Little Messages with Big Impact
God’s love for us is constant, unchanging, and everlasting. It is not based on our performance or our behaviour-it flows from His nature. As Jeremiah 31:3 reminds us, He has loved us with an everlasting love and draws us with His kindness. However, while God’s love is unconditional, His pleasure in us is not. Many believers live with the assurance that God loves them, but they have yet to understand that not everything in their lives brings Him pleasure.
Earlier, we discussed the difference between acceptance and approval in our relationship with God. When you are born again, you are unconditionally accepted into the family of God. However, acceptance does not automatically lead to approval. The Father’s declaration in Matthew 3:17, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased,” refers to a deeper level of our walk with God. This statement speaks to our growth and maturity in the faith, where we move beyond merely enjoying the Father’s love to actively giving back to Him in service and obedience.
The difference between a child and a son is not just age but also responsibility. A child enjoys the love of a father, receiving affection, care, and provision. But a son, having received the love of the father, begins to give back-offering something in return for all the love he has received. In the first phase of our relationship with the Father, God’s love is the focus. He gave His Son for us, demonstrating that love always gives. As Christians, many of us focus on enjoying this love and blessing, but there is more to the relationship than just receiving.
In Matthew 3:17, we see two profound statements made by the Father: “This is My beloved Son” and “in whom I am well pleased.” These statements reveal the two phases of our journey as children of God. The first phase highlights God’s love for us, while the second phase focuses on our responsibility to bring pleasure to the Father as we mature in our relationship with Him.
Hebrews 11 highlights the great exploits of men and women of faith. This chapter showcases individuals who accomplished extraordinary things through their faith in God, yet it also tells of those who endured immense trials and suffering. These were men and women who paid a high price for their faith. Their stories remind us that true Christianity is not without cost. Until your Christianity costs you something, you are not worth much.
Once you’ve received Jesus as Lord and Savior, the next crucial step is learning to surrender your will to His. It’s one thing to trust God for provision and answers to prayer-it’s another to yield your heart in complete commitment to His plans. The prayer of faith asks, “Lord, here’s what I need.” But the prayer of surrender says, “Lord, here’s my life-do what you will.” That posture of heart says, “Even when I don’t know your full plan, I’m willing to follow as you lead.”
The words of Jesus in Luke 14:26 are some of the most sobering in the Gospels. They are not a call to emotional hatred, but a demand for supreme allegiance. Christ is not saying we should despise our loved ones-He’s saying that our love for Him and our commitment to His will must surpass every other affection and attachment. To follow Jesus means to place Him above all: family, comfort, reputation, safety, and even our own lives.
In Hebrews 10:7, the Lord Jesus declares, “Lo, I come (in the volume of the book it is written of me) to do Thy will, O God.” This statement perfectly captures the essence of Christ’s submission to the Father’s will. Jesus’ life and ministry were entirely focused on doing God’s will, even to the point of death on the cross. His obedience to the will of the Father is the ultimate example for us.
One of the most deceptive doctrines the devil spreads is the belief that every man has a price. The enemy tries to bargain with us, offering us the world in exchange for our obedience to God. We see this clearly in the life of Moses. When the devil offered him the throne of Egypt, Moses rejected it, choosing instead to endure the insult and rejection of being with God’s people (Hebrews 11:24-26). Moses understood that nothing in this world could compare to the eternal rewards of following God’s will.
The cross is central to our faith-not only as the place where Jesus paid the price for our sins, but also as a call to personal surrender. While His death opened the way to salvation and reconciled us to the Father, the cross also serves as a powerful invitation to every believer: the invitation to lay down our will and embrace God’s. Jesus made it clear that following Him is not merely about believing in what He did, but about walking the same path of submission. “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.”