Ephesians 2:4-10 "But because of His great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions-it is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with Him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages He might show the incomparable riches of His grace, expressed in His kindness to us in Christ Jesus. For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God, not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do."In all these places in this verse where we find the words us and you, place in your name and reread the verse and allow the words to sink into your heart. Let those sweet words of grace and mercy fall upon you today. To read God's word is so special, but we at times forget that it is His love letter to us. Instead of reading as it was for someone else, read the words He has placed in scripture as if He were speaking straight to you. For me at times I often find it hard to believe He loves me this much, for who am I for Him to give His life? But He did. He gave His life so you and I could have life today, tomorrow and forever with Him. We too often get tied up into thinking Jesus would not love us for the pasts we have lived, for things in which we have done, but that is wrong thinking. He died on the cross just for those very things. There is nothing that can separate us from Him. There is nothing we can do for Him to love us. We can not work our way to heaven. When we place our self in that position we are taking away what Jesus has done. It doesn't matter what we have done, all that matters is what He has done for us and is still doing today. There is no greater gift we can receive than His gift of love. He has ready for you, it is wrapped with His love and sacrifice. He isn't asking of anything, but to just accept Him for who He is, to believe in Him and allow Him to live within us.
With my children, nothing could make me love them more or less. Nothing they do can change the way I feel for them. If I based my love for them on the things in which they have done for me, or will do, that cancels out my love all together and just bases it on the things they do. That is not love, for with our children we have unconditional love. The same is with Jesus. His love never changes for me. Nothing I do will make Him love me more or less. It is not my works, my gifts, or anything I do that makes Him love me. He loves me because I am His child.
If our love was based on the things we did, we would boast about the very things we were doing. Jesus takes all that away, and just says, love me, that's all. I am so thankful for His grace and mercy that He has freely given. I know I mess up daily in my walk, in my life, and I could in no way begin to earn my way to heaven. We can get so caught up in the things in that we do, the gifts we give to others and all we seem to be doing for Jesus. We can get so busy being busy for Jesus that we lose sight of Him. We tend to take the spotlight off Him and place it on us. It is not about us and the things we are doing. It is all about Him. I know everything I have, every blessing, every gift in my life is from Him. They are things He has placed in my life and He knew ahead of time just when to place them there for His glory.
One day I hope to hear the words, well done, from Jesus when I see Him face to face, but in hoping to hear those words I know today it is nothing I can ever do. It will be my faith in Him, my belief in Him and my trust. It will be for seeking Him daily and following His will.
There is nothing comparable to His love. We seek to find love, we seek to receive love from others, but there is no love greater than the One who died for you and me. Once we realize just how great His love is, we can stop seeking in this world for the kind of love to fill us, for there is no love like His.
