When Love Came Down
A long time ago on a starry night, love was born. The Father who IS love, sent Jesus in love to demonstrate love to all mankind.
The God, who is not far off, stood in anticipation as the plan that He had set from the beginning of time was enacted.
The enemy thought he had won. Humankind’s intimacy and relationship with the Father had been badly damaged in the fall. Mankind’s soul was aimless, not able to be what it had been created to be. The soul cannot have worth outside of the Father because we were made by God and for God. Acts 17:28a (NIV) In him we live and move and have our being.
The divide between man and the Father was vast because of sin, but this gentle Father didn’t want Heaven without us.
Mankind was lost, searching but never finding.
In disbelief, the enemy watched as the Father sent the Son as a helpless baby and the news spread across all mankind, from the least to the greatest. He came as love for all who would seek Him.
He came for those who find themselves in the lowest places:
For the weak, he came as a vulnerable and dependent child born to poor parents.
For the misfits, lonely and scorned, He was announced first to the shepherds who were social outcasts as well as religious outsiders. They were ceremonially unclean and therefore could not participate in the religious activities of the day. It doesn’t take a lot to imagine that given their lot in life, their family lives weren’t so great and they had deeply broken hearts.
For the poor and the downtrodden, this God of Heaven and earth decided that not only would a palace fit for an earthly king not convey his heart, but a simple, impersonal inn or a modest home would not be low enough. He went to the deepest depths and was born in a stable so that we would understand that there is not one person too low for Him. His love reached underneath the lowest place to catch up the lowest person in His love.
But He didn’t stop there:
He didn’t forget about the high up, because His love reaches that high. It reaches higher than the wealthiest and the wisest among us.
The wisemen came bearing expensive gifts. They had wise minds and using that wisdom, they found Jesus by following a bright star and subsequently saw His worth as greater than their wealth and status, even risking their lives to find this child who was and is God’s love manifest.
He was not after the poor. He was not after the rich. He was not after the simple. He was not after the wise. He was after ALL. WE are who He came for.
If you are lonely, His love is for you.
If you are depressed, His love is for you.
If you are grieving, His love is for you.
If you are stressed, His love is for you.
If you are poor, His love is for you.
If you are surrounded by people, His love is for you.
If you are happy, His love is for you.
If you are excited, His love is for you.
If you are at rest, His love is for you.
If you are rich, His love is for you.
If you are in despair, His love is for you.
His love is for you.
There is not a place where You can be where He is not wanting to show you His love. Only those who resist and reject Him will not know it and even then, He so wants to show it He stands with His arms wide open. John 1:12 (NIV) Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in His name, he gave the right to become children of God.
Word of the Day: John 3:16 (NIV) For God so love the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.
Prayer: Father, Thank You that you love me. Help me to see and know your love for me more deeply. During this Christmas season, help me to remember that love truly is what this season is about – Your love for mankind. I give my problems, fears, worries and even my celebration to You. Show me Your heart for me and for those around me. I love you and thank you for your love for me.
