New Life's Blog

He Loves You No Matter What

March 9, 2011
He Loves You No Matter What
by Sharon Jaynes

Today’s Truth
“For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:38-39 NIV).

Friend to Friend
Most of us live in a world of performance-based acceptance.  We make good grades and mommy is proud.  We look pretty and daddy smiles. We do a good job at work and the boss is pleased. We serve at church and congregation thinks we are “good Christians.”

Unfortunately that same sense of having to perform well to be accepted by people can easily roll over into our relationship with God. We falsely believe that we must perform well to be loved and accepted by Him, when nothing could be further from the truth. As a result, we strive to obtain something that we already have...God’s unconditional love.

Anabel Gillham was a woman who loved God, but had trouble accepting that God could love her. Sure, she knew the Bible verses that talked of God’s unconditional love for her. And yet she knew herself and doubted a God who knew her innermost thoughts would approve of her.

Then God used a very special person to help Annabel understand the depths of His love for her - her second child, Mason David Gilham, who was profoundly retarded.  Let’s let Anabel tell you her story.

I never doubted for a moment that Jesus loved that profoundly retarded little boy.  It didn’t matter that he would never sit with the kids in the back of the church and on a certain special night walk down the aisle, take the pastor by the hand, and invite Jesus into his heart.  It was entirely irrelevant that he could not quote a single verse of Scripture, that he would never go to high school, or that he would never be a dad.  I knew that Jesus loved Mason.

What I could not comprehend, what I could not accept, was that Jesus could love Mason’s mother, Anabel.  You see, I believed that in order for a person to accept me, to love me, I had to perform for him. My standard for getting love was performance-based, so I “performed” constantly, perfectly. In fact, I did not allow anyone to see me when I was not performing perfectly. I never had any close friends because I was convinced that if a person ever really got to know me, he wouldn’t like me.

Mace could never have performed for his parent’s love, or for anyone’s love, but oh, how they loved him.  His condition deteriorated to such a degree-and so rapidly-that they had to place him in an institution when he was very young. His parents enrolled him in the Enid State School for Mentally Handicapped Children. They drove regularly 120 miles to see him but occasionally also brought him home for a visit. 

On one particular visit, Mace had been with them since Thursday evening. On the following Saturday afternoon God painted a vivid picture of His great love for Anabel through Mason. She was standing at the kitchen sink, dreading what lay ahead. In just a few moments, she would be gathering Mace’s things together and taking him back to “his house.” She had done this many times before-and it was never easy-but today God had something in mind that would change her life forever.
 “I stood up to the sink again,” she continued. “More dishes, more washing, more crying - and thoughts, foreign to my way of thinking, began filtering into my conscious awareness.  I believe God spoke to me that day, and this is what He said: “ Anabel, you don’t look at your son and turn away in disgust because he’s sitting there with saliva drooling out of mouth; you don’t shake your head, repulsed because he has dinner all over his shirt or because he’s sitting in a dirty, smelly diaper when he ought to be able to take care of himself. Anabel, you don’t reject Mason because all of the dreams you had for him have been destroyed. You don’t reject him because he doesn’t perform for you. You love him, Anabel, just because he is yours. Mason doesn’t willfully reject your love, but you willfully reject Mine. I love you, Anabel, not because you’re neat or attractive, or because you do things well, not because you perform for Me but just because you’re Mine.”

And friend, that’s exactly how God feels about you.  He loves you just because you’re His.

Let’s Pray
Heavenly Father, thank You for loving me unconditionally.  You love me when I perform well, and when I fall flat on my face. Help me to love others the same. 
In Jesus’ Name,
Amen

Now It’s Your Turn
Do you ever feel that God loves you more when you perform well?

I’m guessing you said, “Yes.”  So tell me, what is wrong with that way of thinking?

 

LIT Bible Study

I'm sitting here listening to Markie McGinnis and Christie Polydore minister to the LIT youth about the love of God and the forgiveness of Christ, they are doing so well. Its moments like thes when I am so proud to be apart of God's plan in these young people's lives. I have posted a picture of them getting a "memory" card, they are to write down the first memory of when they felt forgiveness from Jesus. They are to keep this card for when they feel like they can't be forgiven or they have done to much to be forgiven, they look at this card and remember the feeling of being forgiven - some teens said they felt lighter, some said they finally felt like they could sleep at night, some said they felt like they could finally take a deep breath. It amazes me the condemnation that teens put on themselves, I pray that the LIT will understand at this young age that they can walk walk in forgiveness.

