The Apple of Your Daddy’s Eye

You Are the One God Loves

PREVIEW: Did you know that God has favorites? The Bible tells us that he held the nation of Israel as the apple of his eye. Really — Deuteronomy 32:11 tells us, “God threw his arms around Jacob, lavished attention on him, guarding him as the apple of his eye.” And Zechariah 2:8 warns, “Whoever touches Israel touches the apple of God’s eye.” The good news is that God not only played favorites with Israel, he holds you as the apple of his eye, too. How so? Through Christ’s blood! You see, when you placed saving faith in Christ, God took all the love he displayed for Israel, and for his Son, and he placed it on you. Now you are the one he loves.

The Apple of Your Daddy's Eye – Ray Noah

A Journey of Worship // Psalm 17:8 (ESV)

Keep me as the apple of your eye; hide me in the shadow of your wings.

Did you know that God has favorites? The Bible tells us that he held the nation of Israel as the apple of his eye. Really — Deuteronomy 32:11 tells us, “God threw his arms around Jacob, lavished attention on him, guarding him as the apple of his eye.” And Zechariah 2:8 warns, “Whoever touches Israel touches the apple of God’s eye.”

The good news is that God not only played favorites with Israel, he holds you as the apple of his eye, too. How so? Through Christ’s blood! You see, when you placed saving faith in Christ, God took all the love he displayed for Israel, and for his Son, and he placed it on you. Now you are the one he loves.

The late Brennan Manning tells one of my favorite stories about an Irish priest who was on a walking tour of his rural parish one day. And along the way, by the roadside, he found an old man, a peasant, kneeling in prayer. The priest was quite impressed, so he walked over and interrupted the man: “You must be very close to God.”

The peasant looked up from his prayers, thought for a moment, smiled, and said, “Yes, he’s very fond of me.”

This simple man had a simple faith that revealed a profound self-awareness of his true identity — he knew he was loved by God, and that was all that mattered! Manning developed his own personal declaration from that touching story. He would say of himself, “I am the one Jesus loves.”

It sounds a little arrogant, but he’s actually quoting Scripture. Jesus’ closest friend, John, identified himself in his Gospel as, “the one Jesus loved.” If you were to ask John, “What is your primary identity in life?” he wouldn’t reply, ‘I’m one of Jesus’ disciples — actually one of the three in his inner circle!” He wouldn’t say, “I’m one of the twelve apostles.” Nor would he identify himself as “the author of the Gospel that bears my name.” Rather, John would simply say, “I am the one Jesus loves.”

I hope that you, too, will take to saying that. More importantly, I pray that you will start believing it in your heart because if, and when you truly grasp how great the Father’s love for you really is, it will change your entire life!

Peter Kreeft insightfully wrote, “Sin comes from not realizing God’s love. Sin comes from thinking ourselves only as sinners, while overcoming sin comes from thinking ourselves as overcomers. We act our perceived identities.”

Friend, your identity is the one Jesus loves. Now start perceiving it. You are the apple of God’s eye—that is who you are. Your Father is watching over you at this moment with great delight. He will protect you, he will provide for you, and he will guide you … God’s got you covered!

Yes, you are the one Jesus loves. Now go act like it’s true, because it is!

My Offering of Worship: On a 3 x 5 card, write “I am the one Jesus loves.” Then tape it to your mirror and read it aloud each morning when you wake up and right before you go to bed at the end of the day. Try this for seven straight days and see if it makes a difference in your attitude and interactions.

God Loves His People

God’s Love Will Hold Me Fast Today

SYNOPSIS: In the midst of the reading of God’s law—which we in the modern world often think of as restrictive and onerous—Moses reminds us that “God loves his people,” and that “all his holy ones are in his hands.” Now understand that the love of God described in this verse, as well as throughout the whole Bible, is not simply an emotional love. As Moses pictures it in Deuteronomy 33:3, it is a practical love. His love for his people—“his holy ones,” Moses calls them—leads him to hold them in his hands. In other words, God’s love is a love that is tender and close, it is a love that protects and provides, it is a love the gives and guides, and it is a love that is constant and unrelenting. And don’t forget, it is a love that will hold you fast throughout this very day.

The Journey // Focus: Deuteronomy 33:3

Indeed, God loves his people; all his holy ones are in his hands.

