Steadfast Love and Forgiveness

As I post this, I am on my way home from Bali, where I spoke at a retreat for women who serve globally. 

Most of you are aware that these girls are near and dear to my heart, since I once lived, worked, and served overseas, as well. 

We have a LOT in common, even though my age puts me well above these young ‘uns at this stage of life. 😁

In recent months, I’ve observed how many of them have become snared by the enemy of their souls, allowing him a foothold into their lives, particularly from past sins.

He has convinced them that they are not worthy enough to be fully useful, wonder how the Lord can use them (!) because of their history, and as a result tend to hide in the shadows. 

With those old mind-videos cycling in their heads, and whatever words the enemy picked to label their hearts, then their lives start spinning in a merry-go-round-cycle-of-incredible-defeat. 

I’m certainly not pointing any fingers, for I’ve been them, just with a different face. 

We, Westerners, tend to forget just how real the unseen spiritual world is, and how hard-fought the battle can be.

Often, our tendency is to just give up and allow all of it (the insecurity we fight, the fatigue that comes from carrying all that junk, and the lies that swarm like bees to honey) to become our “normal.”

David (the Great King of Israel, the slayer of Goliath, the writer of Psalms) must have felt this way from time to time, as well. He’s the one who penned the words in the .jpeg at the beginning.

He begs God in Psalm 25 - “Forgive and forget my sins, God, my acts of rebellion. Don’t dwell on them, please.”

He earnestly prays this because he, too, wants to “forgive and forget.” 

He’s worn out from all the whirlwind that weighs heavy in his heart.

Often, I’ve wondered, does he confess these things and walk away in freedom, or does he keep coming back with the ask - over and over again?

However, I think David holds this incredible visual in his heart, too:

A new born lamb.

Completely unblemished.

Innocent.

Bleating as he is picked up and placed on the altar of sacrifice.

Throat slit, blood dripping as he bleeds out…

All to cover the darkened wild, rebellious heart of the King with forgiveness. 

As he wrote those words, did this picture come into his head? 

Does he remember there is no need to keep his mind stayed on his past junk?

Perhaps, so…because later he would write, 

“According to Your HESED; according to Your goodness, YOU REMEMBER ME…

In Psalm 103, more words: 

“God does not deal with us according to our sins, nor repay us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so GREAT is His HESED toward those who fear Him; as far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us (verses 10-12).”

Isaiah writes about it, as well: 

“I, I am He, who blots out your transgressions for my own sake, and I will not remember your sins (43:25)…”

Then, Micah, the next to the last of the Old Testament prophets (I count John the Baptist as the final prophet) weighs in: 

“Who is a God like you, pardoning iniquity and passing over transgression for the remnant of His inheritance? He does not retain His anger forever, because He delights in HESED!”

Why does God do this for us? Forgive us? Not dwell on the sins we’ve confessed?

Simple - His HESED. His great love. His awe-mazing goodness. 

His HESED, steadfast love, sent Jesus to be the final sacrifice for ALL OUR SIN! 

Picture our Lord’s sacrifice.

Once and for all time, he died for our sins, that we might LIVE forgiven and free…

Don’t let the enemy have any victory - put your shame down, don’t dwell on the past…

Jesus took care of it all at the cross.

It is NO MORE!

Lent begins next week, March 4th.

What a great time to do as so many of my sweet gals did in Bali, this past week. 

They knelt before their Savior, and, with gratitude thanked Him for the price He paid; placed all the stuff they were holding onto before His feet, and walked away in complete VICTORY.

In FREEDOM. 

I KNOW they even slept better than they had in years, because they remembered that in Christ they have been set FREE from sin and death.

His HESED is THAT GREAT!

In An Attempt to Define God’s Love…

For several years, Pre-Africa, I taught a neighborhood Good News Club for any of the kiddos who lived on our street.

Every Thursday after school, we gathered at my friend’s house (she hosted, I taught), and served snacks, played games, then had a brief program where we sang fun kids songs, taught stories about missionaries from by-gone-days who’d left their mark on the world, memorized Scripture verses, and, of course, I taught a Bible story weaving in the gospel of Jesus Christ (hence, “Good News” club). 

