A 50 day devotional on the unfailing kindness of Gods Love

A Publication of the Hope City Centre

Copyright 2013
Freely distributed

Contributing Authors

Immanuel M.

A gentle touch, a sinless savior

A lone stalk, in hurting winds
His judgment speaks mercy
His compassion never fading
His touch healing my soul
Unbroken, restored, whole
His mercy and grace he gives
In the very hour of my every need
Freely, even to the undeserving
Like me, even a bruised reed

Grateful

All praise to God our father, for the gift of His son to us, a gift more
than we can ever give in return. All reverence to His Spirit by whom he
reveals to us the depths of his grace and the wonders of His love. All
glory, to our risen King; the Christ who laid His life on the cross for our
salvation: Our Savior, our Lord, our Friend.
Now to Him, who sits on the throne, and unto the Lamb; be blessings
and honour and glory and power forever.
Amen!

Day 1
You are not unworthy
I break your heart in many ways
I stray from your path
I love another the way I please
I leave you and not look back
Like the prodigal son I go astray
And in my pride I feel sufficient
I soar in folly at vain accomplishments
Worldly pleasure is all that I treasure
How can I say I love you?
When I hurt you without a second thought
How can I say I love you?
When in my heart I put you second place
How can I say I love you?
When I break your heart with my eyes wide open
How can I say I love you?
If I betray you like an unfaithful lover
And deny you like a deceitful friend?

Each day so many of us live with constant fear and guilt, fear of not
being forgiven, the guilt of the wrong we cant seem to cease from,
and we try to live from one moment of confession to another. Our
hearts tell us that we are not worthy of Gods love because we have
been unfaithful and so we are scared to be called his beloved.
But God commended his love toward us, in that, while we were yet
sinners, Christ died for us.
(Romans 5 verse 8)
What we fail to realize is that Christ loved us even when we were
seemingly unlovable how much, more now when we have been
redeemed to become his elect. he knows our weakness, our acts of
love doesnt make him love us more, nor does our unfaithfulness make
him love us less, he has already loved us with an everlasting love, and
the best thing we can do is to open our heart to his love, just as we are,
and despite our unfaithfulness and our fears, his love will work through
us, and teach us to love him, even as he first loved us.
It doesnt matter what youve done,
It doesnt matter where youre coming from

It doesnt matter where youve been

Let me tell you; I forgive
Youre not guilty any more
You are not filthy any more
I love you, mercy is yours.
Extract from the song not guilty anymore
Aaron Keyes

Day 2
Redeemer, Savior & Friend
Have you ever wondered how much is enough, or how much is too
much to give to the ones we love. What would you give to those you
love, besides your heart? How much have you already given: your time,
your money, your attention, what has it cost you, your love I mean? Can
those you love, undoubtedly say that you love them to the fullest, can
they without fear or flatter say you love them and not question
within their hearts.
As difficult as it may seem to be able to boldly declare the unfailing love
of a man for another, there remains one whose love cannot be faltered,
a sinless Son who gave up all to draw us to the love of our Father. His
word reveals Him to us:
Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and
purify unto himself a peculiar people
Titus 2 verse 14

For we ourselves also were sometimes foolish, disobedient, deceived,

serving diverse lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful, and
hating one another. But after that the kindness and love of God our
Savior toward man appeared, Not by works of righteousness which we
have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of
regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Spirit; Which he shed on us
abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour; That being justified by his
grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.
Titus 3 verse 3-7
The Son of man came eating and drinking, and they say, Behold a man
gluttonous, and a winebibber, a friend of publicans and sinners. But
wisdom is justified of her children.
Matt 11:19
Greater love has no one than this; that he lay down his life for his
friends.
John 15 verse 13
Christ came to redeem us from the debt of sin which we owed but
couldnt pay, he gave his life as the ransom for our redemption, He

saved us from the destruction of our ways by delivering us from

darkness into His marvelous light, and not because of anything we have
done to deserve it but because He loves us. And after all he has given,
He still chooses to be our friend, just as He was to sinners and the
unworthy, He is even more to us. A friend in time of despair, in time of
trouble, we can run to Him, He is never tired of being our help, never
weary, living to make intercession on our behalf before the father. A
friend closer than a brother, when everyone has forsaken us, He stays,
holding us close; and never letting go. Always remember; you are
loved, you have been redeemed, you are saved, and you are never
alone.
Can we find a friend so faithful who will all our sorrows share?
Jesus knows our every weakness; take it to the Lord in prayer.
What a Friend we have in Jesus, all our sins and grief to bear!
What a privilege to carry everything to God in prayer!
O what peace we often forfeit, O what needless pain we bear,
All because we do not carry everything to God in prayer.
From the poem by Joseph M. Scriven (1985)

