Pastor's Corner - August 2011
True love is not something which can be earned in any way, shape or form. An example is the love parents have for their children. On a personal level I remember well the middle of the night experience of being in the surgical suite with Debbie when our daughter Meleah was born. I can remember sitting up by Debbie’s face (behind the green curtain, so I couldn’t see any cutting or blood). It seemed to take an eternity as I heard the surgeon and his team attempting to deliver what Debbie and I hoped would be a normal, healthy baby. Finally the doctor held up the little gray form of what looked like a baby and I wondered why she wasn’t crying. Immediately Meleah was rushed over the warming table as the pediatrician began to examine her. As I anxiously watched from where I was sitting, I kept asking myself why she wasn’t crying yet. The pediatrician and his attending nurses continued to suction Meleah and finally I asked one of the assistants, “Is everything OK? It’s taking so long!” She assured me everything was fine.
Finally someone handed me the cutest wrapped bundle of beauty I had ever held in the 12 years since the birth of our second born. Even though she was not planned for and even though adding another member to our family would take more time, room and expense, the love I felt for my daughter at that moment is an emotion which truly cannot be expressed. Suddenly every protective instinct began to surge through me. This was my baby daughter and I didn’t want anyone, except for these medical professionals, to lay their hands on this precious princess of my realm.
That is what true love is about. It is unearned and unmerited, given because to a parent, your infant is in part a reflection of you and the drive to nurture and protect is innate. Even as that infant grows and matures and yes, even frustrates me at times, the love I have for her cannot be described and the same goes for my sons. These three children of Debbie and mine are loved beyond description.
It is the same in our relationship with our Heavenly Father. If you or I ever doubt the love which the Father has for us, all we need to do is reflect on His act of sacrifice which He and the Son Jesus together experienced on Calvary’s mountain. In your mind, climb with Jesus that hillside as He staggered those last steps, only to be stripped of His blood-stained robe and thrown down on that wooden frame to be cruelly nailed through hands and feet. Listen to His prayers of “Father forgive them,” and remember that you and I were on His mind, along with every person who had or would ever live on this rebellious planet. When you and I struggle at times to believe the love and acceptance of our Heavenly Father, remember another hill outside of Jerusalem where two dear friends of the Lord Jesus, Moses and Elijah, reminded Him of the reward that His sacrifice on Calvary’s mount would bring – the rescue of His children from the clutches of Satan’s hate-filled hands.
Yes, we are sinners. Yes we have all at times disappointed our Heavenly Father but like the Prodigal Son if we will come home to the Father He will with open arms receive us. Ellen White in reflecting on the Prodigal Son’s returning home writes: “‘All that I have is thine’ – not as wages, but as a gift. Like the prodigal, you can receive it only as the unmerited bestowal of the Father’s love.” (Christ’s Object Lessons, p. 209)
Do you and I truly believe that God loves us? Remember when doubt arises in your heart to reflect on three mountains where love was demonstrated. Mt. Calvary, the Mount of Transfiguration and Mt. Sinai, where in a cave hid a prophet who feared for his life and doubted the acceptance of His God. He heard a still small voice of assurance and direction and only months later found himself in a fire-blazed chariot streaming through the galaxies toward Heaven. Truly, if Elijah could be translated and Moses could be resurrected and both taken to Heaven to live with our Father, you and I can have the assurance of our deliverance. Spend time each day talking to that same God of the mountain and grow and develop a relationship with Him knowing that the day of deliverance lays not far ahead for each of us.
If you ever doubt the realness of our God and Saviour, look again at the footprints He left behind at the base of a mountain called Jabel el-Lawz in the sandy desert of Saudi Arabia. There a living monument stands; that mountain which the Bible called Mt. Sinai or Horeb. This mountain now surrounded by a chain link fence has stood untouched for over 3,500 years. This mountain is the spot where Moses heard the Lord speak in a burning bush. It is the location where a rock was struck and water flowed out of to refresh a nation of exiled slaves. On this blackened mountain, the Creator God came down and in thunder and lightning and spoke to His people and gave them a law which was the reflection of His love. Check out the websites listed below and even do a Google search on the maps page for that mountain and the wadi canyon leading to a beach called Nuewebi where on a land bridge God parted the waters of the sea and brought deliverance for His people. These are not made up stories. The Bible’s account is real and our God has left physical evidence of His presence to give you and me who live at the edge of deliverance a reminder of the coming deliverance when Jesus will burst through the galaxies to appear in the sky above our heads. Praise God, praise God, and praise God! You are loved, you are accepted in Him; never forget whose you are.
The websites are: www.theexoduscase.org, www. theexodusconspiracy.com, www.discoverynews.us.