                                                                                                                            

Todays Devotional

JAMES 1:1-4

James, A servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes scattered abroad [among the Gentiles in the dispersion]: Greetings (rejoice)!

Consider it wholly joyful, my brethren, whenever you are enveloped in or encounter trials of any sort or fall into various temptations.

Be assured and understand that the trial and proving of your faith bring out endurance and steadfastness and patience.

But let endurance and steadfastness and patience have full play and do a thorough work, so that you may be [people] perfectly and fully developed [with no defects], lacking in nothing.

We will start with the original Greek.

Joyful - chara (khar-ah'): cheerfulness, calm delight, exceeding joy.

Temptations - peirasmos (pi-ras-mos'): a putting to proof, provocation, adversity, try.

Proving - dokimion (dok-im'-ee-on): a testing, trial, trustworthiness.

Bring Out - katergazomai (kat-er-gad'-zom-ahee): to work fully, accomplish, to finish.

Patience (both verses) hupomone (hoop-om-on-ay): cheerful endurance, constancy.

I think these verses are very interesting. Two things stood out the most for me.

One

In order to get the fruit of patience we must go through trials. The trials are what make us strong and help us to learn patience. The trials are like a training ground. You don't just get patience. You must earn it through experience and endurance.

Two

Not only do we have to go through the trials, but we must be calm and have a cheerful enduring attitude. As if the trial itself wasn't enough. LOL.

I don't know too many people that get excited over trials. The first thing that most of us do is ask God to take the trial away. Then we ask Him for patience. That is too funny. I think God has the best sense of humor. He truly is an AWESOME GOD!

What I believe James is trying to explain to us is that in this world we will have trials. There is no way out of it. It is part of life. I guess you can thank Adam and Eve for it. It is just the way it is. James is telling us that even though we must go through these trials, our Wonderful and Mighty God threw in a benefit.

The benefit is that when we go through these trials calmly, with a good attitude, and stand strong in our faith, we will become fully developed and lack nothing. Can you imagine lacking nothing?

I think this means that we will be so focused on the victory and the more we find joy in the midst of the trials they will eventually have no affect on us. That is truly a wonderful gift. To get to a point in your walk that your emotions do not run amuck every time something goes wrong in your life. To get to a place where you have a calmness and are cheerfully enduring.

That is my goal. I want that kind of faith. I want to lose the emotional upheaval and gain the victorious calm.

Live  today like its your last!

Ang

I woke up with this song running through my head!

Todays Devotional - Mother of the Year

Mother of the Year

by Micca Monda Campbell

"Her children arise and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her." Proverbs 31:28 (NIV)

Devotion:

I long to be a godly wife and mother, but my efforts to become this "ideal" woman stated in Proverbs can leave me grieved and depressed.

I felt especially defeated the year my youngest son started kindergarten. In Tennessee, kindergarteners follow a scattered schedule the first two weeks of school where half of the class attends one day and the rest comes the following day. It helps them adjust. For me it brought confusion.

On Tuesday, I took my son to school, kissed him good-bye, and headed home to work.

I was busy at the computer when the telephone interrupted my pace. "Hello?"

"Mrs. Campbell, this is Parker's teacher. I was wondering who would be picking him up from school today."

Stunned that I had forgotten my child, I jumped in the car and raced to the school. He stood on the sidewalk holding his teacher's hand with tears in his eyes and REJECTION stamped across his heart. I took him home, apologized profusely, and made his favorite meal for dinner. I felt like the worst mother ever.

Thursday, we returned to school. All was going well until I was, once again, interrupted by the phone. I had forgotten to pick up my child not once, but twice in the same week!

I sped to school on two wheels. This time he was standing with the room mother, who was obviously a true Proverbs 31 Woman. As she helped him buckle his seatbelt, I tried explaining myself.

"You're not going to believe this, but I did the same thing earlier this week."

"Yeah, I know." She replied bluntly.

I felt I'd been labeled a "bad mother," and I felt like a complete failure.

Later that same year, God encouraged me as a mother when ParentLife magazine named me one of eight "Mothers of the Year!" Parker's reaction to this surprising news was, "If they lived with us for a while, they'd probably reconsider."

Those were my thoughts exactly. In fact, I asked my husband how I could be given such a great and undeserving honor. With wisdom, he shared that maybe it was God's way of saying I'm doing better than I think.

