Devo #1
Arms Open Wide
Luke 1:49-50
“For He who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is his name. And his Mercy is for those who fear him from generation to generation.”
Think of the best thing that anyone has ever done for you. Maybe it was as big as paying for the first year of your rent, or simply bringing you something you love on a hard day. Whatever it is it had to have made a lasting impact on you because you remember it to this day and probably won’t ever forget it. Well, think about how that memory brings you joy and multiply that by a thousand. This verse says explicitly that the one who is mighty and has control over everything has done not only great things for us but in his holy name thus meaning for forever. But I cannot tell you how many times I forget the weight of what he did for me and pass it off as something ordinary.
This truth that Jesus came, showed us how to live, died for our sins, and rose again in victory is the best news in all of history. This means we can have joy because the God of all generations has claimed, saved, and redeemed all generations. I think it is so amazing that the God of Abraham, Isaac, Noah, Daniel, David, and so many more is the God that we get to commune with. I think we can get caught up with the God of the Old Testament being far off and over crazy powerful wars and the destruction of cities, but he is a loving God throughout all of time. One of the craziest things that I never heard of or thought of before was from the book praying like monks living like fools by Tyler Staton where he quotes Dallas Willard. “God’s response to your prayers is not a charade. He does not pretend he is answering our prayer when he is only doing what he was going to do anyway. Our requests really do make a difference in what God does or does not do.” He is a relational God who is moved by the heart of his children. We cry out to him not for our will to be done, but for our wills and wants to align with his in his way and oversight.
He provides not only for eternity but for the little needs of our everyday. He is actively right now, sitting at the right hand of the father making a case for his children. He is not just our Lord, he is our Friend, brother, and savior. As I was on a retreat as a middle school girls leader I was watching my group of 8th graders praise the name of Jesus as Lord of Lords with such joy and love for their hearts. As I thought of my small joy seeing them praise I thought of the Father’s love and Joy as he sees all his children praise him, and the sadness for the ones that are not joining into the freedom, joy, and love. The picture that accompanied this thought was the nature of the cross. Jesus could have picked any way to die for the sins of the world, but he chose the most humiliating for his children. He chose the humble way, for his children. He chose to have his arms open wide to show that his grace and mercy spread from the East to the West (Psalm 103:12), all for his children. This was to show us that he covers us but he also invites us to run to his open arms and carry us.
So run to him, he can hold whatever we are trying to hold. He has, is, and will do great things for every generation. All we have to do is recognize his love, run into his open arms, and stand on him and through him. The best way to live as Jesus did is to let him show you how to do it. The only way we can see that is firstly leaning in, trusting him, and abiding through spending time with him.