A
daily, Bible-based perspective of hope, encouragement and
exhortation.
Friday,
September 17,
2021
"The
Wonder Of It All"
Listen to this message on your audio player.
"Show the wonder of Your great love, You who
save by Your right hand those who take refuge in You
from their foes" (Psalm 17:7). "For God so loved the
world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that
whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have
eternal life" (John 3:16). "See what great love the
Father has lavished on us!" (1 John 3:1). "To Him who
loves us" (Revelation 1:5b).
There's the wonder of sunset at evening,
The wonder as sunrise I see;
But the wonder of wonders that thrills my soul
Is the wonder that God loves me.
The wonder as sunrise I see;
But the wonder of wonders that thrills my soul
Is the wonder that God loves me.
There's the wonder of springtime and harvest,
The sky, the stars, the sun;
But the wonder of wonders that thrills my soul
Is a wonder that's only begun.
The sky, the stars, the sun;
But the wonder of wonders that thrills my soul
Is a wonder that's only begun.
Do you remember the wonders of childhood
discovery?
- The first
time you saw falling leaves
- The first
time you tasted ice cream
- The first time you felt snow on your face
- The first
time you smelled chocolate
- The first
time you heard a train whistle
Probably not. For most of us these happened
in our pre-memory days. But we can see it now as
children explore the world around them, experiencing its
wonders. In our lead photo the little boy seems to be
enthralled by the falling leaves, perhaps trying to
catch them.
Do you remember when you first became aware
that God loves you? For many it was early in life,
perhaps in the pre-memory stage of life. For many of us
the first song we learned was probably "Jesus Loves Me".
Is it possible to hear something that's
incredibly wonderful so often that we take it for
granted and lose the wonder of such an experience? Sure
it is. In R.C. Sproul's book titled "Now, That's a Good
Question!" one of the questions is "Why does God
love us so much?" Think about it for a moment.
LET'S change the words to personalize the question: "Why
does God love me so much?"
You know what? Theologian R.C. Sproul had a hard time answering that question and so will you. We are left to wonder at such love.
You know what? Theologian R.C. Sproul had a hard time answering that question and so will you. We are left to wonder at such love.
David wrote Psalm 17 when he was crying out to God
for relief from "the
wicked who are out to destroy me, from my mortal enemies
who surround me" (v.9). Don't you
sometimes feel this way! And of course for many of our
brothers and sisters this is quite literal on a daily basis.
Just consider the horrors of the Islamic terrorists upon Christian believers in so many places. We often hear from a Nigerian reader and get regular updates from a retired missionary to Nigeria in our Sunday School class. So often it doesn't even make the major news, in part, because I believe there is an attempt to intentionally suppress such news. Yesterday I read an article with the headline, "Deep in Hiding, Afghan Christians Cling to Faith". (Caution: This is a very distressing article)
Just consider the horrors of the Islamic terrorists upon Christian believers in so many places. We often hear from a Nigerian reader and get regular updates from a retired missionary to Nigeria in our Sunday School class. So often it doesn't even make the major news, in part, because I believe there is an attempt to intentionally suppress such news. Yesterday I read an article with the headline, "Deep in Hiding, Afghan Christians Cling to Faith". (Caution: This is a very distressing article)
Whenever we are tempted to complain we need to ask
the Holy Spirit to bring these fellow Christians to mind,
turning our complaining hearts to compassionate intercessory
prayer on their behalf.
The very heart of David's prayer request in Psalm 17 was, "Show the wonder of your great love". Now surely David already knew of God's great love when he wrote this, yet he cried out to God for a greater revelation or perhaps he was really asking God to bring back the fresh "awe" and "wonder" that comes when the great love of God is first revealed to us.
Throughout the Scriptures we have an abundance of truth that discloses the love of God to us, yet we should make this our request today as well: "Show me the wonder of Your great love." And we might also add, "Help me also to show the wonder of Your great love to others as You reveal Yourself to me."
John 3:16 is surely among the most familiar verses in the Bible and is the first reference to love in John's gospel. Later the same apostle John wrote concerning this love: "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!" (1 John 3:1).
Perhaps you have been hurt in the past or you are presently experiencing pain, either physical or emotional. If you have experienced the meanness of this world or feel deep personal loss today, choose to rejoice in God's unsurpassed, eternal love and His abundant mercy available to all who draw near to Christ.
The very heart of David's prayer request in Psalm 17 was, "Show the wonder of your great love". Now surely David already knew of God's great love when he wrote this, yet he cried out to God for a greater revelation or perhaps he was really asking God to bring back the fresh "awe" and "wonder" that comes when the great love of God is first revealed to us.
Throughout the Scriptures we have an abundance of truth that discloses the love of God to us, yet we should make this our request today as well: "Show me the wonder of Your great love." And we might also add, "Help me also to show the wonder of Your great love to others as You reveal Yourself to me."
John 3:16 is surely among the most familiar verses in the Bible and is the first reference to love in John's gospel. Later the same apostle John wrote concerning this love: "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!" (1 John 3:1).
Perhaps you have been hurt in the past or you are presently experiencing pain, either physical or emotional. If you have experienced the meanness of this world or feel deep personal loss today, choose to rejoice in God's unsurpassed, eternal love and His abundant mercy available to all who draw near to Christ.
The One True God has revealed Himself as a
loving Being. May we never grow weary of this truth or
ever take it for granted. Accept God's love today my
friend and rest in it!
O, the wonder of it all! The wonder of it all!
Just to think that God loves me.
O, the wonder of it all! The wonder of it all!
Just to think that God loves me.
Just to think that God loves me.
O, the wonder of it all! The wonder of it all!
Just to think that God loves me.
Be encouraged today, (Hebrews 3:13)
Stephen & Brooksyne Weber
Daily
prayer: Father, we thank You for Jesus who
came with a mission to die on the Cross as a
sacrifice for our sins to reconcile us to You. This
is the wonder of Your great love for all and the
other wonder is that it is imparted to me
personally. I can express agape' love to others
because Jesus modeled it, taught it through
Scripture, and the Holy Spirit graciously provides
it through us as we lay down our own preference in
deference to Your perfect will and example! Amen.
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& Brooksyne
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