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Covenant Love

Wednesday Wanderings with Dr. Sherri is a time we set aside to wander in the Presence of Jesus and ponder His truths. When you are ready, prepare your mind, body, and soul to have a transformational encounter with Jesus.

Watch the Wednesday Wanderings Welcome for this week.

Now that we have cleared our minds of the clutter, we can wander on the journey of examining covenant love.

PREPARATION: In our last Wandering we examined The Language of Love.  This week we will explore Covenant Love.  When you are ready, you may begin the dialogue with Jesus and state: “Jesus, I invite you to help me to leisurely wander into your Presence where your covenant love can empower me. Illuminate my spiritual senses to encounter you. Prepare my heart to focus my attention on loving you eternally.”

PROMISE: Love is a promise. Jesus demonstrated His Covenant to us when He offered His life on the cross. Out of  God’s love, He sacrificed the life of His only son. John 3:16  reads, “For God so (greatly) loved and dearly prized the world, that He (even) gave His (One and) only begotten son, so that whoever believes and trusts in Him (as Savior) shall not perish, but have eternal life.

This promise of eternal life gives us a reason to live the covenant of loving Jesus in life and death. 

PSALM: In the song My Jesus I love Thee William Ralph Featherstone shares his vow to live in love with Jesus.

Live in covenant love

I’ll love Thee in life, I will love Thee in death,
  And praise Thee as long as Thou lendest me breath;
And say when the death dew lies cold on my brow,
  If ever I loved Thee, my Jesus, ’tis now.

The love of Jesus is an uncompromising, unconditional, unwavering, gracious, and redeeming covenant. Our sin may interfere with how we love Jesus but it does not interfere with how He loves us. At some point in the psalmist life, he realized that God sacrificed His son so that we could live graciously forgiven of our sin and live life IN Covenant love with Him. I wonder what prompted the psalmist to pledge his love to Jesus?

PARABLE: We are more prone to approach our love affair with Jesus as a contract opposed to a covenant. What is the difference between contractual love and covenant love? Contractual love says, “Because I did this for you, you should do this for me.” Covenant love says, “I will love even if you don’t. I will love especially when you won’t.”  If the love of Jesus was contractual, every time we sin, the contract would be voided. Instead Jesus died to offer us covenant love. What is the covenant love of Jesus and what does it do? 

  1. Covenant Love

    The Covenant Love of Jesus is inseparable. Romans 8:38.  It promises that NOTHING can separate us from the love of Jesus.

  2. The Covenant Love of Jesus is  immeasurable. Ephesians 3:18. Jesus pledges to love us beyond an identified width, length, height, or depth.
  3. The Covenant Love of Jesus is indisputable. 1 John 4:9-10. Jesus’ sacrificial life and death substantiates that God gave His son’s life to pay the debt of our sins.
  4. The Covenant Love of Jesus is everlasting. Jeremiah 31:3  It swears that His love has no expiration, is steeped with lovingkindness, and is faithful.
  5. The Covenant Love of Jesus empowers: Romans 8:37. It guarantees that in Christ we are more than conquerors of the guilt, shame, lies, and strongholds of sin.

Covenant love is not about us. Covenant love is all about Jesus who lived just to die for our sins. The lie of shame says “We are wrong.” The truth of God’s promises says “We did wrong” but the love of Jesus permits us to repent and be cleansed by His redemptive blood. We can live a life in covenant love with Jesus because His unconditional covenant love is patient, kind, does not count our wrong, and is enduring(1 Corinthians 13:4-8). Will you choose today to live a powerful, thriving, and lasting relationship with Jesus by choosing to live IN COVENANT LOVE?

PONDER and WANDER:

I Choose You

Ponder the question: Has my contractual view of love interfered with me living in the unconditional, gracious, redeeming, and saving covenant love of Jesus Christ?  

Perhaps you have not made a covenant vow to Jesus but rest assured, Jesus has already made a covenant to you. On the cross, He said, “I choose you!” and He will continue to choose you over and over.

If you choose, when you are ready, you may take a few minutes to repent of your sin and renew or establish your covenant with Jesus. Invite the Holy Spirit to use the prompts to guide you to declare your love. You may select which one(s) you would like to include in your vows of love and complete the sentence(s) with your promise.

