Comfort from His Love
In Philippians 2:1, the Apostle Paul lists several things that believers in Christ have
in Christ - encouragement from being united with Christ, comfort from his love, fellowship with the Holy Spirit, tenderness, compassion. The phrase "comfort from his love" caught my attention so I started to think about what is this love? this comfort?
It's the love of God the Father who determined that it was good to create you. Love that wanted you in this world. Love that is gracious and compassionate toward you. Love that is demonstrated by the Father sending His Son (John 3:16). It is the love of the Son, Jesus Christ, who "while we were still sinners" laid down His life to die for us. Love of Jesus that empowered Him to serve when He is the One who is worthy of being served by all. It's the fruitful and productive love of the Holy Spirit that is powerful and creative. Love that transforms and renews. It is love that covers a multitude of sins; love that never fails; love that never ends but is everlasting and true. Love that is unconditional and voluntary; love that hold nothing back and goes on and on and on.....
It's this love - the love we experience by being united with Christ that comforts us. God's love brings us a sense of well-being, security, strength, hope, and the ability to rest.
My son Timmy knows alot about comfort. When he was an infant, his favorite way to take an afternoon nap was to be held by his Mom or Dad. Our presence was very comforting to him. He felt safe. He knew he could trust us. He was at peace. I loved holding him and cherished the experience but after a certain length of time, I did have to put him down to go on with my other tasks and responsiblities. Often that was the end of the nap. Sometimes, he managed to make the transfer.
Even now as I hold, rock, and sing to Timmy, I often think about the love of God. One song that has become a "regular" for us during these times is a Vineyard chorus, "Arms of Love". I'm drawn to it because it reminds me how we are each held in God's arms. This is our safe place, our place of comfort. This is where we find our peace, healing, encouragement, forgiveness, and refreshment. And the good news is that God is not like us. When we run to His arms to receive His comfort, He never needs to put us down in order to make us dinner, check email, or rake the yard. He scoops us up and holds us and will continue to uphold us as long as we stay put. There is always room in His arms of love. And in His love, we find our comfort.
in Christ - encouragement from being united with Christ, comfort from his love, fellowship with the Holy Spirit, tenderness, compassion. The phrase "comfort from his love" caught my attention so I started to think about what is this love? this comfort?
It's the love of God the Father who determined that it was good to create you. Love that wanted you in this world. Love that is gracious and compassionate toward you. Love that is demonstrated by the Father sending His Son (John 3:16). It is the love of the Son, Jesus Christ, who "while we were still sinners" laid down His life to die for us. Love of Jesus that empowered Him to serve when He is the One who is worthy of being served by all. It's the fruitful and productive love of the Holy Spirit that is powerful and creative. Love that transforms and renews. It is love that covers a multitude of sins; love that never fails; love that never ends but is everlasting and true. Love that is unconditional and voluntary; love that hold nothing back and goes on and on and on.....
It's this love - the love we experience by being united with Christ that comforts us. God's love brings us a sense of well-being, security, strength, hope, and the ability to rest.
My son Timmy knows alot about comfort. When he was an infant, his favorite way to take an afternoon nap was to be held by his Mom or Dad. Our presence was very comforting to him. He felt safe. He knew he could trust us. He was at peace. I loved holding him and cherished the experience but after a certain length of time, I did have to put him down to go on with my other tasks and responsiblities. Often that was the end of the nap. Sometimes, he managed to make the transfer.
Even now as I hold, rock, and sing to Timmy, I often think about the love of God. One song that has become a "regular" for us during these times is a Vineyard chorus, "Arms of Love". I'm drawn to it because it reminds me how we are each held in God's arms. This is our safe place, our place of comfort. This is where we find our peace, healing, encouragement, forgiveness, and refreshment. And the good news is that God is not like us. When we run to His arms to receive His comfort, He never needs to put us down in order to make us dinner, check email, or rake the yard. He scoops us up and holds us and will continue to uphold us as long as we stay put. There is always room in His arms of love. And in His love, we find our comfort.
WOW Tracy! Great job keeping up with the Wednesday postings. I really appreciated this today - a tough day at work and I realize that this is not what matters. My relationship with God is so much more important than a relationship with a boss, it is so much more loving and gracious and allows me to be messy and make mistakes in my life. Thank you for posting this. I had forgotten about the song "arms of love" and it used to be SO powerful for me, I think I will have to bring it back into my prayer life.
ReplyDeleteKeep up the blogging!