Amazing thing about truth...

Sometimes the truth can be so amazing that we say, "Wow...I just can't believe it!" We see right in front of us the evidence of what is true, but we still say that incredibly contradictory thing. 

Someone tells you that you look especially nice, ladies, and invariably the response is, "Really?"as if the person making the compliment was intent on lying to your face. Why is it so hard to believe when good things are said to us? Someone tells a guy that they are proud of him and the same knee-jerk reaction, "Really". Compliments, encouragement, affirmation...hard to handle.

Is it the same reason that it seems hard to actually believe God loves and cares for us?

Life is full of trouble and we've been duped to think an angry, vengeful Godis behind it all.

Yes, there are consequences for sin. There are spiritual laws as well as physical laws. Sin's wage is always death-dealing, distancing us from being able to lay hold on God's blessing. Or if you jump off a roof and the Law of Gravity exerts itself. The consequence is pain.

But you need to remember that we live in a world that is broken and that we can get hit hard and knocked flat and it has nothing to do with sin. Disaster, disease, betrayal and sorrow happen that have nothing to do with your choices. 

Our ancient enemy wants us to doubt goodness and blame the entire world's sorrow on God. Somehow we know deep inside that we don't deserve good things...since we broke the world. But then find it easy to blame God and hard to believe Him when He shows us He loves us.

The fact is, your Heavenly Father loves you without condition. When we rejected Him, He did not act like a petulant human and snub us back. He came on in all His glory pursuing us to the point that He entered into our humanity and ran purposefully, headlong into our death to destroy the power of sin that breeds death so we might become New Creations...New People...Really Alive Forever...Really and Eternally Loved by God. 

The gift God holds out in His nail-scarred hands is overwhelming. It has our name on it, but we must turn from unbelief and turn to Him. He calls us by name. He knows us fully. He really loves US!