Category Archives: Christian Life

COMPASSION JESUS’ WAY – 2

Christian Life,

Releasing the poison of abuse.

Mark 6:34 NLT
[34] “Jesus saw the huge crowd as he stepped from the boat, and he had compassion on them because they were like sheep without a shepherd. So he began teaching them many things.”

Why did Jesus show compassion by teaching the people “many things”?

In my last past, I spoke about the offenses that produce anger and bitterness, and God’s way of acknowledging the cause and healing the infection.

Now let’s dig a little deeper. Here’s another bizarre illustration.

I enjoy watching “Dr Pimple Popper” cleaning out blackheads. What is a blackhead? It’s a collection of debris made up of dead skin cells, and sebaceous material, which clogs the pore and appears as a black spot on the skin.

Dr Sandra Lee, alias “Dr Pimple Popper”, knows how to clear the skin of blackheads. She uses a sharp instrument to loosen the head of the blackhead, then she applies pressure to the sides of the blocked pore and pushes the blackhead out.

While I was contemplating the way Jesus showed compassion, the Holy Spirit drew my attention to Dr Lee’s work. This is the point…the doctor applies pressure and what comes out of the patient’s pore is from within the patient, not from Dr Lee. She expels the debris and is no way affected by what she has removed.

The Spirit reminded me that, like the debris from an infected pore, what comes out of the offender is what was insude. Abusive, unkind words, accusations, whatever, are a revelation of the heart of the one delivering them, not the person to whom they are spoken.

Matthew 15:18-19 NLT
[18] “But the words you speak come from the heart—that’s what defiles you. [19] For from the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, all sexual immorality, theft, lying, and slander.”

The person who utters those words is the one guilty of sin.

The problem arises when the offended person believes the offending words, takes them to heart and allows them to poison what he thinks about himself, becoming offended and reacting to the offense.

The next step in this evil process is that the offended person begins to feel sorry for himself, compounding his own sinful responses to the offense with self-pity, a perfect recipe for depression. He becomes part of the sin by these sinful reactions.

How should we handle abuse from another person?

  1. Recognise its source.

You can step back and remind yourself that what comes out of another’s mouth is not your stuff. You are not responsible for what another person says or thinks even if it’s aimed at you.

  1. Shake it off.

There’s a perfect illustration of this principle in the life of the Apostle Paul. Shipwrecked on the island of Malta, he was bitten by a poisonous snake while he was gathering sticks for a fire.

Acts of the Apostles 28:3, 5 NLT
[3] “As Paul gathered an armful of sticks and was laying them on the fire, a poisonous snake, driven out by the heat, bit him on the hand…
[5] But Paul shook off the snake into the fire and was unharmed.”

Paul shook off the snake and was unaffected by its bite.

Angry words spoken at us are like the bite of a poisonous snake. We can either take in the poison and be harmed by it or we can shake it off and, like Paul, be unaffected by what was intended to hurt us.

Can you see how different our issues pan out when we apply God’s Word to what is said or done to harm us instead of becoming a helpless victim of other people’s evil.

It is vitally important for us to take responsibility for our own words and actions and to distance ourselves from what others say or do. The “green pastures” of God’s truth will provide nourishment for our souls and the “water” of the Holy Spirit in us will satisfy our desire to know the truth in a world riddled with deception.

John 7:37-39 NLT
[37] “On the last day, the climax of the festival, Jesus stood and shouted to the crowds, “Anyone who is thirsty may come to me! [38] Anyone who believes in me may come and drink! For the Scriptures declare, ‘Rivers of living water will flow from his heart.’” [39] (When he said “living water,” he was speaking of the Spirit, who would be given to everyone believing in him. But the Spirit had not yet been given, because Jesus had not yet entered into his glory).”

When we” eat” and “drink” Jesus’ words, instead of ingesting the junk thrown at us, we will not be affected by another’s sin.

Jesus, our true Shepherd, has the words that lead us to eternal life. It’s up to us to follow Him rather than be damaged by wounded people who try to infect us with their poison.

To be continued…

COMPASSION JESUS’ WAY-1

Christian Life, ,

Opening the abscess of accusation.

Mark 6:34 NLT
[34] “Jesus saw the huge crowd as he stepped from the boat, and he had compassion on them because they were like sheep without a shepherd. So he began teaching them many things.”

