Summary: Mother's Day is especially painful when your heart is longing for a baby. So on this week leading up to Mother's Day, a week that feels difficult, impossible even, I imagine you might be feeling like the Psalmist in Psalm 77 when he says: “in the night my hand is stretched out without wearying; my soul refuses to be comforted. When I remember God, I moan; when I meditate, my spirit faints.” Maybe you feel far away from God. Maybe you feel like He is punishing you. Maybe you feel like He has forgotten to be gracious. Maybe you feel like His faithfulness has come to an end and that He is no longer compassionate. Spend the next few days with me as we diligently make an effort to remember the God we love and serve. Just like the Psalmist in Psalm 77 when, after his seemingly harsh lament towards God, says very decisively, “Then I said, ‘I will appeal to this, to the years of the right hand of the Most High.’" (meaning I will call to mind all the ways I have seen Him work and what I know to be true from my past) and the psalmist goes on to say: “I will remember the deeds of the Lord; yes, I will remember your wonders of old. I will ponder all your work, and meditate on your mighty deeds.” Let’s spend a few minutes together each morning this week intentionally remembering who God is and what that means for us personally. DAY 05 : GOD IS LOVE Romans 8:35, 37-39 "Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord." What does the truth that God is love, mean for us today: It means that He is unconditionally committed to us. It means He would do anything for you and He showed that by sending Jesus to die on our behalf, there is no greater assurance of His love or His commitment to keep His promises than that moment on the cross. It is God’s essential nature to love and He shows that by loving a people who do not deserve it. A people who by their own nature are rebellious towards Him. This kind of love that is essential to God’s nature is not a feeling kind of love, God is bigger than mere sentiment. Rather this is sacrificial love. A love that dies for the sake of another. A love that forgives. A love that chases after those in need of rescue. A love that loves the unloveable. Romans 5:8 says “But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us” And this isn’t a generic blanket of love. No this is a personal and individual love. God loves you personally. That means you can trust Him with your life. With your grief. With your pain. With your deepest desires and your deepest fears. You can run to Him because He loves you more profoundly than you could ever imagine. This unconditional kind of love we see here in Romans 8 means there is nothing that could ever get in the way of His love for you. Not even your own self - not your anger or frustration or doubt or fear towards Him. Nothing can separate you from His love. He is unconditionally devoted to you -- whatever it takes. I love the way Sally Lloyd Jones describes God’s love for His children as - “never stopping, never giving up, unbreaking, always and forever kind of love.” --- THE JOYFUL MOURNING COMMUNITY: www.thejoyfulmourningcommunity.com THE JOYFUL MORNING INSTAGRAM: www.instagram.com/thejoyfulmorning SHOW NOTES: www.themorning.com/specialepisode05