Jesus I love you…
Jesus I choose you…

PRAYER: Jesus, with every breath you provide me, I will choose to love you without my hurts hindering my view of your Presence, without my sorrow sabotaging your joy, without holding on to my habits tighter than I cling to you. In life, in death, with every breath, I promise to love you. In the loving name of Jesus I pray, Amen.

PRAISE: Now that you have emptied your mind of the clutter and wandered with Jesus, take a closing moment to offer Him your gratitude that He chose you. Let the work of your wandering fill you with the assurance that God loved YOU enough to give His son without hesitation.

Then take the mindfulness of God’s presence cultivated in these last few minutes of wandering into the next ones and beyond.

Until next time, be Resonant.

PERSONAL BONUS: If you would like, you may watch the below video and share an experience that helped me to make a love covenant to Jesus.

This video reveals the moment I touched The Stone of Unction, also known as the Stone of Anointing located in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher (The Church of Resurrection) in Jerusalem. This limestone slab of love is where Jesus was laid to be prepared for burial after being removed from the crucifix (Matthew 27:57-60).

It was at this stone that I gained a new perspective of how Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection paid for the consequences of my sin and cancelled the terms of my contract. It was at the tomb where Jesus was buried and resurrected that my guilt and shame, especially of those from my sins of perfectionism, people-pleasing, and performance vanished. It was at the Church of the Holy Sepulcher where I realized that though my sin (some of them I was too ashamed to share with anyone) is great, the love of Jesus is greater! Touching that stone where He laid, reframed the meaning of reckless and undeserving Covenant Love. I can relate to Featherstone’s pledge of love to Jesus. Touching this stone, my heart cried “If ever I loved thee my Jesus, tis now!”  Invite the Holy Spirit to search your mind and recall a time within your relationship with Jesus that prompted you to say, “If ever I loved Thee my Jesus, tis now.”

Image Attributions:
I choose you: Google Image
Live in love: Belovedwomen.org
Covenant love: Google images

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This is Literally a Matter of Life and Death

Life and Death

I’ll love Thee in life, I will love Thee in death,
  And praise Thee as long as Thou lendest me breath;
And say when the death dew lies cold on my brow,
  If ever I loved Thee, my Jesus, ’tis now.

My Jesus, I Love Thee
By: William Ralph Featherston (1848–1875)

Listen to this simple piano arrangement as you read.  And make sure to check out the video log below which will guide you through a worshipful reflection of this stanza.

We continued our look into this timeless hymn last week considering Jesus’ demonstration of love through His death on Calvary.  You can find that post here.  This week we turn our attention to the “now” of our own death, and the living until then, determined to continue to love Jesus through them all.  Let’s tune our hearts.

A Matter of Life and Death

This third stanza gives us the opportunity to consider our response of love whether living or dying.  It is a beautiful expression of this verse.

For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. Philippians 1:21 ESV

To rephrase this commitment and simplify the stanza we could simply say “I’ll love Thee”.  But simplifying the words does not mean that actually doing the loving becomes simple.  It definitely makes it easier on two counts though.

  1. There is intentionality involved.  We can draw strength from the fact that we decided to love Jesus in response to His love, especially when doing so becomes challenging.
  2. There is commitment engaged.  We have told the One who loved us first that we are going to love Him as long as we live and even as we die.

Those are both very important because there are different seasons to everything.  Think about the image above.  I love Jesus differently when I am graduating to a nursing home than when I graduated from high school.  My own perspectives and life experience influence and inform my intention and commitment to love Jesus.

When Paul says to the church ay Philippi, that should he live he will do so for the glory of Christ, and should he die that will be for his gain.  That is a mature declaration that Paul was able to arrive at after some time of living in Christ.  It is one that every senior saint can say with a confidence the baby believer simply does not possess.

Whatever season you are living in today, old or young, weary or vigorous, happy or sad, etc.  determine to love Jesus in it.  Tell Him again right now you will, and ask Him for the ability to do so.

 

I Will Praise Thee

Praise Thee

The Scripture says it best.

Let everything that has breath praise the Lord! Praise the Lord! Psalm 150:6 ESV

Again the succinctness of the Scripture is so satisfying.  This is the command to which the commitment of the second line responds.

