and take your cup. And you can be sure that God sees what happened. He knows it wasn’t your fault, and He knows whose fault it was. And He’s not happy this happened to you, either.”

My words seemed to help Kenny somewhat. Gradually, the tears went away, and a smile returned to his face. By the time we got into the van to go home, he was happily playing with his new toys and candy.

But the lessons remain with me: that sometimes, what happens to me is not my fault. And that when someone sins against me, God is not pleased. He’s not going to blame me for someone else’s sin; that person will indeed answer for it one day. Instead, He’ll hug me and tell me He’s sad with me about what happened. And in the moment of my grief, that’s what I want to here: that He’s there, and He cares.

There’s one more lesson I learned from this incident, however, and it, too, is important. This week was about God’s response when tragedy strikes; next week will be about the response we should show others when they’re hurt. I’ll see you next week for a precious lesson in coming alongside others when they’re in pain.

Matthew 25:40—”The King will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.’”

Proud

Megan Breedlove February 7, 2011 0Comment

I watch very few TV shows. I’m just not interested in most of what’s on. But the other day, I saw a clip on American Idol that did more than just capture my interest. It changed my life.

It was one of the audition episodes, where hopefuls appear before the judges, perform a short musical selection, and hope or pray that the judges decide the performer deserves a golden ticket, signifying that he or she has been allowed to advance to the next round of competition in Hollywood. Most of the auditions were standard fare—some good, some not so good. One of the good ones, by Chris Medina, was the one that stood out to me.

The reason it stood out wasn’t his singing, though he sang very well (and advanced to Hollywood). What made his audition remarkable was his story. Chris’s fiancé Juliana had been in a car wreck two months before their scheduled wedding date. The accident left her with little control of her body, unable to walk or talk without help, and even then, not very well. Chris explained that he had been prepared to make his vows to her when the accident happened, and asked the rhetorical question, “What kind of man would I be if I left her when she needed me most?”

After Chris’ audition, the judges invited him to bring Juliana in. She sat in her wheelchair as Chris pushed her into the room. She was leaning sideways. Her body shook. Her facial expression was wooden. But as the judges left their table and came to greet her, I was captivated by the look on Chris’ face.

He was proud.

Yes, proud. Proud of her as she was. Unable to sit up straight. Unable to talk. Unable even to change the expression on her face.

He loved her, even the way she was.

What changed my life was realizing that that is how Jesus feels about me. He loves me, and He’s proud of me, despite all my defects. He feels the same way about you. Though you and I have no merit of our own that would deserve His love, and though everything about us might seem to indicate that we’re unlovable, He still loves us.

He loves us, despite our physical limitations. Despite the fact that He does most of the giving and we do most of the receiving. Despite the fact that according to the world’s standards, we may not be much to look at.

And there’s something even more remarkable than that: He’s proud of us. Just as Chris was proud of his fiancé even when presenting her to some of the world’s biggest names and most famous people (the judges), God is proud of us. “She’s Mine,” He says. “She’s my beloved, and I’m proud of her.”

It would have been easy for Chris to be ashamed of his fiancé. Maybe even embarrassed. It would make even more sense if God felt the same way about us. But He doesn’t. Incredibly, amazingly, He doesn’t. Rather than be ashamed of us, He rejoices in calling us His own.

It’s the most memorable illustration of God’s love I’ve ever seen. And yet even as incredible as this love is, it is but a fraction of the love God has for you. Despite everything.

God loves you. He loves you. And He’s proud.

Hebrews 2:11-12—Both the one who makes men holy and those who are made holy are of the same family. So Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers. He says, “I will declare your name to my brothers; in the presence of the congregation I will sing your praises.”

Biter Beast

Megan Breedlove January 31, 2011 0Comment

Right now, as I type this, our orange kitten is lying peacefully in his kitty bed next to the desk, purring. He looks sweet and innocent. Calm, even. Peaceful.

But he’s hiding something.

