Apicontent

The very fact that you are reading this speaks of your bravery. I applaud your willingness to explore God’s heart. 

If you, like so many, are searching for a way forward but have not considered Jesus Christ, thank you for your boldness and courage. This is a good place to start. If you, like so many Christians in this generation, are feeling that something is keeping you from experiencing life the way you sense God designed it to be lived, thank you for your humility and honesty. This is a good place for you to start as well. The Christian life is a journey of letting our assumptions about God be replaced with the truth of who He really is. 

The do’s and don’ts of religion (including Christianity) keep us thinking that we must do “good” things and avoid doing “bad” things to please God. The ways of thought that have worked themselves into us from childhood often tell us we must conform to certain rules to be accepted and loved. 

But what does the Bible say? What is God’s heart toward us? How does He feel about us? Who is God really? 

The simple truth is: Jesus came to show us the Father and carry us back to Him. In Jesus there is no need of striving to attain right standing—no pressure to measure up to some illusive, holy standard—before we can be accepted. In Jesus separation does not exist. Nothing can separate you from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus. 

These devotionals were written for slow reading and deep thought. Wherever we are on this journey of seeing and believing God’s love for us, we have only just begun. The renewing of our mind is a Spirit-led process, sometimes quick as a lightning bolt flashing across the night sky, sometimes gradual as a winding river wandering along to the sea. God’s desire is that you come to rest in the joy-filled, peaceful assurance of knowing, deep down in the core of yourself, that you are welcomed and accepted, treasured and adored. His passion is that you be free to live life as the person He created you to be—knowing His heart for you—knowing His love for you. 

May God be with you in this journey of understanding and transformation. May you come to know the vastness of our Father’s goodness. May you feel the warmth of Jesus’ embrace holding and including you. May the Holy Spirit open your eyes so that you come to see God as He really is—reaching out in love to you and all humanity. 

Onward precious beloved. Welcome to 40 Days of God’s Love. 

Day 1

Give thanks to the God of gods,
for His lovingkindness is everlasting.
Give thanks to the Lord of lords,
for His lovingkindness is everlasting.
To Him who alone does great wonders,
for His lovingkindness is everlasting.
To Him who made the heavens with skill,
for His lovingkindness is everlasting.
To Him who spread out the earth above the waters,
for His lovingkindness is everlasting.
To Him who made the great lights,
for His lovingkindness is everlasting.
The sun to rule by day,
for His lovingkindness is everlasting.
The moon and stars to rule by night,
for His lovingkindness is everlasting.
(Psalm 136:2–9, NASB)

Do you ever wonder: “Who put the stars into place?” “Who made the sun, the moon and this earth we live on?” “Where did life come from?” “Who made me?” “Why am I here?” 

Our answers to these types of questions are grounded in our foundational ideas about God. The God we believe in (or the view of no-God we hold) colors our perception of the world and profoundly affects our lives. We are like the deity or deities we hold in our mind. If we do not start in the right place—with God whose “lovingkindness is everlasting”—our answers to these questions will be distortions of the truth. And our lives will reflect those distortions. 

Imagine yourself sitting down at a computer and beginning to write a story. But instead of your fingers being in the right place, suppose they are slightly off—one key to the left. From this wrong starting point, the whole story is nonsense. The first sentence reads, “Fis ua kicw.” What? 

When we don’t start in the right place, we misunderstand the God of the universe and nothing makes sense. We may try desperately to make our lives work and be good people. Or we may give up trying to be good and hide our fears, hurts and disappointments behind distractions, addictions or hardened hearts. 

Perhaps you believe in a collection of distant deities all needing to be appeased in various ways. Maybe you think of God as legalistic and strict, like a harsh judge eager to punish your disobedience. Perhaps you see God as holy and chronically dissatisfied with you because of your inability to measure up. Or maybe you have no idea of who God is or what He wants of you. 

No wonder life doesn’t make sense. No wonder all our efforts to work our way back to God— through any number of different means—are fruitless. We’ve started at the wrong place, in “Fis ua kiew”—in a being or beings of our man-made, religious design. 