His wisdom helped me put things into perspective. God never said I had to be perfect. That was my expectation. He never said that I wouldn't make mistakes or a wrong decision every now and then. Again, that was my hope. I had assumed that the Proverbs 31 lady did everything right and I was suppose to as well. The problem was, with all her great accomplishments, I never considered her "not so good" side.

Sometimes I let the bad out weigh the good. Perhaps the "Mother of the Year" award was God's way of saying, "Hang in there. You're doing better than you think, and I'm not the only one who notices."

Despite my many mistakes, perhaps my children will some day arise and call me blessed.

The next time you need encouragement, let God whisper to your heart: "I hear when you pray for your children, and I'm there when you teach them about who I am. I watch you love, care, and sacrifice for them. You're not perfect, but hang in there. You're doing better than you think."

Dear Lord, help me to be the mother my children deserve. Encourage my heart when I feel like a failure. Erase my errors from the hearts and minds of my children. Instead, help them to see Jesus in me, in Jesus' Name, Amen.

This devotion was excerpted from God's Purpose for Every Woman: A P31 Devotional Gen Eds. Lysa TerKeurst & Rachel Olsen

Application Steps:

Start a support group for moms in your neighborhood, school, or church.

Do something today to that will "recharge your batteries."

Reflections:

Get rid of "mommy" guilt. Let the good you do override the bad.

Is there something you need to ask your child's forgiveness for? This goes a long way in regaining your title.

Where do you find encouragement when you're overwhelmed as a mom?

Power Verses:

Deuteronomy 11: 18-21, "Fix these words of mine in your hearts and minds; tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Teach them to your children, talking about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates, so that your days and the days of your children may be many in the land that the Lord swore to give your forefathers, as many as the days that the heavens are above the earth." (NIV)

© 2008 by Micca Campbell. All rights reserved.


www.proverbs31.org

Rapunzel Rapunzel let down your hair!

Look Up

From www.rolemodelsofamerica.com

By Walterene Jones

This morning as I sat working, I had a CD of Kathy Triccoli playing in my office and she began singing “Turn your Eyes Upon Jesus” and my thoughts went back years ago when I wrote a Bible Study for Women based upon the Fairy Tale story of Repunzel. 

In the lesson I told the story about an ugly evil old witch who was so jealous of the beautiful baby girl born in the kingdom that she stole her away and took her to a far away land and locked her in a tall tower and made sure there were no mirrors or reflective surfaces in the tower.  Each day the ugly old witch would come and tell the girl that she looked just like her, so she grew up into a young woman not knowing any difference.  One day as she was on her balcony at the very top of the tower a handsome young prince saw the beautiful maiden and had to meet her.  When he could find no way up to her, he called up to her “Repunzel, Repunzel let down your golden hair”.  When he climbed up to her, she wouldn’t look at him in the face and would keep her face turned saying “I am too ugly for you to look upon”.  Lovingly and gently he took her face into his hands and turned her face to his and when she looked at her Prince face to face, for the first time she saw her true reflection in the eyes of her Prince.

Turn your Eyes Upon Jesus

O soul, are you weary and troubled?
No light in the darkness you see?
There’s a light for a look at the Savior,
And life more abundant and free!

Turn your eyes upon Jesus,
Look full in His wonderful face,
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim,
In the light of His glory and grace.

His Word shall not fail you—He promised;
Believe Him, and all will be well:
Then go to a world that is dying,
His perfect salvation to tell!

Turn your eyes upon Jesus,
Look full in His wonderful face,
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim,
In the light of His glory and grace.

Scripture also tells me…

Ps 33:18 - The LORD's eyes are on those who fear him, on those who wait with hope for his mercy

Ps 34:15 - The LORD's eyes are on righteous people. His ears hear their cry for help.

So I know that my Prince of Peace is watching me and all I have to do is look into my Lord’s face for strength and help and declare …

Ps 141:8 - But my eyes are fixed on you, O Sovereign Lord; in you I take refuge

Ps 121: 1-2 “I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help.  My help cometh from the Lord, which made heaven and earth.”

Ps 5:3   My voice shalt thou hear in the morning, O LORD; in the morning will I direct my prayer unto thee, and will look up.

By Walterene Jones

This morning as I sat working, I had a CD of Kathy Triccoli playing in my office and she began singing “Turn your Eyes Upon Jesus” and my thoughts went back years ago when I wrote a Bible Study for Women based upon the Fairy Tale story of Repunzel. 

