His Ocean Of Love

“…to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ.”  (Ephesians 3:18b)

Gods ocean of love…No man can measure or even fathom for that matter the width, the length, the height and depth of Gods love.  Its interesting because as Christians we are called to walk by faith, for it was by faith that we were saved through grace for it is the power of God.  I love the ocean, I love the beach, and it doesn’t do me justice to just stick my toes in the water and be satisfied or refreshed.  I need to dive in, I need to feel the cool water envelop me.  I don’t believe there is anyone alive that will knowingly jump into the water to be refreshed and come out with an angry face.  It’s just impossible to do so.  No matter if the water is a bit warm or cold it is refreshing to know and feel water against your skin.  And its interesting how water can be the best thing that ever happened and in the next second it can quickly do damage. 

I was looking at Ezekiel  47 and God showed me some really neat truths.  I’ll chop it up a bit to get to the points that God showed me.  Starting from verse 3, “…he measured a thousand cubits, and he led me through the water, water reaching the ankles.  Again he measured a thousand and led me through the water, water reaching the knees.  Again he measured a thousand and led me through the water, water reaching the loins.  Again he measured a thousand; and it was a river that I could not ford, for the water had risen, enough water to swim in, a river that could not be forded."

Did mom or dad ever throw you into the deep side of the pool when you were just 1?  Hopefully not, but if they were wise parents they would have started you off in the shallow part of the pool.  And the years that pass by would hopefully stir you to go deeper still into the deep side of the pool.  Maybe even go and venture out into the ocean where the waves are.  Waves…certainly something majestic but deadly if you have no idea what you are doing.  I use to find myself being pounded against the reef constantly but I learned quickly from the pounding of the waves just how to conquer them.  I would try and try to get over the top before it would peak but to no avail, the wave would launch me into mid-air and slam me on the surface of the water.  I learned that you must go under the wave to get past the wave, you must dive deep under the wave where there is less power but calmer waters.  What a profound and a powerful, powerful truth.

God starts us off in the shallows, and then draws us into deeper depths of Him.  Whether we like it or not, trials is what God uses to have us grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ.  But we forget so easily when the crashing waves are in our life that our God is in control.  As Christians I believe we forget constantly that the waves that are crashing around us, is but a tool that God uses to teach us, to show us that He loves as a Father would his child.  The waves of testing it comes and it goes, but yet even more so we forget the greatest thing.  That the testing of the waves and the wave itself all happens in His ocean of love.  Guilty as charged we try to conquer our trials on our own strength trying to climb the wave to get over the top, instead of going under and deeper in the water, deeper into His love deeper into Christ where there is calmer waters.  When the testing passes we emerge from under taking in a deep breath relieved that it has passed and looking forward to what lies ahead.  If there is anything I want to get lost in, it’s the depths of God’s love.   

Ezekiel had walked 1500 feet before he would reach deeper water, and yet still deeper water and yet still deeper water.  I can’t help but smile at just how beautiful this picture is, to keep walking means to get deeper, to keep walking means to get even deeper, to keep walking means to get even deeper still.  O that we would walk in Christ and find Him in the depths of His love.  O that we would never be satisfied with being ankle deep, but submerged deep in Him deep in His love.  May we be followers of Christ that put feet to faith, may we be lovers of Christ diving into His ocean of love, that we may know and confess and testify that the love of Christ, is indeed more than enough.  How refreshing it is to have a heaven sent love that is supreme; how refreshing it is to know that all my trials all happen in His ocean of love; how refreshing it is to know how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ.  Dive Christian dive.

"I want this, but I need that"

"And as Jesus returned, the people welcomed Him for they had all been waiting for Him."

