Today’s Daily Bread ~ The Flower in the Fence

Romans 8:38 – And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from His love.  Death can’t, and life can’t.  The angels can’t, and the demons can’t.  Our fears for today, our worries about tomorrow, and even the powers of hell can’t keep God’s love away.

As a parent, I am always looking for what I like to call “teachable moments” with my kids.  Things throughout the day that I can use to illustrate something I want them to know.  For instance, we once saw a teen throw garbage out the window of his truck.  “Oh, look kids!” I exclaimed, “Isn’t that awful?  That boy is a litterbug (at their tender age that’s a terrible thing to be).  He’s throwing trash on God’s beautiful earth!”  A lesson that really struck my sweet daughter; we now have to carry a trash bag on our jaunts so she can pick up litter and keep God’s beautiful earth clean (her idea, not mine).

While out on a run, we came across what I saw as another teachable moment: a flower poking through a fence.

I abruptly stopped the stroller with a jolt.  “Caitlyn and Nick, do you see that flower poking through the fence?”  Two small heads nodded simultaneously.  “You know what that makes me think of?” I asked.  “Chicken nuggets?” asked my son?  Laughing, I answered, “No Nicky, not chicken nuggets.  It makes me think of God, and how much He loves us.”

I went on to explain, in their terms, Romans 8:38. 

“God loves you so, so much,” I said, “just like mommy and daddy do.  And nothing you ever do can make God not love you.”

“What if I lie?” asked Caitlyn.

“Nope,” I answered, “He’ll still love you.”

“When Nicky hits me does God still love Nicky?” she countered.

“Yes, honey.  There is nothing you or your brother could ever do that could keep God, or your mommy and daddy, from loving you.  Just like that fence can’t keep that flower from growing; the bad things we do can’t keep God from loving us.”

Satisfied, my daughter leaned back while my son asked, “Can we have chicken nuggets for lunch?”

Romans 8:39 – Whether we are high above the sky or in the deepest ocean, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.

I am always seeking those opportunities with my kids, because more than anything else, I want them to know how cherished they are.  I want them to understand, as much as a human being is able to, God’s love for them.  I want their lives to be built on the unshakable foundation of Christ.  Through every storm and every valley, I want them to know that God loves them; and whether they feel it or not, the Holy Spirit is always with them.  They are never alone.  Even when they turn their backs on Jesus and run the opposite direction (and at some point they will), they cannot escape His Presence.  And neither can you.

Ephesians 3:18 – And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep His love really is.

The English Standard Version phrases the first portion of that verse this way: may have strength to comprehend. The word translated to “and may you have the power,” and “may have strength” in the original Greek text is exischuó (ex-is-khoo’-o).  The definition, according to Strong’s numbers, is “aggressive strength, filling a need or void.”  It means “strength at work,” an ongoing strength, used to “overcome difficulties in understanding (getting past knowledge-gaps).”  Throughout the entire Bible, the word is used only in Ephesians 3:18, and refers “to apprehending (decisively laying hold of) the fuller dimensions of knowing the Lord (His love, calling, presence).”*

God is telling us that He knows this is difficult to get.  In order to understand the fullness of His love, we need His help.

And may you have the power to understand…

The Greek word for understand is katalambanó (kat-al-am-ban’-o).  It means “I seize tight hold of, arrest, catch, capture, appropriate; I overtake, perceived, or comprehended.  It means to grasp something in a forceful manner and make it your own. 

God wants the truth and knowledge of His love for you to become a part of you.  He wants the certainty of His love woven into the very fabric of your soul.  His desire for you is that His love and His Spirit would permeate absolutely everything you experience and do. 

There is nothing…not one thing…that could kill my love for my children.  They might (and probably will) disappoint me at times, grieve me and anger me.  But even in their darkest moments, I will be loving them; aching for their return.  My love for them is unconditional.  Unceasing.  Never-ending.

How much more so then, does our Heavenly Father ache for us?  No matter how many fences there are, His love will break through.                                                           

Ephesians 4:19 – May you experience the love of Christ, though it is so great you will never fully understand it.  Then you will be filled with the fullness of life and power that comes from God.

Dear God, I have no words.  What can we do in the face of Your love but simply surrender to it?  How do we respond to the height, depth, width and breadth of it but to share it?  God, we crave the power you want us to have to understand it.  We want to own it.  Please give us that aggressive strength to let Your love fully dwell within us.  We invite Your Spirit into our inner-most places.  Fill us, soothing every fear and healing every hurt.  Weave Yourself into the fabric of our souls.  Show us how we can truly make Christ our foundation.  Help us to share Your love, God, for we know that we truly experience You when allow You to work through our hands and love through our hearts.  Give us calm certainty in You.  Help us to love You more.  Help us to trust you always.  We ask these things in a spirit of victory, knowing that we are praying in line with Your will, in the name of our magnificent Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.  Amen.

*Courtesy of The Online Parallel Bible