  • Command:  Let everything that has breath praise the Lord!
  • Response:  Yes I will, as long as the Lord gives me breath!

So where are you with your response?  Now be careful because this one seems so easy as well.  Notice it does not say, “And praise Thee as long as…

  • You give me what I want
  • Things are going my way
  • Life is easy
  • I am not suffering
  • Fill in the blank with your supposed first objection __________

It does say, “And praise Thee as long as Thou lendest me breath.”  We are going to look into that poetic last phrase in a moment but first just consider what that implies.  As long as I am alive, I am going to praise You.  Not just obey, submit, serve, honor, etc., but praise.  All those other things are ways to praise, but can fall short if not offered with the right heart.  The heart that says to Jesus…

Worthy of every song we could ever sing
Worthy of all the praise we could ever bring
Worthy of every breath we could ever breathe
We live for you.  From Build My Life by Housefires

We live for you.  Maybe take a few minutes and just play that video and make that commitment.  Either way, tell him again today, “I will live for You!”

 

As Long As Thou Lendest Me Breath

 

Breath

Then the Lord God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature.  Genesis 2:7 ESV 

The idea here is that from the first of us, Adam, to the last of us, we will only live as God, the Giver of all breath allows.  Because He is the Giver, and we are His creation, we should declare that commitment with the hymn writer,  “I will praise You as long as You give me breath.”

That is a powerful declaration, but it is followed up with an even more powerful which we will consider on Thursday.  I will even sing my love song to Jesus as I prepare to take my last breath.  Hope to see you back here as we think about that.

Be careful when considering using that breath to make a powerful statement this this stanza offers.  This is serious stuff.  Literally a matter of life and death.  But I hope you will sing this commitment which us in the video below and then everyday in some way.  We will help you tune your heart to sing such praise by providing resources like this to help you love Jesus, and become Resonant, 7 days a week.

Intentional Tuning!

Jesus, thank You for loving me and lending me the breath to live, and to praise You with that life.  Help me today to use this breath and the life it affords to love You and love others.  In Jesus name.  Amen.

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Enjoy this video and the transcript below!

Video 9.3 Transcript

Welcome to Tuesday Tunings at Resonant 7, where we reflect on the reality of God and resolve to let it resound in our lives, repeatedly. Let’s tune our hearts.

I’ll love Thee in life, I will love Thee in death,
  And praise Thee as long as Thou lendest me breath;
And say when the death dew lies cold on my brow,
  If ever I loved Thee, my Jesus, ’tis now.

In response to His love displayed on Calvary, we commit to love Him not only as long as we live, but even as we die.  He loved us this way, so loving Him in kind is the very least we can do. Ask Jesus to help you love Him, whether living or dying.

He is the source of life.  If you draw another breath, it is because He chose to lend the air to you and enable your lungs to take it in.  As you take your next breath, thank Jesus for it, and ask Him for the ability to praise Him every one you take.

I love how many hymns have no trouble addressing the reality of death.  This idea of moisture, possibly perspiration, on the forehead of someone facing death is an unusual visual, but suffice it to say, there is a resolve as to what will be on his lips even then.  Are you so resolved?

And here is our repeated refrain, growing in intensity through the stanzas, from that decision to first love, to love in response to the cross, and now even at death.  The words on the lips of the genuine worshipper at every circumstance of life, “Jesus, I love you.” Echo them now.

Take a few moments to talk to Jesus about what has surfaced in your heart, or just listen to what He is saying to you, then we will sing once more.

Sing

Take the awareness of God’s presence cultivated in these last few minutes into the next ones and beyond.  Until next time, be Resonant.

Image Attributions
Life and Death – https://pixabay.com/vectors/adult-age-baby-child-death-human-2028245/
Praise Thee  – https://pixabay.com/photos/woman-happiness-sunrise-silhouette-570883/
Breath – https://pixabay.com/vectors/lungs-human-anatomy-bronchia-296392/

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About Loving You Jesus…How’s Tomorrow?

I Love Thee

I love Thee because Thou hast first loved me,
  And purchased my pardon on Calvary’s tree;
I love Thee for wearing the thorns on Thy brow;
  If ever I loved Thee, my Jesus, ’tis now.

My Jesus, I Love Thee
By: William Ralph Featherston (1848–1875)

Listen to this simple piano arrangement as you read.  And be sure to experience the worship-cultivating podcast below.

