Thursday June 14, 2012

Wrote down all the sins you have committed this week and, having asked for forgiveness,  next to each one write ‘God delights in me’.

 

Read Deuteronomy 26:16-19;  1 Peter 2:9;

Ephesians 1:4-5

 

How do you cope with this statement, ‘God delights in you’?

 

Sometimes we might be tempted to fob it off as a theological truism. At other times we might think of it as too common or over preached. At other times we might be brought to tears wondering what there is to delight in.

 

Be assured. God delights in you. God has chosen you and your church to be His treasured possession. Just like He chose Israel and delighted in her, now, through the death and resurrection of Christ He has chosen you and delights in you.

 

When I am tempted to sin I try to remember that God delights in me. Remembering this wonderful and blessed truth, I ask myself some hard questions.  Do I want to treat God, who delights in me, like this? Is this how I want to respond to God’s delight? How can I possibly do this when God delights in me?

 

It’s very hard to repay selfless love with rejection. It’s very hard to sin wilfully against God (and all sin is against God) when we realise that He loves us. He delights in us. He delights in us so much that He sent Jesus into the world to bear my punishment, my judgement and my wrath.

 

Now please, don’t get that the wrong way around. If you do, you will always be tempted into sinfulness. God does not love you because Jesus died on the cross! God loves you and because God loves you He sent Jesus to die on the cross. The order is vitally important. From the creation of the world God has chosen to love you, to redeem you and to adopt you into His blessed family. He sent Jesus to die on the cross for you because you are dearly loved and cherished.

 

The Bible calls us to obedience and to purity because we are dearly loved by God. Love comes first. Then comes the response of obedience.

 

Prayer:

¥ Pray that you personally would understand more of how much God delights in you. Pray that this love would change you from the inside out. Pray this for each and every single person in your congregation.

¥ Pray that your congregation would be willing and able to share this love with others in the world. Ask God to open doors for sharing and growing His kingdom through this love.