What a sight that would have been to see, a city or maybe even a whole town waiting for the arrival of Jesus to come.  I'm sure the crowd heard all of the mighty things that Jesus was doing; from healings, to casting out demons and raising the young lad from the dead.  Aren't you glad that Jesus' ministry was not just to preach salvation unto us, but He also intended to get personally involved in our lives, a forever mentor, teacher to guide us down the straight and narrow.  For how would the ministry of Jesus spread if He had not invested first in the 12 disciples who later became apostles.  And so His ministry was people oriented, He loved them and although it wasnt mentioned in verse one you can assume that some of the people came not just to see the miracles of Jesus, but also to experience and engage in with this extraordinary Man with extraordinary love.  And so, "...the people welcomed Him for they had all been waiting for Him."

"And there came a man named Jairus, he was an official of the synagogue; and he fell at Jesus' feet and began to implore Him to come to his house for he had an only daughter, about twelve years old, and she was dying..."

Things just turned for the worst here, a man named Jairus had a daughter that was dying but notice what Jesus does, He continues on walking!  Why?  So picture this man crawling on his knees imploring Jesus at His feet as Jesus continues to walk on!  What a radical and vivid picture that the bible is portraying for us.

"But as He went, the crowds were pressing against Him."

In Titus 3:14 Paul gives one of his personal concerns concerning Christian conduct, "Our people must learn to engage in good deeds to meet pressing needs, so that they will not be unfruitful."  Christ came to meet pressing needs.  I was lifting weights one day and decided to go a bit heavy on the bench.  And as I lifted the bar off and brought it to my chest I realized that the weight was too heavy and it was pressing down harder and harder on my chest, squeezing the breath out of me.  I needed that weight to get off my chest in order for me to breathe again.  Christ came to lift the pressing weight on our chest so we can breathe again meeting our pressing needs.  So here is Jesus surrounded and pressed in by the growing crowd of people.

"And a woman who had a hemorrhage for twelve years, and could not be healed by anyone, came up behind Him and touched the fringe of His cloak, and immediately her hemorrhage stopped."

Quick recap; so we have now a man named jairus and a woman with a hemorrhage.  Jairus had experienced 12 years of great joy with his daughter while the woman had experienced 12 years of pain and sorrow with her hemorrhage.  But lets focus first on this woman who was literally dieing from the inside out.

She must have gone to every doctor in the land seeking for healing and comfort for her internal bleeding.  But none had come to her aid to heal her completely.  So where do we find her going?  She goes to seek out the Doctor of all doctors, Jesus Christ.  Bible says that she came up behind Him and touched the fringe of His cloak, but lets not forget that she is in great pain.  A crowd is pressing against Jesus and this crowd is not going to stop this woman from getting to Jesus, from getting where she needs to be.  So she pushes and fights her way through the crowd while her pain increases yet in it she draws closer to Jesus. 

Exodus 33:23 it shows Moses having a conversation with God abot seeing His glory but God says in v23, "Then I will take away My hand and you shall see my back, but my face shall not be seen."

God was showing Moses that it is He who goes before him to give Him victory and the promise.  I am the one who goes before you, the Ancient of Days, the Almighty God.  I am the one who performs wonders before you.  And so this lady saw as Moses saw, the trail of glory, His marks of love that Jesus had left behind as He walked forward in victory.  And so she clinged and touched the fringe of His cloak reaching out, and coming to the end of herself she found the beginning of God. 

"And Jesus said,'Who is the one who touched Me?'  And while they were all denying it, Peter said,'Master, the people are crowding and pressing in on you.'  But Jesus said,'Somone did touch me, for I was aware that power had gone out of Me.'"

This brings a smile to my face.  I believe the key part in this verse is when Jesus said 'someone did touch me, for I was aware that power had gone out of me.'  He took notice of the needy one who needed Him desperately!!! It wasnt that Jesus had no idea who had touched Him, Jesus asked because He wanted to acknowledge the one who had come in faith, tasting and seeing that the Lord is good.  Oh what a wonderful, personal God He is.  To notice a sinner like me and yearned to have a relationship with me, to address me personally.  This woman experienced grace first hand and the power in grace that comes from Christ.  And when she saw that she had not escpaed His notice she knelt at the feet of Jesus and testified of His power, the immediate healing, and the reason why she came to Him.

