Be Still and Know - "God's Unfailing Love And Faithfulness Came Through Jesus Christ"

(from www.premierchristianradio.com)

1. John 1:16-17
   
   
   
   
   
   'From God’s abundance we have all received one gracious blessing after another.For the law was given through Moses, but God’s unfailing love and faithfulness came through Jesus Christ.'
   
   People have very different understandings of God. Some see him as being a strict disciplinarian, like a divine policeman. They picture him wielding a truncheon and looking for an opportunity to use it. Others see him as a nice old man on a cloud with a flowing beard. He’s basically very kind but completely cut off from normal life. And then there is the picture of God that we find in John’s Gospel, in which we meet someone who is unfailingly generous and involved in every part of our daily life. His principal desire is that we should thrive, and he is looking for every possible way of blessing us. That’s what he did long ago when he gave the law to Moses, then later when he sent Jesus into the world. And that’s still his agenda today in the 21st Century.
   
   If you head into today with a conviction that God is generous and longing to bless you, it will colour everything that you do. You will be eager to pray, knowing that God loves to hear and respond to your prayers. When you face challenges, you can be sure that God is present with you and will be working with you to bring blessing to every situation. He doesn’t prevent us from facing the difficulties, disappointments and tragedies which are an integral part of the brokenness of our world. But we can be sure that in every situation he is with us seeking to bring his blessing.
   
   
   
   
   
   When Jesus taught his disciples about prayer, he pointed out that it is absolutely normal for a human father to give good things to his children. The idea of giving bad things simply wouldn’t happen.
   
   Jesus concluded that if we sinful human beings know how to give good gifts to our children, how much more will our heavenly Father give his best gifts to us through his Holy Spirit (Luke 11:13). That is to say, we can be confident that our generous God will always give us the best because his desire is always to be generous.
   
   
   
   
   
   Question: In what ways have you experienced God’s generosity?
   
   Prayer: Lord God, I thank you for your desire to bless every part of my life. Amen