God's Limitless Love

“And now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began.” (John 17:5)

We will never fully understand the extent of the sacrifice God made in the gospel without understanding the immensity of the love/bond that existed within the Trinity—the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—from all eternity.

When Jesus cried out on the cross, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” (Matt. 27:46b) that was the greatest demonstration of love to have ever taken place. The Triune God willingly endured such cruel and violent separation for our sakes in the central event of all history, the cross.

Making Incense Sticks

G.K. Chesterton called this the “furious love of God.” I believe the hardest thing in the world for human beings to believe is that God loves us this much, enough to endure the break-up of the Trinity, in order that we could be reconciled to Him.

The Christian life begins with the love of God. Throughout his writings the Apostle John was moved to refer to himself as “the disciple whom Jesus loved.”

We all have a love; a need that can only be met by the unfaltering, unchangeable love of God. Our deepest emotional and spiritual needs are never met by material things, prestige or power, exhilarating experiences, beauty, or human love. All of our human desires and longings are only symptoms of our need for Him. Psalm 42:1 expresses this need, “As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, O God.” He Himself is the Bread of Life and the Water of Life.

When we are gripped by the love of God, He frees us from being emotionally and spiritually crippled. When we realize how we are loved, then we can stop loving ourselves and start loving others. He enables us to become dispensers of love rather than consumers of love. We are able to love others, even our enemies. When old age, life-threatening illness, or danger threatens us, we can look with confidence to God’s loving promise of eternal life with Him.

The love of God gives us purpose. The purpose for our lives grows out of His love. He liberates us from self love. Our love relationship with God rules our relationships with others. He enables us to begin to love unlovable sinners as He loves us. When we are angry, depressed, struggling, feeling insecure, we can bring these things to Him. He cares about every aspect of our lives. When our sins and fears are petty and downright embarrassing, we can come clean with Him. He is the Sinner’s Friend.

I believe He wants to see our lives, like John’s, stuck on one theme: the unfailing and limitless love of God.

--Russ Sharrock

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“God’s love is incomprehensible, unchangeable. It was not after we were reconciled to Him through the blood of His Son that He began to love us. Rather, He has loved us before the world was created; that we also might be among His sons . . . He loved us even when He hated us. This is the wonder of grace! He loved what He could not love.” –Augustine

Asia International Mission is an IRS approved 501(c)(3) non-profit ministry. 

All gifts are tax-deductible and 100% of donations are used as designated

A Sacramental Life

When my wife and I made our first trip to India, we brought with us a number of large pieces of luggage filled with important things we were sure we could not do without. Toiletries, books and bed sheets—we didn’t stop to wonder how one billion people get by every day without these “essential” American products.

We soon learned. It’s easier however, to change shampoo than it is to change assumptions. For, along with our luggage, we also brought a fair-sized bag of dreams—with unwavering confidence in our ability to actually make a difference, and anticipation of a life filled with adventure. I was filled with hope for what lay ahead.

Years later, I find I have exchanged the attractive bag of dreams for a banged-up, simple but sturdy suitcase with a broken zipper. Our perspective has changed, and we have come to realize that our job is not difficult, but impossible. The reality is we simply don’t have what it takes to change hearts and families.

But not only is our task impossible, we’re asked to do it with lives that turn out to be actually quite ordinary. We still have to take out the trash. Budgets, sickness, arguments, making meals… These all blend together into a very ordinary life. Even the adventure of life in India fades with time. I came with a vision of the possible and the extraordinary. I find myself every day facing the impossible and the ordinary. The slick bag of expectations meets the battered suitcase of life.

And yet I have hope—hope that is stronger today than ever before. Why, because my hope no longer rests on my own ability. It rests on Jesus. And as I look to Jesus, I see Him consistently accomplishing the impossible through the ordinary.

Look at the story of the feeding of the 5000 in Luke 9:1-17, and you will see where a long day of ministry found the disciples weary and wanting to send the people away. The crowds were hungry. The disciples didn’t have any food. But Jesus simply said, “You give them something to eat.”

Imagine yourself as one of the disciples: “Do you know how tired I am? This is impossible! We don’t have enough time or money. All we have is a little boy’s lunch. What good is that?” But Jesus took what they had, blessed it, broke it and then used his disciples to distribute the food in such a way that everyone left satisfied. In fact, not only did everyone have enough, there was abundance.

There was more than was needed. More than was asked for. The impossible seen to be of no importance in His hands. Bread and fish. The ordinary transformed by God and used to accomplish the impossible. This is my hope. It rests in my belief that God, in the same way, can and will intervene in my impossible situations with extraordinary grace, making it possible to live an ordinary, run-of-the-mill life for the glory of God in a place like India.

This is what I understand to be the “sacramental life.” A life so saturated with the presence of God that the ordinary becomes holy and the impossible happens. It is a simple, every-day life in the hands of God, blessed and broken and offered to others.

And what is the result of this sacramental life? What happens when the ordinary stuff of life gets into the hands of Jesus and is then offered to those around us? The meal of bread and fish caused the crowds to proclaim, “Surely this is the Prophet who is to come into the world” (John 6:14).

Every day we walk out our front gates and face a multitude of harassed, helpless and spiritually hungry people who have nothing to eat. We hear Jesus say, "You give them something to eat," and so we offer the few small loaves of bread and fish that we have.

How many people can we really feed? I don't know. But if we are willing to pursue the sacramental life together, then I have every reason to hope that we may actually find ourselves feeding thousands, because we were first willing to be found in His hands.

—Russ Sharrock

Asia International Mission is an IRS approved 501(c)(3) non-profit ministry. 

All gifts are tax-deductible and 100% of donations are used as designated

Our Perception of God

“If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to save us from it, and he will rescue us from your hand, O king. But even if he does not, we want you to know, O king that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up." (Daniel 3:17, 18)

What is your perception of God when you pray? “He must be on vacation. Am I good enough for Him to hear? Is He listening?”

God is not passive in our lives, in our circumstances, and in our praying.  Sometimes our culture tells us, “You just have to learn to live with it, put up with it.” As God’s children, we must constantly look for His power to break through to us and for us. 

Read the story in Daniel Chapter 3. Notice the positive attitude and trust in God’s ability that Daniel had.

In fact, the picture I have of God as I pray is interested and delighted that we took time to talk. Remember the story of the prodigal son who wasted his inheritance, returned to his father (symbol of God) with head held low, and when the father saw him he ran up the road to meet him? He didn’t wait for the rebellious son to come to him. That shows His desire to have intimacy with His creation.

God is not punishing us when things go wrong; troubles do not rise up because He can’t protect us. Many times, God will allow in His wisdom what He could easily prevent with His power. “Why” is the wrong question.  The right question is, “What are you trying to teach me Lord?  How can my faith in You be strengthened in this Lord?”

These are the right questions when troubles come your way. God's love for us is never less than 100%. It’s who He is and always will be, because He is the same yesterday, today and forever.

Prayer life is the link to His Spirit, His Heart, His Mind and His revelation.  It is the way to develop intimacy. And intimacy with Him is everything.

--Russ Sharrock

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Pray for the Unreached Beldar, Hindu of India

Population: 1,798,000
World Pop: 1,808,000
Main Language: Kannada
Main Religion: Hinduism
Bible: Complete
Status: Least-Reached
Christ-Followers: Few, less than 2%

Asia International Mission is an IRS approved 501(c)(3) non-profit ministry. 

All gifts are tax-deductible and 100% of donations are used as designated