Fresh Mannaby Pastor Tim BurtIf there’s one thing I’ve come to understand about God, it’s this: His love for us—and for me personally—is far beyond what my human mind can grasp. I’ve learned this over time, but it wasn’t always so clear to me.There was a season in my life when I was terrified of God. I didn’t know Him. I was living in rebellion, completely ignorant of what the Bible teaches about who He is. In my mind, God was just waiting for me to mess up so He could punish me. I figured I was a constant disappointment to Him, and I imagined Him as some distant figure ready to hurl thunderbolts at me if I stepped out of line. My main strategy back then was to try not to provoke "the big guy in the sky." How sad—and how wrong—I was.Romans 5:8 (NLT) opened my eyes to the truth: “But God showed His great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners.” Just think about that! God proved His love by having Jesus take my place on the cross—not after I cleaned myself up, but while I was still living in complete rebellion. That truth is absolutely stunning. Only God could look at someone like me in my mess and still say, “I love you.”This is what Isaiah 55:9 means when it says, “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts.” Many people read this verse and assume it means God’s ways are mysterious and impossible to understand. While it’s true that we can never fully grasp God’s ways, He does want us to learn His ways and so He reveal Himself to us through His Word and His Spirit.But there’s an even deeper truth here. God’s “higher ways” aren’t just about His wisdom—they’re about His love. His love and patience are so far beyond what we can comprehend. He knows why we think the way we do. He sees the brokenness, the lies we’ve believed, the ways Satan has twisted and marred this world. And instead of turning away in frustration, His response is greater love, mercy, and patience.When we begin to grasp even a fraction of how much God loves us, it changes us. His love becomes the catalyst for the kind of good and godly transformation we long for. And as His love works in us, it spills over to those around us. His love rewires our thinking, reshapes our priorities, and redefines how we treat others.I remember a moment when this truth hit me in a very practical way. One morning, after dropping my son Jeffrey off at school, I got a call from him. He had forgotten his gym bag and needed me to bring it to him. At first, I was irritated—he should’ve remembered it! But then, I thought about God’s love for me. How many times had I messed up or forgotten something, and yet He responded with mercy and grace? In that moment, I felt embarrassed by my impatience. Jeffrey had made a simple mistake, just like I’ve done countless times. Remembering God’s love shifted my perspective, and instead of frustration, I felt compassion. Love is a transforming power!God’s love is our anchor. It’s steady and unshakable, even when our love falters. His standard of love is so much higher than ours, but instead of condemning us, He invites us to grow into it. I know I’m a work in progress. Every day, I’m letting His love stretch me, reshape me, and teach me to love like He does.Today, I encourage you to let God’s love redefine your own. As His love transforms your heart, may it flow through you to touch the lives of those around you.Romans 8:38-39 (NLT2) "And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord."In His love,Pastor Tim Burt
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