Day 3
A hand to Hold
For the lost & lonely
It takes a simple act of kindness to sometimes remind us of how much
our heavenly father loves us. A blind man walking across the street, led
by a caring stranger, guided beforehand only by his unfailing
companion that neither talks nor sees but only taps and feel. Then
comes along the hand of an unexpected friend, who walks him all the
way to the end; step by step, so patient, so kind, not judging, not
expecting anything in return.
So many of us have been lost at some point, blind, lonely, with no
companion save our unfailing heart beating and groping in the
darkness of pain, despair, disappointment, trying to feel our way
through: to find our way home. In the moment when we least
expected, we found a friend, a hand to hold, to lead us through, one
who knows the way, a friend, patient, kind, loving uncondemning: we

found Jesus. Now we walk unafraid, we walk boldly, for the hand that
hold us would never leave us alone.
For he hath said, he will never leave us, nor forsake us, that we may
boldly say, The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what any man will do
unto me.
Hebrews 13 verse 5 & 6 (re-amplified)
Today we must stand to share that love, to many lost, trying to find
their way, we must choose to give, that which to us was freely given,
we must live to show, how much he loves us so, and in a world thats
lonely and cold, we must live to be a hand to hold.

Day 4
Friend of the Poor
Looking at the circle of influences in our lives, people whom we have
carefully selected to have access to us, some rich, some not, some like
us, some different, but more often than not we are always careful to
choose those who would only add value and not be a burden to us. So
we have been taught to do.
But Christ in his life keeps doing the exact opposite of what we grew
up to understand. He showed love to the undeserving, reached out to
the helpless and lowly. He traded places for us to have all we do have
today, yet we fail to realize that our wealth is a gift, a privilege, and
those without it, are not so different before our fathers eyes.
Wealth maketh many friends says the teacher, but the poor is
separated from his neighbor
(Proverbs 19:4).
Shockingly we have come to find that these neighbours most times are
those who profess to be the sons of God. We have created our

relationships with them to become occasional acts of charity. But

remember;
The rich and the poor have this in common; the lord is the maker of them
all
(Proverbs 22:2)
We were poor once you know, but for the grace of God we would not
have been where we are today.
For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was
rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty
might be rich.
2 Corinthians 9 verse 8
If all we are and all we have was given, then why do we refrain from
sharing, a fraction of the love that was to us abundantly given. Its not
meant to be an act of charity done to appease our consciences
periodically. It is supposed to be how we live each day. He was our
friend when were poor; whose friend are you today?

Its getting dark, its getting late

Its cold outside, the rich mans gate
And Im wondering
Do we have any friends around?
Who are friends of the poor?
To help me through the night
To help me end this fight
To come to my rescue
Friend of the poor
(From the verse: friend of the poor by compassion art)

Day 5
Love Eternal
Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or
distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it
is written, for thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as
sheep for the slaughter. Nay, in all these things we are more than
conquerors through him that loved us. For I am persuaded, that neither
death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things
present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other
creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in
Christ Jesus our Lord.
(Romans 8:35-39)
Have you ever tried to understand the depths of Gods love for us all?
Its beyond what we can ever truly understand. In His love we can give
our lives because we are sure he will keep us safely in his arms. He is
the most gentle of lovers no other companion can come even close, all
our worries all our cares, all our fears, all our tears, he will not only bear
but He will take completely away that we may never hurt again.

If all seems lost, if all you cling to is gone, always remember you have
one who always loves you so and never will his love. He never goes
back on his promises, he never judges you in your weakness, He will lift
you up in His arms and not let you fall, He is and always will be your
hope, youre your salvation, your friend; your all.
Love everlasting
Pure, true, never ending
Peace it brings
To soothe the hurting
Love eternal
Beyond the limits of time and the carnal
Transcending the mind and its superficial
Consuming the heart beyond the temporal
Love truly divine
Sent from a father that I can call mine
Intoxicating like the finest of wine
That I may know I am only thine

Love specially for you and me

For our soul to trust to set our spirit free
To drive all the fears and the tears we no more see
That brings us to the best that we could ever be
Love undeserved, not that you first loved Him
For in all He has always first loved thee
Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his
Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we
ought also to love one anotherThere is no fear in love; but perfect love
casts out fear: because fear hath torment. He that fears is not made
perfect in love. We love him, because he first loved us.
(1 John 4:10-11, 17-19)

