Good News to our hurting soul: God's love wins!

Could you imagine a person who needed cardiac surgery walking into the hospital and telling the surgical staff that they didn’t need a cardiac surgeon because that sick person was going to perform the operation on their own body? 

Or can you imagine a homeowner whose house is burning refusing to let the fire department use their equipment because the homeowner was determined to put out the fire on their own, using nothing more than a garden hose?

It’s the same way with those of us who refuse God's help simply because we perceive that as weakness.

How can we minister to our own soul when it's our own soul that is hurting and in need of healing?

It’s not possible.

All the techniques and treatments in the world aren’t going to save a soul that’s drowning in fear. It’s impossible to self-medicate yourself out of it.

But the good news is that’s where God's love comes in!

God's love isn’t dependent upon our own resources and it doesn’t run out and nothing can separate us from it. God's love is rooted in eternity and is not based on the past, or the present moment. God's love washes away guilt and the shame that drives it. God's love is stronger than any other human force. God's love goes beyond the things of this earth. It’s that powerful and it’s that healing.

That’s why God's son said he had come to set the captive free, to give sight to the blind, to heal the brokenhearted (Luke 4.18-19). God's son is love incarnate. Total love.

God's son actually spoke these words out loud, quoting from Isiah 61, in the synagogue in Nazareth. This same section of Isiah is full of promises of restoration, total healing. 

Here's some of what God promises to do through his son:

. preach good news to the poor

. open the (spiritual) prison to those who are bound

. proclaim liberty to captives

. proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord

. comfort those who mourn and give mourners beauty for ashes

. give those who mourn the oil of joy for mourning

. give the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness.

There is more contained in Isaiah 61. It's well worth checking it out to get an exciting sense of what the fruit of salvation, rooted in God's love, looks like.

You’ve seen the bumper stickers that declare: Love Wins. Well, that’s certainly true. 

But the more accurate statement is: We Win! Because of God's Love.

photo credit: www.revmusings.wordpress.com