| Romans 8:35-37 "Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written:'For your sake we face death all day long;we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.' No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us." Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? This question really touches the bottom of our heart, doesn't it? Many times when we run into sufferings, the first doubt we have would be: does God still love me? When John the Baptist was in jail, he sent two of his disciples to ask Jesus: "Are you the one who was to come, or should we expect someone else?" In other words, "If you are the savior to come, why don't you rescue me now?" Jesus didn't respond directly to his question. Instead he asked John's disciples to go back and tell him: "Go back and report to John what you hear and see: The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosyare cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is preached to the poor. Blessed is the man who does not fall away on account of me." Why did Jesus reply like that? How come someone would fall away on account of the Lord? Actually it did happen, for you and I would very likely fall away on account of the Lord when the Lord did something unexpected. It happened to John the Baptist. It will happen to you and me when we are in suffering. The bottom line is love: on one hand, we don't really understand the love of the Lord; on the other hand, we don't love the Lord enough. After Paul understood the love of the Lord, he said: "I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far." He cared more about the joy of being truly with the Lord in the future than the joy of living on earth. Brothers and sisters, do you love the Lord? Do you know that the Lord cares very much about whether we love him or not. Among the commandments given to us by the Lord, the greatest and the most important one is to love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.After Jesus was resurrected, he asked Peter three times: "Do you love me more than these?" Why three times? Wasn't one time enough? I believe the Lord did that to make sure Peter loved Him, otherwise he wouldn't have been able to face the sufferings yet to come, for Peter had to be crucified upside down for the Lord later. A person in love has no fear. Therefore, Paul drew a conclusion in verse 37: "No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us." Do you love the Lord? Or maybe the better way to ask is whether you know how deep the love of the Lord for you is? If you feel that your love for the Lord is not enough, just ask the Lord to fill you once again with His great love.
Pray with Pastor Tong Liu Lord, we thank you, for you loved us first, and you will lead us with cords of human kindness, with ties of love throughout our life. May the Spirit help us grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and help us triumph over all the sufferings. We thank you and we pray in the victorious name of Jesus, amen! |
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