"Through Our Insecurity"

"That thy beloved may be delivered: save with thy right hand, and answer me." (Psalms 108:6)

 Someone once told me, "If you ever feel as though God does not love you, think of Jesus' arms stretched out on that cross, and then ask Him, 'How much do you love me?'" How much more proof do we need? The big difference between us that know the Lord and those that do not, is a little something called hope; as bad as it might get in this world, there is hope beyond the grave. I know that it is pointless to argue that fact with those who do not believe, but it is more about reaffirming what we know deep down in our hearts; to express what we believe is a way of strengthening that belief within us; the more we repeat it, the more we believe it, or something like that. Anywho, the reason for this title, if you were wondering, is the issues I spoke of yesterday, the specific questions in our heart, those things that make us feel unlovely and unloved. Not that I want to get into every little detail of what causes those insecurities, but there comes a point when we need to just keep our eyes on Jesus and stop feeling like such a failure. Couple this verse together with the last, and you can see that there is a huge difference between where we are and where the Lord is; we are stuck here in these temporal bodies, the Lord is exalted high above the heavens and earth. We could feel as though we have so much distance between us, if it were not for the Holy Spirit's comfort and assurance of where we belong. The word "beloved," although it speaks of being loved, it is also speaking of being a friend. Do you feel as though you are a friend of God? Do you constantly treat Him as a friend? If you have a best friend here, right now in this life, would you talk behind their back? If you did, what would that do to your relationship while you were with them? What if you depended on their help, I mean really needed them? Maybe it does not make much sense right now, but it will, you will see. I can't help but think about when Jesus asked Peter three times if he loved Him; the first love Jesus spoke about was a social love, something that Peter had miserably failed at when he denied Him three times. Jesus asked him, "lovest thou me more than these?", which was referring to the others, implying that what man thought might interfere with his love towards Him; which it had, the night of his denial. Jesus repeated the second question by asking him again with the same manor of love, but without comparing it with a social issue. This might have stung more than the first, because now it was just between the two of them. Jesus was asking, "All other issues aside, when it comes right down to it, do you love me dearly." These two times, the love spoken of was the kind of love by which God loves us, "agape love," which is a love based upon nothing else but the way we are loved. It is the kind of love that does not set a bar, but regardless of what, keeps loving. The more you fight, the more He loves; the more complain, the more He loves; He just keeps on loving, because He is love. The third time Jesus asked Peter, "lovest thou me?", He asked him using the love of a friend, "phileo" a word that means brotherly love, to love someone as your friend...

"In this new life, it doesn't matter if you are a Jew or a Gentile, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbaric, uncivilized, slave, or free. Christ is all that matters, and he lives in us. Since God chose you to be the holy people he loves, you must clothe yourselves with tenderhearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. Make allowance for each other's faults, and forgive anyone who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others. Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds us all together in perfect harmony." (Colossians 3:11-14) NLT