Vested Interest

*Scriptures provided by Biblegateway.com

There is a thought that seems to have gotten lost along the path that begins when I first became a Christian and continues on to heaven. Or maybe, because I've lost this notion, I'm not on the path anymore, but rather I've lost my way by meandering as I seasonally do. The thought is this: God loves me.

I knew it when I accepted Christ. Why else would He send His Son? Why else would He die? I knew He loved me to save me. But I got caught up in legalism in my strive to acquire "holiness," forgetting that true holiness is only found in Christ. I forgot that it is my love for God that should compel me to obey, not that I had to obey for Him to love me. I had it backwards. For that matter, I had it backwards from the beginning. He didn't have to love me to save me; He had to save me because He loved me. I mean, of course, it took nothing short of love to endure what He did, but that's only an angle, not the whole picture. Ultimately, He saved me because He loved me so much that He couldn't bear to see my life in ruins without Him.

Proof. In this divorce-ridden world, we want proof of love. Let us turn to His love letter. For brevity's sake, I'll list it:

1 John 3:1 - God shows His love by making us His children.
1 John 3:5 - Jesus manifested Himself to take away our sin.
1 John 3:16 - Because He laid down His life for us, we know love.
1 John 3:20 - If our hearts condemn us, God's love is greater than our heart.
1 John 4:9 - Jesus was sent into the world so that we may live through Him.
1 John 4:17, 18 - His love perfects us, and this perfect love casts out fear.
1 John 5:3 - His commandments unto us are not burdensome.

Notice all these promises come from just one book. Imagine in the entire Bible! Each of these points can serve as a devotional by themselves. I could go into excruciating detail of how much work goes into each of the afore-mentioned actions that God undertook for our sake. But I fear that in the narrowing of the topic, I'll have lost the purpose of this devotional series - Back to Basics. Trust me. God's love took work. He invested in you.

Hence the title. He has a vested interest in you. When an American sugar company hears news of insurgency in the land where its plantation lies, it doesn't scrap the whole thing, ignoring the problem because it's not in the United States. It convinces American government to talk to the plantation's government to solve things peaceably in order to protect their investment. God has invested His most precious treasure in you when He turned over His Son. The price He paid was just too great for Him to give up on you now.

So all you ladies who thnk God has shut heaven, don't worry. He's just having a metting with the Board of Directors. He cannot afford to let you go. So don't you let go of Him.

God bless,
Alisha

What Do You Believe?

A lot of us who grew up in church have heard hundreds, maybe thousands, of sermons, and in the process grown much in the Word. However, I worry that we have learned so much of the intricacies that we have forgotten the very basic truths.

Join me as I personally dive into the unshakeable truths of Christian belief. Should we waver in our faith, should we blur the lines for our own convenience, we place ourselves in a most precarious position, one that the enemy is sure to use to its advantage.

Don't worry. This is not an attempt to "dogmatize" anyone. I'm talking about addressing the points that Jesus Christ Himself always emphasized, the very points that drew all of us to Him - His love, His life, His purity, and His dedication to His Father's work.

I pray you will all be blessed.