When Jesus saw the crowd, He had had compassion on them. What did He see in the Spirit? He saw flocks of sheep milling around, …but no shepherd! That touched Him deeply.

Why did He have compassion on them? They had no one to show them where to find the green pastures and quiet waters they desperately needed. Despite all the “shepherds” in their community, the religious leaders who were supposed to show them where to find nourishment for their souls, these “shepherds” turned out to be “hirelings”, people who looked after their own needs, and neglected the sheep. In fact, they not only neglected the sheep, they put burdens on them too heavy for them to bear. It’s no wonder Jesus had compassion on the crowd.

However, Jesus didn’t feel sorry for the people or commiserate with them. That would have made them feel like victims. “He began to teach them many things.” Why did Jesus show compassion by teaching them “many things”? In other words, what did Jesus do that worked?

He began to teach them God’s word, the truth about how to live according to God’s Word, and to show them where to find spiritual green pastures and living water.

This revelation got me thinking. Everywhere we go, we find sheep without shepherds. People everywhere are struggling with different issues. There are also many “hirelings” around to give them useless counsel at a price, either false shepherds in the churches or worldly counsellors who ignore God’s Word and try to “fix” people the world’s way.

People spend years studying to be psychiatrists, psychologists, counsellors, even social workers, arming themselves with worldly wisdom that excludes the wisdom of God who created people and knows how they function. Their’s is a come-back counsel. Their sessions can last for months and the more often they see their client, the more money they earn.

Now, not every trained counsellor is mercenary. There are many who genuinely try to help their clients but, without God’s wisdom, their counsel achieves little.

Let’s look at one common scenario. The world is full of people who have been offended in one way or another. There are flocks of “sheep” all over who carry grudges, who are angry, full of hate and revenge, bitter, unhappy, and depressed.

So, after a few trips to the counsellor, they learn that they have a disorder, an emotional “sickness” which, supposedly, can be treated with therapy or medication. A diagnosis takes the burden of responsibility for their reactions against those who offend them and turns them into victims. They attend many sessions or take many tablets that damp down their emotions but don’t fix the problem.

Some have anger problems, so they are sent to another “expert” to learn “anger management.” After a few sessions, they feel competent to manage their anger until…someone triggers their rage again by touching on something that reminds them of the original issue. They explode over something seemingly quite trivial, overreacting like volcanoes to a minor issue.

Why didn’t their anger management course provide the help they needed? The answer is simple. They were not taught to deal with the original cause of their anger.

An emotional problem is like having an infected wound in our flesh. If we leave it there, it will become an abscess full of infection. When someone inadvertantly touches it, the pain is intense. It’s no use putting a bandaid on the infected place. The abscess must be opened, cleaned out and allowed to heal.

Often, in someone’s childhood, a person of significance said or did something to cause that person emotional pain. The hurt festers inside so, to hide the infection, the offended person covers it with a “bandaid” by resorting to anger. Every time anyone touches the sore spot, anger flares up to cover it, far greater than the situation that triggered the anger and…the angry person turns the blame on the innocent person who inadvertently touched the anger button.

Now, we have two offended people. One person’s angry aggression has multiplied into another person’s hurt. Like a game of dominoes, one offended person offends another and so they fall, one by one.

Now, we have a family or a community of hurt people hurting one another, and the hireling can’t help. His diagnosis, counsel, or drugs can do nothing to heal the hurt.

God’s wisdom, in His Word, prescribes a far more effective way to deal with anger. Let me use a rather bizarre illustration.

The best way to treat an abscess or infected wound is to open it, drain the pus, clean the infected area inside and allow the natural process of healing to close the wound. A scar might remain but there is no more pain, swelling, or infection in that spot.

The same with an emotional lesion which happens when someone offends us. We rehearse it, dwell on it and let it become an infection in our souls.

The only way to heal it, like an abscess in our bodies, is to open it up by acknowledging and confessing the sins of attitude we have harboured…the anger, resentment, bitterness the offense caused, until it became a festering “abscess”.

Next, clean it out by forgiving the offender. Forgiving is simply cancelling the offender’s debt and no longer holding him/her accountable for the words or deeds that caused the offense.

