Greater Than You Can Grasp!

Fresh Manna
by Pastor Tim Burt

Renee and I live on a creek. A few years back, the city put in a walking path on the opposite side of our creek. The installed a bridge over it that people use to get on a beautiful walking path boarding the creek and lined with wild flowers. It’s been a blessing to many people – at least to those that know about it and that use it.

God has created that for us. Jesus Christ made Himself the bridge to cross over from our life without God and laden with sin, over to God – the place were Jesus washes all our sins away. The place where we can begin to see Him as He really is, where we can grasp the depth of His love for us, and where we can actually have an intimate relationship with Him. Amazing - sometimes mind-blowing just to think about!

Sin was what separated God from man – something we were all guilty of and needed rescuing from. Jesus became the bridge. Sin is unholy and God cannot associate with it. It is contrary to who He is. Jesus offered His life as a substitute for ours, paying the price for the punishment we deserved. 2 Cor. 5:21 puts it like this: “For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ.”

When this verse says, “…so that we could be made right with God through Christ…” it’s implying that Jesus washed away our sins and became our bridge – our reconciliation to God as we see in Acts 3:19. “Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord”

This truth is initially hard for anyone to wrap their mind around. Most people wrestle with the thought of future sin that they are confident they will be guilty of. How could God keep loving us? That has always been hard for people to grasp. It is God’s love – a love that is so great and far-reaching into our lives, it almost seems too good to be true. It can only be grasped by spending time with God in His Word and prayer so that His Holy Spirit can reveal this glorious truth to you. It’s what makes us fall in love with the Jesus.

Throughout all Biblical times, God’s people have struggled with believing God really loves them. They struggled with the thought that the God of the universe would intimately care about them. They struggled believing He would always be with them, would continue to love them despite their faults, would watch over and protect them, and would care and help them in the details of their life. They struggled with that then and people still struggle with that now. I guess not that much has changed!

When God first used Moses to bring them from Egypt, He made it clear that He wanted to bless them and bring them into a better place – a place called “the Promised Land.” God’s people hadn’t been to this land yet. They really didn’t know how great it was or what to expect. Nor did they really understand all God desired to do for them IF they would trust and put their faith in Him. Every time they saw the supernatural power of God intervene, it affected and blessed their lives in some way. God brought protection – the parting of the Red Sea and the drowning of Pharaoh’s armies. He brought provision – water from a rock and food – a sea of quail that flew right into their camp and manna – angel food from Heaven. He brought treasures – all the Egyptians gave the Israelites an abundance of jewels, silver, and gold as they left Egypt because of the Lord’s doing. They were also left with the riches of every people they defeated by God’s hand. They had seen God’s miraculous hand again and again. When these miracles were fresh, they had faith. As soon as any kind of hardship came, they abandoned their faith and whined to Moses and God.

They always wanted to see Him move in the form of magnificent eye-popping miracles. If they didn’t see God move in some demonstrative miraculous way as they faced their day-to-day problems, then they turned their back on Him and abandoned their faith.

People still do that today. They bargain with God and pray more out of desperation than an unwavering faith based upon their confidence of His love and faith in what He has promised. God was upset with them. Could they only have faith if He did these kinds of miracles every day? Children have more faith than that! class=”separator” style=”clear: both; text-align: center;”>

God loves you. He wants good and blessing for you more than you want it for yourself. That is how a good parent is and He is your Heavenly Father if you’ve received Jesus as your Savior. There is nothing that transforms our character and paves the way for His blessings to find their way into our lives than through a fervent faith rooted in love and trust in the Lord and His promises. Allow Jeremiah 29:11 to ring in your ears and be a reminder of His love and intent of good for your life. “For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.”
In His Love,
Pastor Tim Burt

Published by Pastor Tim Burt
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