hope – Page 21 – Broken Believers

The Hidden Smile of God, [Discovery]

Imagine for just a moment, you can actually see the face of God. Is He…?

angry, seething with a vindictive hostility
rolling His eyes, amused, maybe a bit perplexed
disturbed, frustrated, ready to give up on you
not looking at all, bored, detached, not caring
smiling at you, like a proud Father?

Three simple verses for the God’s ‘face-seeking’ person.

^{13 “}If you look for me wholeheartedly, you will find me. ¹⁴I will be found by you,” says the Lord.”

Jeremiah 29:13-14

^{3 “}Long ago the Lord said to Israel: “I have loved you, my people, with an everlasting love. With unfailing love I have drawn you to myself.”

Jeremiah 31:3

^{32 “}Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.”

Luke 12:32

There are many, many more like these three. (But I didn’t want to scare you.)

God’s love is not logical, or mechanical. and you can’t see His face based on your performance. You simply just can’t do enough. So we all must come to Him the same way— on our knees. God’s love is outrageously understood, it is completely undeserved and perhaps just a bit scandalous. So settle this now, you’ll never, ever be good enough, (but you can be bad enough).

I believe the face of God is smiling on us, and He ‘lights up’ when we come into His presence. He is incredibly gracious. You can thank Jesus— it was His cross and resurrection that made access to God possible. (O.K., just one more verse.)

^{19 “}So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God.”

Ephesians 2:19

There is a freedom that comes when you quit struggling and simply believe in ‘the smiles of God,’ and when you know deep-down that you belong. Everyone who comes to Him comes by the goodness (and sacrifice) of Someone else. And that is remarkably good news.

Hallelujah,

My Imagination Isn’t Enough

“Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us”

Eph. 3:20

God has given us a gift, it is called ‘imagination’ (at least that is the word we use). This gift allows us to grasp concepts, and trust the future for the best. But imagination often gets interpreted as ‘imaginary’. That is so sad. Because they have nothing at all in common. It’s worth noting, that the Kingdom of God has absolutely nothing to do with ‘imaginary’, but it has everything to do with ‘reality’.

The most real book in the world, is the Bible. It communicates to us on a very comprehensive level. Each of us, turning to the same chapter and verse will understand the essential core element, but we also get another layer; God speaks again and we now have ‘food’ for our individual souls. Perhaps, if it might not be too bold: the Bible world is the real world.

If we insist on functioning out of our stodgy, inflexible minds we’ll find no comfort in a God that speaks to us on this ‘supernatural’ level. There well maybe a certain ‘weirdness factor’ and you can’t imagine the personal chaos and confusion that develops then. Especially if we dared to give into these ‘revolutionary’ ideas of having this direct connection with God. (Sweet Lord, I might just be the ‘next’ Noah!)

Imagination has been given to us in order to see better; to see into the real world. They can be compared to glasses, putting them on will allow us to see clearly into this terrain of faith. Purity of heart will help us to understand the things we are looking at clearly. When we enter into this gift of imagination, we will see the things held back from general consumption, and held in reserve for the ‘pure in heart’.

We really should grow this idea in our Christian walk of using our imagination for God’s glory. He is sitting on the edge of His throne waiting to give us ‘bone-shaking’ understandings, if we will just reach out in His direction. This will require us to keep our hearts pure, but that shouldn’t be a significant issue when so much is at stake.

ybic, Bryan

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Present Tense Prodigals

“So he returned home to his father. And while he was still a long way off, his father saw him coming. Filled with love and compassion, he ran to his son, embraced him, and kissed him. ²¹His son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against both heaven and you, and I am no longer worthy of being called your son.

Luke 15:20-21, NLT

The Parable of the Prodigal Son has typically been taught as a ‘once upon a time’ event in the life of one wayward youth. We understand it to be such. The prodigal returns to his Father, case closed. It is a remarkable story that resonates to every broken believer.

But what if I told you that this parable is present tense. That we are continuously wandering, spending our inheritance and living off the wealth of our Father. We feel bad about this, we repent and return, only to embark on another foray into sin of our own choosing. It happens all the time.

My point is this. We seem to be always the prodigal. We never seem to outgrow this. We are constantly coming to our senses, and returning home. We seem to never get the point that our personal sin as eternal consequences. We live like there is no tomorrow, except we have to sober up and realize we have wandered far from our home.

The story of the prodigal is written to us who have repeatedly (that means very often) find themselves a good distance from where we should be. We find ourselves feeding the pigs again. We abhor our choices, and wonder again if our Father will take us back just one more time. Reason says ‘No!,’ but faith says ‘Yes!’

God’s love for us is greater than all our evil wanderings. It extends to the ups and downs of our vacillating discipleship. He sees it all and fully accepts us as His returning son. We will never tire out His constant love. We can feel ashamed of our recent behavior, but that changes nothing. We belong to Him, even if we feel wretched.

There are belivers who are overwhelmed by their sense of sin. Some of this is inflated by the devil. And yet they feel estranged from the Church. They know what they’ve done, and they can find no excuse for their actions. They’ve wandered again (for the 100th time).

The Father’s love is not subject to your obedience.

Grace is not some meager thing doled out in some stingy manner. It is given outrageously to each son or daughter without limits. Rascals are included. God is not a miser.

“But his father said to the servants, ‘Quick! Bring the finest robe in the house and put it on him. Get a ring for his finger and sandals for his feet. ²³And kill the calf we have been fattening. We must celebrate with a feast, ²⁴for this son of mine was dead and has now returned to life. He was lost, but now he is found.’ So the party began.

Luke 15:22-24

‘One, and your done’ doesn’t apply to your heavenly Father. His love for you can’t be reduced to this level. Pick yourself up, leave the pigs, and come home again.

For My Friends in Battle

^“And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns.”

Philippians 1:6

Three simple verses for the God’s ‘face-seeking’ person.

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ybic, Bryan

Share this:

The Father’s love is not subject to your obedience.

Share this:

“And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns.”

Share this:

^“And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns.”