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First Baptist Church, Harrisonville, Missouri
| Pastor's Devotionals |
"How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of
God!" (1 John 3:1a)
It sounds too good to be true, but it's not! God loves us!
God's love is constant. We can depend on it, even when we can't depend on anything or
anyone else. We can count on what God promised long ago: "I have loved you with an
everlasting love; I have drawn you with loving-kindness" (Jeremiah 31:3).
God loves us even when we don't love him - even when we're very unlovely: "At one time we
too were foolish, disobedient, deceived and enslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures.
We lived in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another. But when the kindness and
love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done,
but because of his mercy…" (Titus 3:3-5a).
There's nothing we can do that will cause God to love us more. There's nothing we can do
that will cause God to love us less. He simply lavishes his love upon us day after day,
whether or not we recognize or accept it. Apart from the love, goodness and grace of God,
we'd literally cease to exist!
So what have you done with God's love? Have you taken it for granted and continued with
life as usual? Or have you allowed it to touch your heart and bring hope and light into your
life?
Accept the life-changing reality of God's love: "This is how God showed his love among us:
He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not
that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins"
(1 John 4:9-10). God loves us in many ways, but the only way His love truly changes us is
when we accept what His Son Jesus Christ did for us on the Cross. God's love becomes real
and personal only as we confess our sin, believe that Jesus Christ paid the penalty that was
due us when he died for our sin on the Cross, and receive Christ as our Lord and Savior. This
is how God lavishes His love upon us. This is how we become His children.
God doesn't change you so that He can love you. He loves you in order to change you. It’s
His love in Jesus Christ that changes you.
Don't merely acknowledge God's love. Surrender to it. Experience it personally. And as you
do, all things - including your heart - will become new!
© 2006 David C. Noble
| First Baptist Church 504 W. Wall Harrisonville MO 64701 (816) 380-3733 hvlfbcsec@hotmail.com |
| The Love of God Dr. David C. Noble, Pastor First Baptist Church, Harrisonville, Missouri |
