God's Love Made Visible

Better Than Life

Bayless Conley

In Psalm 63:1-4, the psalmist makes an incredible statement,

O God, You are my God; early will I seek You; my soul thirsts for You; my flesh longs for You in a dry and thirsty land where there is no water.  So I have looked for You in the sanctuary, to see Your power and Your glory.  Because Your loving kindness is better than life, my lips shall praise You.  Thus I will bless You while I live; I will lift up my hands in Your name.

What does the psalmist mean when he says that God's loving kindness is better than life?  Let me try and explain.

First, loving kindness literally means merciful love.  It is God's unfailing, merciful love.

And this is the love the psalmist says is "better than life." This merciful and unfailing love of God is better than life at its best without that love.

When I think of my life without Christ, I can remember many high times, laughter I shared with people, and great relationships.  But the least of God's mercies far outweighs the best of those times.

My life before coming to know Christ was chasing shadows.  It was doing the best with a counterfeit because I had never experienced the reality.  It was eating freeze-dried food when the Master Chef had prepared this sumptuous feast with the finest ingredients. 

His loving kindness is indeed better than the best of life without it.  The natural response to such merciful love, to such an abundant life, is praise.  Which means that every day, until your dying day, should be a thanksgiving day.

Visit the Answers with Bayless Conley website for more ways to Connect with God 

The Ultimate Father-Son Relationship

Dr. Charles Stanley

John 5:19-20  

God is called by a variety of names in the Bible, and each one sheds light on an aspect of His nature. Jesus' favorite title for Him was Father. Surprisingly, this name for God is used only 15 times in the Old Testament, but in the New Testament, it's recorded 245 times!

Many of God's names speak of His majestic and lofty attributes that separate Him from mankind, but Father conveys intimacy. Jesus used this name not only because He was God's Son, but also to help people realize that Jehovah isn't some unapproachable Deity gazing down on them from a distance. Rather, He is their loving heavenly Father, who cares about them and wants to be involved in their everyday lives.

Throughout His time on earth, Christ revealed by example what this kind of love relationship was like. He depended completely on His Father for daily direction, power, and provision and obediently carried out every instruction. He often left the demands of ministry just to find a secluded place to be alone with Jehovah. We know Jesus successfully conveyed the riches of this relationship to His disciples, because in John 14:8, Philip said, "Lord, show us the Father"—he wanted to know Him the way Christ did.

Do you long for that kind of intimacy with God?  He wants to relate to you as a Father to His child, and He's given you the privilege of drawing near to Him. In fact, He chose you before the foundation of the world and waits with open arms for you to enter His loving embrace.

For more biblical teaching and resources from Dr. Charles Stanley, please visit www.intouch.org.

A FATHER'S LOVE LETTER

THE VISION OF THE "LARGE HEART" Glenn H.  Jackson VISION:          I saw a very "large heart" in Heaven and, then, I saw a what looked like a "thread" proceed out of the large heart. The thread was supernaturally attached to the heart of a child on the earth, and it was "transparent" [having the appearance of spun gold] but was so thin that it was almost "invisible". I knew just in looking at it [by revelation] that it was "indestructible" in spite of the fact that the thread itself was almost invisible - and "seemed" like it could break at any time.  "transparent"- having the property of transmitting rays of light through its substance so that bodies situated beyond or behind can be distinctly seen; "invisible" - not perceptible by the eye; withdrawn from or out of sight; not perceptible or discernible by the mind; "indestructible" - unbreakable; permanent; enduring; cannot be destroyed; The Father spoke to me and said:        The "large heart" is representative of My Love - and the totality of My Fatherhood. The "thread" proceeding out of the large heart is representative of the supernatural connection that I have with each one of My precious children - a supernatural connection that will perfectly sustain them through all that they will face in My service. "separate" - to keep apart or divide, as by an intervening barrier or space; to force apart; to disconnect;         ...."Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? Just as it is written, 'For Your sake we are being put to death all day long; we were considered as sheep to be slaughtered.' But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord".... Romans 8:35-39 NASB

HOW HE LOVES US