God loves you and me! As many times as we have heard that, as much as we know that to be theologically true, sometimes we forget it. Sometimes the knowledge of our Creator’s indescribable love for us in our heads doesn’t travel to our hearts where it impacts us at the deepest part of our being. I hope today is not one of those “sometimes” for you; I think you need to hear this loud and clear today: God loves you!

John the Beloved, the Apostle of love, said it so simply yet profoundly in 1 John 3:1,

Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the children of God! And that is what we are!

What a great verse! It is profoundly simple yet poetically beautiful and incomprehensibly grace-filled—and it is personally true: Indeed, God loves his people—that means you; you are held in his loving hands. Of course, John is also the author of the most well-known, well-loved verse in the entire Bible—John 3:16,

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life.

John 3:16—someone has rightly said that John captured the whole Bible in just one verse. There is not a simpler, yet more profound truth in Scripture than this: God loved the whole world so much that he gave his Son to die for it. But let me remind you that even though the verse comes to us grammatically in the past tense, there’s nothing past tense about God’s love. God still loves the world! His love is present tense.

Likewise, let me remind you that even though the love of God described here is universal, it is also a profoundly personal love for you and me. Yes, God so loved the world, but he didn’t just look at it as one big mass of nameless faces. When the Father looked at the world and loved it, he was looking at you, his cherished child. St. Augustine, the 4th century North African Bishop, one of the most influential figures in church history, said it this way,

God loves each and every one of us as if there were only one of us.

Now understand that the love of God described in these verses, as well as throughout the whole Bible, is not simply an emotional love. As Moses pictures it in Deuteronomy 33:3, it is a practical love. His love for his people—“his holy ones,” Moses calls them—leads him to hold them in his hands. In other words, it is a love that is tender and close, it is a love that protects and provides, it is a love the gives and guides, and it is a love that is constant and unrelenting.

Notice also that God’s love is expressed in the midst of the giving of his law to guide his people. That means his love cannot be known in its breath and depth apart from walking in his ways and living according to his will. In that sense, there are conditions to his love: you and I can neither understand it nor experience it in any old way we want; we can only come into an experience of divine love through our obedience to God. And that, obviously, is why it is reserved for his holy ones—those who have responded to his call by lovingly surrendering their lives to him and have thus become his very own people. Yes, while God loves the world and sent Jesus to die in order to redeem it, the world will never know that love apart from the experience of redemption.

Now, back to God’s love for you. Did you realize that if you were the only person on this planet, God’s love for you would still have led him to send his Son to die for your sins? Just for you, there would still be a John 3:16. I hope that you will take that simple truth into the core of your being today, because at certain times on this day you will need to lean into it. Yes, God loves you!

Karl Barth was one of the most brilliant and complex intellectuals of the twentieth century. He wrote volume after massive volume on the meaning of life and faith. A reporter once asked Dr. Barth if he could summarize what he had said in all those volumes. Barth thought for a moment and then said,

Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so.

Go with that today, and nothing much can go wrong for you!

Going Deeper: Write the words, “Jesus loves me this I know” on a 3×5 card and place it where you can see it throughout the day. Several times today, read the card out loud to yourself (or to anyone who may be listening if you like).

What’s In God’s Wallet?

The Bible In One Verse

SYNOPSIS: John 3:16 is the whole Bible in just one verse. There’s not a simpler, yet more profound truth in the Bible than this: God loved the whole world so much that he gave his Son to die for it. But that is not just some moving statement of God’s universal love; it is also a profound declaration of his personal love for you. Said another way, God loves each and every one of us as if there were only one of us.

Project 52 – Weekly Scripture Memory // 1 John 3:1

How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us it that it did not know him.

The man who penned this heartwarming verse arguably understood the love of God better than any other human being. It was John the beloved, the Apostle of love. Of course, he was also the author of the most well-known, well-loved verse in the entire Bible—John 3:16,

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life.”

That is the whole Bible in just one verse. There’s not a simpler, yet more profound truth in the Bible than this: God loved the whole world so much that he gave his Son to die for it. But that is not just some moving statement of God’s universal love; it is also a profound declaration of his personal love for you. St. Augustine, the 4th century North African Bishop, one of the most influential figures in church history, purportedly said it this way,

“God loves each and every one of us as if there were only one of us.”