But if you start in the right place—if you move your fingers to the proper place on the keyboard—the story makes sense. Your first sentence reads, “God is love.” God and love cannot be separated. Lovingkindness is the everlasting, unchanging nature of God. 

Over and over again the psalmist repeats it—to ground us firmly in the understanding that the God of gods—the Lord of lords—is full of everlasting lovingkindness for His creation. 

When you start with God and His everlasting lovingkindness, then creation, and your life as part of that creation, begins to become clear. God’s lovingkindness holds the secret to the why of the universe and the why of our existence. Creation itself flows out of the other-centered, self-giving love God shares. 

From the beginning, God formed the universe with care and compassion. Out of His goodness, He created the heavens and the earth. He made the rocks and streams, the grass and trees, the fish and animals in lovingkindness. 

And God didn’t just create the universe and then walk away. He didn’t just make you and then leave you to fend for yourself. He remains intimately involved and connected with His creation and with you. 

Today God delights over you with care and compassion. You are a special and uniquely beautiful part of His creation. Out of His goodness, God made you be included in His everlasting lovingkindness. 

Ponder for a Moment 

What does lovingkindness mean to you? 

Where in creation do you see evidence of lovingkindness? 

Picture the wonder of a flower, a forest, a sunset, or the stars. How do you explain such beauty? How do you explain your appreciation of such exquisite design? 

Day 2

You formed my inward parts; You covered me in my mother’s womb. I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; marvelous are Your works, and that my soul knows very well. My frame was not hidden from You, when I was made in secret and skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed. And in Your book they were written. The days fashioned for me, when as yet there were none of them. How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God! How great is the sum of them. If I should count them, they would be more in number than the sand; when I awake, I am still with You. (Psalm 139:13–18)

In this Psalm, written by David, we hear God’s caring heart. David knows he is a treasured masterpiece of the Master’s design. And because David knows, we can feel God’s goodness overflowing to us through this psalm. Can you imagine being treated with such adoring care? 

David knows the reverence and wonder of God’s design of you and me. You are uniquely handcrafted by God. He tenderly knit you together in your mother’s womb and molded you according to His perfect design. He created you and gave you the gift of life. He gave you the gift of your own unique self. 

Like an artist expertly blends the colors and carefully considers every detail of her painting, so God perfectly designed you. Just as an artist enjoys painting, so God enjoys making you. As an artist delights in the masterpiece she created, so God delights in you—His living masterpiece. 

God didn’t just fashion you and then leave you to take care of yourself. His heart is forever for you. He cares about what happens to you every day of your life. He thinks precious, loving thoughts toward you—more in number than the sand on the seashore. He will never leave you nor abandon you. Even when you are unaware of His presence—even when you feel alone—God is with you. 

David said, “When I awake, I am still with You.” When we “awake” from our wandering, sin, and unbelief, we come to our senses and find that God is still there. No sin is too horrible, no religion too oppressive, no demonic power too strong to separate you from the love of God that is in Jesus Christ. In Christ, you are forever cherished. 

This is the truth, but it is OK if you do not believe it. God understands your heart. He knows how you were raised and the traumas and hurts that make it hard for you to believe that He cares. God knows your religious, cultural and family upbringing. He understands how your thoughts about Him do not line up with the truth of who He really is.

But David knew the truth of how he was carefully and lovingly made and treasured by God. He said, “Marvelous are Your works, and that my soul knows very well.” It was that knowing that allowed David to speak as he did. Through his eyes we see God as David knew Him to be. 

Over and over again in different ways, we need to learn of God’s lovingkindness and let it silence the wrong thoughts we believe about Him … and about ourselves. Repeatedly, in different settings, we need to see the truth and let it renew our minds. Over and over again, in different seasons of our lives, we need to experience His heart for us … so we can come to know God as He really is and know ourselves as part of His treasured design. 

Ponder for a Moment 

David writes, “How precious also are your thoughts to me, O God! How great is the sum of them. If I should count them, they would be more in number than the sand.” 

