Imagine God thinking about you…and He is – always. You are in His mind because He is always accompanying you (Mt 28:20). You don’t leave Him behind when you decide to sin. He is there. He is always watching over you in all your ways (Prov 2:8). He knows what you are thinking even if you restrain yourself and don’t say it (Psalm 139:4). He knows the hidden motives of your heart (John2:25).
The fact that God knows me so intimately, that nothing I do, say, think, or dream is hidden from him, is this good news or bad news for me? Once in a while I sense it is good news. When the fears of life invade my mind and circumstances, it is comforting to know He is with me. But to be honest with you, it is easy for me to interpret His continuous mindfulness and perpetual presence as bad news. I can imagine God being pretty disappointed in me…after all I disappoint myself. I think that the first thing that catches God’s eye is my sin.
When I think this way, and turn the good news into bad news, I am so WRONG! So what do I do in my wrongness to set it right? I must go to the good news of the gospel. To the truth. One of my key truth passages is John 17:23 where Jesus is praying to his Father about his disciples:
Then they will be mature…
And give the godless world evidence
That you have sent me and loved them
In the same way you have loved me.
(The Message)
Peter, in his denial of Jesus, was so disappointed in himself that “He went out and cried and cried and cried” (Mt 26:75, The Message). But Jesus says that God his Father, loved Peter just like He loved him. HERE IS GOOD NEWS: God loves us just as much as He loved Jesus. HERE IS EVEN BETTER NEWS: The apostle John says “God is love” (I John 4:8), it is the very character of God. And you know what? Our behavior does not change the character of God! He loves me in all the ways I feel I disappoint Him. “What a small God we would have if divine character was dependent on our behavior.”* And so my hope and my stability is never in my love for God, but in His love for me.
“When God thinks of you, love swells in his heart and a smile comes to his face.”*
PS: Not only do I need to remind myself of this truth, so do my friends. And I guess your friends need the stability of this truth as well. Let me suggest you not only forward this to your friends, but encourage them to subscribe to this blog and weekly reminder of the good news of the original gospel. Then they can forward it to their friends – and the transforming power of the gospel spreads. That is my desire. And don’t you forget to subscribe – in the weeks ahead I will have some special things just for those who have joined the Laying it Down family.
* David G. Benner, Surrendered to Love.
Leave a Reply