As an aside, forgiveness does not excuse the offender’s action, it does not trivialise the offense, nor is it about our emotions. We don’t forgive because we feel like forgiving or withhold forgiveness because we don’t feel like forgiving. We forgive because God requires it since He has forgiven our debt against Him. In fact, Jesus paid the debt for all sin, ours and the sins of those who sin against us. To refuse to forgive is to demand justice and punishment a second time which is illegal. We think we have the right to punish the person who offended us by withholding forgiveness when, in fact, we are punishing ourselves. We feel bad, we carry the grudge. We have no peace.

The worst of all is that God withdraws His forgiveness of our sin when we refuse to forgive another.

Matthew 18:32-34 NLT
[32] “Then the king called in the man he had forgiven and said, ‘You evil servant! I forgave you that tremendous debt because you pleaded with me. [33] Shouldn’t you have mercy on your fellow servant, just as I had mercy on you?’ [34] Then the angry king sent the man to prison to be tortured until he had paid his entire debt.”

Once the “abscess” caused by an offense is opened up and cleaned out, it will heal as we apply the balm of God’s truth to the wound. All bad feelings will be gone, permanantly. No more anger, unhappiness or depression!

The cure for an offended spirit is to forgive the offender…once for-all, permanent, no-maintence healing…never to cause pain again. There is no need for long-term therapy or expensive medication…not even for a counsellor or a mediator. The healing process continues through the application of God’s Word.

Jesus made this bold claim,

John 8:31-32, 34-36 NLT
[31] “Jesus said to the people who believed in him, “You are truly my disciples if you remain faithful to my teachings. [32] And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”…
[34] Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, everyone who sins is a slave of sin. [35] A slave is not a permanent member of the family, but a son is part of the family forever. [36] So if the Son sets you free, you are truly free.”

Forgiveness costs nothing but the benefits are out of this world! Forgiving someone who’s sinned against you is the most healing and liberating thing you can ever do for your own soul.

To be continued…

PARTNERS WITH CONTENTMENT

Christian life, ,

Philippians 4:10-13 NLT
[10] “How I praise the Lord that you are concerned about me again. I know you have always been concerned for me, but you didn’t have the chance to help me. [11] Not that I was ever in need, for I have learned how to be content with whatever I have. [12] I know how to live on almost nothing or with everything. I have learned the secret of living in every situation, whether it is with a full stomach or empty, with plenty or little. [13] For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength.”

Ahhh! Contentment! Almost a forgotten word in today’s world. Discontent in all its ugly forms is the name everywhere. Strife, conflict, murder, theft, greed…these and more are all the symptoms of discontent.

James had something to say about the discontent that rears its ugly head even in the family of God, a sign that the flesh at work.

James 4:1-3 NLT
[1] “What is causing the quarrels and fights among you? Don’t they come from the EVIL DESIRES at war within you? [2] You want what you don’t have, so you scheme and kill to get it. You are jealous of what others have, but you can’t get it, so you fight and wage war to take it away from them. Yet you don’t have what you want because you don’t ask God for it. [3] And even when you ask, you don’t get it because your motives are all wrong—you want only what will give you pleasure.”

Since James was writing to people in the church, this is quite an indictment! Is it possible that God’s own children can behave like this?

If course, if the core of this behaviour is discontent, then this horrible attitude will come out in many corrupt ways.

Discontent ruins inward peace and manifests something far worse than simply being dissatisfied with our lives, our circumstances, or what we possess.

Discontent is a slap in God’s face, a declaration of mistrust in God’s goodness, an insult to the very nature of God who is love personified. Discontent accuses God of shortchanging us. Satan’s ploy in the Garden of Eden was to stir up mistrust by triggering discontent. God said, “You may eat from all the trees in the garden except one.” The devil said, “Why is God withholding something good from you?”

Discontent is a symptom of the old nature’s ability to stir up trouble. Discontent has tentacles that reach deep into the lives of others around us as well, spreading its poison by the way our discontent affects other people. Discontent is like an infectious disease that spreads through contact. Just watch mob behaviour to see how discontent spreads like a bush fire.

How imperative that God’s children learn, as Paul did, to deal discontent a death blow, once and for all. All spiritual growth is a learning process. Even Jesus had to learn, from His human experience, how to submit as a Son to His Father.

Hebrews 5:8 NLT
[8] “Even though Jesus was God’s Son, he learned obedience from the things he suffered.”

How do we learn contentment in our topsy-turvey circumstances? We learn, as we do in everything else, by doing! Paul learned contentment by trusting Jesus in every situation. Was he hungry, deprived of food? He was okay with that because Jesus was in charge. Did he have a time of plenty? He was grateful to the Lord for His goodness. Was he cold and without shelter? He trusted the Lord in his hardship.

