For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor
angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor
height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us
from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. -
Romans 8:38-39
Dungy says "Times
get tough, things look bleak, the clouds roll in, and the sunshine rolls
out. And yet there is nothing that can
separate us from the love of Christ.
... Do you feel separated from
God today because of your fears or worries?
The apostle Paul says, 'Don't be!
The God who loves us will take care of those things.' Whether you're aware of it or not." He then challenges us to write down what we
think could separate us from God's love.
Then draw a cross covering everything we listed.
I am reminded of missionaries who depend upon God to do
something that only God can do almost every day. They are in a foreign land seeking to teach,
instruct, demonstrate, and lead others to God's love. They are opposed by many, ignored by most,
and unappreciated by the rest. There can
be no doubt about whether or not God's love is with them.
I am reminded of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, who lived in Germany
during the Nazi emergence. A Christian
pastor who opposed the Nazis, worked to keep the church focused on God, started
his own schools to teach young teachers and pastors the things of God when the
church folded into the Nazis, wrote and spoke in opposition to the church in an
effort to save it, was arrested by the Gestapo and executed by hanging while
imprisoned at a Nazi concentration camp.
I have read nothing that suggested that he had any doubt about whether
or not God's love was with him.
I am reminded about the three Hebrew children refusing to
bow down to the golden image. About to
be thrown into the fire, they had no doubt that God's love was with them or
about the plans He had for them.
Dungy entitles today's lesson, "Nothing means nothing". Indeed!
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