C.S. Lewis said "we delight to praise what we enjoy because the praise not merely expresses but completes the enjoyment.” I could not agree more.
If I am to summarize what I experienced in my walk with God is that I have come to learn the character of God in the Bible and also have come to experience the same God in my life. And as a result I have also come to see who I am. And I end up bursting into praise.
At the Women's Heart to Heart gathering, we heard from our dear sister tracing back the sovereign loving work of God in her, her husband, and her precious child's lives that began way back in their lives. They have experienced and are experiencing God's unfolding amazing detailed impeccable work in their lives and praises burst from their hearts. Not only for the joys brought by their son, but also for the challenges of life that God ordains, they are moved to praise God. He makes us alive to Him and causes us to see who He is and how much He loves us and we praise marveling at Him.
How does that love lead me to love others? For me, it is not because he commands me to love others, although I do believe that God's command alone should cause me to obey. It is because I see that I am a depraved sinner and I really should be unacceptable and unlovable to Holy Almighty God. Yet He chose to love me and He does—in the most amazing gracious way.
It is seeing what kind of a sinner I am, the more sins I see in myself, I see the depth of God's love and height of His character. His grace. It makes me think that the biggest mystery in history is that how it is that God loves me? I know me. In front of His holiness, what can I produce? Nothing. The very notion of it - me a foul sinner facing God is terrifying. But He says I love you for not what you produce. I love you for you. I see your rock bottom, the abyss of your darkness, and I love you. I know He loves me because He gave Himself for me. Counting how awesome God is makes His love flow from us, I think. The more sins I see in myself, the bigger the grace is felt, and the more wonderful others look to me. And we affirm the awesomeness of others, because that's how they come across. And even when we notice the sinfulness in others, it is ultimately covered and overlooked because of grace that is now at work in our hearts. And doesn't seeing our own sinfulness create deep compassion for other believers in the knowledge that they too are fighting sin? They are in the fight for their soul and we feel for them, we root for them, don't we? Even for our enemies. We end up arriving at the foot of Christ's cross.
So with God's love for me, even if I step outside today, and meet a sudden horrible end (ordained by God), that momentary end is nothing. I am in God and I have eternal life with Him. This is very very good news. Korean dramas are known to have the plot line where these down and out characters have a secret identity hidden even to themselves - they are born to very rich and powerful parents. That's us. That's us for real. And it's no secret. We are loved. All our sins forgiven, declared righteous by the accomplishment of Jesus Christ our Lord. Our identity is given to us through the death and resurrection of the Son of God. So let us rejoice in our magnificent God in thankfulness, and worship Him with all our being.
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