You see, at any given moment, he will get up out of his bed, stretch, yawn, and somehow in the process transform into Biter Beast. Walk across the floor in your stocking feet? Good. Makes it easier for him to bite your toes. Sit down in a recliner? Great. Your legs will be at the perfect angle to expose your hapless ankles. You may not even see him coming. Sometimes, he’ll wait behind a piece of furniture for you to walk by, then dart out and intercept you for the attack. Or he’ll simply sneak up on you, so quiet you never heard him coming.

Is he a bad cat? No. He’s a kitten, and he’s not yet totally on the “people are for loving, things are for playing with” bandwagon. He’s not mean. He just sees people as toys, and doesn’t always understand that we don’t see ourselves the same way. Most of the time, he’s sweet, and he does put up with an awful lot from my four small children. He’s got a great purr, he’s cute, and he loves to curl up on your lap and just sit there. So, in order to have him, we take the bad—biting, litter boxes, and never being able to step away from our food for a second if we still want it to be there when we get back—along with all of the good.

Sounds kind of like what God does with us, doesn’t it? Just like we chose our cat from the city animal shelter, God chose us while we were unwanted. Even more amazing is that God adopted us into His family. Pumpkin is a part of our family now; we’re part of God’s. But perhaps most amazing of all is that even though we continue to cause God trouble, just like Pumpkin sometimes causes trouble for us, God still keeps us. He doesn’t cast us out of His family because we’re too much trouble. No, when God adopts us, He means it forever. He’s never going to give us back to Satan, no matter what we do.

How incredible is that? God didn’t have to save us in the first place. And He certainly didn’t have to give us repeated chances to live at peace with Him. Giving us even one chance would have been far more than we deserved. Yet He chose us knowing that we would act up sometimes, knowing that we’d make messes and cause Him grief.

But He didn’t choose us because we’re so wonderful. He chose us because He is. Not one of us was good enough on our own to deserve to be adopted into God’s family. Yet He chose us anyway. Yes, because He loved us, but also so He could display His amazing mercy in being kind to us.

There came a time, before things got better, when Pumpkin came this close to being returned to the shelter. But despite the fact that our offenses against God are far worse than Pumpkin’s misdeeds against us, we will never come this close to being removed from God’s family. He’ll never ask us to leave. We can rest secure in the knowing that His home is our home, both now and for eternity.

May our hearts be moved to amazement and incredible gratitude. He’s chosen us not just for now, but forever. We’ll never be unwanted.

Ever.

Ephesians 2:4-7—But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—

and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.

John 5:24—Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life.

The Way Out

Megan Breedlove September 6, 2010 0Comment

Last weekend, our family went camping for the first time. My husband and I had each been camping before, but we’d never been to the wilds since having kids. So, armed with all the camping gear some online list said we should have, and accompanied by some friends who knew more about camping than we did, we set out.

When we got to the state park, we were able to get two campsites that were close together. A short, winding trail of about twenty yards or so connected our sites. While my husband and I set up camp at our site, and our friends set up their tent at their site, our kids enjoyed running back and forth on the path. (We could see them the whole way.)

At one point, however, Lindsey missed a turn and continued straight on what did, indeed, look like a trail. The only problem was that it petered out and left her in the midst of some brambles, less than a yard from our campsite.

“Mommy?” she called, and I looked to see her peering out from in between the brambles and branches, not quite sure how she got there, and not sure how to get out.

“Sweetie, you went the wrong way,” I said. “Just back up. That’s right, turn around, and go—no, not that way—yes, that way. No, wait—never mind. I’ll come show you.”

I got up out of my brand new foldable camping chair and headed toward the trail to show her the way out by doing it myself. And as I did, I thought of how, on a far greater scale, Jesus did the same thing for us.

We had gotten ourselves into a mess, and we couldn’t get out. God had given us the law to show us the way, but we couldn’t follow it adequately. So Jesus came to personally show us.

He didn’t have to. He would have been completely justified in letting us remain stuck forever. After all, our sin is our own fault. But He didn’t. He came to lead us out, to make the impossible possible.

I felt fairly generous in getting out of my comfortable chair to help my daughter out of a mess of her own making. But how vastly more generous Jesus was in coming down from heaven to lead us to the Father!

Will you join me in praising Him?