We take some time today to consider the now of those moments which purchased our redemption.  It did not seem convenient for Jesus, but He wore the thorns and we Calvary anyway.  Are we committed to loving even when it is inconvenient?  Let’s think about that.

I Love Thee…

And here we are again repeating our commitment to love Jesus.  It is still a response to what we have just sung and what is contained in the latter part of this stanza, but it is just as much a continual declaration to drive us along it our response.  We love Him because He loved us first.

As we transition to loving in response to His wearing the crown of thorns, stop and take another moment here at the foot of Calvary’s tree.  Humble yourself there to receive the pardon purchased with His broken body and shed blood.  Let it wash over your soul with waves of unmerited grace.  Let it illumine your heart as it pushes back the long night with the gentle glow of its eternal light.

Tell Jesus you love Him, and will keep loving Him for purchasing your pardon.  Thank Him for laying down His life and ask Him to help you learn from and model that self-sacrifice.

Thorns on Thy Brow

For Wearing…

…the thorns on Thy brow.  The symbol of mocking was simultaneously an unwitting tacit acknowledgement of His kingship.  We gladly adore Him for His willingness to wear that crown, even though He was worthy of an entirely different one.  How gracious of Him to do so, especially since He had done nothing to deserve such punishment and humiliation!

Can you imagine how excruciatingly painful wearing those thorns must have been to his physical body?  Isaiah 52:14 says we would not have recognized Him, so brutal was their treatment of Him, this being one example of that torture.  Even still it was but a weak illustration of the agony Christ must have felt in His spirit as the Father turned His face away. [Psalm 22:1]

He was worthy of sincere adoration, and will receive it eternally from grateful hearts, but those moments in which He wore that thorny crown He only received mocking and ridicule from his tormentors.

And twisting together a crown of thorns, they put it on his head and put a reed in his right hand. And kneeling before him, they mocked him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!”  Matthew 27:29 ESV

What love!

If ever…it’s now!

If Ever I Loved Thee

In response to that extravagant expression of love for us and obedience to the Father, we love Him.

We love because he first loved us.  1 John 4:19 ESV 

Make that choice again today.  Determine you will love Him because He loved you first.  Ask Him to show you what that love should look like as you walk through your day.  How can you reflect that kind of sacrificial love today?  Do not put off to tomorrow what you can do today.

Jesus, thank You for putting action to Your words of love.  Help me to do the same as I offer my love to You today.  May I live in response to Calvary.  In Jesus’ name.   Amen.

Responsive Thinking!

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Everyone enjoy this podcast! It features meditative music and moments to contemplate the Scriptures shared.

Podcast 9.2 Transcript

Welcome to Thursday Thoughts at Resonant 7, where we reflect on the reality of God and resolve to let it resound in our lives, repeatedly. Let’s think about this.

I love Thee because Thou hast first loved me,

Romans 5:8 ESV

But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

The love we declared in the first stanza is of course a response to God’s love. That is made plain by the first line of the second stanza which gives poetic voice to this scripture.  Thank God for loving you first, and sending his Son to demonstrate it.

  And purchased my pardon on Calvary’s tree;

Galatians 3:13 ESV

Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree”—

We were under the curse of sin but Jesus redeemed us by becoming a curse for us on Calvary’s tree. Sure, you know this, but when was the last time you pondered what that meant for Him on the cross? Take a few moments right now and just think about that.

I love Thee for wearing the thorns on Thy brow;

Matthew 27:29 ESV

And twisting together a crown of thorns, they put it on his head and put a reed in his right hand. And kneeling before him, they mocked him, saying, “Hail, King of the Jews!”

They placed the thorns on his head to mock him. We consider that crown on his brow and adore him. It is amazing to consider how different those two perspectives of the same event are isn’t it? Thank the Holy Spirit for allowing you to see that crown correctly, and respond appropriately.

  If ever I loved Thee, my Jesus, ’tis now.

1 John 4:19 ESV 

We love because he first loved us.

That is what this entire stanza is about, our response of love to the love first showed to us by Christ.  When we acknowledge that he initiated His love for us by becoming a curse for us and enduring the shame of the cross, the only right response is to love him, now, and forever more.

