The look on his face was priceless. He literally beamed with love, joy, adoration, tenderness, and passion. And try as he might to be stoic, he could not hide the tears welling up in his eyes. (Google image, A smiling groom)
That's when it hit me. These are the same feelings Jesus has for
me . . . every millisecond of my life. Scripture actually calls me His bride. Not His slave, hoping to please a demanding God.
But His bride. Of all the images God could choose, none better captures this most intimate relationship between two people than a groom and his bride. That's the intimacy God longs for with me. And that's the joy I give the Creator of the universe. Imagine, me giving God that much joy.
Was my friend's bride perfect? Absolutely not. But no one could convince him of that. He only saw her through the eyes of love. A love he would die for . . . just as God died for mine.
Am I perfect? Absolutely not. But even on my worst days, I cannot stop His passionate, all-consuming, joy-filled adoration of me. For as the apostle Paul wrote:
"I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, not any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord."
(Romans 8:38-39)
(Taken from Our Daily Bread®, ©7/2018 (Back page) by Our Daily Bread Ministries, Grand Rapids, MI. Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved. www.odb.org)
Let's pray-
Father, of all images, You chose to relate the love between two people, a groom and his bride, to capture for us how our most intimate relationship with Jesus can be.
It is the intimacy that You long for with each of us. It's a joy we give you as the Creator of the universe, as we learn to walk with you in our daily lives.
Even though none of us are perfect, Christ Jesus looks at us with great joy, for He loved us enough to die in our place so we could know Him intimately as our Groom.
Even on our worst days, we cannot stop His passionate, all-consuming, joy-filled adoration of us. It is true that no power, height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from His Love. For this, we give You thanks, and commit our lives more fully to His service.
In Christ's name we pray. Amen
Father, of all images, You chose to relate the love between two people, a groom and his bride, to capture for us how our most intimate relationship with Jesus can be.
It is the intimacy that You long for with each of us. It's a joy we give you as the Creator of the universe, as we learn to walk with you in our daily lives.
Even though none of us are perfect, Christ Jesus looks at us with great joy, for He loved us enough to die in our place so we could know Him intimately as our Groom.
Even on our worst days, we cannot stop His passionate, all-consuming, joy-filled adoration of us. It is true that no power, height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from His Love. For this, we give You thanks, and commit our lives more fully to His service.
In Christ's name we pray. Amen
71 - 75 of 100 one-line Scriptures for those of you who want to learn some more this week-
71. Col. 4:6 "Let your speech be alway with grace, seasoned with salt, that ye may know how ye aught to answer every man."
72. Luke 1:37 "For with God nothing shall be impossible."
73. Phil. 1:6 "Being confident in this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ."
74. Prov. 16:3 "Commit thy works unto the LORD, and thy thoughts shall be established."
75. 2 Cor. 5:7 "For we walk by faith, not by sight."
71. Col. 4:6 "Let your speech be alway with grace, seasoned with salt, that ye may know how ye aught to answer every man."
72. Luke 1:37 "For with God nothing shall be impossible."
73. Phil. 1:6 "Being confident in this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ."
74. Prov. 16:3 "Commit thy works unto the LORD, and thy thoughts shall be established."
75. 2 Cor. 5:7 "For we walk by faith, not by sight."
Today's quote-
~ Oswald Chambers- "Not only must our relationship to God be right, but the outward expression of that relationship must also be right. Ultimately, God will allow nothing to escape; every detail of our lives is under His scrutiny. God will bring us back in countless ways to the same point over and over again. And He never tires of bringing us back to that one point until we learn the lesson, because His purpose is to produce the finished product.
It may be a problem arising from our impulsive nature, but again and again, with the most persistent patience, God has brought us back to that one particular point. Or the problem may be our idle and wandering thinking, or our independent nature and self-interest. Through this process, God is trying to impress upon us the one thing that is not entirely right in our lives. From My Utmost for His Highest Updated Edition
Today's guest post-
Jane Ault: "Instead of making others happy, something impossible for me to accomplish, I want to serve others in a way that benefits them and does not damage me.
I realize that it’s not my job to make God happy either.
Whose acceptance do I value?
Whose approval do I seek?
The world sees only outward beauty;
God sees quality beneath . . ."
Today's special link of interest-
Day at the Zoo Robert L. Segress
"Walking with my wife and our grandson at a zoo near our house in Surprise, Arizona, I was overpowered by beauty.
Looking at the birds in the aviary, I was reminded of God. I saw birds with brilliant and diverse designs and stopped in silent awe. The Chinese pheasants were masterpieces of color, as was each species of bird surrounding
them . . . "
Upcoming posts-
#1 The Secret of Happiness
9/3rd- Tuesday's first of 8 posts by Billy Graham#2 Searching for Happiness in all the Wrong Places
5th- Thursday's post by Billy Graham
Is Pain Punishment?
7th- Saturday's post by Merlin Carothers
#3 God Has the Answer
9th- Tuesday's post by Billy Graham
Helpful ways the Lord helped me in my marriage
Great word Jean. Thanks for all you do.
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