HIS SIGWORK, Principle 10 of 10 - Knowledge of His Love

Knowledge of His Love
2 Scripture Studies through the Lens of His Love
Principle 10 of 10 Principles of Responsible Scripture Interpretation
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Study 1 – Matthew 16:5-12
Jesus compared the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees to leaven because it had a subtle, undercover, powerful effect. There was good leaven and bad leaven. This leaven was harmful to those who embraced it.

When Jesus warned His disciples “to beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees,” they perceived His words as a rebuke that they had forgotten to bring bread with them on the boat. They saw His words through their broken, we-deserve-judgment lenses. Their fearful minds thought, “Surely He is accusing us!”

When Jesus said, “You men of little faith,” He was rebuking them, but not for forgetting the bread; He rebuked them because they lacked faith that His motive was love. His words (to beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees) were said with love and a desire to protect them from wrong teaching.

This leaven of wrong teaching that Jesus lovingly warned His disciples about was the very thing they wrongly embraced – that Jesus’ love was dependent on their good performance.

Holy Spirit, purify the lens of my heart. Show me Your love. Help me believe that You love me and that all Your ways are for my good.

Study 2 – Matthew 6:3-4, Hebrews 6:10, Psalm 139:17-18a
The concept of rewards in heaven used to leave me wondering, had I done enough? So, I prayed to understand His rewards through the lens of God’s love. He gave me the three verses above (from Matthew, Hebrews, and Psalms).

When we are given rewards in heaven, it will not be because we have piled up points from our good works, but because God has tenderly remembered our life lived in His Spirit, the deeds we had forgotten. God is not keeping a record, but remembering the details of our journey. We only remember a little, but God remembers it all, like a parent who puts memories in a scrapbook.

Not only has He remembered our kindness and our trust in Him, but He has forgotten our failures. Yes, that is the great exchange that takes place when we receive Jesus the Messiah’s sacrifice!

God remembers when you stroked your child to sleep, when you put in that eighth load of laundry, when you persevered through the care of an aging parent, when you loved in the face of rejection, when you kept the porch light off so the robin could rest on the nest she built under the roof, when you persevered through lonely days, and when you trusted Him during your greatest heartache.

We tend to remember the big things as the most important – like building a concrete wall in the hot sun for the orphanage on the mission trip, or anonymously giving lots of money, or taking food to the homeless. All of these activities are wonderful and necessary to meet others’ needs in the joy of the Lord, but God remembers every small daily action that expressed His love.

Our rewards are His remembrance of the Holy Spirit’s working in our lives.

“How precious are Your thoughts toward me, O God! How vast is the sum of them! If I should count them, they would outnumber the sand!” Psalm 139:17-18a

The Lens of His Love is also a Devotional Insert that you can include in your Flower Girl Greetings Art Cards. You can purchase the Insert here. The Art is available as an Art Card in a 4-Pack here.

Shale Fragments™ - devotionals by Beth Ann Phifer is a division of Flower Girl Greetings, LLC. ©2020, All Rights Reserved.