Steadfast Love
“The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases;
his mercies never come to an end;
they are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness.”
(Lamentations 3:22-23, ESV)
These are the lyrics of a very popular song from years ago. Yet they are still fresh and relevant to us today because they were lifted straight out of the scriptures and truth will always be fresh and relevant no matter the age.
The song came into my heart as I sat and thought about God this morning. You know we take it for granted that every 24 hours, a new day will begin; that the laws of physics – gravity and the rest of it – will keep things going as they ought to; even that we will wake up the next morning after we shut our eyes and go to sleep at night. This morning, I thought of these things and saw God’s great faithfulness. I was reminded that Jesus “is the perfect imprint and very image of [God’s] nature, upholding and maintaining and guiding and propelling the universe by His mighty word of power.” (Hebrews 1:3, AMPC)
I don’t think I will ever fully grasp God’s love for humanity but He makes it obvious in so many ways every day. Some translations, like the NIV, begin verse 22 of the book of Lamentations this way:
“Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed,
for his compassions never fail…..”
It is His amazing love for us that keeps the mercy (deliverance from punishment) flowing.
The definition of steadfast is fixed, firm and staying strong. Synonyms for this word include: loyal, faithful, committed, devoted, dedicated, dependable, reliable, steady, true, constant, staunch, trusty. These are adjectives that describe God’s love for us.
Paul’s prayer for the brethren is one I say a loud “AMEN” to:
“May Christ through your faith [actually] dwell (settle down, abide, make His permanent home) in your hearts! May you be rooted deep in love and founded securely on love,
That you may have the power and be strong to apprehend and grasp with all the saints [God’s devoted people, the experience of that love] what is the breadth and length and height and depth [of it];
[That you may really come] to know [practically, through experience for yourselves] the love of Christ, which far surpasses mere knowledge [without experience]; that you may be filled [through all your being] unto all the fullness of God [may have the richest measure of the divine Presence, and become a body wholly filled and flooded with God Himself]!” (Ephesians 3:17-19, AMPC)
For I find that the more I understand (by experience) God’s love for me (and for all of mankind), the more I see myself as having true value and the more I love Him in response. There is no living being that doesn’t respond to love so it would seem to me that the reason many have not responded to God is because they have not understood His love for them. Many don’t understand that when the rain falls to cool a hot day, it is God saying, “I love you”, and He is saying it to every single person “….For he gives his sunlight to both the evil and the good, and he sends rain on the just and the unjust alike.” (Matthew 5:45, NLT). In the same vein, when He disciplines His children who have been adopted into His family by Christ Jesus, He is still demonstrating His love “because the Lord disciplines those he loves, as a father the son he delights in” (Proverbs 3:12, NIV). I would encourage every child of God to read Hebrews 12:4-12 and think of how we as human parents discipline our children as we are training them in the way that they should go…..because we love them.
I am just so thankful to be loved immeasurably and unconditionally by God, this love displayed so clearly in Jesus’ death on the cross to deal with my sin issue and to restore my relationship with my Father.
I am thankful that every day I wake up, it is a testament to God’s love and mercy that is brand new every single day!
I can’t help but declare, “GREAT IS YOUR FAITHFULNESS, OH LORD!”