Jesus, we praise you for Your infinite goodness, love, and mercy in coming to show us the way back. We acknowledge that it’s only through You that we can come back at all. Thank You, Lord, for showing us the way home. Amen.

Philippians 2:5-11—Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death—even death on a cross! Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is LORD, to the glory of God the Father.

Simple Gifts

Megan Breedlove August 30, 2010 0Comment

If f I had to name the thing I miss most from my pre-mommy days, I would choose “good sleep”. I miss those days when I could count on a good, solid eight hours. I also fondly recall those long-ago times when I could stay up late, knowing that I’d be able to sleep in the next day.

Sleeping in doesn’t happen very often anymore. When I go to bed late, that just means I lose sleep that night. That’s because my body isn’t that one that determines when I wake up. Often, someone else’s little body decides when mine should be awake.

The other day, I was awakened by a little hand patting my shoulder. I opened my eyes and saw Jessica’s sleepy face mere inches from my own. “I want to get in Mommy’s bed,” she said.

I knew that if I let Jessica into my bed, any chance of getting further sleep was gone, because she likes to lie right up next to me with her head against my face. She tries to lie quietly, but when she lies that close, I feel every little squiggle (and the big squiggles, too). On the other hand, if I told her to go back to bed, she’d start wailing, and I wouldn’t get any more sleep that way, either.

So I pulled her up into bed with me. She snuggled against me, and I covered us both up. As I lay there, relishing the sweetness of having her little body curled up next to mine, I confess that I also felt a little bit crabby. I love Jessica, and I love cuddling with her, but couldn’t we have cuddled later? I was tired. I wanted to sleep.

If I had been able to sleep in that morning, I would have missed a gift from God. I would have lost precious time with my daughter, and I wouldn’t have heard God saying to my spirit, “Look how secure and relaxed she is with you. Don’t you love it that you can do that for her?”

As I thought more about the gifts God gives me through my children, I realized that I’ve probably been missing a lot of them. I’ve been hearing the requests for attention and missing the greater gift that comes with them.

When my son asks me to play trains with him, God is offering me the gift of knowing that someone wants to be with me just because he loves me.

When my daughter asks me to read to her, I receive the gift of getting to pause and take a moment out of my day to do a favorite activity.

When one of my children says, “Mommy, you look really nice today,” I get to know that someone thinks I’m beautiful.

On a regular basis, God offers all of us mommies the gifts that matter most to us, and He allows our precious children to be His means of delivering those gifts. The requests our children make of us are not just duties to be performed or annoyances to be gotten over. They are God’s way of meeting the deepest needs every mom has. The next time one of our children asks us for something, let’s see beyond the request. Let’s hear not only what our child is asking, but what God wants us to know.

You’re needed. You’re loved. You’re special. You’re a hero.

Philippians 4:19—And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus.

Forever Kisses

Megan Breedlove August 9, 2010 0Comment

I’ve written before about how Lindsey loves to come give me a “nighttime kiss and nighttime hug” each night. She is so dedicated to showing me love like this that even on a recent overnight visit to her grandparents’ house, she called the first evening so she could say “nighttime kiss and nighttime hug” over the phone.

But one day not too long ago, this routine became even sweeter. “I’ll give you another kiss,” Lindsey said, and kissed my shoulder. “Now it’ll be there whenever you need it,” she said. “A forever kiss!” I responded, and hugged her tightly.

She gave me a few more forever kisses that night—one or two on each shoulder, I think. Then, I gave her one. I told her that any time she needed a kiss from Mommy, she had one right there on her shoulder.

Forever kisses. They’re one of the most precious ideas any of my children has ever come up with. And even if someday, Lindsey forgets she ever gave me forever kisses, I won’t. I’ll remember they’re right there on my shoulders.

But Lindsey isn’t the only one who’s given me forever kisses. You have some, too. They’re from our Father.

You see, God loves us even more than Lindsey can love me with all the overflowing love in her precious, four-year-old heart. And just like Lindsey, God wants us always to know we’re loved. So He’s given us forever kisses, so that any time we need them, we can remember His love for us.

