Abba Father,
You made a most beautiful promise to Your people, offering them hope…six years before Jerusalem and the temple were destroyed. You knew they would need it, and You know I need to remember my hope in Christ today.
Into this very judgment for their sin, You promised:
“I will give them one heart, and a new spirit I will put within them.
I will remove the heart of stone from their flesh and give them a heart of flesh,
that they may walk in my statutes and keep my rules and obey them.
And they shall be my people, and I will be their God…I will put my Spirit within you, and
cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules” (Ezek. 11:19-20, 36:26 ESV, emphasis added).
God’s promised forever family of love
Even as Your people continued to forget You, compromising with the sinful ways of this fallen world, You were still unfolding Your promised, new covenant plan for a forever family of love.
Now, all our sinful thoughts, motivations, words, and deeds were laid on our Savior, Your Son, who bore all the judgment believers deserve for sin.
You kept Your promise.
Now, the Holy Spirit within us does indeed cause us to want to obey You; this proves to us that we are certainly part of Your family, Your people.
Loved with everlasting love,
drawn by grace that love to know,
Spirit sent from Christ above,
thou dost witness it is so.
(“Loved with Everlasting Love,” Robinson, W., 1890)
Beloved in Christ, suffering but in a forever family of love
Jesus says, “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him, and I will raise him up on the last day” (Jn. 6:44 CSB).
“Everyone the Father gives me will come to me, and the one who comes to me I will never cast out” (Jn. 6:37 CSB). For “this is the will of him who sent me: that I should lose none of those he has given me but should raise them up on the last day” (Jn. 6:39 CSB).
“I will be a father to you, and you shall be sons and daughters to me,” says the Lord Almighty (2 Cor. 6:18 ESV).
The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs (Rom. 8:16-17 ESV).
I will not forget you. Behold, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands (Is. 49:15-16 ESV).
O this full and precious peace
from his presence all divine;
in a love that cannot cease,
I am his and he is mine.
When I don’t “feel” beloved, help me remember You’re the source
I easily forget when suffering makes me feel forgotten and alone, or when I don’t feel “beloved.”
So today, help me remember Your sure and solid promises of the gospel. Along with every believer in Christ, to whom You’ve given promised new hearts, help me to remember:
Father God, You are the source of my belonging to Jesus! What a privilege and gift to be in Your family!
Taste the goodness of the Lord:
welcomed home to his embrace,
all his love, as blood outpoured,
seals the pardon of his grace.
When I’m tempted to forget Your love, help me to remember my forever identity in Christ
Help me to remember that You’re always my loving Father, and I’m always Your beloved. This is my forever identity in Christ. So, I can come to You with every thought, seeking Your help when I’m tempted to sin and forget Your amazing grace to me.
Can I doubt his love for me,
when I trace that love’s design?
By the cross of Calvary
I am his and he is mine.
No matter how hard things become, nothing can separate me or anyone else in Your true family from Your love.
Walking in love, along with other members of our family
We’ve all been transferred into Your kingdom of light (Col. 1:13) as citizens of Your heavenly kingdom.
In an incredible way, our beloved Jesus is our older brother! Singing along with us! Crying along with our tear-full praises of who You are.
For he who sanctifies and those who are sanctified all have one source.
That is why he is not ashamed
to call them brothers, saying,
“in the midst of the congregation I will sing your praise” (Heb. 2:11 ESV).
His forever, only his–
who the Lord and me shall part?
Ah, with what a rest of bliss
Christ can fill the loving heart.
Yes, many in your forever family of love suffer today, but in this intimate fellowship with You, please help each of us to walk in love (Eph. 5:1-2) with others who suffer too, especially those in Your forever family.
Beloved, we are God’s children now,
and what we will be has not yet appeared,
but we know that when [Jesus] appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is.
And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure (1 Jn. 3:2-3 ESV, emphasis added).
Thank You that You have placed us into a forever family of love, as Your beloved. To and in His great and glorious name, our Lord Jesus Christ, amen.
Material adapted from Praying God’s Promises Into Suffering: A Devotional Bible Study Prayer Journal, Lauri A. Hogle, © 2023
Singing to our Beloved Lord Jesus
Heaven and earth may fade and flee,
firstborn light in gloom decline,
but while God and I shall be,
I am his and he is mine!
This week’s playlist gift is filled with songs for both of us to sing to (and with) our beloved Savior and elder brother. I’m grieving our baby granddaughter’s death this week, while caring for our family in person. This playlist has been one of His forever love amid sorrow, because His gift of hope in the promised resurrection to come brings joy amid tears. What a gift of His love to sing along with others in our forever family, as He also helps us to love them in the process.
I’m praying this playlist helps each of us, my fellow suffering sisters from across the globe. If this would be His gracious gift to you, one of hope and love, sign up below and it will come to your email from this suffering sister in Christ.
To read more of Lauri’s writing, you can use her devotional Bible study lament prayer journals: Praying God’s Promises Into Suffering, or Near to God: A Devotional Bible Study of God’s Character as We Suffer, or Singing the Gospel to Job: Finding Hope in Suffering. In the Valleys of God’s Love is written for children aged 3-8, a perfect read for grandparents, parents, and children to share together, preparing them for suffering to come.