And in the most loving tone and reaffirming voice Jesus spoke tenderly to her, with words that were as apples of gold in settings of silver...

"And He said to her,"Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace."

So after 12 years of heartache and internal bleeding and struggles on a daily basis, this woman was finally at total rest, in total peace physically internally, and spiritually.  But God did not leave her empty handed, as she came to touch Him He came seeking to touch her.  As Christ has reached down from heaven so our faith should stretch up to heaven as well.  But you see He wanted to speak to her, and to reassure her that she was well and that she may go in peace.  We all go through the spiritual highs and the spiritual lows, times where we experience great amounts of faith and soon after we feel alone and unwanted and unloved.  But Jesus comes to us while we are on our knees and almost has to convince us through His words, that our faith in Him has made us well and that we may go or continue on in peace. 

Dearest Christian walk in peace and know that you are well.  For God has not only touched you He has spoken over you, even rejoiced over you.  Be diligent as this woman was to seek the Lord in the midst of her pain and obstacles that stood before her.  To know that when you do reach His feet you will find peace and be made well. 

Colossians 2:10 "...and in Him you have been made complete..."

"Back into the City"

"When the Lord saw her, He felt compassion for her, and said to her, 'Do not weep.'"  (Luke 7:13)

 I love just how loving the God we serve is.  First to humble himself and take the form of a child, to become sin yet He Himself did not sin, to sacrifice his life to give life, and to become a priest forever in the presence of God to make concession for our sins.  He took our sorrows, our anxieties, and He took pain in them.  What a marvel it is to even think that my God came to experience pain just for me.  Compassion is not what Jesus had, compassion is what Jesus is. 

This woman that Jesus saw, and had compassion for, had lost her only son.  He was her only means of survival, income and protection.  She had no husband; a widow, left on her own to fend and provide for herself.  So here she is walking out of the city with a sizeable crowd that is carrying her dead son. 

"When He saw her, He felt compassion for her..."   Now this man, this womans son has been dead for a while.  The mourning of a person would last for at least 40 days; Jesus knew this and still He came 25 miles out of His way just for this woman.  He heard her cry, her heartache miles and miles away.  How often we tend to forget that our God hears us in our deepest sorrow and pain.  At times it may feel like God is miles away but He is closer than it appears.  And what we see here is so beautiful why? Because Jesus CAME TO HER.  Christ met her on her level, went out of His way by choice to meet her needs, not her wants, her needs.  And whats neat is that God has perfect timing. 

God is never late for a meeting, He never overschedules His book, He never forgets his appointments and His employees...God never forgets YOU.  Lets say you just lost your parents and all you have left is your sibling.  Its almost inevitable that you will eventually embrace somebody.  But if you've ever felt a hug from someone who truly cares for you the embrace is intense, its firm, filled with all the grief and sorrow that has built up in you it is in them. And it has at times a CRUSHING EFFECT, they hug you with a death grip seeming to never let you go and you have to mimic that hug or be crushed, yet in that embrace it releases something within the grief stricken person that gives them a brief moment of relief, a sense of understanding, a knowing that they are loved by the things that are unspoken.

God looked from on high and He saw you in your grief and your loss, and so He sent Compassion in the form of His Son Jesus Christ, to embrace you with a forever love to CRUSH the death grip that once held you down in your sorrows.  To give you not a brief moment of relief, but a forever moment with Him, to give you a deeper sense of understanding, a knowing that you are loved by the things that were spoken unto you and written for you in blood; HE SAW YOU AND HAD COMPASSION...

"Do not weep.  And He came up and touched the coffin; and the bearers came to a halt.  And He said, 'Young man, I say to you, arise!'"

