The safety of God's love
They’ll see that you take care of the poor,
that you take care of poor people in trouble, provide a warm, dry place in bad weather,
provide a cool place when it’s hot.
Brutal oppressors are like a winter blizzard
and vicious foreigners like high noon in the desert.
But you, shelter from the storm and shade from the sun,
shut the mouths of the big-mouthed bullies. ~ Isaiah 25:4 (MSG)
Can anything separate us from the love of Christ? Can trouble, suffering, and hard times, or hunger and nakedness, or danger and death?.. In everything we have won more than a victory because of Christ who loves us. ~ Romans 8:35, 37 (CEV)
KEY IDEA:
Relax! Our loving Lord is on the side of the distressed.
PRAYER:
Lord, you and your love are incredible. There is nothing more powerful than the love of Christ.
I admit that sometimes I get discouraged when I see how things are going in the world. Help me to return my mind to the safety of your love. I'm going to bask in the victory of Christ rather than the hardships generated by the world system.
Amen.
TRANSLATIONS
ABP = Authorized Boydston Paraphrase — my own freestyle biblical adaptation — somewhere between paraphrase, commentary, and sermon
CEB = Common English Bible (©2011, the Common English Bible)
CEV = Contemporary English Version (©1995, American Bible Society)
MSG = The Message (©1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson)
NIRV = New International Reader's Version (©1996, 1998, Biblica)
NIV = New International Version (©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011, Biblica)
NLT = New Living Translation (©1996, 2004, 2007, 2013, Tyndale House Foundation)