Take a few moments to talk to Jesus about what has come to your mind, or just listen to what He is saying to you, then I will read our text once more.

I love Thee because Thou hast first loved me,
  And purchased my pardon on Calvary’s tree;
I love Thee for wearing the thorns on Thy brow;
  If ever I loved Thee, my Jesus, ’tis now.

Take the mindfulness of God’s presence cultivated in these last few minutes into the next ones and beyond.  Until next time, be Resonant.

Image Attributions
I Love Thee… – https://pixabay.com/photos/cross-sunset-humility-devotion-1448946/
Thorns on Thy Brow – https://pixabay.com/photos/jesus-christ-clinic-jesus-christ-2437571/
If Ever I Loved Thee – https://pixabay.com/illustrations/good-friday-clipart-christ-easter-3249566/

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How to Get Immediate Debt Relief

First Loved Me

I love Thee because Thou hast first loved me,
  And purchased my pardon on Calvary’s tree;
I love Thee for wearing the thorns on Thy brow;
  If ever I loved Thee, my Jesus, ’tis now.

My Jesus, I Love Thee
By: William Ralph Featherston (1848–1875)

Listen to this simple piano arrangement as you read.  

We began our look into this timeless hymn last week.  You can find that first post here.   This week we examine the act which demonstrated God’s love for us and illicits our response.  In each of those “now” moments, we are given a number of different things to ponder.  Let’s tune our hearts.

I Love Thee Because…

This second stanza expands on the now of the historical event that made our redemption possible: God’s demonstration of love for us on the cross.

But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.  Romans 5:8 ESV

We did not have to get our act together.  We did not even need an awareness of God or His great love for us.  While we were still in sin, the Father sent His one and only Son to die for us.

The hymn puts the emphasis where it belongs, on God’s initiating, unmerited love, not our responding, grateful love.  If God had not moved toward us, we simply would never have taken the initiative.  Even if we had, we could have never reached Him, because our sin had so separated us from Him.  Our sin had left us with a debt we could never pay.  Fortunately for us, God’s love came to pay the debt in full.

Purchased My Pardon

Purchased My Pardon

The Scripture says it best.

For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.  Romans 6:23 (ESV)

Our sin had earned us death, a debt only satisfied with a life.  It should have been ours, but instead Jesus offered His perfect life, “once for all”.  Romans 6:10

I think this is a difficult concert to grasp, even when the Holy Spirit opens our eyes to the reality of it.  Though we acknowledge our utter need for a Savior when we yield our lives to Christ, I think we will be amazed at how bad our situation was when we stand before the throne and see others do the same, only to find that dependency on Christ work alone makes all the difference.

Think of it this way.  Every time you sin you are charging things to your account.  Unfortunately, we you get to the end of the billing cycle and your statement arrives, you realize there is not only no way you can pay for your usage that month, you can not repay any portion of the the debt at all, ever.  One swipe caused your account to be in default, and yet unbeknownst to you, you kept charging.

Only the Holy Spirit can reveal this situation to you and the remedy.  Trusting Christ to redeem every bit requires faith, and even that is a gift.  But it is important to remember, Jesus did not wipe out your debt.  He paid it in full, at great cost to Himself.

 

Calvary’s Tree

And just exactly how did He purchase our pardon?

Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree”— Galatians 3:13 ESV

Let’s change the imagery a bit here to help us reconsider just how significant this becoming a curse truly was.

This quote comes from Deuteronomy 21:22, but the even more interesting reality is the context for it.

Calvary’s Tree

The imagery that is evoked here is that of the Canaanite kings who were hung on tress as a part of the conquest of the Promised Land by the people of Israel.  Not just anyone was hung on a tree, but those who were significant symbols of the wrath of God pouring out.  Christ is likened to them, and that is not a pleasant association.  You can read more about this in this short article, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree”. 

Recap:  God loved us first.  He demonstrated that by purchasing our pardon when He became a curse for us.  The only right response to that kind of love is love.

Though there is no simple method which provides immediate financial debt relief, there is one way to accomplish immediate, total spiritual debt forgiveness.  Respond today to the free gift Jesus offers.  Then determine to life your life loving Jesus.  We will help you remove hindrances to such a life by providing resources like this to help you love Jesus, and become Resonant, 7 days a week.