Did you realize that if you were the only person on this planet, God would’ve loved you so much that he still would have given Jesus to die for your sins? There would still be John 3:16 if you were the sole human being ever created. Max Lucado wrote an entire book just on that one verse called “3:16”. Here is how he put it,

“If God had a wallet, your photo would be in it.”

I don’t know if you really get this or not—and I pray that somehow, somewhere it becomes reality to you, perhaps even before you finish reading this blog, or maybe as you memorize and reflect on this verse. But the truth is, God has a crazy, inexplicable, unreasonable love for you! He really does.

Karl Barth was one of the most brilliant and complex theologians of the twentieth century, writing volume after volume on the meaning of life and faith. A reporter once asked Dr. Barth if he could summarize what he had said in all those volumes. Barth thought for a moment and then said:

“Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so.”

That’s the whole of God’s truth in a single phrase. Lean into that today—you are the object of his lavish love; you are Abba’s favored child. That is what you are!

Reflect & Apply: Peruse Ephesians 1-2 and make a list of all the things that God has lavished on you through Jesus Christ. Your list should have at least 10 “spiritual blessings” on it.

God, Show Me How Truly Loved I Am!

52 Simple Prayers for 2018

Our sense of worth, along with our fundamental self-identity, comes from what we believe people think of us. And it colors everything we see, feel, think and do. That’s too bad! We ought to rather base it on what God thinks of us! And what does he think? How does he see us? Just look at the cross of Christ. God loves you so unconditionally, unstoppably, inexhaustibly much that he gave his one and only Son to redeem you and bring you into his forever family. You are not loved because you are valuable; you are of inestimable valuable because Who loves you!

A Simple Prayer for Grasping Gods Love:

Dear God, through the revealing work of your Holy Spirit, help me to grasp that I am the one you love. Help me to see how wide, long, high and deep is your love for me. Remind me throughout the day to look at the cross of Christ, with Jesus’ arms stretched from right to left, as if he is saying, “This is how much I love you.” Root my identity in your love, establish my worldview in your love, color my every word and deed through your love, and grant me divine power to live as the beloved of God. Throughout the day, may these transforming words be on my lips: “I am the one the Father loves!”

God in a Nutshell: Love and Faithfulness

You Are Eternally And Unconditionally Loved!

There is nothing you can do to make God love you more! There is nothing you can do to make God love you less. God loves you! And when you truly “get that”, your life will be radically and eternally transformed—for the better.

Read: Psalm 117 // Focus: Psalm 117:1-2

“Praise the LORD, all you nations; extol him, all you peoples. For great is his love toward us, and the faithfulness of the LORD endures forever. Praise the LORD.”

They say that dynamite comes in small packages, and so does one of the most powerful truths in all of Scripture. Psalm 117 is the shortest chapter in the Bible, but how profound these two verses are. The entire message that God has graciously communicated to mankind through his Word be summed up right here: God’s love toward us is great, and his faithfulness is unending.

Love and faithfulness—that is our God in a nutshell. He loves us unconditionally. We did nothing to deserve or earn his love. In fact, we have gone out of our way to repulse his love for us. (Romans 5:8) Yet he has stubbornly persisted in loving us.

And what can diminish his love for us? Nothing—not even our best efforts to drive him away. (Romans 8:38-39) He is faithful morning after morning, with each new day, to extend mercy, cover us with grace, shower us with goodness and embrace us with everlasting love. His love endures forever.

No wonder the authors of these psalms would often exclaim after writing of God’s great love and enduring faithfulness, “Praise the Lord!” What else is there to say.

Why don’t you join me today—at this very moment, wherever you are—and give a heartfelt “praise the Lord” shout-out to our loving and faithful God!

Praise the Lord!

Making Life Work: I dare you: watch this video and see if your day doesn’t get suddenly better. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V2mn86HdQFY&feature=related

Got An Owie? Start Running!

When our kids were small and got an owie, they would come running to Linda and me in a huge upset—weeping, wailing, the whole nine yards. From their view, the world was coming to an end, but from our perspective as parents, their cause for concern was no big deal, and neither was the solution. So we would pick them up, comfort their pain, dry their tears, kiss their owie and send them on their way, our consolation working wonders to restore peace and confidence in their little world. As adults, why do we forget to run to God with our owies? His perspective is much like ours as parents with our kids—only multiplied by indescribable love, unlimited wisdom and unmatched power to the nth degree. Best of all, the Father never fails to pick us up in his arms, soothe our aching heart and restore our broken world. Got an owie? Start running!

