Allowances part 5
I think my next Rant series is really going to address what "fear of the Lord is." Because, as a father, I can tell you that I DO NOT want my son to be afraid of me. I want him to run TO me instead of running FROM me. But, like I said, I think that's up next. To close out this one I just simply want to say, "Such love has no fear, because perfect love expels all fear. If we are afraid, it is for fear of punishment, and this shows that we have not fully experienced his perfect love" (1 John 4:18 NLT). God has always made allowances for our mistakes. And if we're afraid that He's an angry, vengeful God who is just waiting for us to slip up so He can punish us... then we haven't fully experienced His love for us. The kind of love that says, "I would rather DIE than live without you." The kind of love that asks for our forgiveness even as we are rejecting and murdering Him. And, yes, I know that nobody ACTUALLY murdered Jesus. He said, "Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again. No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received of my Father" (John 10:17-18). Nobody COULD kill Jesus. He IS life. But He willingly laid His life down. For us. To show us what love is. He TOLD us what love is when He said there's no greater love that a man can have than to lay down his life for his friends. But then He went to the cross and did just that. He put His money where His mouth was. And in so doing--by giving His life FOR us, and giving His life TO us--He brought us out of death and into life. He brought us out of a place where we had to be afraid of punishment and into a place where we know that we are God's beloved Son in whom He is well pleased. And don't get me wrong, I'm not saying actions don't have consequences. Of course they do. If you cheat on your wife GOD won't be mad at you but SHE sure will. Right? Everything you do has consequences and repercussions. But at the same time, NOTHING you can do can separate you from the love of God. In Revelation 21:4 in the Message Bible we see, "Look! Look! God has moved into the neighborhood, making his home with men and women! They’re his people, he’s their God." God moved into the neighborhood, into the house that HE built, into YOU, and He is NEVER moving out. Sometimes it might feel like He is making serious renovations, but He's only getting rid of things you didn't need in the first place. Things that have really already been dealt with on the cross and are only coming to manifestation as they come to light as His love shines on you, and in you, and through you. So you never have to worry about having crossed the line. The cross crossed out the line! God has made allowances for every bad choice, every mistake, every stumble, and every fall. And He's not worried about how long it takes for you to "get it." Look at 2 Peter 3:9, "The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance." God has all the time in the world to "perfect" you--by showing you HIS perfection IN you. Because He has given us everlasting, eternal, abundant, Resurrection Life! It's a never-ending life-long process of finding out who we are by finding out who He is. And He is the One revealing Himself to us, and in us, and through us, and as us. So there's no doubt that at the end of the day... we're ok!