My God is Real

To the One who remembered us in our

low estate His love endures forever.

                            Psalm 136:23 NIV 

     In the beginning God created: heaven and earth, moon and sun, plants and animals and finally man. In the beginning God walked in the garden with Adam and Eve. In the beginning—perfection! Then rebellion and sin brought shame, condemnation and separation from God. But God already had a plan to restore man’s relationship to God.

     God sent an angel to a young couple to explain a child would be born to them through the Holy Spirit from God. Joseph learned that this child was coming to “save His people from their sins.” (Matthew 1:21 NIV) Mary learned that He would be called “the Son of the Most High.” (Luke 1:31 NIV)

     Finally, after centuries of man’s rebellion, the Christ Child arrived and God’s grace took on human form.

    Just like other men His sandaled feet got dusty when walking the roads. He grew thirsty and hungry and learning the trade of a carpenter like His earthly father, Joseph, would have supplied His fingers with splinters and perhaps a callous or two. His body needed bathing, His hair needed washing and His fingernails needed cleaning. Yet He remained God!

     During the three short years of His earthly ministry, Jesus experienced everything that you and I experience. Pain and suffering both emotionally and physically, joy and sorrow, great love and great loss were all part of His life as man.

     Do not be mistaken. This was not some kind of great experiment. This was not God grasping at straws to change His creation. This was not an accident. Rather, this was the Plan of Redemption from the beginning. “For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world but to save the world through Him.” (John 3:16-17 NIV)

     God’s hand-delivered grace to an ungrateful people came in human form as He remembered us in our low estate. God is real, and His love endures forever. If you are hopeless, He is your hope. If you are despondent, He is your joy. If you are lonely, He is your Father, friend and companion. Whatever you need, whatever I need—He Is!

        During this Thanksgiving Week I remain thankful that my God is real and He loves me. I pray that if you have not experienced the grace of God through His redemption plan, Jesus, today will be your day.

©JP 2013