Devotions

Let me give you one of the most powerful verses in all of scripture. Proverbs give us these prophetic words of Christ: “Then I was beside him as a master craftsman; and I was daily his delight, rejoicing always before him, rejoicing in his inhabited world, and my delight was with the sons of men” (Proverbs 8:30-31, NKJV).

Beloved, we are the sons being mentioned here. From the very foundations of the earth, God foresaw a body of believers joined to his Son. Even then the Father delighted and rejoiced in these sons. Jesus testifies, “I was my Father’s delight, the joy of his being, and now all who turn to me in faith are his delight as well!”

So how do we love Jesus in return? John answers, “By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and keep his commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome” (1 John 5:2-3).

What are his commandments? The gospel says, “Then one of them, a lawyer, asked him [Christ] a question, testing him, and saying, ‘Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law?’ Jesus said to him, ‘”You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.” This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.’” (Matthew 22:35-40).

The first and most important command is to love the Lord with all our heart, soul and mind. We’re to hold nothing back from him. The second is that we love our neighbor as ourselves. These two simple, non-grievous commands sum up all of God’s law.

Jesus is saying here that we cannot be in communion with God or walk in his glory if we bear a grudge against anyone. Therefore, loving God means loving every brother and sister in the same way we’ve been loved by the Father.

Many Christians talk about intimacy with the Lord, walking with him, knowing him, having fellowship with him; but we can’t have true communion with God unless we receive into our hearts the full revelation of his love, grace and mercy.

Communion with God consists of two things:
1. Receiving the love of the Father
2. Loving him in return

You can spend hours each day in prayer, telling the Lord how much you love him, but that isn’t communion. If you haven’t received his love, you haven’t had communion with him. You simply can’t share intimacy with the Lord unless you’re secure in his love for you.

I know when I come to my Lord, I’m not coming to a hard, fierce, demanding Father. He doesn’t wait for me with an angry countenance. He doesn’t trail me, waiting for me to fail so he can say, “I caught you!”

No, I’m coming to a Father who has revealed himself to me as pure, unconditional love. He’s kind and tenderhearted, full of grace and mercy, anxious to lift all my cares and burdens. I know he’ll never turn me down when I call on him.

The prophet Zephaniah says something incredible about God’s love for us. He writes, “The Lord your God in your midst, the Mighty One, will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing” (Zephaniah 3:17, NKJV).

God rests in his love for his people. In Hebrew, the phrase “He will rest in his love” reads, “He shall be silent because of His love.” God is saying, in essence, “I’ve found my true love, and I’m satisfied. I don’t need to look elsewhere because I have no complaint, and I won’t take my love back. My love is a settled matter!”

He cares about everything concerning me (see Psalm 100). Can you receive his word that he loved you before the world was created, before humankind existed, before you were born? Can you accept that he loved you even after you fell into Adam’s sinful ways and became an enemy to him? That’s why I come into his courts with praise and thanksgiving because I’m thankful for who my God is.

Sunday after Sunday, you hear the Word preached, and maybe you leave, thinking, “One more thing to check off the list; I’ve got to do this now.” Now if you come to church all 52 Sundays of the year, are you going to get 52 new things every year that you’ve got to do?

Some of you have been coming to church for 10 years or more. That’s over 500 things you’d better be doing, and you’d better be doing them right!  You’d better be doing them well, or the pastor will preach on them again. Next time, he’ll preach harder and get madder at you too. Who wants to go to a church like that? Who wants to live faith like that?

It’s enough to make someone think, “Isn’t there something that’s beyond a pastor or a friend constantly saying, ‘Don’t do that, and start doing this. Do a little less of that. Start doing a bit more of that. Here’s the rules. Here are more regulations.’”

When we read scripture, it’s not divided into the Old Testament’s law and the New Testament’s gospel. Within scripture from Genesis to Revelation there is both law and gospel. The call of a Christian’s life as we are reading the Word of the Lord is for us to ask the Holy Spirit to give us discernment. Is what we’re reading the law, or is it the gospel?

The law is good. Did you know that? The Bible says that the law is good. There is a place in the New Testament Covenant with God for the law to function in our life.

So what is the law? It is the command of God. ‘You should do this.’

It’s easy to get overwhelmed with this sense of ‘It’s impossible, it’s impossible, it’s impossible,’ and then Jesus comes along and says good! You are finally coming into a revelation of your own inability, your own brokenness, your own lack of self-ability, your own lack of righteousness that could accomplish any of these good things that the law calls us to do!

Peace and authority in our Christian walk will not come from committing ourselves to obey and keep the law; it is committing ourselves to Jesus Christ, and that commitment causes his power to work righteousness in our hearts.

Managing your emotions in a healthy way is continual work. We must always be learning how to not suppress or deny our emotions but also to not let them dominate or define us. In your next dispute, I encourage you to commit to keeping either of these two resolutions:

• • I will no longer be a skunk! When the skunk isn't happy, she lets it be known. She sprays all around herself, leaving a repulsive odor that permeates everything and lasts for a long time to make sure the whole world is well aware of her mood. I would like to tell you gently but firmly that some members of your family have seen you act like this.

Learn to speak the truth with love; be aware of your reactions, behaviors and attitudes during conflicts. Choose to say, "We will no longer be impulsive children who overreact. Instead, we will learn to speak the truth with love in order to grow and look more like Christ. “

• • I will no longer be a turtle! At the slightest sign of danger, the turtle hides its head in its shell and locks himself up inside. “Finished! Good night! End of the ‘non-discussion.’”

I would like to tell you gently but firmly that by fleeing the conflict, by not having the courage to speak, you emotionally distance yourself from those around you, driving a wedge between you and them. I encourage you to realize that God has not given us a spirit of timidity but strength to learn to speak the truth with love. Scripture says, “For God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control” (2 Timothy 1:7, ESV).

Today, this week, and throughout the year, I and my house will learn by the grace of God, to speak the truth with love. We will no longer be babies. We will no longer be skunks or turtles. We will let God help us express ourselves, forgive one another, release our dispute, seek peace with righteousness and regularity, courage and compassion, in order to grow and more closely resemble Christ. Amen!

^{Claude Houde is the lead pastor of Eglise Nouvelle Vie (New Life Church) in Montreal, Canada. Under his leadership New Life Church has grown from a handful of people to more than 3500 in a part of Canada with few successful Protestant churches.}