Contentment in all our ups and downs is the evidence of genuine faith in Jesus AND of God’s peace ruling in our hearts. We cannot have peace and be discontented at the same time.

“For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength.”

Paul’s strength in hard times came from a steady reliance on Jesus’ presence and faithfulness.

… Another verse of Scripture often quoted out of context. What was Paul saying? I suppose it’s true that, in the all circumstances of life, through Jesus in us, we can accomplish many things or even go through our many difficulties but…in this context, Paul testified to the power of Christ in him that enabled to accept any and every hardship with the same unassailable trust in the Lord that kept him on even keel.

Now, that’s real power! Hiw often we are, in our old selfish nature, so concerned about our comfort and convenience that we easily baulk at any disturbance of these provisions.

Paul testified that it is possible, through God’s grace, to be so in union with Jesus that we can rise above all discomfort and be contented. He enables us so to trust in Him that we refuse to be moved by any adversity or hardship, or to allow our faith in Him to be diluted by plenty. Much or little can make no difference to us if we are anchored in Jesus.

Contentment, in the end, is the surest safeguard against mistrust, doubt, and unbelief. His peace garrisons our hearts against the fiery darts the enemy would hurl against us to throw us off balance and gain entry into the deepest recesses of our confidence in God’s love.

Contentment is the thermometer that measures our trust in the Lord, and God’s peace the thermostat that keeps our hearts steady and unmoved in times of hardship.

Philippians 4:20 NLT
[20] “Now all glory to God our Father forever and ever! Amen.”

Another little opportunity to glorify Jesus. Paul must always redirect his readers’ attention to the one who is everything in every situation. It’s about Him! Cold, hungry, homeless…warm, well fed, sheltered…didn’t matter to Paul. What mattered was that Jesus was there, fully supporting him, caring and providing for him, leading him, protecting him, and working out His purposes through him.

… And with that, Paul was satisfied.

“POOR ME”, THE DEATH OF RESPONSIBILITY

Christian Life, ,

Genesis 3:12 NLT
[12] “The man replied, “It was the woman you gave me who gave me the fruit, and I ate it.”

It all began in the garden of Eden, this refusal to take responsibility for doing wrong! It’s also a disease so universal that EVERYONE tries to wriggle out of taking responsibility by blaming someone or something else. This attitude is embedded in the nature we inherited from Adam.

This “blame game” is also responsible for an entire industry in the medical field. This “industry” falls under the category of “disorders”, medical diagnoses treatable by therapy and medication! Now, not every disorder is incorrectly diagnosed. Some disorders are triggered by crises or unfortunate circumstances, for example, flashbacks that happen after some traumatic experience.

However, there are many disorders that are self-inflicted. Many mental health issues happen when people refuse to take responsibility for their bad behaviour. Instead of owning up and putting right, they hide behind what mother/father/sibling/teacher/friend…did to them twenty, thirty, forty years ago.

The real diagnosis is a “victim mentality”, for which doctors and medication have no cure. Strangely enough, the Bible calls mental illness “sin”. Why is it sin? Sin is the fruit of unbelief. Unbelief in what?

God created humans to live in union with Him. We are His offspring, created in His image. He is in charge of every detail of our lives and takes responsibility for us if we trust Him.

Acts of the Apostles 17:25-26, 28 NLT
[25]”…He himself gives life and breath to everything, and he satisfies every need. [26] From one man he created all the nations throughout the whole earth. He decided beforehand when they should rise and fall, and he determined their boundaries…
[28] For in him we live and move and exist. As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are his offspring.’ “

He is our life-source. Living in harmony with God and His ways provides peace, protection, and provision, and dispels worry and anxiety. Through our ongoing trust in Jesus who gives us access to the Father by His death, we can experience every situation in life, good or bad, in the confidence that God allows or does nothing in our lives outside of His perfect love. Nothing can separate us from His love.

Such confidence, called faith in Jesus, allows us to live “care-free lives in the care of God”. When issues arise, we can turn to Him for help and solutions instead of blaming someone else for our troubles.

Trouble is that most people in the world throughout the ages have decided to leave God out of their lives. They treat Him as an enemy, run from Him, and try to manage their lives without Him. The result is a mess. To use an age-old expression, “they fly by the seat of their pants.”

