The Gift of His Love
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by Carol Wagstaff
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"Grammy, Grammy", my insistent three year old granddaughter tugged at my sleeve. "Please….please, grammy. Play it for me."
In her hands was a small, gold music box with a silver bow given to me as a Christmas gift. It normally rested on the coffee table, well within reach of little hands.
She handed it to me, and I opened it, reaching inside to turn the key hidden in the pale blue velvet lining.
"I wanna do it," my granddaughter cried, grabbing the music box out of my hands. I winced as it slipped from her hands and bounced on the floor.
Picking it up, I helped her turn the key. As the unique strains of the music box played, Jillie held it tightly to her ear.
For a few moments, she sat enraptured by the tune of a simple music box. As I watched her, I was intrigued with the power of a music box to bring her so much joy. She had found in it a melody that touched her soul--and mine--as I watched her.
Our relationship with God is so similar! God wants so much to help us...to bring out the music in our souls. He finds incredible pleasure in our uniqueness.
After all, He created us. He knows us better than we know ourselves. He created the words and music of a dynamic melody within us.
As our composer, He knows every note, every line, every rest. He ponders the value each note should have and how much emphasis should be placed on it. He may even throw in the dissonance of hard times for specific effect. Nothing is accidental.
But, we think we know better than God how to make our own music. "I wanna do it" we cry, and wrestle with God to do our own thing.
This choice away from God our own lives is called "iniquity," "sin," or "lawlessness" in Scripture. It is nothing more than our own self-will rejecting the will of God.
"The essence of sin, then is a refusal to trust God--an exulting of self to the exclusion of God, with resultant disobedience."
It feels good at first. Because we are in control we know what will happen next, and it is predictable. We know where we are going and just how to get there.
However, this control quickly turns to bondage. We move from trusting God to meet our needs, to listening to Satan over God.
When we suffer as a result of our own choices, we blame God for the damage when, in truth, we have created our own hell.
Every day, we play out the game of who is in control. God longs for us to trust Him, to understand what He is creating in us is good, even though it may be difficult to understand at the time.
"The Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love. He will not always accuse, now will He harbor His anger forever; He does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is His love for those who fear Him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us." Ps. 103:8-12.
His love for us is total and complete. We will never know love that is greater than the love of our God. The Christmas story is about the wonderful gift of love He sent us in the form of Jesus.
Brennan Manning, in his book, Lion and Lamb, says it so well, "Only Jesus revealed that God is a father of incomparable tenderness that if we take all the goodness, wisdom and compassion of the best mothers and fathers who ever lived, they would only be a shadow of the love and mercy in the heart of the redeeming God."
Jesus’ death on the cross made it possible for us to change—to be redeemed from a life of sin and selfishness. But it means turning to God in surrender. No more taking control—no more choosing our own way.
"Gracious and loving God, You know the deep inner patterns of my life that keep me from being totally yours. You know the malformed structures of my being that hold me in bondage to something less than your high purpose for my life. You also know my reluctance to let you have your way with me in these areas. Hear the deeper cry of my heart for wholeness and by your grace enable me to be open to your transforming presence. Lord, have mercy."
Robert Mulloholand’s Invitation to a Journey
As we surrender to Jesus, our lives become an incredible melody—more beautiful than we could ever ask or imagine! It’s the song of a soul set free!
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