Immediate and Continual Tuning!

Jesus, in response to Your great love for me which I could have never earned, I commit to love you, right now and forever. Thank You for purchasing my pardon by becoming a curse for me.  I can never repay the debt of love owed by this grateful heart, but I will live my life to reflect that love to everyone willing to acknowledge it.  In Jesus name.  Amen.

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Please comment below and share if you have found this helpful in your journey of being more resonant.

Below is content available only to Subscribers.  Want to learn more about accessing all the additional material in the Subscriber Content Library, click here, or the Free Member Content Library with some examples of the Subscribers content, click here.

Subscribers enjoy this video! Everyone else, the transcript below.

Video 9.2 Transcript

Welcome to Tuesday Tunings at Resonant 7, where we reflect on the reality of God and resolve to let it resound in our lives, repeatedly. Let’s tune our hearts.

I love Thee because Thou hast first loved me,
  And purchased my pardon on Calvary’s tree;
I love Thee for wearing the thorns on Thy brow;
  If ever I loved Thee, my Jesus, ’tis now.

Here is a key truth. Our love is always a response to the love Christ has first shown us.  He initiates, moves toward us, makes a way for us to approach, and we simply respond. Ask God to help you maintain this humble perspective and motivate your response of love.  

He revealed His love by becoming a curse for us, dying on the cross, taking the punishment for all our wrongs.  Thank Jesus for purchasing your pardon by sacrificing His perfect life for the sins of the world, including yours. 

The Eternal King willingly laid down His life, stepping into those moments of beating and mockery, to leave no doubt of His great love for us.  Think on those hours from the Garden of Gethsemane to the Cross of Golgotha, and give Him praise. 

When we consider the lengths to which Jesus went to demonstrate His love for us, we are compelled to love Him.  Reflect on those times when you have been overcome with sorrow for all He endured or you, and respond in these moments by renewing your love.

Take a few moments to talk to Jesus about what has surfaced in your heart, or just listen to what He is saying to you, then we will sing once more.

Sing

Take the awareness of God’s presence cultivated in these last few minutes into the next ones and beyond.  Until next time, be Resonant.

Image Attributions
First Loved Me – https://pixabay.com/illustrations/heart-love-romance-symbol-598048/
Purchased My Pardon – https://pixabay.com/photos/credit-card-master-card-visa-card-1520400/
Calvary’s Tree – https://pixabay.com/photos/cross-religion-jesus-christ-calvary-1872550/

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What Happened the Moment I Was Saved?

Gracious Redeemer

My Jesus, I love Thee, I know Thou art mine;
  For Thee all the follies of sin I resign;
My gracious Redeemer, my Savior art Thou;
  If ever I loved Thee, my Jesus, ’tis now.

My Jesus, I Love Thee
By: William Ralph Featherston (1848–1875)

Listen to this simple piano arrangement as you read.  And be sure to experience the worship-cultivating podcast below.

We take some time today to consider the now of those moments of redemption.  We saw Jesus clearly and responded to His offer of forgiveness.  Let’s think about that.

Gracious Redeemer

Having just declared our resignation from sin, we confess the grace of our Redeemer.  Though it comes before acknowledging Him as our gracious Redeemer in the hymn our determining to refrain from sin is truly a response to His grace.  He showed the grace before we made our determination, which makes His redeeming grace all the more remarkable.  He did not wait for us to act first, he initiated.  And good thing, because we would never have moved toward Him without Him making the way.

In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, Ephesians 1:7 ESV 

Can you recall those moments when you first realized God’s redeeming grace was being offered freely to you through the sacrificial love of Jesus Christ?  I am not talking about when you first heard the name of Jesus, or first began to consider the work on the cross, I mean that moment when you realized you needed to be redeemed from your sin, and Jesus was willing to do it.  Take a few moments and remember what that “now” felt like.

Thank Jesus for His unmerited grace which made your redemption, the forgiveness of all your sins, possible.  He is your Redeemer, according to the riches of His grace.  Give Him praise.

My Savior

My Savior

Not just the Savior of the world, but my Savior.  I needed saving and Jesus did the work for me.  Reflect for just a minute what that required of Him.

