AUGUST 27, 2023

 “If we are deeply moved by the sight of his love for us, it detaches our hearts from other would-be saviors.” 

― Timothy Keller, Counterfeit Gods: The Empty Promises of Money, Sex, and Power, and the Only Hope That Matters

PSALM 132-135

1How good and pleasant it is

when God’s people live together in unity!

2It is like precious oil poured on the head,

running down on the beard,

running down on Aaron’s beard,

down on the collar of his robe.

3It is as if the dew of Hermon

were falling on Mount Zion.

For there the Lord bestows his blessing,

even life forevermore.( 133 )

1 CORINTHIANS 8

We know that “We all possess knowledge.” But knowledge puffs up while love builds up. 2Those who think they know something do not yet know as they ought to know. 3But whoever loves God is known by God.^a

JOURNAL 

Love is the essence of God. Love is God's calling card, it is his chief defining characteristic. In all things throughout the Bible it is God's love that comes through in the end. Not his anger or his wrath...but his love.

When I think about this in my own life, I can see God moving and working but I can also see other things...fear, jealousy, anger, greed, sloth. It is in these things that brotherhood is sacrificed. It is here that I must repent. It is here that I surrender my pride and renew my hope in God and his love.

I am realizing more and more that love is given through intentional actions. Many times it is in the little things...not the big public ones. Putting my phone down to really listen. Turning the TV off and reaching out to someone. Getting off the couch and exercising and experiencing God's creation. Resisting the urge to wallow in self-pity and instead giving in sacrificial ways. This is when I feel God the closest...this is when his presence overwhelms me.

Father forgive me for my arrogance and selfishness and laziness. Forgive all the ways that I have run from you and then tried to justify myself and my actions. I realize that I have sought refuge in other people and things rather than in you. You are the one true God and obeying you is the only thing that will soothe my anxious soul.

9But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. 10That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong. - 

2 CORINTHIANS 12:9-10