Devotion
He Gave Us What We Did not Deserve
Chipo Biti
If you take a look at the world back then, and even at the world now, you would probably think otherwise. Mankind has been riddled with evil since the Fall of Man at the beginning of time. Human beings have turned on God many times. They have hurled curses at Him, doubted His existence, and accused Him of many things. But God never shook in His love for us.
After the Fall of Man, mankind became quite a terrible sight. Sin abounded in so many ways and there was no way of stopping it. People were murdering one another, stealing from one another, committing strange acts with one another, and worshipping strange gods. The children of Israel abandoned God many times, choosing to worship idols instead. Not once did they think of the great amount of pain they were causing God.
If you were asked to die for such people, would you? Probably not. You would probably give all the reasons in the world as to why these people deserved to suffer for their actions - and you wouldn't have been wrong for it. Human beings were terrible. We still see that terrible nature in many of them in the world today. The most heinous acts have occurred in history and there are new ones that we see as each day passes. Murder. Sexual violence. War. Hatred.
But none of this deterred God from giving His son up to save us from ourselves. He carried on with His plans, even when mankind had turn their backs on Him. He refused to let His love be based on our love for Him. If He had done that, we would have died a very long time ago.
There is no greater love than the love that Jesus Christ has for us. Jesus laid down his life for every single person in the world, regardless of who they are or what they have done in their lives. It was not a simple decision for him. The thought of suffering the consequences for the sins of the world was not an easy thought to bear.
In the days leading up to His crucifixion, Jesus was troubled by what was to come but this did not stop Him from following through. He wept about it. He wasn't celebrating at the fact that He was about to endure so much pain. But He still chose to go through with it because He believed that we were all worth it.
Prayer
It's not much of a task for us when you compare it to what Jesus had to go through. We won't find such love anywhere else but in Him. He loves us completely and there is nothing that will ever make Him change His mind about us. He is for us, now and forever.
Devotion
Misrepresenting God
Frances Taylor
This passage is one I try very hard to take to heart. For over forty years, I have worked to bring the gospel message to children and adults alike. That is what I'm doing as I write this. It is so important that we don't misrepresent God to others. When someone tells me they don't believe in God, I wonder whose image of God they have been taught. When I was a child, it was common to hear that God was some policeman in the sky that was going to punish me for everything I did wrong. The idea of a loving, forgiving God was not taught as the norm. Ministers and other teachers of religion often spoke more of hellfire and damnation. It's no wonder that there are those who claim that God doesn't exist. On the other hand, there are those who taught that God was like Santa Claus, keeping track of our good deeds and rewarding us accordingly, or tracking our misdeeds and punishing us accordingly. Neither of these images of God are accurate. God is loving ...
Morning Prayer
Woe unto them that decree unrighteous decrees, and that write grievousness which they have prescribed; To turn aside the needy from judgment, and to take away the right from the poor of my people, that widows may be their prey, and that they may rob the fatherless!
Inspiration
Those in ancient Israel, as today and in all lands, who prey upon the poor and vulnerable, who pervert justice against them and deny them their rights, sin against God. His eyes see, his eyelids try the children of men, and nothing is done in secret where he does not know.
Prayer
Give me a heart of compassion, O Lord, for the weak and helpless, for the poverty stricken, for widows and orphans. And give me a righteous indignation against those who oppress them, pervert their justice, or deny their rights. Amen.
