Our Champion in Wichita, KS, shares with us this week a daily devotional called “God Loves You” with a Scripture and a brief thought, followed by a link to a worship song. May this bless your heart. Thank you, Mike.
Monday:
Ephesians 3:17-19 NLT
“Then Christ will make His home in your hearts as you trust in Him. Your roots will grow down into God's love and keep you strong. And may you have the power to understand, as all God's people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep His love is. May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God.”
God’s love is so great that we, as mere humans, cannot fully understand it. Humans’ love for one another often depends at least partly on the behavior of the person being loved. God’s love for us does not. Do you long to be known and loved for who you are? God is the only one who can truly do that.
Song: God Really Loves Us, Crowder featuring Dante Bowe
“Your unfailing love, O LORD, is as vast as the heavens; Your faithfulness reaches beyond the clouds. Your righteousness is like the mighty mountains, Your justice like the ocean depths. You care for people and animals alike, O LORD. How precious is Your unfailing love, O God! All humanity finds shelter in the shadow of Your wings.
You have probably been hurt or betrayed by someone you love at some point in your life. Maybe you have experienced this more than once. Loving and trusting other people is risky. Once one person hurts you, it becomes harder to open up to others. In contrast, God’s love is truly unconditional. He never fails you or betrays you. You do not need to hold back in your relationship with God, because He is totally trustworthy.
“Can anything ever separate us from Christ's love? Does it mean He no longer loves us if we have trouble or calamity, or are persecuted, or hungry, or destitute, or in danger, or threatened with death? (As the Scriptures say, "For your sake we are killed every day; we are being slaughtered like sheep.") No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us. And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God's love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God's love. No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord. “
God is more powerful than anything in heaven or on earth. When you accept Jesus’ invitation to begin a relationship with God, you are secure in His love forever. There is nothing powerful enough to separate you from God’s love. Even when things are difficult or you feel far from God, it’s not because God stops loving you. The truth is that God will never stop loving you, no matter what you do.
“Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.”
Can you imagine being loved like this? It would change your life. The truth is this is an accurate description of God’s love for you. Everyone needs this type of love, but if you expect it from another person, you will be let down. God is the only one who can love you perfectly. And when you have a relationship with God and experience His love, it empowers you to love others the way God loves you.
Ephesians 1:3-5 NLT “All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ. Even before He made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in His eyes. God decided in advance to adopt us into His own family by bringing us to Himself through Jesus Christ. This is what He wanted to do, and it gave Him great pleasure.
You can have a child by accident, but you cannot adopt a child by accident. When you adopt a child, you choose to love, cherish and care for that child for life. When God adopts you, it’s not an accident. He chooses to love, cherish and care for you forever. He does it because He loves you and wants an eternal relationship with you.
