Weekly Overview:
Honesty is more than the words we say. It’s a posture of the heart. We weren’t made to try and be something we’re not. God never asks us to keep up appearances. He longs for us to have the courage to be vulnerable. He longs for us to be so founded in his unconditional love that we live honestly. May you experience new levels of peace and joy this week as we discover God’s heart for honesty.
Scripture:
“For the mountains may depart and the hills be removed, but my steadfast love shall not depart from you.” Isaiah 54:10
Worship:
Who Can Compare by Bethel Music & Matt Stinton
Devotional:
The ultimate result of honesty—the reason for being fully known—is that we might be fully loved. You weren’t made to live without a continuous, total revelation of God’s love for you. His love is the foundation. It’s the reason for being. Without his love we have nothing. And without honesty we’ll never fully experience his vast wealth of affection for us.
Isaiah 54:10 is God’s promise for you and me today. He says to us, “For the mountains may depart and the hills be removed, but my steadfast love shall not depart from you.” The question today is not whether God loves us. And the question is not whether we have the ability to experience his love. Scripture commands us in Psalm 34:8, “Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good!” The question is whether we’re receiving the love already made available to us.
You see, unless we come before God fully honest we only present part of ourselves for him to love. Unless we let him in to every area of our lives, we’ll live with a separated notion of God’s love. Most of us know that he loves us when we worship. We know he loves us when we serve. We’ve experienced his love when we engage in community, read Scripture, and pray. But do we know he loves us when we fail? Do we know he loves us when we say the wrong thing, doubt him, miss an opportunity to share the gospel, or run away from him?
God doesn’t just love us part of the time. He doesn’t just love us when we succeed. His love is complete and transcendent of us. He is love. He loves all the time. Romans 5:8 says, “But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” God has loved you at your worst. If he loved you enough to die for you while you were without one ounce of good, he will love you now.
If you want to experience the full depth of God’s love for you, you must come to him fully. You must let him in to every part of your day. You must let him in to your past, your present, and your future. You must live out of a revelation of his unconditional love for you rather than living a works-based relationship with him.
May you encounter the fullness of God’s love for you today as you enter into guided prayer. And may his love for you draw you deeper into the unhindered communion that’s already available to you.
Guided Prayer:
1. Meditate on the unconditional nature of God’s love. Allow Scripture to paint the picture of who God is rather than our limited, worldly perspective.
“No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 8:37-39
2. Come before God and be fully known. Open every part of your heart to him. Ask the Holy Spirit to reveal how God wants to love you today. Journal his response.
“But if anyone loves God, he is known by God.” 1 Corinthians 8:3
3. Take some time to simply receive and rest in God’s love. Experience the unconditional nature of his love. Let his love lead you to a life founded on grace rather than works.
“Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” Hebrews 4:16
To live by grace is to choose to believe God at his word. It’s choosing to live based on Scripture over everything we’ve known from the world. Grace isn’t found here. It’s a product of heaven alone. But God has ransomed us from a life based on the ways of the world. We belong to heaven now. And we have so much more available to us than the world offers. We are totally and fully loved regardless of our weaknesses and failures. May you live out of a revelation of grace and receive God’s love in every part of your day.
Extended Reading: Romans 8
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