What powerful truths Jesus spoke not only into the woman but also into the young man.  I understand and know why you are weeping but there will be no need for that, so do not cry no more; I understand and know that you are dead and are condemned by death, but there will be no need for that soon enough, arise!  Dearest Christian, arise and weep no more for you have a salvation unlike any other.  Christ came to die so that you may live.  As the young man was being carried out of the city because of his death with a sizeable crowd following him, Christ raises you back up because of His (christ) death, marches you right back into the city which has foundations, whose architect and builder is God (Hebrews 11:10) and you join in His crowd, His following of believers; where there is no tears no pain but eternal life with God.

Nothing that hasnt died cant be resurrected.  You were once dead in sin but Christ looked on you and HAD COMPASSION ON YOU. Salvation is knocking at your door, are you going to answer it?

God knows you, He sees you, He hears you, He comes to you, and He touches you.  May Christ continually touch you in all of your endeavors, hardships and pain. 

"If I should say, 'My foot has slipped,' Your lovingkindness, O Lord, will hold me up.  When my anxious thoughts multiply within me, Your consolations delight my soul."  (Psalm 94-18-19)

"I am willing; be cleansed"

"...there was a man covered with leprosy; and when he saw Jesus, he fell on his face and implored Him, saying, 'Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean.' And He stretched out His hand and touched Him, saying, 'I am willing; be cleansed.' And immediately the leprosy left him." (Luke 5:12-13)



I find it interesting how the bible uses leprosy as a symbolization of sin. First Leprosy causes a person to lose the sensation of touch, heat and pain. It weakens your physical state; weakening your muscles and it leaves a numbness to your arms, hands, feet and legs. You lose the ability to feel the warmth of a fire that should be comforting on a cold night, you lose the ability to feel pain when you step on a prickly thorn. You basically become a walking zombie. Sad right? But thats what sin can do to you; leaving you in a leprous state, numb to the things of the Lord, numb to His gentle touch. In the bible the lepers would remain outside the city walls; sin secludes us from having a personal relationship with our Father in heaven because in Him there is no shadow of darkness no sin at all for He is Father of lights.


But look at this man, this leper in his current state of leprosy he broke what he was commanded to do in leviticus 13. Instead of crying Unclean! Unclean! He goes straight to the feet of Jesus and implores Him asking for help and mercy. Being one that lived outside the city you can assume that he heard the travelers that came and went talking about Jesus how He was performing miracles, how HE WAS IN TOWN. And you can bet that this mans heart was enlightened to hear this because his hope had run dry.


So there he was on his knees before Christ imploring Him. "Lord if you are willing, You can make me clean." This man drew near to Jesus' in his weakened state, he was within arms length of Jesus close enough for Him to touch him. With every weakened muscle in his body, with every numb step he took closer to Christ, his hope in Christ to heal him grew. "And He stretched out His hand and touched him saying, I am willing; be cleansed." And he was immediately healed.


Dearest Christian, are you willing to humble yourself before Christ, to come to Him in your weakened state running to His feet and falling on your face? CHRIST IS IN TOWN and He wants to do some serious business in your life, but how can He do business if you don't first come to Him? The bible says in Isaiah 40:29-31 that, "He gives strength to the weary, and to him who lacks might He increases power, though youths grow weary and tired and vigorous young men stumble badly, yet those who wait for the LORD will gain new strength; they will mount up with wings like eagles, they will walk and not get tired, they wil walk and not become weary."


The Lord doesnt rejoice when you are in a 'numb state' for He desires to have fellowship with you. Come to Christ, get right with God, and get out of that leprosy that is weakening you from coming to Him. The LORD is willing if you are willing to be cleansed. God desires to touch your life, if only you would come to Him. He suffered outside the gate where you once were so that you would be holy by means of His blood (Hebrews 12:12) so that you would pass from death to life (John 5:24). I leave you with this verse; Isaiah 42:3 says, "A brusied reed He will not break and a dimly burning wick He will not extinguish..."


May the love of Christ so shine upon you in a way that it will make clear the path that is set before you.