Making Life Work
Read: Psalm 94 // Focus: Psalm 94:19

When anxiety was great within me, your consolation brought joy to my soul.

When our children were small, they would sometimes come to my wife and me in a huge upset—tears, wailing, the whole nine yards. It might have been the result of a skinned knee, a snatched toy, a bad dream or any number of earth-shattering events. From the child’s view, the world was coming to an end, but from our perspective as parents, their cause for concern was no big deal, and the solution was never beyond our resources to rectify.

Of course, all parents experience that with their children—it is just a universal role moms and dads are called to play. But it is also universal that as adults, we forget what we know to be true for our children and we will often get in a huge upset over things that happen in our grown up world—a bruised ego, a blocked desire, a broken dream. We get an owe, and we get foot-stomping mad, or we get profoundly sad, or we start being bad—or all three.

When our children were losing it like that (in Psalm 94:18, the writer said, “when my foot was slipping”), we would pick them up and say something like, “there, there, little one, it’s going to be okay.” We would comfort their pain, dry their tears, kiss their owie and send them on their way with the knowledge that things were going to be okay. And each time, our consolation worked wonders to restore peace and confidence in their little world.

I suspect you know where I am going with this by now. From our view, the world sometimes seems like it is coming to an end. At times, it feels like our feet are slipping, that we are loosing our grip, that we don’t have the wherewithal to hold it all together much longer. But how do you think God sees our situation? Of course, his perspective is much like ours as parents with our children—only multiplied by indescribable love, unlimited wisdom and unmatched power to the nth degree.

Much like you, on a regular basis I have disappointing thing happen in my world—friends who let me down, partners who doesn’t appreciate the sacrifice I make to advance a shared ministry, plans that get blocked by unanticipated circumstances or diminishing resources or uncooperative people. Those frustrating situations can make me foot-stomping mad. And like the psalmist, when I respond in childlike upset, my anxiety rises within me.

So what do I do? I have learned to run to God. I take my owie to him. And he never fails to pick me up in his arms and soothe my aching heart. He is a willing and wonderful Father who holds me until I absorb his perspective and see my world from his vantage point.

When I run to Father, the outcome is predictable: His consolation always bring joy to my soul.

Making Life Work: Got an owie? Run to God! In another Psalm, David said what God is like ‘As a father is kind to his children, so the Lord is kind to those who honor him. He knows what we are made of; he remembers that we are dust.’ (Psalm 103:13-14)

God On Display

Reflect:
I John 3:11-24 & 4:1-21

“No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.” (I John 4:12)

Ask a thousand different people for their concept of God and you will most likely get a thousand different depictions. But the Bible makes it plain that the chief expression of God is love. What does God look like? He looks like love.

Not the sloppy, squishy, anything goes kind of love our world knows. Not the ever-changing love that rises and falls with one’s current emotional state that far too many people today understand love to be. Not the selfish kind of love that loves to the degree that love is requited.

No—real love is an unconditional love; it is a sacrificial love; it is a proactive love; it is a love that seeks out unworthy objects. It is a holy and righteous love; it is a tough love; it is an unchanging love. It is that kind of love that is at the core of God’s nature. It is this love that is the essence of his being.

And though no one has ever seen God, he has made himself visible by the evidence of his love in this world. Wherever you see this kind of love, there, in a very real sense, you see evidence of God. Whether you see evidence of love in the wonder and majesty of nature or in the selflessness and sacrifice of humanity, there God has left his fingerprint of love.

But God is best seen in the lives of his redeemed ones as they live in loving community within the family of God. Whenever you see authentic fellowship, spiritual unity, self-sacrifice, forgiveness, serving—you are seeing love in action; you are seeing God.

When you see God’s people reaching out to a lost world, loving the unlovely, serving the poor, preaching the Good News to the lost, laying down their lives so that hostile people can see the Father, there you have God’s love on display; there you see God.

And God is especially visible when his love is on display in you. When you love with no thought of love in return; when you go out of your way to love; when you love in response to hurtful and hateful actions; when you suffer, but patiently love; when everyone else has given up but you stubbornly love anyway…

When that kind of love in action is displayed in you, there God is seen.

“Our love to Him is the proof and measure of what we know of His love to us.” ~John Newton

Reflect and Apply: Think of practical ways that you can demonstrate the love of God through your life today