The Love Of God In Me

THE LOVE OF GOD IN ME

“For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that whoever believes in Him shall not
perish but have eternal life” John 3:16

God created human-being in his own image to rule over every living creatures (Genesis 1:27-28). He saw all that he has made and it was very good. Then the cruelty of Satan in the form of serpent dominated the woman. When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she ate it and gave some to her husband. The Lord cursed the serpent and the defeat of Satan was first prophesized. “He will crush your head, and you will strike his heel” (Genesis 3:15). We all know how God tested Abraham. Abraham chose to obey God. Put yourself into the shoes of Abraham. If God appeared before you, asking you to dedicate your only child to be his missionary, many of us would consider it to be just a mere dream. Abraham feared God, because he has not withheld his only son from God. Have we ever imagined how much God loves us? Jesus Christ died on the cross for all of us.

I feel extremely blessed and lucky when I look at my colleague who works with me, as almost all of them are not Christian. I respect their faith. What distinguished me from them and makes me proud is that, I have a living God. Many failed to realize this. Being born in a Christian family where my dad is Pastor or a missionary does not make any difference. It’s purely based on my understanding and the relationship I shared with the living God. We all love the Lord but are hesitant to say “I love you Lord.” We kissed our wife, husband, children, boyfriend or
girlfriend thousand times but are reluctant in portraying the same kind of love to the living God. We all know the ministry of Jesus Christ. He never differentiates people. When I’m on my way to office, I came across beggars of all kind and acknowledged them quite often. But, when a beggar suffering from leprosy approaches me, I usually rolled up the windshield of the car and pretend not to see him or her. I don’t want to see the half eaten, blood soaking bandaged fingers. Then I realized who I am to God. None can imagine the love that God has for us. Jesus Christ still prayed for those who crucified Him, from the cross. That’s how great our Lord is.

We were once a sinner, now chosen to be His messenger. I’m not ashamed of the Gospel and proud to be called as the “Children of God.” We all have seen, heard people torturing Christians, Christian missionaries in many ways. Some were burnt alive, some of them were beaten to death, some of them, beheaded and many of them are threatened and forced to re-convert themselves to other religions. What would you feel if you happened to be the victim? This small question is just big enough to start counting the blessings that we received from God every moment. Let’s recall our childhood days. I have never thought that God will bring me this far. All the miles of my journey have proved my Lord
true. I have nothing, no wealth, but the love of the Lord is what I have and will continue to treasure it till the end. I’m not sure how many of us have listened to Reggie and Ladyelove Smith singing “You raise me up” in the Canadian Homecoming Music Video produced by Bill and Gloria Gaither. Here’s a part of the song –

    “When I am down and, oh my soul so weary; when troubles come and my heart burdened be; then, I am still
     and wait here in the silence, until you come and sit awhile with me.
    You raise me up, to more so I can stand on mountains; you raise me up, to walk on stormy seas; I am strong,
    when I am on your shoulders; you raise me up to more than I can be.”

God raised me up to more than I can be. We depend on the Lord for everything, yet we failed to trust Him wholeheartedly. I had an opportunity to attend a Healing Ministry by Peter Youngreen some 13-14 years back and I still remember mom, who keep on telling me that I have to give all my faith to the Lord, trust him and have full confidence that I will be healed. I was full of surprise. I was too young to understand the living God. Many of us lack spiritual maturity. We tend to doubt our faith. Consider this, if today happened to be the day of the Second Coming, where do you think you would be? I feel that, half of the people who consider themselves Christian might be left out. This may include someone who is very is close to you. It’s high time that we started realizing this  fact. After Jesus healed the boy possessed by demon, the disciples went to him and asked him privately, “Why couldn’t we drive it out?” He calmly replied “because you have so little faith. If you have faith as small as mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, move from here to there and it will be moved. Nothing will be impossible for you” (Matthew 17: 14-20).

It’s been great 20 plus years for me as a Christian, but I considered myself as an infant spiritually. Let’s revive ourselves. God is the master of all. Everything is in His hand, Success, wealth, wisdom and everything that we can think of. When I need something I prayed to the Lord and many a times, my prayer remains unanswered. That’s when I questioned my faith. I failed him and betrayed him many times, but He always forgives me. God never punished his children. Instead, he sacrificed himself on our behalf to show how much he loved us. This reminds me of a famous poster which most of us might have come across – “I asked Jesus how much you love me, this much, He answered. Then he stretched out his arms and died.” This is the eternal love.
How do we pay him back? “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few” (Matthew 9:37). Jesus Christ must have cried inside when he say this to his disciples. The reason is you and me. Here’s an example – if my dad sold out his Maruti car for my education, I would certainly planned to buy him back a luxurious Mercedes car. This sounds funny but this is what our motive is. Whenever we faced hardships in life we complained to the Lord, “Lord, have you forgotten me?” For Christ’s sake, Paul delighted in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecution, in difficulties and boasts of all the more gladly about his weakness so that God’s power may rest on him. Paul was given a thorn as a messenger of Satan to torrent him. “Three times I pleaded to the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness” (2 Corinthians 11: 8-9). Why do we still complain to the Lord? Our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed on us (Rome 8: 18). Jesus Christ sacrificed himself, bearing all the pain and died on the cross. Even if I am crucified thousand times, I still won’t be able to pay him back.

Let’s ponder upon the God’s purposes in us and work together for the glory of His kingdom. You may not be a missionary, an evangelist or a Pastor, but you can at least pray for them. No contribution is small, for God sees the heart. Your loving wife, husband, children, near and dear ones can be left out if God comes today. Let’s remember the “Great Commission” and be not ashamed of the Gospel.

    “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of     the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you     always, to the very end of the age.”
                                                                                                                           (Matthew 28: 18-20)

Amen.