What are some precious thoughts you hope, deep down in your heart, God is thinking about you? 

How does it make you feel to realize God’s thoughts towards you are actually far more precious and kind than you can even hope or imagine? 

Day 3

God is love. (1 John 4:8, 16) 

“God is love.” 

But what is love? 

The word for “love” used in this Scripture is translated agape in the original Greek. As distinct from the other Greek words often translated “love” in English, agape, is unselfish, self-giving, generous and kind. It is a pure love that gives expecting absolutely nothing in return. Its focus is on what is truly and deeply best for the intended receiver. Agape is gentle, compassionate, and empathetic, yet at the same time violently opposed to anything and everything that harms the beloved. Agape is fiercely against sin because sin destroys us—the people of its affection. 

This is who God is. He does not love us because we are a certain race, age, sex, or educational level. He does not love us because we hold certain beliefs, are part of a certain religious group, or behave in certain ways. He accepts us as we are and cares for us despite our faults. The horrible messes we make for ourselves do not put Him off. He loves us simply because agape is His nature. 

“God is love.” It isn’t just that God loves or that God is loving. Agape has its origin and essence in God. God is agape. 

And because God is agape, He is Three in One. God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit are three unique beings in complete agreement and union with each other. God lives together in community. He is, and always will be, a relational and loving God. Just like in a family, the Trinity’s love for each other and for creation is expressed through relationship. Self-giving, other-centered agape is the core of the Trinity. 

Some religions have only one God who exists alone; others have many deities who are in constant conflict or competition. But the fellowship of the Trinity—the everlasting life of God—is one of mutual enjoyment and delight, mutual affection and adoration. 

Think about it. How could a solitary being love? A deity who exists alone cannot love … because love by definition requires something or someone to love. Love longs for and demands someone to give itself to. Agape shares itself in relationship. 

From eternity past, God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit have been in community—in relationship. They have loved each other. If God were not the Trinity, He could not be love.

The Trinity shares a togetherness that is so pure, so peaceful, so full of joy and freedom that our minds cannot grasp it. God’s shared life of love is the foundation of creation and of our ongoing part in it. The Father, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit are passionate that you and I be drawn into Their life of love. 

God the Father sent His Son. “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life” (John 3:16). The Son came willingly to earth to show us the Father’s heart and to make a way for us to live again in unity with God. Jesus said, “As the Father loved me, I also have loved you, abide in My love” (John 15:9). Today the Holy Spirit works in you and me to make God’s love real to us so that we can experience it and share it with others. “The love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us” (Romans 5:5). 

The Father loves. Jesus loves. The Spirit loves. God is agape. 

And He adores you exactly as you are right now. He doesn’t just agape you the way you want to be. He doesn’t just love the perfect-looking you that sits up straight in church. Agape is for you—the you that you wish didn’t exist—struggling, fearful, unbelieving you. He loves the real, total package of you—just as you are right now without promise of change. 

Ponder for a Moment 

Is there some part of the way you view God that doesn’t seem to fit with agape? If so, describe that view. 

If agape were a picture, what would it look like to you? Describe that picture as you see yourself in it. 

Imagine believing that God values, treasures and adores you, just as you are right now, without expectation of change. Describe what you feel. 

Day 4

Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them…. Then God saw everything that He had made and indeed it was very good. (Genesis 1:26–27, 31) 

God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit worked together to create humankind. God said, “Let Us make man in Our image….” We were created in the likeness of God. Animals weren’t created in God’s image. Angels weren’t created in God’s image. But we are! 

We are made in the likeness of God. We are made to call the same things “good”—laughter, friendship, kindness. We are made to hate the same evils—cheating, hunger, violence. God is the creator of life; He made the universe and all it contains. And so we too create; we build houses, weave tapestries, paint pictures, and plant gardens. 

God made you and me in His image to enjoy the same life of fellowship the Trinity enjoys. We were created to live in relationship with God—in the Trinity’s shared enjoyment and delight, affection and adoration. We were fashioned by a God of love, in an act of love, to be recipients of love and to be streams of love flowing back to God and out to our fellow human beings. We were made for loving relationships with God, self, others, and creation. 

