LOVE: THE WHY BEHIND GRACE AND THE REASON WE TRUST

"Cause me to hear Your lovingkindness in the morning, for in You do I trust; cause me to know the way in which I should walk, for I lift my soul to You” (Psalms 143:8 NKJV). This Scripture connects knowing God’s love for you with trusting Him. You are saying, “Lord, make my heart sensitive to You. I start my day with You, listening for Your words, gaining understanding of Your love, and trusting You to lead and guide me, to help me in all the ways of my life today.” This is intimacy with the Lord, not a to-do list that requires you to check off boxes of what you have done for Him. This is relationship with a living God, who, in order “to satisfy the great and wonderful and intense love with which He loved” you (Ephesians 2:4 AMP), gave His Son to be sacrificed for you. The joy of having a relationship with you motivated Him to give this extraordinary gift of His love! Jesus is the love of God moving toward you, pursuing you (1 John 4:9). He planned to overwhelm your life with His love through Jesus, giving you the privilege of a restored relationship with Him, actually giving you His presence, by having the Holy Spirit of Jesus take residence in you (Galatians 4:6; 1 John 4:9; Ephesians 1:5; Ephesians 2:5). Through this plan of love, Jesus has settled down and made His permanent home in your spirit because you believe in Him, and in this wonderful plan of God to cascade His love over your life (Ephesians 1:17 AMP).

Are you participating in a relationship with the Father and fully benefiting from His love for you? Jesus made a way for you to have total access to God’s abundant blessing of being a child of God. What is this blessing?

Your blessing begins with the restoration of true relationship with the Father. Before Jesus, the sinful nature of man caused a separation from God. This was the consequence of Adam and Eve’s sin, which was passed down to mankind. Only Jesus, the perfect Son of God, could be a sacrifice worthy of taking sin for all of humanity, nailing it to the cross, and providing us the opportunity to be totally restored, holy and new, by His blood (Hebrews 10:10,12,14; Hebrews 9:26 AMP). God’s “gracious gift leaves us free from many failures and brings us into the perfect righteousness of God” (makes us right before Him), “acquitted with the words ‘Not guilty’” (Romans 5:17 TPT)! Now God’s love for us, and the giving of His Son Jesus, has made available the victorious life of those fully persuaded of Jesus’ sacrifice and God’s love through Him (Romans 5:18 TPT).

Now we live in the unfolding grace, the unearned favor of God as His children. He reveals that His true character is giving; God freely gave His Son Jesus so that we could believe in Him and receive back everything that Adam lost for us in the garden (John 3:17). His “love is our glorious victory over everything” (Romans 8:37 TPT). Romans 8:31-39 confirms this truth and is paraphrased here based on the Message Translation:

“With God on our side, no one can be against us! How can we lose? God didn’t hesitate to put everything on the line for us; He embraced our condition and exposed Himself to the worst by sending His own Son. Is there anything He wouldn’t gladly and freely do for us? And who would dare tangle with God by messing with one of His own? Who would even point a finger?” Truth: God is always for you, never frustrated with you, longs for you, and always wants a relationship with you!

How does this translate to trusting Him? God’s love is steadfast no matter our actions because of the actions of Jesus Christ, the sacrificial lamb of God. Below is a reflection that tackles this matter of our behavior, God’s love, and pursuit of us, giving evidence of why you should trust Him.

“In the midst of my wanderings from You, in the midst of self-effort, leaning to my own understanding, in the midst of looking at circumstances and starting to doubt, in the midst of evaluating answered prayer by natural circumstances and judging prayer to be unanswered, You pursue me and lead me straight into Your loving arms of provision. You look past my weaknesses, failures, and stubbornness, and You pursue me only according to Your marvelous love. You desire that I experience Your blessing of full supply in the midst of trouble, in the midst of doubt, in the midst of weakness. Your love is ever present, ever enduring, always wanting me to be helped, at peace, and victorious through You.” (1 Corinthians 13:4-8 NKJV)

So, why do Christians struggle to receive God’s blessings provided by grace, provided because He loves us? Grace does not demand a scorecard; because of Jesus’ perfect behavior, He gave us permanent high scores; He did the work for us to receive the blessing of God’s care for us. It isn’t about our performance or work. We have an inheritance through Jesus Christ (Galatians 4:7)! Our inheritance includes all the gifts of salvation (the Greek word is Sozo). This means everything necessary for our well-being has been provided: forgiveness of every sin, provision, healing of every disease, holiness, godly wisdom, and power. God sent His Holy Spirit to be our Counselor, Helper, Stand-by, Comforter, Advocate, Strengthener, and Intercessor (John 14:16 AMP). God has given us a spirit of “power, of love and of a sound mind” (2 Timothy 1:7). Does this sound like a God who would abandon us to failure and leave us helpless in our time of need? He has already provided for our victory through Jesus’ suffering, death, and resurrection; complete provision is ours! We don’t need to struggle for answers to everyday problems. Instead, we look to our Provider, our heavenly Father, our Source, who is an ever-present help in times of trouble (Psalm 46:1)! Even during trouble, He revives us, stretching out His hand to help us; He will perfect that which concerns us; His mercy endures forever, and He will not forsake the works of His hands (Psalm 138:7,8). Does this seem like a God you can trust?

Through Jesus, who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life (John 14:6), you receive access to all that He is, all that is necessary for life and godliness (2 Peter 1:3). Because you accept Him, you now possess, while living on earth, everything you need to reign in life! His love for you helps you to believe this truth, to trust in Him, and be in expectation! Come just as you are; come boldly, fearlessly, and confidently to the throne room of grace, the throne room of favor and mercy, to receive help whenever you need it (Hebrews 4:16); your Father is waiting for you to come and receive all that He has provided! There is nothing you must do to earn it, and there is no sin that causes Him to withhold His blessing or change His mind. He is trustworthy!