A Ragamuffin's Love

Picture this ... we stand alone with nothing as a ragamuffin wandering aimlessly through the journey of life. Then God reaches down through Jesus Christ and picks up up and calls us sons and daughters. We welcome His advances toward us because His love fills every need and purpose deep within our hearts. We long to enter into relationship with Him and make His life our life, but we cannot. We do not know how, we are not capable, we have no love to give in return. Just as we begin to turn away in discouragement, Jesus reaches down and fills us with His love so we can give love. He fills us with forgiveness and lavishes His grace upon us so we can now enter into relationship with Him. We can now live life in Him because we have Him.

There is nothing we can do to deserve or merit or even participate in the life Jesus has for us. All we need is to accept freely what He offers. Like the prodigal son, we come with all our faults and sins before us ready to recite our prepared speech, but the love of God overwhelms us and again bestows upon us all we will ever need to enter into His house once again and be His son. In that moment we realize we it is not the goodness in our heart, it is not keeping all the rules and regulations of the law, it is not devotion to a life of ministry and sacrifice, it is only Jesus and His love that saves us and makes us deserving. We are His treasured possessions and Paul tells us we were so even before we got all cleaned up and proud of ourselves. When He puts a robe on our shoulders, sandals on our feet and a ring on our finger He does so while seeing and knowing all we are and all we will ever be. And He loves us still.

How great is His love for us! We cannot even begin to comprehend or contain it. Brennan Manning says trying to contain the love of God is like trying to contain Niagara Falls in a tea cup. I am grateful to God that He gives us His Holy Spirit to help us receive His love and enter into relationship with Him. I am grateful He has given us His love so we can love. His love and grace are truly amazing.

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