Day 6
Love, the way to live
Owe no man anything, but to love one another: for he that loves another
hath fulfilled the law.
(Romans 13:8)
Today, hand bands with inscriptions: what will Jesus do are gradually
becoming an old fad, there was a time though when they were very
popular and even people with no specific faith orientation wore them.
Its kind of ironic that these words are being put aside at a time when
they are really needed the most.
We find ourselves in a world that is daily becoming more hostile,
alienating and unkind. No one seems to care how u feel or what their
actions mean to you. It gets worse, even in the church we exalt
ceremonial relationships and polite expressions over genuine heart felt
connections. Its alarming to find that we who should be the symbols of
Christ are gradually ceasing to defer to Him for our standards; we get
so caught up in our own business and react just as everyone else does

even when people are in dire situations. When last did you find yourself
in a situation and asked what will Jesus do? I bet you can hardly
remember. If you can what was the answer?
Let me show you Christs answer, it is to respond with love. If we
believe that our every action must be directed by His word, and if we
understand that His word is His law, then we would appreciate when
he says:
Love worketh no ill to his neighbour: therefore love is the fulfilling of the
law.
(Romans 13:10)
When we live in love, we pattern our lives by His word because He is His
word, The Word is God and God is love. So beyond our hand bands, we
should band our hearts with his law, so that each time you are about to
do anything at all, just take a pause, look inwards and ask yourself:
what will Love do?
And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for
us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet smelling savour.
(Ephesians 5:2)

Day 7
Loving Hard faces
But I say unto you which hear, Love your enemies, do good to them which
hate you For if ye love them which love you, what thank have ye? For
sinners also love those that love them
Luke 6:27, 32
Sometimes it seems like some people are just so unlovable. You try as
much as you can and they dont seem to appreciate it or respond. They
are constantly irritating and possibly hostile, its not like they have a
problem with you because everyone complains of that same thing. So
after a few attempts to reach them, you just keep off, or sometimes
you dont even try so you dont create unwanted drama for yourself,
and you feel justified.
Its okay to stay away if we were just any other person but as Gods
children we have a responsibility to give his love even to the most
difficult of people. We must first learn to understand that the ones,
who seem to reject it the most, are those who need it the most.

Over the years, so many have been hurt by loved ones and have gone
through so much pain that their souls builds a defense mechanism in
the bid to shield them from further hurt by attacking any one that tries
to come close, not recognizing friend or foe. It is to such that we must
keep reaching out in love, and not give up too soon. Gradually Gods
love will pierce through and shatter the walls they have built, heal their
hearts and rebuild their lives. We must keep in mind that we are His
arm of love and cannot afford to live like others do.
So the next time you meet someone who is hostile to your kind
gestures, rather than judge and withdraw, smile and remember that
love conquers all; and before you lies a chance to share Gods love and
rescue a fading soul.
The loveless soul, angry and cold
Wandering away with hurts and pains of old
Seeking redemption from the rhythm of that true song
Sung by a love that truly suffers long
From the poem by Immanuel M (2013)

Day 7
Love in Hard places
When Jesus had lifted up himself, and saw none but the woman, he said
unto her; Woman, where are thine accusers? Hath no man condemned
thee? She said, No man, Lord. And Jesus said unto her, neither do I
condemn thee
(John 8:10-11)
The walk of love as we have come to find out is so much easier
professed than lived. More often than not we find ourselves in
situations where we are actually torn between acting in love or
satisfying set rules or keeping to strict schedules or sometimes
upsetting the context we find ourselves in. not to worry we are not
alone in this.
Over and again Christ was placed in situations which he had to validate
his message of love. In the preceding scriptures, the Pharisees had
brought before Christ a woman caught in adultery, and they sought His
permission to stone her. Bear in mind that if he had prevented them,
they would accuse Him of violating the Law of Moses which He had

come to fulfill. If he had given them the permission, He would have

negated His message of mercy and compassion.
So many times we do not know how to respond in such situations,
between showing some compassion or keeping to our set objectives,
after all its for the greater good. We sometimes dread the reaction of
those around, maybe given the protocol of the moment, our actions
may be seen as improper, so we turn our faces, we ignore our hearts
and just do what we term needful for the moment. If only we knew
how blind we are.
But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and
righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption:
(1 Corinthians 1:30)
Christs response was not to judge but to however validate his message
of love without falling short of the law. We however choose most times
to sacrifice our message of love, to satisfy the context or the social and
personal demands of the moment. We must understand that what we
need is the wisdom of God for such times. This wisdom is the same that

is exemplified in Christ, and that same wisdom is made available to us

through righteousness, and this wisdom has as its very essence, Love:
for Christ is our wisdom.
We must learn in times of difficulty, to let Christ lead through us and
reach out, even in the most inconvenient of circumstances. All we need
to do is ask, believe and receive it. Believe it or not, each day the world
is watching, and we Gods children must let His love reflect in all we do,
especially in the most difficult of times and places.

And this I pray, that your love may abound yet more and more in
knowledge and in all judgment; That ye may approve things that are
excellent; that ye may be sincere and without offence till the day of
Christ;
Amen.
(Philippians 1:9-10)

Day 7
Faith