There is an old song named, “The Steadfast Love of the Lord,” that is still being sung today. The song highlights the love of God.
The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases.
His mercies never come to an end.
They are new every morning…
New every morning.
Great is Thy faithfulness O Lord,
Great is Thy faithfulness.
The inspiration for the song came from a passage found in Lamentations, where Jeremiah is lamenting over his life, the condition of the nation, and the judgements being poured out on the land. Even in the midst of sorrow and judgement, God still loved His people and wanted to have mercy upon them. Although He had to judge sin, He loved the people and desired their love and devotion in return.
Several years ago while ministering in Tanzania, East Africa, I was allowed to fly into a large refugee camp region where hundreds of thousands of Rwandans had fled during the genocide that took place from April through July of 1994.
The camp was in the Ngara region, and only certain government or humanitarian agencies were allowed in the camp, but the pastor I was with had a special allowance to visit with the Christian leaders and families encamped there. Being among the refugees was an unforgettable experience.
The other day, I was at a local camera store and learned about an upcoming photography tour through parts of Tanzania. I began sharing my experience with the sales rep leading this excursion. He told me an amazing story that I will try to share here because it points to the love of God in a powerful way.
He said, a friend told him about a woman who had lost her husband and son during the bloody genocide. She was also savagely wounded and left for dead. However, after the rebels left, the town people returned and found her still alive. After much treatment and long recovery, she maintained a normal life.
One day, while she was at the market place, she saw a young man and realized he was the one who had killed her husband and son and attempted to take her life as well. She called out to him, and when he saw her, he remembered her face, and almost turned pale, thinking he was seeing a ghost.
He tried to run away, but she pursued him and told him not to be afraid, and that she had prayed for him and forgiven him. She later took him to her home and told him she would help him. She also told him since neither of them had family, they would now become family. She later helped pay for his education through school and college and treated him as her own son. What an amazing story!
God’s love is like that. We were enemies of God and grieving His heart. We did our own thing, lived in ungodliness, and worldly desires.
1) And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, 2) in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, 3) among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others.
4) But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, 5) even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), 6) and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7) that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. Ephesians 2:1-7
This is a great mystery but demonstrates God’s eternal love for us and His fervent desire to save us from our sins. Our part is to repent (change our mind and turn from our sins), stop running from Him, and fully surrender our lives to His grace and mercy.
You may not have killed innocent people or done other 'evil' things, but you and I were lost in sin and headed to an eternal separation from God and all that is good.
But God loved us and sent His Son to take the penalty for our sins on the cross so we could be redeemed (brought back to God through payment) and reconciled to Him by faith. How wonderful!
Now, we have been adopted into God’s family, with all the privileges and rights of an heir of God. We are not second-class citizens but a royal priesthood and children of the Most High God. That is love beyond anything you or I could ever fathom. God loves us. Now let us earnestly pursue loving Him and others all our days on this earth.
Until next time, may God our Heavenly Father and the Lord Jesus Christ richly bless and keep you.
James Brown
CST 04/18/2024