01/29/2021
God is love and he loves us perfectly. When we accept this fact then we can understand our true relationship with Him, and He will reside in the deepest recesses of our heart and soul. How can we say we know God if we don’t know His love, and how can we say that we are created in His image, and not have His love within us? To believe in God is to believe in love... who is it that abides in us today?
“So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.”
1 John 4:16 ESV
In the world around us we hear so many who profess to be godly people, Christians, Jews, Muslims, and they chant and sing in their separate sanctuaries that the God of Abraham is their God... yet they show no consistent love in their lives. Love is not divisive, nor does it show signs of hatred, or flow from a spigot that can be turned on and off as we desire. So how is it that we can say we are Christians, but not reflect the love of God whose greatest act and vessel of His love is Jesus Christ? How can others call themselves Jews or Muslims and say they worship the God of Abraham, who we all know is love, and not reflect that love in themselves towards others. There is no bitterness in God’s love, and there is no abandonment there for those He has created.
“Give thanks to the God of heaven, for his steadfast love endures forever.”
Psalm 136:26 ESV
Men turn from God, and away from one another, but God’s love for us is steadfast, and offers itself to us always... even to those of us who are in sin, have gone astray, or fallen behind; because His love is eternal, and His desire for us is that we will turn from our sin, and wandering, to be as he is... thus He sent His Son that we who were lost might believe in Christ who was sent to redeem and transform us.
““For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”
John 3:16 ESV
So here we are today claiming to know God, and to be pursuing Jesus Christ, only to show hatred towards our neighbors, and to withdraw our love from those who have not yet found Christ to be their Lord and Savior. I fear for all who claim to know God, but in whom His love does not abide. So many are lost in this way, and the warnings have been blatantly given in scripture.
“Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.”
1 John 4:8 ESV
“And this commandment we have from him: whoever loves God must also love his brother.”
1 John 4:21 ESV
“But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,”
Matthew 5:44 ESV
“By this it is evident who are the children of God, and who are the children of the devil: whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is the one who does not love his brother.”
1 John 3:10 ESV
We are Christians by believing in Jesus, but if we don’t know love do we truly know Jesus, and if we do not know Him then who do we actually believe in? In the day of judgement will He say He knows us?
“On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’”
Matthew 7:22-23 ESV
Prayer:
Father, thank you for loving us so much that you sent your Son Jesus to redeem us, and to free us from sin and death. Thank you for the love you show us, and for abiding in us, and allowing us to abide in you through our faith in that love. Instill your love in us in abundance so that we can love our enemies, those with whom we disagree, and all of our neighbors of every variety. Help us as we spread your Word, and the Gospel of Jesus to all men, and every nation... not because we feel obligated to do so, but because we love them as you do, and desire for them to know you, and come to glorify you. Holy, Holy, Holy, are you our God whose love is eternal. Praised be your name for loving us perfectly, and leading us to know how to love in this way too. Merciful are you in love Lord, and through your mercy and grace we find forgiveness, and righteousness... we are made holy as you are holy; good as you are good, and reflect the love of Jesus in all we do. Hear our prayers Father and know us by the love they are wrapped in; taste our tears as we are overwhelmed by love, and feel our embrace and kisses as we wrap our arms about your feet. In this way we worship you, and seek righteousness in Christ that will allow Him to know us on judgement day, and you to find us worthy of being in your presence for eternity.
“As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love. These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.”
John 15:9-11 ESV
Rich Forbes