SOMETIMES WE NEED A REMINDER OF GOD’S LOVE

Saturday over the Cumberland River, Clarksville, TN   (June 12, 2021)

by Tammy Phillips
June 14, 2021

For by grace, you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; [it is] the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. (Ephesians 2:8-9 NKJV) 

A young man asked for prayer.  His request was that He would remember God’s love for Him and that it is has nothing to do with what He does.  We encouraged him.  Holy Spirit led me to Psalms 139:13-17 and Ephesians 2:10.

The paraphrased reminder I gave Him and now you…

He knows you.
He formed your insides.
He knit you together in your mother’s womb.
You are fearfully and wonderfully made.
His works are wonderful and you are one of them!

Your frame was not hidden from Him,
When you were being formed in secret.
The LORD intricately and skillfully wove you together
like you were embroidered with many various colors of thread.

You are His workmanship
You are His own master work.
You are a work of art.
You are created in Christ Jesus. 
You are reborn from above.
You are spiritually transformed.
You are renewed.
You are ready to be used for good works.
God prepared the path before you.
so that you would walk in them…
Living the good life which He prearranged and made ready.

The LORD saw your unformed substance.
The days that were appointed for you were
all written in His book before you were even born!

We continued to pray and then later “I” looked down at my open Bible and read a note that I had written to my self of January 27, 2015.  It is what I call a little love note from the Lord.  It is when God reveals Himself through His word in a different way. This is what I wrote in response to Ephesians 2:8-9…

“For by favor you are SAVED through faith and all that means …
IT IS NOTHING YOU DO.  It is…the GIFT OF GOD.”

This brought me back to a time when God gave me a gift that I thought I did not deserve.  It is a time when He “saved” me from myself.  I just could not fathom such favor in the middle of such imperfection and honestly, incomplete surrender and disobedience.  God did this for us all when He sent Jesus. He gifted us salvation in Jesus when we sure did not deserve it. 

This young man shared His heart and at the same time God wrecked mine.   He reminded me, AGAIN, that He is big enough to love us right where we are. Every day, every moment, every breath is a chance to begin again with God.

I enCOURAGE to take time today and remember how very much the Lord loves you. He loves you in the middle of your mess.  He loves you in the middle of your victories and failures.  It is nothing you do.  It is who He is.  Spend time loving on our Good Father.