Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?

Another response to the boy's Weekly Wanderings, written right after the Rice Regenerate Rally: GLORY!

Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? ... I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. - Romans 8:35, 38-39

Wow... God's love is better than life (Psalm 63:3, Newsboys) and nothing at all can separate us from this love (above verse)! I was reminded of something I used to think to myself which should be even truer now and which I hope I can say and mean wholeheartedly. Why am I happy? Because the most precious thing I have can never be taken away from me. Even if all my money gets stolen, even if my house burns down, even if my friends and family die... God remains. My portion is Him and I'm more than blessed.

We were created to glorify God, to delight in Him, to be in a relationship with Him. Since we know that God loves us, what more could we want? What could top that? There is nothing in life as sweet as God's grace, nothing as precious as His blood, nothing as wonderful as His love, nothing anywhere near as beautiful as Him. Just to love God and to know that God loves us... isn't that the greatest thing? His love is better than life!

Here's a clip of John Piper fighting the 'prosperity gospel' which I think is where the quote "God is most glorified in you when you are most satisfied in Him" is from. Of course he's not saying that God wants us to have miserable lives just of suffering but that God is God and we need to praise Him in all circumstances, because He is God. And God is enough.

I pray you would see more and more of God's glory and encourage each other to continually surrender everything to Him, because His love is better than life.

"I am the Alpha and the Omega," says the Lord God, "who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty." - Rev 1:8

For the good of those who love Him

My very significant other sends out an email to his friends and family each week, telling them about what God has shown and taught him that week. I have started replying to his Weekly Wanderings since we began courtshipping but thought I would also share it with you, minus our personal stuff, with the hope of encouraging you too.

“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those he predestined he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified” – Romans 8:28-30 (NIV)

It's amazing and reassuring that in all things, God works for the good of those who love him and who have been called according to his purpose. It doesn’t mean that all things will work out the way we want them to. And sometimes it's so difficult to see the good in certain situations... but of course we have such a limited view whereas God sees the complete picture. How wonderful it is then, to know that our all-powerful, ever-present, all-knowing, incredibly loving Father is in charge at all times and we can rest assured that no matter what happens, it is for God's glory and His good purpose! I was also reminded reading through John 7 (verse 6-7) the other day that God sets a time for everything too. Sometimes things don't work out and it really confuses us, but maybe it's just not the right time. I have a bit of a motto/life statement that I wrote on the front of my Bible: "According to His will, by His grace, in His timing, for His glory."

Of course, the challenge for me is to continuously surrender every aspect of my life to Him - not to try to plan things or manipulate things or question things by my standards, but to seek His will and trust always that my Father knows best and has the best way for me. The more I get to know God, the more I learn about His character and the more I trust Him with everything. Our faith is a journey and by God's grace and the transforming work of His Spirit, I am and we are constantly being refined and conformed to the image of Christ, to be perfected only when He comes back! I love God's promise to us to do this in Phil 1:6. I actually wrote about this almost two years ago (Blog Post: P is for Perseverance of the Saints) if you're interested in reading it.