Past, Present, and Future

O the sweetness of these words: "To Him who loves us"-  loves us!  That He would ever look with even a mere moment of love upon a sinner such as I is earth-shattering.  But that He loves me with a present tense, ongoing, ever-present passion is unfathomably staggering.  Who am I, that the God who "inhabits eternity" (Is. 57:15) would break into time to pursue me with a present tense love?

And in order to make my experience of His present tense reality eternally sure, He has grounded it in the objective past tense: "and has freed us from our sins by His blood and made us a kingdom."  God demonstrates (present tense) His love in that while we were still sinners, Christ died (past tense) for us.  O, the marvelous assurance that this truth brings!  The foundation of His love is not my present-- my weak, wavering, sin-stained present; the immovable Rock of His affection is His own past-- His unchanging, faithful, eternally accomplished past!

Therefore my heart's deepest longing and desire is this: that every future tense of my life would be suffused with His praise, and an ever-increasing conformity to His precious likeness: "To Him be glory and dominion forever and ever.  Amen!"


"To Him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by His blood and made us a kingdom, priests to His God and Father, to Him be glory and dominion forever and ever.  Amen." ~Revelation 1:5-6

True Romance

I'm getting married in about 2 1/2 months, and so naturally I've been thinking a lot about love and commitment and faithfulness. Yesterday I was talking to a friend about love and marriage, and about how many girls on this campus are looking for a storybook romance, when the real thing is a little different. After 4 1/2 years in a relationship, I have realized this:


True romance looks a lot less like Prince Charming and happily ever after, and a lot more like a bloodied cross.


Husbands, love your wives as Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for her. ~Ephesians 5:25

In this is love, not that we have 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 also ought to love one another. ~1 John 4:10-11

"This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends." ~John 15:12-13

Keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins. ~1 Peter 4:8

"If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me." ~Mark 8:34