We had quite a group of students from Kindergarten up to about 4th grade. 

I mostly remember how they loved to sing - - enthusiastically and LOUDLY (like screaming loud on particular songs, which I may or may have not encouraged with an, “I can’t hear you…”). 😇

One such song taught them this truth:

“God’s love is like a circle, 

A circle big and round.

For when you see a circle,

No ending can be found.

And so, the love of Jesus

Goes on eternally,

Forever and forever, I know that He loves me.”

God’s love.

That mysterious, untranslatable, undefinable word I began to study and research last week: HESED.

So simple, we can write a children’s song about it, that I pray those little ones never forget; but, so profound theologians can’t find one single word to define it.

The more I dug into some books, commentaries, and a Hebrew/Greek Dictionary, the more I realize the word is very much like a magnet around metal filings.

HESED seems to gather other words to itself without exerting any energy of its own. 

It grabs onto words like “faithfulness,” as in Genesis 24:27, 

“Blessed be the Lord, the God of Abraham, who has not forsaken his steadfast love and his faithfulness…”

Here are a few of some of the main ones we often see tagged onto God’s HESED: goodness, truth, mercy, compassion, covenant, justice, favor, and righteousness; and, so the magnet drags these other words along with it to try and bring fulness to its meaning. 

So, trying to come up with my own explanation, I went back to the first time the word is used in the Old Testament to see if it would clarify for me, at least some simplification (as much as is possible for me to wrap my mind around). 

HESED is first used in Genesis 19:19. 

Lot has been told to flee for his life up into the hills away from Sodom and Gomorrah, because the Angel of the Lord plans to destroy it for its wickedness, and its lack of mercy toward the poor. 

Lot asks if the Lord would allow him to simply run to the next city, instead of up into the mountains (he must have been out of shape…I can relate). 

Lot has absolutely no reason to expect God to grant his request, and God has no reason to do so, either. 

He had already given his instruction.

Why should he give in to Lot, and why should Lot even think he had a right to ask. 

I’m not sure I would have dared cross God, or make any other demands, simply out of gratitude for giving me a chance to escape.

It wasn’t as if Lot was a stellar kind of guy (after all, he had just offered up his two virgin daughters to the men of Sodom, if they would leave the visiting angels alone - this is quite a shocking story right at the beginning of our Bibles). 

Yet, the Lord, in His love for His children, His patience, His slow-to-get-angry-character, and in His kindness, grants Lot’s request. 

There it is - the first concept I can actually wrap my head around regarding HESED; and, if asked begin to explain it this way:

HESED: when I deserve nothing from God’s hand, but He blesses me anyway, simply because of His character. 

God is HESED.

❤️ 

And, that love never fails. 

It goes on and on forever and a day.

Because of the Lord’s HESED, we do not perish, for His mercies never end.

Lamentations 3:22

True Love (say it like you heard it in Princess Bride)

 

True Love (all i can hear is the line in Princess Bride)...

It's that time of year, when thoughts of love fill our heads,

Hearts are sprinkled about everywhere,

Songs of romance are in the air,

and, we're reminded of all things pink and red...

All this Valentine's emphasis is almost staggering....

However, what is overwhelming is trying to put words to the greatest love of all time.

 

It's so mind-blowing there is no real word in the English language for it. 

Through the years, artists have tried to portray it.

Song-writers have attempted to put music and lyrics to it.

Authors fail trying to bring expression to it.

And, small-time-blog-writers (aka: me) find themselves totally mind-boggled by it.

Theologians come the closest to a description. 

Their words for this love is "inexpressible," "mysterious," and "sacred;" but, even they fall short of defining it. 

It's simply too esoteric, I think; but, I would love to comprehend it more (word-nerd-me). 

Old Testament writers used one favorite word to describe this amazing love. 

Of course, I've run across this expression for years in the Scriptures. 

It's used prolifically.

Depending on which "expert" you ask, it's written 248-253 times, and 128 of those show up in the Psalms.

Since I'm praying through the Psalms this year, I'm frequently bumping into the word, and it has piqued my curiosity.

