Just some early morning thoughts from me to you…
“What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?… 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.”
Romans 8: 31, 35, 37-39 (NIV)
So what is life like for you these days?
Up? Down? Joyful? Worried? Uncertain? Anxious about something?
We’re in the beginning of the season of Lent. A period of 40 days (not counting Sundays) of drawing nearer to Him, and heading toward all the promise of Easter.
The beginning of a period of focus and stillness with God, of turning more to Him.
A period of reflection to better center ourselves on what matters most.
And to remember “what” He did for us and the power of His resurrection.
And “why” He did what He did—because He totally loves us.
A period where we remember as the Apostle Paul set out above—that no matter what we face, what we’ve done, where we’ve been, what may have been done to us, or what’s going on in the world—nothing can separate us from the love of Christ.
Yet worldly forces and occurrences, personal doubts, fears and temptations which pull us away from being all we were created to be, also try to pull us away from the promise contained in that passage.
A promise which God inspired Paul to write, affirming that nothing—that is, NOTHING—can ever separate us from His love, a love which was revealed to us again in Christ and what Christ did for us through His birth, then death, and then resurrection.
Nothing can separate us from Him and His love. He is closer to you than the nearest person to you is right now—and He never leaves your side. He is within you, beside, in front of, and behind you—He is everywhere you are.
It reminds me of a time when our granddaughters Hannah and Ellie were staying with us while Nathan and Amy were on a trip. They called to talk to the girls a number of times each day, and during one of those calls while Nathan was talking to Ellie, Ellie asked if she could speak to her Mommy.
And Ellie added this matter-of-fact statement to her request of her Dad—“Is she right beside you?”
Actually Amy wasn’t right next to Nathan at that moment—she was helping someone with something. But that’s how Ellie always saw her Mom and Dad—right next to each other, never separated from each other, leading to her question of absolute fact for her—“Is she right beside you?”
That’s what God had Paul write, so we would see our relationship with Christ that way—never separated.
So what is it that is on your list today or you see coming up in the days ahead—joy, doubt, fear, low self-esteem, having to prove yourself to someone or the world,. Maybe there is some storm in your family you didn’t expect, trying to meet the expectations of others, some guilt from a mistake you made, or a habit you need to break. Maybe a heartache has just hit, with grief following right behind.
Remember—no matter what it is—it cannot separate you from Christ who is there with you—attached to you at the hip, so to speak.
Nothing will ever separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Nothing. Nothing. Nothing.
During this season of Lent, and always, why not turn, focus, reflect and spend times of stillness with Christ—if for no other reason than to see that nothing will ever separate you from Him.
Right Ellie?
In His Name–Scott
