Anyhow Love

"Anyhow" Love

It’s tough to watch the anger and anguish of the child you are disciplining for some broken rule that he doesn’t think should be there in the first place. It hurts your heart and maybe deflates your parental ego to see the frustrated tears and hear, “I hate you!” coming from the lips of one you love so dearly and unconditionally.

If you didn’t know it was for the child’s benefit and character development, you would probably stop in mid-action, withdraw the “consequence” and give a hugging apology. But you know in your heart that it is necessary to carry out your responsibility to bring your child up in the “nurture and admonition of the Lord.”

Some day he may say he appreciates how you reared him; he knows he is successful in life because you loved him so much it hurt you.

We are not born with the natural instinct to be obedient. Just watch a toddler who ignores instructions with a loud, “No!” Left to ourselves, we would probably be dangerous to ourselves and others, without discipline to know and do right. We would not by our nature just want to be obedient, loving, kind and easy to manage. That’s why God gave us parents, teachers and mentors. He wanted us to develop good character and discipline the next generation would benefit from as well.

A loving parent will not stop guiding a child in the right direction just because the child is not responsive. The lessons continue repetitiously as long as they are needed to accomplish their goal. The parent will not stop loving the child through its rebellion; they may have heartaches caused by the wayward offspring, but the love continues. Their hearts will leap for joy when they see the straying one coming home.

One of love’s components is “giving.” Love just naturally wants a recipient to lavish itself on. Many parents work more than one job, overtime hours and deny themselves to make life better for their family. They want their children to have the best, even better than they had in their own childhood—because they love them!

What about our Heavenly Father? Can you imagine how He feels when He has to strip us of our rebellion while we argue in protest? How His heart must ache when He sees us in a “self-destruct mode” disregarding the wooing of the Holy Spirit. He may lengthen the leash until we are destitute like the prodigal son to allow us to “come to ourselves” and look longingly toward the Father’s house.

If we abide by the Word God has given us, our common sense would tell us that it would be most profitable to be loyal and obedient. For instance, look at Deuteronomy 28 given to Israel and pre-dated for us.

“And it shall come to pass, if thou shalt hearken diligently unto the voice of the Lord thy God, to observe to do all his commandments which I command thee this day, that the Lord thy God will set thee on high above all nations of the earth: And all these blessings shall come on thee, and overtake thee, if thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God” ” (Deuteronomy 28:1, 2).

God had everything arranged to shower Israel with blessings. Israelites would be chased by blessings until they caught up with and overtook them. They would be blessed in the city, in the fields, fruit of their body, fruit of the livestock, in their baskets (now), in their store (later), victorious over their enemies and “in all thou setteth thy hand unto.” The promised blessing covered every aspect of their lives.

God only asked that they be faithful and obedient.

What more could they ask for? Yet they turned their backs on all these blessings in disobedience and disloyalty. What a disappointment to God. Did His heart ache for them and long for their return? The answer lies at Calvary. What a price to pay to bring His erring ones home! He spared no expense.

“He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?” (Romans 8:32). It couldn’t be any plainer than that! Simply put—“He gave His all, withholding nothing—all for those He loved.”

The covenant is even more precious for us today than it was for Israel. They offered substitutionary animal sacrifices to cover their sins. These only looked toward the ultimate, real sacrifice of God’s own Son, Jesus Christ, who gave His life to “take away” (not cover) our sins. Yet-to-be-realized blessings await those who will follow the Lord in obedience and loyalty. Yet we are just like Israel; our blessings are still in God’s storehouse waiting to be distributed—if only we will qualify.

Qualify? Earn them? By no means! The only way we can quality is to accept the qualification that Jesus did for us. He did it all.

“It is not after we were reconciled to God by the blood of His Son that He began to love us, but He loved us before the foundation of the world, that with His only begotten Son we too might be sons of God before we were any thing at all.”

----Augustine

God’s heart must have been broken when He allowed the chasm to develop between Himself and Jesus as He hung on the cross bearing our sin. He must have suffered pain as He let His Son die even though He knew it was the only way we could be redeemed. He had to allow the torture and murder of His Beloved One. Surely His heart bleeds anew each time He sees us rejecting what His Love prepared for us and is eager to give. Such a great price was paid for His love poured out on a sinful world, yet his storehouse is filled with everything we need, waiting to be sent on angel wings to those who will receive.

As grown-up children, we sometimes look back with regret at the sorrow we caused our parents by our willfulness. It should also fill our hearts with grief when we think of the times we have grieved the Holy Spirit who only wanted to give us unlimited blessings. How sad that they are ready to come to us, but we are not ready to receive them. All we have to do is “receive.” They’ve been paid for and the shipping label has our name on it.

Think of the times Jesus was moved with compassion, even tears while here on the earth. He wept as He sadly looked at Jerusalem and said He would have gathered their children together like a mother hen does her chicks, but "you would not" (Luke 19:42, Matthew 23:37). How sad He must have felt. And He wept at the tomb of Lazarus. We aren't sure if he was weeping because he saw their sorrow and was moved by it, or was it their unbelief that broke His heart?

Are we breaking His heart? Let us tell Him how sorry we are to have made Him weep. What are we missing because of the hardness (unbelief) of our hearts just as those of old did? Let us stretch forth our hands and hearts to Him with sorrow of repentance and let Him turn it into joy. With outstretched hands and loving us "anyhow," Jesus bids us come and receive.

Are you ready to be blessed beyond measure? “Anyhow Love” is ready to give. Get ready to receive and gladden the heart of God. Open up your heart to receive his “Anyhow Love.”

Annie Johnson Flint has expressed it beautifully~~~

How broad is His Love? Oh as broad as man’s trespass,

As wide as the need of the world can be;

And yet to the need of one soul it can narrow,

He came to the world, and He came to me.

How long is His love? Without end or beginning,

Eternal as Christ and His life it must be,

For to everlasting as from everlasting;

He loveth the world, and He loveth me.

How deep is His love? Oh as deep as man’s sinning,

As low as the uttermost vileness can be;

In the fathomless gulf of the father’s forsaking;