God says He is the God of hope, the God of peace, the God of comfort, and the God of second chances.

Because we were born into Adam’s family, we will never find these things on our own.

But when we were brought into the family of God and given a new birth into a life by His Spirit, then the Father, the Source, freely gives all these things to His children. 

Because He loves us.

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Wake up! Open your eyes. Today, you write your own psalms.

Every child of God can identify with so much of what is written in the book of Psalms: everything is there, from despair, discouragement, hopelessness, and cries for a new heart to dances of joy, celebration, victory, thankfulness and awed worship.

The question posed yesterday asked what God’s agape has enacted in your life. If your mind needs priming, just page through the psalms and read it all there. Because He loves His children, the Holy God of the universe heals our diseases, blots out the stains of our sin, defeats our enemies, arms us with His weapons, leads beside still waters, satisfies desires with good things, renews our strength, hides us in times of trouble, guides with His counsel, holds us as we walk through fire and flood …

And that’s just the beginning of the list! Sounds like an abundant life to me. Just what Christ came to give us.

So wake up! See everything God’s love does in your life. And start writing your own psalms, if not in black and white, then in your heart and mind and mouth.

Be at rest once more, oh my soul,
     for the Lord has been good to you.
For you, O Lord, have delivered
     my soul from death,
     my eyes from tears,
     my feet from stumbling,
that I may walk before my Lord
     in the land of the living.

I am walking in the land of the living because He loves me. My cup overflows.

Amen.

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Scripture: Psalm 116:7-9 (NIV)

Warning: I may break my promise today. How is it possible to limit myself to one or two short paragraphs when writing about agape?

My Bible includes a word study section, giving definitions of a select list of Hebrew and Greek words prominent in the Scriptures. Here’s the definition of agape, the Greek word used most often for Christ’s love:

“The attitude or emotion of deep affection for another person, with a focus on loving action and not feelings alone.”

God’s love for us focuses on loving action! What if, instead, He were a god who merely sat on a celestial throne and regarded us with affection yet never came into our lives? 

What in your life has come from God’s loving action?  Where do you see His hand? How has He expressed His agape  to you?

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p.s. To correctly type agape, I need that little line above the “e”. Can anyone tell me how to do that?

Jesus said He came to this world for one thing: to give us life.

I am the good shepherd…My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life … So I sacrifice my life for the sheep. 

What kind of love is this? A holy, holy God looks on us and knows that we will always be afflicted with wandering and rebellion. And yet He wants us to know Him and love Him.

And so He heals us by suffering Himself, taking the punishment that would bring us peace.

But he was pierced for our transgressions,
     he was crushed for our iniquities;
the punishment that brought us peace
         was upon him,
and by his  wounds we are healed.

How can we ever grasp the depth of such love?

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Scripture: from John 10; Isaiah 53: 5 (NLT)

God has had to break down some barriers between us. One of those barriers was my perception of Him as a stern and demanding authority whom I had to please with my thoughts and actions … or else!  

I began to understand His love for me when words like this began to break through: 

I have called you by name; you are mine.

He goes on to say that I am precious to Him, honored and loved. He created and formed me for His glory. And because I wandered and got myself in deep trouble, He paid a ransom to get me back. He says,

You have been chosen to know me,
     believe in me,
and understand that I alone am God.

Wow. How those words from the Almighty have changed my relationship with Him!

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Scripture: from Isaiah 43 (NLT)