In order to live life as God intends, He fashioned us to be of three parts; we are spirit, soul, and body. Our spirit is the resting place for God’s Spirit. Our soul defines our nature; it is our mind, will, and emotions that make up our unique self. Our body is the physical covering for the spirit and soul within. 

When spirit, soul, and body are in agreement with God, the rulership He gave us to exercise on earth expresses His nature. God created humanity to “have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth.” He intends that we exercise the dominion He entrusted to us by living in agreement with Him—in His relational lovingkindness. 

In God’s plan, our spirit becomes a resting place for His Spirit, and our mind, will, and emotions are transformed by His Spirit so that our body radiates the nature of God. In this way, the life and love of God is like a spring bubbling up within us, restoring our soul as it flows out of us as a refreshing stream. 

After completing each day of creation, “God saw that it was good” (Genesis 1:10, 12, 18, 21, 25). But on the day He created Adam, “God saw everything that He had made, and indeed it was very good.” 

What did God see that caused Him to call creation, after it was completed with humanity, not just “good,” but “very good?” He saw someone like Himself with whom He could have a relationship. Now He could share Himself with beings who had the capacity to understand Him—to resonate with Him. He could give Himself to someone who could appreciate Him and who could, of their own choice, love Him back. And those people could love others and care for creation by sharing His love. Now agape could expand itself; God could give away His self-giving love. 

God loves you with the very same everlasting love He shares within Himself. You were made to know and enjoy the same relationships of total honesty, adoration and delight the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit share. Your soul needs laughter, friendship, kindness. You were designed to be cherished and valued. 

And God cherishes and values you! God calls you “very good.” He made you to thrive in relationship with Him. You were made for life in God’s love. 

Ponder for a Moment 

What does it mean to you personally that you were made in God’s image? 

How does it make you feel to be called the “very good” of God’s creation? 

Day 5

And they [Adam and Eve] heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the cool of the day, and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden. (Genesis 3:8) 

In the beginning, God put Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden and supplied all their needs for life. Food and shelter were theirs in abundance. There was no sin—no separation from God. An atmosphere of peace, freedom, and joyful belonging permeated all of life. The couple lived in unity with God, with themselves, and with creation. In unbroken relationship, God walked with them. 

Satan hated the life-giving, love-giving fellowship the couple enjoyed with God, so he plotted to sever it. 

God had warned Adam not to eat the fruit from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. That fruit wasn’t good for people. So God set a boundary to keep His precious creation safe. Like a mother warning her child not to eat something poisonous, God warned Adam of the tragic outcome of eating the fruit. “Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die” (Genesis 2:16–17). 

But Satan tempted Eve. In the form of a serpent, he came to her: “You will not surely die. For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil” (Genesis 3:5). 

Eve believed the serpent’s lies and ate the fruit. She gave some to Adam and he ate too. 

Immediately upon eating the fruit, the couple’s relationship with God changed. Before they had known only good, but now their “opened” eyes—their newfound knowledge of good and evil— caused them to realize the evil they had done. Now they knew God was holy and good, and that He hated sin. So they hid from Him. 

Yet, like a father looking for his lost children, God went searching for Adam and Eve. “Where are you?” He called. 

Adam answered, “I heard Your voice in the garden, and I was afraid …” (Genesis 3:9–10). 

“Afraid”? Where did that fear come from? It didn’t come from God. He had always provided for them; He delighted in walking with them in the cool of the garden. God had not changed; He had not rejected them.

He loved them before they ate the fruit and He loved them after they ate the fruit. 

But the couple had sinned and their view of God was distorted. Their newly “opened” eyes, blinded by the knowledge of good and evil, couldn’t see God’s lovingkindness. Instead, fearing God’s punishment for their sin, Adam and Eve hid themselves from God … and His love. 

And in their fall, the entire human race fell too. Connection was broken. No longer could humanity live in caring, compassionate, life-giving relationship with God, themselves, and creation. 

