Heaven and Earth will Pass Away | God's Love will Remain

Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will by no means pass away. Luke 21:33

Heaven and earth will pass away. When we study the natural history of our planet we discover that 99.9% of the species that ever lived on it have perished. This is a shocking statistic often ignored by people who spend their lives fighting against nature to save creatures that -regardless of human intervention- are destined to extinction.

Yet this morning the words of Jesus - Heaven and earth will pass away- resonate in my brain and in my heart. A friend reminded me yesterday to follow my heart, because it is never wrong. And I was quick to point out all the mistakes my heart has made, and my friend still said: your heart is always right. So my heart this morning, or God ( who knows?) led me to write these words to you, a reader I will probably never meet.

Being Worthy

Watch therefore, and pray always that you may be counted worthy to escape all these things that will come to pass, and to stand before the Son of Man.  Luke 21:36

See, I have struggled with being worthy all my life. I spent my youth chasing love, trying to fill a hole I later discovered only God could fill, begging for love when I was already made of love. But I didn't know better.  I jumped from relationship to relationship, desperate to find true love, getting hurt in the process.

Like so many, I focused on the external, when most answers to life's questions are waiting within ourselves. There, in the silence within, in the stillness where the noise of this world fades away, we find God, and our answers. There we can finally realize the true meaning of love, which has nothing to do with begging or chasing persons of the opposite sex.

So this morning I cry because I meditate on the words of Jesus, so real and penetrating: pray that you may be counted worthy. I am sure I am not worthy if I measure my worth by the world's standards or by God's standards. Yet I know Jesus, and I know he died for me, and no matter how unworthy I may feel, every cell of my body screams: you are worthy in Christ Jesus!

Yes, dear reader, we do not have to be perfect. We can never be. There is nothing uglier than someone obsessed with being perfect, such obsession becomes repulsive, and utterly destroys everything original  and the potential for greatness in that person. And yet we are worthy in Christ. God gives His children the gift of freedom from the bondage of perfection, and He fully embraces our imperfections.

The Cares of this Life

But take heed to yourselves, lest your hearts be weighed down with carousing, drunkenness, and cares of this life, and that Day come on you unexpectedly. For it will come as a snare on all those who dwell on the face of the whole earth. Luke 21:34-35

Too often we get caught in the cares of this life. How could I not care? I often pray. And I wrestle with God on this issue constantly. He reminds me to trust Him, to be faithful, to let go and let Him take care of business, as He has always done. Yet stubborn as little children, I regularly let go of His hand and run to trouble. And I get hurt. Depressed. Lonely. Hopeless. Confused. And then He gently approaches my heart, reminds me of His love. He makes it all better. He cures my boo boos.

This I can say of God, as I know Him. He loves people. He loves you. He loves me. He loves us with a kind of love that is too grand and to special to be bound by definition. So now I leave you with this gift: enjoy God's love, because even when heaven and earth pass away, His love remains.