(Some people go so far as to dabble in the forbidden realm of evil spirits. Unfortunately, Satan messes with their brains when they are hooked. No this is a real problem when it comes to mental health. They can be and some are given over to the complete control of evil spirits leading to bizarre and seriously criminal behaviour).

Playing the “blame game” robs people of real-life solutions. If therapy and medication do not fix the “disorders” sin produces…and by sin I mean the things people think, say, and do to suit themselves that produce fear, guilt, and shame, is there any real solution?

Humans complicate what God has made simple. His medical textbook, the Bible, has the only real, effective solutions because He made us and He wrote the book.

What must we do with the sin that produces guilt, shame, and fear?

1 John 1:8-9 NLT
[8] “If we claim we have no sin, we are only fooling ourselves and not living in the truth. [9] But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness.”

Blaming someone else for what we have said or done won’t cut it. Coming clean with God is the only effective solution. This means taking responsibility! “Yes, God you are right. I said it, I did it, I am guilty as charged.” That’s simple enough, isn’t it? The only cost to us is the humility to admit our guilt and the honesty to take responsibility for what we did.

God’s response to our confession is astonishing. Three things happen when we take responsibility.

  1. We acknowledge God. We acknowledge that we are accountable to Him for our behaviour. “If we confess our sins to Him…”
  2. We call our behaviour what it is…sin! Not mistakes, not blunders, not anything else but…sin, and sin is always against God first, whoever we might harm by our actions.

Psalms 51:4 NLT
[4] “Against you, and you alone, have I sinned; I have done what is evil in your sight. You will be proved right in what you say, and your judgment against me is just.”

  1. God responds to our honest confession by wiping the slate clean. He forgives, cleanses, and chooses to forget what we have done.

Isaiah 43:25 NLT
[25] “I—yes, I alone—will blot out your sins for my own sake and will never think of them again.”

Think of that! When God has finished with your sin, you can start again, no past to haunt you!

What must we do with the emotions sin produces?

Paul has another simple solution.

Philippians 4:6-7 NLT
[6]”Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and THANK HIM for all he has done. [7] Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.”

Worry and anxiety are also part of the sin we must confess. Worry and anxiety block our way to the Father. We must get rid of them through honest confession. Again, “come clean with God.” These emotions are also the fruit of unbelief.

Thanksgiving is a powerful way to melt worry and anxiety. We neutralise our worries when we focus on God’s goodness and faithfulness. God will always do the best for us. God will always keep His promises. Thanksgiving re-establishes our trust in God which produces a new emotion…PEACE.

Worry and anxiety cannot coexist with God’s peace. When we offload our worry and anxiety on Him, He replaces them with His peace, a powerful safeguard against the effects of trouble and adversity.

The differences between human efforts and God’s way to treat these “disorders” are twofold.

  1. Human solutions are complicated and ineffective. All the therapy and medication in the world can never deal with sin.

God’s solution is simple and fool-proof. Confess your sin and God will forgive you, cleanse you, and forget everything you ever did.

  1. Human solutions are long-term and expensive, requiring possible hospitalisation in a psychiatric facility or many sessions with a therapist plus months of expensive medication…all to no avail.

God’s way costs no money. Confession and repentance only need honesty and humility; thanksgiving transforms the mind and attitude, and the results are instantaneous, outstanding, and permanent.

So…

John 8:31-32, 34-36 NLT
[31]”Jesus said to the people who believed in him, “You are truly my disciples if you remain faithful to my teachings. [32] And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”…
[34] Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, everyone who sins is a slave of sin. [35] A slave is not a permanent member of the family, but a son is part of the family forever. [36] So if the Son sets you free, you are truly free.”

So, what’s the problem? Why not believe what Jesus said, do what He says, and enjoy a life of peace and the inner freedom that comes from not having to carry the burden of guilt, shame, and fear that sin lays on us!

MOLLY AND ME – PSYCHOLOGY

Christian Life, ,

As we grow older, I am learning that Molly is a walking book on “dog psychology”, written in dog language! The more we live together, the less I understand her.

I recently had Covid, again, which pushed me into bouts of coughing so violent that I thought I would surely burst something. Whether Molly thought I was “barking” at her or not, I don’t know, but she distanced herself from me, mostly tail down, and became almost a recluse. In response to this “threat” she refused to eat, drink, even go to the toilet unless it was desperately urgent. Her usual requests for me to pick her up and put her on my chair with me faded away. She spent most of her days isolating herself on her bed in the bedroom.