For thousands of years, throughout Old Testament times, God would be with His people as they struggled to find a way back to the distant and punishing God they saw with their “opened” eyes. Even though they were oblivious to His true nature, God loved them and longed to be with them. So like a kind father might care for his disabled child, God cared for them in a way they could accept. He gave them good laws to follow … but they couldn’t obey. He sustained them … but they failed to see Him as their provider. 

Yet, through it all, the Father had a plan of redemption. When the time was right, through His Son, He would make a way to repair our broken relationship so we could live again in His love. 

Ponder for a Moment 

What do you imagine Adam and Eve felt and experienced in the Garden before the fall? 

Are you willing to consider the possibility that, even if you have been a Christian for a long time, you might not be seeing God as He really is? 

In what ways might you personally be hiding from God? 

Day 6

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. (John 3:16) 

God longs to be with us. His heart desires intimacy. He wants us to live in the wholeness and fulfillment that life with Him provides. But, we as human beings couldn’t repair the broken relationship. We couldn’t work our way back. God had to do it; He made a way to bring us back into the life of love for which we were created. 

God the Father loves the world. He doesn’t just love a perfect world; He loves the real world. He cherished the world as He created it. He cherished the world as it existed 2,000 years ago. And He cherishes the world today despite its pollution and disease, famines and wars, and all forms of hatred and denial of Him. The Father showed His passion for the world by planning a way for us—as real, messed-up people in a real, messed-up world—to enter into His life. 

The Father didn’t leave the working out of His plan to the human race to accomplish. He didn’t lower a ladder into the pit we were in and shout down, “I want you with Me. Here are the steps to follow: Obey these commands. Pray these prayers. Climb the rungs. I’m waiting in heaven for you. Come on. You can do it.” No. God didn’t do that. We can’t save ourselves. Climbing religious ladders doesn’t work. (The Pharisees climbed the ladder they had built for themselves, but the top of that ladder ended in death-producing religious pride, not in life-giving relationship with God.) 

God the Father loved the world so much that He gave His only Son; Jesus willingly stepped down into the sin and confusion of this world—into the mess of our humanity—to save us. God the Father gave God the Son in human form to accomplish for us what only God could accomplish. As a man, Jesus entered our world. He joined Himself to our blind, diseased, sinful human flesh. 

God the Son left the absolute perfection of heaven and stepped down the ladder into our mess and confusion. As a man, Jesus took the sin of the world—the sin of every person who will ever live— your sin and mine—upon Himself. In the blindness of our fallen nature, God the Son became one with us. In unity with us, He carried our sins to the cross and died the death our sin deserved. 

And God’s goodness didn’t stop there. As one with us, Jesus carried us up the ladder that we couldn’t climb. He took us from the pit of our depravity, held us close and carried us up the ladder into the eternal life of God. In Christ, we enter into the relationship Jesus shares with His Father. Jesus is the only way we can live the life the Father planned for us from the beginning of creation. 

Who can fathom the depths of humanity’s sin and the price Jesus paid to rid us of it? Who can fathom the height to which Jesus lifted humanity in bringing us home to life in God’s love?

Jesus is the way of salvation! He is the way of eternal life! Believing in Jesus and what He has accomplished sets us free from ceaseless striving to make ourselves acceptable. In Christ, we are free to live in the loving relationships with God and others that our soul craves. 

Christianity was never meant to be a religion with traditions and laws to follow. Christianity is knowing Christ. It is believing in Him and being connected to the reality of what He has accomplished. Christianity is living in relationship with God—in everlasting life. 

There are no pre-qualifying conditions for this life: nothing you have done or believed in the past excludes you. God longs to share Himself with you. With open arms, He welcomes all who come. 

Ponder for a Moment 

What are the deepest desires of your heart? 

What steps might you have attempted in order to satisfy those desires? 

Sit for a while and reflect on the picture of Jesus carrying you up the ladder into eternal life in the love of God. Record your thoughts, images or feelings.