In Hebrew, the word is HESED, 

pronounced "kheh-sed."

So, for the rest of this "💖 love month 💖," I'll be exploring its depths (I've picked up a couple books as guides). 

For now, let's just say that one author I'm reading gleaned insights for his book from two, 1500 page notebooks. Not to worry, I am not that prolific, nor do I wish to be. 

With this as an introduction, you should be aware...Hesed is translated with 8 different words in the King James Version, 12 in the NIV, 13 in the ESV, 15 in the New Living Translation, and a whopping 46 different ways in The Message.

God's great, magnificent, sacred, mysterious love for each of us will require a lifetime of learning, and will never be fully KNOWN until we get to live each day experiencing it in real-time and in real-life...

...but, what fun to TRY (especially as we move toward the Lenten season beginning on March 5)!

For now, this I know is true (ponder it with me):

The End.

I just re-read last week's blog post, which actually concluded a look into the life of John the Baptist. 

Living with John in my head for a significantly long time, I've examined what the life of a Jesus-follower might look like as we live between two Advents, one that was and one to come. 

John's life role-modeled "LIVING IN THE WAITING" incredibly well. 

Allow me to summarize the last four months of blogs with THE SHORT LIST.

This "Miracle of Mercy," created in the image of God (as all of us are), and, born to Elizabeth and Zechariah at the end of 400-years-of-darkness (God's silence) showed us:

A faithfulness in living life solely for the glory of God.

A commitment to serve and surrender (even unto death) - mixed together with a large dash of boldness, courage, humility (He must increase, while I decrease), contentment (to be upfront or behind-the-scenes), and with an enduring stubbornness.

A willingness to be "different" - odd for God's sake, uncompromising, feisty, often misunderstood.

A determination to walk daily in his purpose - preparing the way for the Savior who will come again, leveling the path for His arrival, being an instrument of THE WORD (a voice of TRUTH), and allowing the Lord to use us as a window into HIS HEART FOR ALL MANKIND (to allow THE ONE WHO IS THE LIGHT TO SHINE THROUGH TO A LOST WORLD).

A celebration of joy (in spite of the difficulties) - talk about living with HOPE, John leapt for joy over Jesus before he was even born, and continued leaping with peace and hope throughout his life. He was what Augustine called an "Easter People," even before there was a Resurrection (and, HALLELUJAH was his song).

A confidence in whose he was and who he was - John knew his identity as he was taught by his parents at a young age, then went forth, and radiantly lived it out.

I'm absolutely challenged by John's enigmatic and intriguing life; utterly convicted by this mysterious figure who, in reality, was the last of the Old Testament prophets. 

Each of the above list has become for me a prayer of my heart. Each morning I ask the Lord to remind me throughout the day exactly what it means to live faithfully committed, walking out my calling with steadfastness and confidence, but most of all living in celebration ("internally leapy" with Great Joy) over the Lamb of God, who took away my sins.

HOWEVER...

Two other things jump out at me about the life that John the Baptist lived, and, which I believe are critical for those of us who want to pilgrimage well all the way heavenward on this path of life...

One of those is the strong belief that John lived out his name... 

John: God is a gracious giver. 

"The Lord gives grace."

So, every time he walked into a room, people were reminded of the character and the grace of God. 

Is this true of us? When we walk into a room, and people recognize us by name, are they reminded of the Lord? 

I constantly pray the Lord shows me every single way I obscure His name.

The other is a recognition that John the Baptist was not perfect. 

He certainly was great (even Jesus said so), but he was human, which means he was inherently flawed. 

I love that the Lord gives us a peek into the weakness of this Biblical character, especially into his doubts and discouragement. 

I'm reminded not to expect perfection in my own life, reveal my vulnerabilities, and, learn from them...

I'm also reminded not to expect perfection in others, and, to allow room for God to work in the hearts of those living in confusion and doubts, as well (and I pray they will grant me the same grace). 

We live in an era, where we need more willing, passionate, faithful followers who live life with the same intent of this incredible figure, preparing the way for the gospel of Jesus Christ. 

This is where I need to put one last period on the life of John the Baptist.

What a guy!

The End.

New "focus" next week.