Now that I have recovered, few of her old habits and gestures of affection have returned. She sometimes behaves as though I am her enemy.

Now, Molly has many physical challenges, mostly the result of her allergy to grass…and wheat…and her sensitivity to some foods. I try to do the best I can for her, take her to the vet when necessary, (which she hates), carefully monitor what I feed her, (which means no more “human” treats), and treat her ailments with sprays, creams and lotions, which she mostly tolerates.

Medication, for Molly, is an intolerable no-no. I have to fool her in the most ingenious ways to get anything she needs to help her down her throat without force. Sometimes, she see through my schemes, digs in her heels and turns her head away in disdain.

We are now at the point where she prefers to sleep on my dirty laundry in the kitchen, waiting to go into the washing machine, than in my bed!

The sum total is, the more I try to help her overcome her problems, the more suspicious she becomes of me. She does not appreciate the value of “tough love”.

Now, I know that Molly’s reactions have to do with her “dog-ness” and her limited understanding of my ways. The best I can do is reassure her of my love and and try to show her that I love her in the ways I treat her.

Molly reminds me so much of myself and my old attitudes to God. How often in the past I have turned away, thinking that God has failed me instead of trusting His love, no matter what.

Jeremiah almost lost his prophetic calling because of the same attitude. Despite his faithfulness to deliver God’s Word to his people, and God’s promise to protect him, the people hated and persecuted him, and refused to believe his warnings. He suffered all kinds of torments at their hands.

Jeremiah complained to the Lord that His promise of protection was like a dried-up water source.

Jeremiah 15:15-18 NLT
[15] Then I said, “Lord, you know what’s happening to me. Please step in and help me. Punish my persecutors! Please give me time; don’t let me die young. It’s for your sake that I am suffering. [16] When I discovered your words, I devoured them. They are my joy and my heart’s delight, for I bear your name, O Lord God of Heaven’s Armies. [17] I never joined the people in their merry feasts. I sat alone because your hand was on me. I was filled with indignation at their sins. [18] Why then does my suffering continue? Why is my wound so incurable? Your help seems as uncertain as a seasonal brook, like a spring that has gone dry.”

God responded with sobering words.

Jeremiah 15:19 NLT
[19] “This is how the Lord responds: “If you return to me, I will restore you so you can continue to serve me. If you speak good words rather than worthless ones, you will be my spokesman. You must influence them; do not let them influence you!”

In fact, God was saying to Jeremiah, “If you don’t take back your words, you can no longer be my prophet!”

That’s drastic!

How can I make Molly understand that I love her enough to treat her in ways that seem cruel to her? I must apply medication, like cold sprays or creams to her skin to relieve her itch; I must get medicine down her throat to treat her ailments; I must take her to the vet for help…all things she hates but are for her good. Somehow, I must keep her trust so that she understands that I love her, but how? She can’t see the bigger picture. She interprets my help as “harm”.

Despite my reassurances of love, she is suspicious of me and withdraws.

As a human, I have a greater capacity to understand God’s ways than Molly does mine. His Word constantly reminds and assures me that His love underpins all He does.
Nothing in heaven or on earth can ever separate me from that love.

Romans 8:35 NLT
[35] “Can anything ever separate us from Christ’s love? Does it mean he no longer loves us if we have trouble or calamity, or are persecuted, or hungry, or destitute, or in danger, or threatened with death?”

It’s the love of God in all its length, breadth, depth, and height that prompts Him to persevere with His plan to recreate in me the image of His Son, despite the cost to me in pain and suffering. The rewards are out if this world!

I have no such lofty designs for Molly, but I do want her to have the happiest and most comfortable life possible while we are together. It’s up to her to respond to my love for her or not.

Why don’t I, then trust God’s love for me in all His dealings because He has already shown me the bigger picture in His Word?

I thinks it’s embedded deep in our old human nature not to trust God. It’s the old enmity just under the surface. Only His persistent grace and unfailing love will convince us and lead us to trust Him no matter what, even when He has to “treat” us with various remedies for our sin.

So, though I can’t change Molly’s reservations because she is canine and I am human, I can respond to God’s love because He made me in His image. The more I choose to trust Him despite appearances, the more real His love becomes to me.

What an honour to be a child of God!