In the lesson I told the story about an ugly evil old witch who was so jealous of the beautiful baby girl born in the kingdom that she stole her away and took her to a far away land and locked her in a tall tower and made sure there were no mirrors or reflective surfaces in the tower.  Each day the ugly old witch would come and tell the girl that she looked just like her, so she grew up into a young woman not knowing any difference.  One day as she was on her balcony at the very top of the tower a handsome young prince saw the beautiful maiden and had to meet her.  When he could find no way up to her, he called up to her “Repunzel, Repunzel let down your golden hair”.  When he climbed up to her, she wouldn’t look at him in the face and would keep her face turned saying “I am too ugly for you to look upon”.  Lovingly and gently he took her face into his hands and turned her face to his and when she looked at her Prince face to face, for the first time she saw her true reflection in the eyes of her Prince.

Turn your Eyes Upon Jesus

O soul, are you weary and troubled?
No light in the darkness you see?
There’s a light for a look at the Savior,
And life more abundant and free!

Turn your eyes upon Jesus,
Look full in His wonderful face,
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim,
In the light of His glory and grace.

His Word shall not fail you—He promised;
Believe Him, and all will be well:
Then go to a world that is dying,
His perfect salvation to tell!

Turn your eyes upon Jesus,
Look full in His wonderful face,
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim,
In the light of His glory and grace.

Scripture also tells me…

Ps 33:18 - The LORD's eyes are on those who fear him, on those who wait with hope for his mercy

Ps 34:15 - The LORD's eyes are on righteous people. His ears hear their cry for help.

So I know that my Prince of Peace is watching me and all I have to do is look into my Lord’s face for strength and help and declare …

Ps 141:8 - But my eyes are fixed on you, O Sovereign Lord; in you I take refuge

Ps 121: 1-2 “I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help.  My help cometh from the Lord, which made heaven and earth.”

Ps 5:3   My voice shalt thou hear in the morning, O LORD; in the morning will I direct my prayer unto thee, and will look up.

Devotional for today

A Father's Love
By: Melissa Ringstaff

"I have loved you with an everlasting love." Jeremiah 31:3

Whether you have loved God all of your life, or if you have never loved Him, He has loved you with an "everlasting love." It is a love like none other.

A father has just been handed his newborn baby. He looks down at the tiny fingers, the small nose, and the beautiful eyes of his child. This father knows a love like he has never known before. He loves this child more than he ever thought possible. He might even feel overwhelmed by the incredible responsibility that love will bring.

Does he love this baby because the baby loves him? Of course not. He loves the baby because it is a part of him. He helped to create the life he is holding in his hands. He loves the baby because it is his child.

He wants to see his child have a wonderful life. A life filled with happiness and success. He wants only the best for his child. He wants to do everything in his power to see that his child is given the best possible life.

I believe this is similar to how God feels about us. Imagine God standing beside this new dad. He reaches out and strokes the baby's soft cheek. He loves this child more than anyone ever could - even more than the baby's dad. And even more than a new father, our Heavenly Father wishes each of His children happiness and love.

"I know you don't know, yet, who I am, but I know everything about you," He tells the child. (Psalm 139)

"I created you in My image." (Genesis 1:27)

"I will be there for you when you are hurting and I will deliver you from your troubles." (Psalm 34;18; Psalm 54)

"I will do good by you all the days of your life. I will rejoice over you with all of My heart and soul." (Jeremiah 32: 40,41)

"I knew you before you were born. I knit you together in your mother's womb. You were written in My book before you were even made. (Psalm 139: 13-16)

"I love you so much that I sent my son, Jesus Christ, to die for you, so that you might live with me for eternity. All you have to do is believe in Him with all of your heart, mind, and soul." (John 3:16)

"I hope that you will accept him as your Savior, so that in the last day, we might be together." (John 6: 40)

God's love is immeasurable by human standards. He can heal your hurts and take away your pain. All you have to do is trust in Him. Make a decision today to return the love that has been freely offered. "For this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins." ( 1 John 4:10 )

About the Author:
Melissa Ringstaff is the Director and Founder of A Virtuous Woman, a non-profit ministry for women based on the Scriptures of Proverbs 31. She lives in the beautiful Appalachian mountains of Harlan, Kentucky with her husband and five children. You can contact Melissa online at http://www.avirtuouswoman.org or by email at:melissaringstaff@avirtuouswoman.org