The Father affirmed on several occasions that He was pleased with Jesus, but sin had to be dealt with once and for all which required a perfect sacrifice.  Jesus became that sacrifice out of obedience to the Father.

For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. 2 Corinthians 5:21ESV

He endured the cross for the glory of God and for our good.

He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed.  1 Peter 2:24 ESV

Jesus not only purchased a position for us, but a way of living.  Dead to sin and alive to righteousness.  When the Holy Spirit reveals these truths to us the only appropriate response is one of love.

Thank Jesus for becoming your Savior, by becoming sin and making you the righteousness of God.  Give Him glory.

If ever…it’s now!

If Ever I Loved Thee…It Was Then

Here we find clarity regarding the “now” of this first stanza.  When do I love Jesus? That moment when I first believed and placed my faith in His gracious redeeming, saving work in me.

I have a very clear recollection of that “now”.  I had been wrestling with the claims of Christ and trying to reconcile them with what I thought I knew.  It was becoming obvious to me that I needed a Savior, and that Jesus was willing to be mine.  I remember that Sunday night service when the pastor preached a message based on this Scripture.

For he says, “In a favorable time I listened to you, and in a day of salvation I have helped you.” Behold, now is the favorable time; behold, now is the day of salvation.  2 Corinthians 6:2 ESV

You may not have been sitting in a pew in a church like I was, but you can probably recall when you first responded to Jesus’ love for you.  What happened in that moment?  You began to love Jesus with an eternal love.  Recall that “now” again and allow the love first kindled in those moments to fan into flame your affection for Jesus in these, and on into forever.

Jesus, thank You for showing me what love looks like.  You sacrificed yourself to become the Redeemer of the world and my Savior.  Help me to recall that love everyday and live my life responding to it and reflecting it.   In Jesus’ name.   Amen.

Affectionate Thinking!

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Podcast 9.1 Transcript

Welcome to Thursday Thoughts at Resonant 7, where we reflect on the reality of God and resolve to let it resound in our lives, repeatedly. Let’s think about this.

My Jesus, I love Thee, I know Thou art mine;

John 21:15 ESV 

When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.”

When asked by Jesus if he loved Him, Peter responded, “You know that I love you”,  but Peter had denied Jesus three times just days before. If Jesus were to ask you, would you be able to respond as surely, or would you struggle with times you have denied Him?  Think about that.

  For Thee all the follies of sin I resign;

James 4:7 ESV

Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

As an expression of our love for Jesus, and in response to His offering His life for us, we must resign the foolishness of sin, and determine to live for His glory.  A part of that is resisting the Devil. Tell Jesus you are determined to turn from sin, and ask the Holy Spirit to help you resist the Devil and his temptations.

My gracious Redeemer, my Savior art Thou;

Ephesians 1:7 ESV 

In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace,

Even before we engaged in the follies of sin, Jesus shed His blood to become our Redeemer.  In so doing, He made a way for all our trespasses to be forgiven, an extravagant expression of His grace.  Thank Him again right now for His saving work in your life.
  
  If ever I loved Thee, my Jesus, ’tis now.

2 Corinthians 6:2 ESV

For he says, “In a favorable time I listened to you, and in a day of salvation I have helped you.” Behold, now is the favorable time; behold, now is the day of salvation.

Certainly in those first moments of salvation we were quick to tell Jesus how much we loved Him.  Can you recall those moments, the “now” of your surrender to God and resignation from sin? This was the verse that precipitated my response to Jesus’ gift so I remember it well.  Remember, and give Him praise.

Take a few moments to talk to Jesus about what has come to your mind, or listen to what He is saying to you, then I will read our text once more.

My Jesus, I love Thee, I know Thou art mine;
  For Thee all the follies of sin I resign;
My gracious Redeemer, my Savior art Thou;
  If ever I loved Thee, my Jesus, ’tis now.

Take the mindfulness of God’s presence cultivated in these last few minutes into the next ones and beyond.  Until next time, be Resonant.

Image Attributions
Gracious Redeemer – https://pixabay.com/illustrations/love-jesus-prophet-holy-man-christ-1221444/
My Savior – https://pixabay.com/illustrations/love-jesus-prophet-holy-man-christ-1221455/
If ever I loved Thee, it was then – https://pixabay.com/photos/church-pew-bible-catholic-faith-3120081/

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