What are some of God’s forever kisses? The Bible, for starters. It’s not merely an instruction manual, though it certainly is that. It’s also God’s forever kiss to us, one of His ways of reminding us of His love. All through it is the story of how God redeemed us, though we didn’t deserve it. It’s the story of how He sent His Son to take the penalty for our sins so we didn’t have to. It’s a love letter.

The Holy Spirit is another of God’s forever kisses. We know that one reason the Spirit resides in our hearts is to convict us of sin. But do we ever stop and think that another reason the Spirit lives within us is to remind us of God’s love for us? He is a constant “forever kiss”, because He’s constantly with us.

What about our families? Our husband? Our children? Forever kisses. Our friends? Our church families? Yep. Forever kisses.

God doesn’t place things in our lives for merely utilitarian purposes. No, each blessing He grants us is a constant reminder of His love. And even if some of the blessings don’t last for eternity, but fade into the past, we can be sure that others will take their place. That certainty is in itself a forever kiss.

How many forever kisses from God can you spot in your life right now? Look around. I bet there are more than you can count. Let’s try something this week. Let’s make it a point to notice at least one forever kiss from God each day. He’s given us far more than that; surely we can notice at least one. And I bet that as we start noticing one, we’ll begin to notice more and more, until we recognize far too many to number.

Jeremiah 31:3—“I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with loving-kindness.”

PEEK-A-BOO!

Megan Breedlove February 22, 2010 0Comment

One of Jessica’s favorite games is peek-a-boo. She loves to cover her face with her little hands, fingers splayed apart, and say, “Where you go?”, indicating that I’m supposed to ask her that question.

“Where’s Jessica?” I say obligingly.

“I don’t know,” she says innocently, in a ‘hmm, I can’t imagine’ tone of voice.

“I don’t know, either,” I say.

Suddenly, Jessica pulls her hands away from her face, grinning. “Peek-a-boo!” she says delightedly.

Jessica finds this game so much fun chiefly because of her mistaken belief that when she can’t see me, I can’t see her, either. If she knew I could see her the whole time, it wouldn’t be nearly so much fun to try to hide from me.

We play a similar game with God. We act as if because we can’t see Him, He must not be able to see us, either. Or if He can, He isn’t looking.

Nothing could be further from the truth.

The Bible clearly teaches that God is intimately involved in our lives. He knows what we need before we ask, then fulfills our needs. He causes all things to work together for our good. He has numbered the very hairs of our head.

That hardly sounds like a God who isn’t really paying attention.

Failing to realize that God sees us and knows the thoughts and intentions of our heart every minute of every day can lead to either of two serious errors. The first is thinking, “God isn’t really paying much attention to me, so I can do what I want.” Friend, there will come a day of reckoning for all of us. Just because God has chosen to withhold consequences for now doesn’t mean He will do so forever. God isn’t letting us get away with anything, as if He were an earthly parent who is just so tired He decides not to enforce His law this particular time. Rather, He may be giving us a chance to repent before He has to step in and bring us to our senses.

The second error is thinking, “God isn’t really paying much attention to me because He doesn’t love me.”

Once again, we couldn’t be more wrong than to think this way. Over and over, the Bible teaches us that God is intimately acquainted with us and longs for a relationship with us. Jesus laments that He had wanted to gather Jerusalem into the folds of His love, but she wasn’t willing. The Psalms rejoice over and over in God’s full knowledge of us, because it reflects His love for us. Let’s not forget the clearest illustration of all—that God sacrificed His own Son to redeem us.

God loves us. He loves us, and He knows us. There’s no escaping that fact. Just because we can’t see Him physically doesn’t mean He can’t see us. All it means is that we walk by faith, not by sight. But one day, the faith will be sight. We’ll see Him face to face. We’ll look into His eyes and see the love that’s been there all along, that we’ve never fully comprehended.

O God, may You give us a glimpse of that now—of Your incredible love and complete knowledge of us. May we not play games of hiding from You, but may we rejoice in the relationship with You that You offer us through Your grace. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Jeremiah 1:5—“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you.”

Luke 12:6-7—Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? Yet not one of them is forgotten by God. Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.

Psalm 139:1-4—O Lord, you have searched me and you know me. You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar. You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways. Before a word is on my tongue you know it completely, O Lord.