Brown's Daily Word 5-2-08

The Scripture says that our Savior Jesus suffered and died for us, and as Christians we know that we too may very well suffer—both the suffering that everyone on earth suffers as well as the suffering that may come to those who choose to follow hard after Jesus. Paul says that we can boast even in our suffering. “We also boast in our hope in our suffering, says Paul,” knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint us because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us”. –Romans 5:3-5 . Now we almost always hear this passage used in sermons on sufferings—and rightly so. But I’ve noticed that sometimes we miss the key word in this passage; and that’s the word ‘because.’ Circle that word. We boast in our suffering, not because it produces endurance, which produces character, which produces hope. We can boast even in our sufferings because, says Paul, “God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us”. That flood of God’s love is why hope doesn’t disappoint us and how suffering ends up producing character and hope. God’s love isn’t measured out in eyedroppers or teaspoons. Paul says it is poured into our hearts. Not a drop of love is held back. Oh, we may feel unworthy, but because of Jesus , God’s love is poured into my heart, and that’s something to brag about.

Joni Eareckson Tada, whom I was privileged to met in person in 1982, who was paralyzed in a diving accident as a teenager, describes how she experienced love poured into her heart on her wedding day. She remembers that she “felt awkward as her girlfriends strained to shift her paralyzed body into a cumbersome wedding gown. No amount of corseting and binding, she said, gave her a perfect shape. The dress just didn’t fit well. Then, as she was wheeling into the church, she glanced down and noticed that she’d accidentally run over the hem of her dress, leaving a greasy tire mark. Joni said, “My paralyzed hands couldn’t hold the bouquet of daisies that lay off-center on my lap. And my chair, though decorated for the wedding, was still a big, clunky gray machine with belts, gears, and ball bearings. I certainly didn’t feel like the picture-perfect bride in a bridal magazine. I inched my chair closer to the last pew to catch a glimpse of Ken in front. There he was, standing tall and stately in his formal attire. I saw him looking for me, craning his neck to look up the aisle. My face flushed, and I suddenly couldn’t wait to be with him. I had seen my beloved. The love in Ken’s face had washed away all my feelings of unworthiness. (This We Believe: The Good News of Jesus Christ for the World, (Zondervan) p. 222. That’s the kind of love Paul’s talking about! It’s a deluge of love poured into your heart that floods away your sin, guilt, and shame. It’s a flood of love into your heart that Jesus sends your way and the Holy Spirit delivers. That kind of love is not earned—it is simply God’s gift to you in Jesus Christ. You can’t take credit for it as if you are worthy. No, it because of Jesus, all because of Jesus and what he has done—and that’s something to boast about. Cheryl Crow, so called celebrity so many, yet so confused , said that she thinks, “everybody on the planet feels alone, even when they’re in the greatest relationships or surrounded by family. I don’t want to spend the rest of my life alone. That’s the only true fear I have, because what else is there but love? … it’s really the only thing that matters. It’s what brings you the most joy. So that is what I long for—the consummate love. (Cheryl Crow in Interview magazine (10-01-98); submitted by Mike Herman, Glen Ellyn, Illinois). Consummate love—complete and unreserved love. That only comes from God through Jesus. He pours his love into you, but he doesn’t wait for you to be perfect before he sends his love your way. Paul said that, “God proves his love for us in that while we still were sinners Christ died for us. Much more surely then, now that we have been justified by his blood, will we be saved through him from the wrath of God. –Romans 5:8-9 .What Paul is saying is as simple as it is profound , so let me cut to the chase: Before Jesus we were God’s enemies; because of Jesus I have God’s friendship. There’s no greater love, no greater friendship. God’s love is the only thing that ultimately matters. That’s the consummate love Cheryl Crow was looking for. And God’s consummate love for us leads to our third boast. Paul said, “More than that, we even boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation. –Romans 5:11 . We can boast about God! God’s worth bragging about! What an awesome God we worship—he loves us with a consummate love!Here’s the story of someone who discovered the kind of love that Cheryl Crow was longing for. Her name is Liz Curtis Higgs. Rick Warren tells her story: Once she was one of the best-known disc jockeys in America, and she lived quite wild lifestyle without God. In fact, Howard Stern was the A.M. show, and Liz Curtis Higgs was the P.M. show. And one day Howard Stern said to Liz, “You know, you need to clean up your act.” Now, that really says something if Howard Stern is saying it. She was the ultimate party girl. Liz Higgs had been burned by so many men, and her heart had been broken so many times that she became a militant feminist. And I underscore, militant feminist. But she had a Christian girlfriend who kept inviting her to church. So one day after a long, long time, she said, “Okay, I will go to church one time and one time only.” So she went to church one time with her friend. And that week, the pastor just happened to be teaching on the Bible verse that says, “Wives submit yourselves to your husbands.” Not exactly a good verse to start with a militant feminist. And she got a little uptight, a little ticked, a little angry. But she continued to listen, and she actually heard the second part of the verse.… The second part of the verse says, “And husbands—you sacrifice yourself; you give yourself for your wives just as Jesus Christ sacrificed himself for the church and died for her.” Who is asked to give their life up? The husband. When Liz heard that part, she leaned over to her friend and said with a little cynicism, “I’d gladly give myself to any man if I knew he would die for me.” And her friend leaned over and said, “Liz, there is a man who loved you enough to die for you. His name is Jesus Christ. That’s how much he loves you.” And it was not long after that that Liz dropped her guard, surrendered her life to God in love, and became a believer. Liz discovered friendship with God and today Liz is a well-known Christian author and speaker. She uses her life to boast about a God who died for her when she was so unworthy. (Rick Warren, “You Were Planned for God’s Pleasure,” Purpose Driven Life Campaign Resources; submitted by Darin Reimer, Victori), Paul says that we can and should boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ. We can and ought to be bragging about our God! He gave his son to die for us so that we could be his friends. He pours his love into our hearts. He makes it possible for us to share his glory. Who else does that? What other religion in the world believes in a God like this? We have a God who died for us while we were still sinners! How amazing is that! We have something to boast about!May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. –Galatians 6:14 (NIV) There are many reasons God saves you: to bring glory to himself, to appease his justice, to demonstrate his sovereignty. But one of the sweetest reasons God saved you is because he is fond of you. He likes having you around. He sends you flowers every spring and a sunrise every morning. Spend some time at the altar this morning, boasting about the God who shares his glory with you, who pours his love into your heart, and has made you his friend through Jesus Christ.