God’s Love for You!
Dear friends, let us continue to love one another, for love comes from God. Anyone who loves is a child of God and knows God. But anyone who does not love does not know God, for God is love. God showed how much he loved us by sending his one and only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through him. This is real love—not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins.(1John 4:7-10).
God’s Love is unconditional. In spite of what someone does or how wrongly they respond, His Love keeps on coming.
* “I have loved you with and everlasting love…”Jeremiah 31:3
The 4 Love’s we have!
The natural human loves inspired by friendship (phileo), family (storge), or romance (eros), are awesome blessings from our Creator, BUT Agape is the only love essential to human survival. Only God’s Divine Love can give us the Identity and Purpose we need to live life to the fullest. That’s Agape Love!
* “If I have not (God’s) Love, I am nothing.” 1 Corinthians 13:2
Only as we seek to learn about God’s unconditional Love (Agape) will we begin to comprehend how vastly it differs from human love.
* “‘For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Neither are your ways My ways,’ declares the Lord.”
Isaiah 55:8
God’s supernatural Love is not affected by the other person’s response, nor is it dependent upon circumstances.
*”If you love someone [with God’s Love] you will be loyal to him no matter what the cost. You will always believe in him, always expect the best of him, and always stand your ground in defending him. God’s love never fails.”
1 Corinthians 13:7-8 (Living Bible)
Even when you can’t love the nasty neighbor down the street…God can.
* “…for he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law.” Romans 13:8
God’s Love is the only solid foundation upon which human love can be built. If “feelings” have diminished or died within a relationship, only Agape can rekindle the flame.
* “…the things impossible with men are possible with God.” Luke 18:27
We cannot learn techniques or methods to love like God. Only God is Love, and we cannot learn to be what only God is.
* “I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me, and I in him, he bears much fruit; for apart from Me you can do nothing.”John 15:5
Maturity in Christ is not knowing a bunch of Scriptures or going to church regularly. It’s simply knowing how, moment by moment, to continually abide in God’s Love.
*”By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”John 13:35
Is there someone you can share God’s Love with today as a result of your faith, and in spite of your feelings?
* “And if you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them.”
Luke 6:32
Here is how the Bible describes God’s Love:
* “God’s Love is very patient and kind, never jealous or envious, never boastful or proud, never haughty or selfish or rude. God’s love does not demand its own way. It is not irritable or touchy. It does not hold grudges and will hardly even notice when others do it wrong. It is never glad about injustice, but rejoices whenever truth wins out.”
1 Corinthians 13:4-6 (Living Bible)
Faith, Hope and Love. The greatest of these is God’s Agape Love!
* “Let love be your highest goal.”
1 Corinthians 14:1
The Lord doesn’t choose the way man chooses. Man looks on the outward appearance but God looks on the heart (1 Sam. 16:7).
Agape is the divine “glue” that can bind us all together.
* “And beyond all these things put on love, which is the perfect bond of unity.”
Colossians 3:14
Even though surrounded by great corruption, we must daily choose to walk in faith, hope, and love.
*”Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report…think on these things.”
Philippians 4:8
God’s love is electric, and when we allow Him to love through us, we become “supercharged” with the radiance of His Life.
* “And it came about when…he was coming down from the mountain…Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone because of his speaking with Him.”Exodus 34:29
Love is not a choice. It is a commandment.
* “Now as to the love of the brethren…you yourselves are taught by God to love one another…”
1 Thessalonians 4:9
Fruit is something we can easily see. The evidence of Godly fruit is not found in word, deed, talent, success or accomplishment, but rather in the humble qualities of:
“…love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control…” Galatians 5:22-23
It’s extremely important not to judge a person by what they say or do. God is the only One who truly knows the human heart, so He is the only righteous judge.
* “…for God sees not as man sees, for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”
1 Samuel 16:7
Let’s be brave enough to share our own experiences of being downcast and wounded. Don’t be afraid. God commands us to love, and anytime we love…we become vulnerable.
* “…so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.”2 Corinthians 1:4
Imagine what the Church would be like if every believer chose to follow Christ’s simple command:
* “And just as you want people to treat you, treat them in the same way.”
Luke 6:31
God’s kind of love is not self-serving or self-seeking. Agape love will cause a person to lay down his life for another (Jn. 15:13), because he has literally forgotten himself.
Many times when heros are asked why they put themselves in jeopardy to save someone else, they reply that they didn’t even think about themselves. All they thought of was the danger to the other person. That’s God’s kind of love.
God’s type of love involves emotions many times, but it is not an emotion. It is an ACT of the will.
We can choose to love even when we don’t feel like it and we can always conduct ourselves in a godly manner, when we feel God’s kind of love. God’s kind of love is a choice.
God’s kind of love is also the antidote to selfishness and pride. We cannot conquer self by focusing on self.
* The only way to win over self is to fall in love with God more than with ourself. It is in discovering God’s love that we lose self love.
Jesus didn’t feel some emotional sensation when He chose to die for us, but that was the greatest demonstration of God’s kind of love that the world has ever seen. He made a choice in spite of His emotions. Because He was consumed with God’s love, He acted properly, even when His emotions didn’t agree.
Jesus is the ultimate example of God’s kind of love.
As Jesus leads and guides you today, ask Him to show you someone who needs an extra special blessing that you can fulfill.
* “And do not be called leaders; for One is your Leader, that is, Christ. But the greatest among you shall be your servant.” Matthew 23:12
The moment we invite Him to take control of our lives, God comes into our hearts. And God Himself is Love.
* “God is love, and the one who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.”1 John 4:16
John 3:16 “For God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. 17 God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through him. 18 “There is no judgment against anyone who believes in him….
* Christ didn’t come to make you feel guilty but to save you because He loves you!!
-Romans 1:16- I am not ashamed of the gospel because it the power of salvation to all who believe.
Psalms 109:26 Help me, OLORD my God! Save me because of your unfailing love.
1 John 4:11 Dear friends, since God loved us that much, we surely ought to love each other.
Today’s focus has been all about Love. My desire is for God to remove everything that does not please Him and replace it with more of His Love. We can not give love away to others till our own personal cup is full and overflowing with God’s Love in us!
Heavenly Father, thank You for sending Your Son, Jesus into this earth so that I can be free. Thank You for opening the door to eternal life. I accept the sacrifice Jesus paid on that Cross so that I can be free. Come into my heart. I confess that You are my Lord and Savior in Jesus’ name. Amen.
May God’s grace be eternally upon all who love our Lord Jesus Christ.( Eph. 6:24)