God’s Love | His Glory My Joy, a blog of Author Luana Ehrlich

Is Your Life Out Of Focus?

October 27, 2014 Leave a comment

One of the great things about most cameras today is the automatic focusing feature. I’m old enough to remember using a camera that required fiddling with a bunch of dials before snapping the picture. Most of the time, those waiting to be photographed weren’t very patient about this process, and, oftentimes, after all that effort, the photo turned out to be out of focus after all.

As children of God, it would be nice to have this automatic focusing mechanism built into our daily lives. Then, the moment our lives became blurry around the edges–from partaking of all the world has to offer, from neglecting Bible study, from participating in non-glorying-God activities–then our focus would automatically be returned to our Father, to concentrating on His plan for our lives, to living out Christ in us, “the hope of Glory” (Colossians 1:27).

However, none of us has an automatic focusing mechanism. What we do have, though, is something even better–the Word of God. Whereas something working in the background and automatically redirecting one’s focus towards God sounds good, in reality, such a device would ultimately lead to apathy and to taking God for granted. It would not adhere to the command “work out your salvation with fear and trembling” (Philippians 2:12).

God’s Word redirects our focus to Him in numerous passages of Scripture throughout the Old and New Testament. One of my favorite such verses is 2 Thessalonians 3:5: “May the Lord direct your hearts to the love of God and to the steadfastness of Christ.”

Have you lost your focus? Direct your heart today to the love of God. “The love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him” (1 John 4:9).

Direct your heart also to the steadfastness of Christ. “He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it” (1 Thessalonians 5:24).

Spending time with the Lord in daily Bible study and prayer brings clarity to our lives. It sharpens an otherwise blurry picture.

Go back

Your message has been sent

Categories: Bible, Devotionals, God's Love, Happiness, Prayer Tags: Blurry Picture Sharpen, Camera Out Of Focus, Clarity in Christ, Direct Heart Toward God, Faithfulness of Christ, Lost Focus Christ, Lost Focus God, Redirect Your Focus, Work Out Salvation

Who’s Going To Take Out The Trash?

October 21, 2014 Leave a comment

Do you remember any of the items you threw in the trash last week? Do you recall what you tied up in a plastic garbage sack, put inside a garbage can, and rolled to the curb a month ago? Probably not. They aren’t important now. That stuff is yesterday’s garbage.

That’s exactly how God treats the sins of His children. Those sins are yesterday’s garbage. Hebrews 8:12 “I will be merciful toward their iniquities, and I will remember their sins no more.”

Since God is . . . well, God, it’s hard to believe He’s just going to forget this trash. As human beings, we remember our failures, our transgressions, our sins, our disobedience. Not so with God. Hebrews 10:17: “I will remember their sins and their lawless deeds no more.”

As difficult it is for us to accept God’s forgetfulness, one look at Scripture proves that God is both a God of forgiveness and a God of forgetfulness. Were it not so, He would have crushed Adam and Eve from the moment they believed Satan’s lie, not bothering to go looking for them, inquiring, “Adam, Where are you?” Were it not so, He would never have given the Ceremonial Law, providing cleansing from sin or the Mercy Seat for the atoning of sins. Were it not so, He would never have sent His only Son who said he was going to die an excruciating death, “for the forgiveness of sins.” Matthew 26:28.

Putting away the sin in one’s own life, is just like getting rid of any other refuse. First, it must be brought to the trash can. Bring your sins to God. Proverbs 28:15: “Whoever conceals his transgressions will not prosper, but he who confesses and forsakes them will obtain mercy.”

Second, it must be left there. Leave your sins with God. Hebrews 11:10-23: “. . . hold fast the confession of our faith, without wavering. . .”

Lastly, walk away. Walk away in God. 2 Peter 1:3: “His divine power has granted to us all that pertain to life and godliness.”

“I am he who blots out your transgressions for my own sake.” Isaiah 43:25. Why not allow Him take out the trash for you.

No one does a better job of it.

Go back

Your message has been sent

Categories: Devotionals, Forgiveness, God's Love, Happiness, Sin Tags: Can God Forget? My Sins, Can You Forget Sin? Forgetting Sin, Forget About Sin, Forgive God, God doesn't forget, God Forgets, God Forgets Sin, How I Can Forgive, How To Forget

Is Your Godliness Hidden Away?

October 16, 2014 Leave a comment

In my lifetime, I’ve known several people who claimed to be followers of Christ, but whose actions didn’t appear to back up this assertion.

From what I could observe, none of the attributes of the fruit of the Spirit from Galatians 5:22—love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness—were in evidence in their talk or in their walk.

If these characteristics were part of who they were, I didn’t see it.

For me to believe a person is truly born again, like the plant that suddenly burst forth from my flowerbed last week, these Spirit-filled qualities need to make an appearance.

Sometimes, similar to the way the plant that was hidden beneath the soil of my garden all summer, certain conditions need to be met before a person’s true godly nature can be known.

In like manner, unless God had chosen to reveal His love—an intrinsic component of who He truly is—then, we would not and, indeed, could not, have known Him. If God’s love, mercy, compassion, kindness, goodness, had stayed within God and not appeared in the form of His Son, none of us would have ever benefitted.

Without this revelation of God’s nature, all of us would be lost forever.

“But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us . . . through Jesus Christ our Savior . . .” (Titus 3:4-6).

As a Spirit-filled child of God, allow the fruit of His Spirit to burst forth from you today. May those around you see what is hidden within you.

Go back