Today’s Reading: John 1:6-18
Hearing God’s Voice for Today:
“The Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth…and from his fullness we have received, grace upon grace.”
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Why did Jesus put on human flesh and enter your world? It’s because of his great love for you. How much does he love you?
He loves you so much that he put human flesh around his eternal glory and entered your world. He left the splendor of heaven to enter the squalor of a cattle trough in Bethlehem to pursue you.
If you ever doubt his love for you, remember the cradle. It’s evidence of his pursuit for you. He desired to give you a new spiritual birth, to make you a child of the King of the universe! That’s why he came.
The Father knew that the best way for someone to communicate with a bird would be to become a bird. And the best way for him to communicate with humans was to become human. So the Father asked the Son to put on human flesh around his glory and become one of us. Through him, you can know who God truly is and understand his eternal plan for your life.
What is Jesus’ true nature? He is full of grace and truth. Never place one above the other. They are to be held in perfect tension in your life.
Grace without truth becomes sloppy, mushy love—like a river with no boundaries. That produces a mosquito-laden swamp. But truth without grace becomes rigid judgmentalism. That produces death to your soul. Seek grace and truth with balance.
And please know that Jesus not only wants to give you grace, he wants to give you grace upon grace. The love he wants to place within you is limitless. It’s beyond anything you could ever hope for or imagine.
Today, live in his grace and truth. If you have been unjustly treated, know that his truth will prevail. All will one day be held accountable for their actions. And he oversees all human history. No one gets away with anything. Trust his perfect justice.
And let your heart be filled with his grace upon grace. Know the extent to which the Father would go to pursue you and fill with you with his love. He yearns to be one with you forever—his heart inextricably linked with yours for all eternity. He loves deeply those who love him.
And should you choose to continue to run away from Jesus, he will continue to pursue you with grace upon grace. He loves you that much.
The proof of his love is evidenced in the cradle—the fact that he came to you. He put on human flesh and pursued you.
You were that important to him.
You always will be.
[from “Hearing the Voice of God” by Pastor David Chadwick, Moments of Hope Church, Charlotte, NC]