Out of our past, into God’s future

We stand between the past and the future. What kind of people will we be as we move out of our past and into God’s future? God calls us to be His people. He calls us to do His work. Let us commit ourselves to being His people and doing His work. Sometimes, in God’s work, we wonder what is going on. We wonder, “Where is God in all of this?” We need the encouragement of God’s Word: “He knows the way that I take” (Job 23:10). We need to be assured of the faithfulness of God (Lamentations 3:23). We need to look up – and see Jesus. He is our Saviour. He died for our sins. He gives us true and lasting joy. How does His joy fill our hearts? We return to Him. We are revived by Him. We rejoice in Him. His joy gives us strength for serving Him.

God loves us – and He wants His Name to be glorified. Do we want God to be glorified among us? He will be glorified when we commit ourselves more fully to Him. May God help us to move His future – ready to be the kind of people upon whom He has promised to pour out His blessing. How are we to enjoy His blessing? Before we can enjoy His blessing, we must see ourselves as we really are – and we must see Him as He really is.  We are sinners who need to be saved by God’s grace. God is holy. God is love. In His holiness, He shows us our need to be saved by Him. In His love, He saves us – setting our feet on a new pathway: “the High Way of Holiness” (Isaiah 35:8).

“Love Is God” Or “”God Is Love”?

Some people begin with their own idea of “love” and then say, “That’s what God is like.” They may dip into the Bible, reading their favourite passages. They will not take the trouble and make the time for reading the whole Bible. They say, “Why bother putting a lot of time and effort into studying the Bible. We already know what God is like.” They quote the words, “God is love” (1 John 4:8). What they really mean is, “Love is God.” When the Bible says, “God is love”, it doesn’t encourage us to start from our own idea of “love.” It encourages us to begin with God. We learn of Him as we read His Word. As we learn of His love, we learn that it is a holy love. God’s love is a holy love because God is a holy God. The difference between “love is God” and “God is love” cannot be overemphasized. To say “All you need is love. Love is all you need” is not the same as saying, “We need God.” When we say, “We need God”, we will not say, “all you need is love.” We will say, “We need God’s love and we also need His holiness.” Where do we learn of both God’s love and His holiness? – It’s from His Word that we learn of His holy love. We bow before Him in worship, echoing the words of Isaiah 6:3 – “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord … ” We rejoice in the wonder of His love, giving thanks for the great words of Isaiah 6:7 – “Your sin is forgiven.”