Reflections of the Beach: The Vastness of God's Love

 

Reflections at the Beach

Week One

"The Vastness of God's Love"

Focus Passage: Ephesians Chapter Three

Focus Verse: Ephesians 3:18-19

Bible Reading: Acts 18-24

      It seems ironic that I am writing a devotional reflecting on God's message found at the beach as the thermometer reads 30 degrees outside and it's calling for sleet and snow this afternoon.  I am literally counting down the days until Spring (53 days, 18 hours, and 10 minutes to be exact).  But in the midst of the cold, I think we all could benefit from thinking about some warmer weather.  

      My family and I love the warm weather and our favorite place to enjoy the warm weather is Rehoboth Beach, Delaware.  We fell in love with that tiny little beach town years ago.  Loving the beach is an oddity for me.  I used to hate traveling to the beach as a child.  My family would sit on the beach from sun up until sundown.  I would get bored (the joys of being an only child), sunburnt, and sand would get into my shorts.  But now as an adult, I love the beach.  I often take my Bible down to the shoreline and enjoy a few moments reflecting on how the beach illustrates Bible truth.  On one particular morning, I sat watching the waves coming in.  The ocean has always amazed me.  It is so vast.  The ocean covers 71% of the earth's surface.  From where I sat to the next shoreline in Europe was almost 5000 miles away!  The ocean is almost immeasurable in its vastness, no man can estimate its sum or value.

      But the ocean is not the only thing that cannot be measured.  Paul wrote in Ephesians 3:18-19 "may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God."  Paul challenges us as Christians to attempt to measure God's love, to try to comprehend how much God loves you.  His love is so great that it surpasses all our knowledge.  We could dwell on the inestimable value of God's love for the rest of our days and never scratch the surface.  We might never be able to fully comprehend the vastness of God's great love for us but we can apprehend it for ourselves.  There is a difference between those two simple words: One means to understand (which we will never be able to measure God's love for us as sinners) but the other means to receive something as our own.  While we can not fully grasp the depth of God's love for us, we can indeed GRASP HIS LOVE.  We are so loved by God that the world's greatest computer cannot calculate the sum, but we can rest in His love knowing that it was for us in which Christ was sent to die (John 3:16).

Reflections on the Road

      The final stanza of 'The Love of God' goes "

1. Could we with ink the ocean fill,
   And were the skies of parchment made,
   Were every stalk on earth a quill,
   And every man a scribe by trade;
   To write the love of God above
   Would drain the ocean dry;
   Nor could the scroll contain the whole,
   Though stretched from sky to sky.
2.       Take some time this week and reflect on how much God loves you.  Write down one piece of evidence each day this week in which God showcases His great love. 

Reflections on the Road: Week Fifteen

 

Reflections on the Road

Week Fifteen

"There's No Place Like Home"

Focus Passage: Psalm 23

Focus Verse: Psalm 23:6

Bible Reading: Acts 10-17

      One of my hobbies is watching old movies.  There is nothing more riveting then an old black and white, film noir movie.  I could sit on the couch eating popcorn and snow caps for hours.  One of my favorite old movies is the Wizard of Oz.  The Wizard of Oz debuted in 1939 and was considered a theatrical success but a financial flop.  The movie didn't make a profit until it's re-release in 1949.  This iconic piece of cinema is the most watched movie in history.  We can remember the story of young Dorthy (don't forget her little dog Toto) being taken away in a tornado to the other side of the rainbow.  Her house accidentally killed the Wicked Witch's sister which started a Rudy Red Slipper journey on the yellow brick road.  On the journey she met a brainless scarecrow, a heartless tin man, and a courageless lion.  I won't spoil the movie for anyone who hasn't watched (there are flying monkeys if you are on the fence to watch it or not) but the penchant of the movie is 'there is no place like home.'  Each of us long for home.  We have fond memories of food, activities, and the layout of our home.  But there is a place where we have never been that will be more home to us then anywhere else we have ever roamed.  The Psalmist finishes on that subject matter.

      The sheep's testimony draws to a close in verse six when he writes "and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever."  The whole Psalm was a building crescendo to this conclusion.  The Shepherd had provided everything for the sheep: green pastures, still waters, protection, His presence through the valley of death, even goodness and mercy, but the final thing the Shepherd provides is a home.  Not just any home, but His own home.  Jesus, our Good Shepherd keeps a watchful eye on us while we trek through this earth  bound journey, but once we depart from this world we are taken by our shepherd to our eternal home, heaven.  Friend, our home is not just a home but the Scripture tells us that we will dwell in the very house of God.  Jesus said in John 14:2 "In my Father's house are many dwelling places (rooms)."  We do not receive some solitary abode on some random street in heaven.  The text indicates that we will have a room in our Father's House.  Let your soul meditate on this: in glory your heavenly Father will be right down the hall.  A room in heaven shows the nearness we will have with God, how dear our relationship will be with Him.  We can echo the words of the sheep, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.  We dwell with the shepherd because He laid down His life for us.

Reflections on the Road:

There is no place like home beloved.  None of us know when we are breathing our last breath, eating our last meal, giving our last hug, saying our final I love you.  Some reading this are on the closing laps of a race called life but because of your relationship  with the Shepherd you will go home to be with the Lord.  Our final reflection is simply you taking a moment after reading this and meditating on what heaven will be like.