Day 19
Today's devotional is from Tom Hassel
John 4:16-19 - We know how much God loves us, and we have put our trust in his love. God is love, and all who live in love live in God, and God lives in them. And as we live in God, our love grows more perfect. So we will not be afraid on the day of judgment, but we can face him with confidence because we live like Jesus here in this world. Such love has no fear, because perfect love expels all fear. If we are afraid, it is for fear of punishment, and this shows that we have not fully experienced his perfect love. We love each other because he loved us first.
Thought of the day: MANY OF US HAVE THE RIGHT AIMS IN LIFE; WE JUST NEVER GET AROUND TO PULLING THE TRIGGER
Today’s passage stresses again and again the importance of loving one another. If loving others were a simple matter, though, perhaps so much of this letter from John wouldn’t be devoted to the subject. Let’s face it. Not everyone is easy to get along with, including ourselves! Scripture provides a powerful reason for loving others, however. If we say we love God, then he commands us to love the other members of our family in Christ. It is not optional. Identify the person who is the most difficult for you to love right now. As an act of worship to the One who is love, show your love to that person today in a concrete way. (1 John 4:20-21 If someone says, "I love God," but hates a fellow believer, that person is a liar; for if we don't love people we can see, how can we love God, whom we cannot see? And he has given us this command: Those who love God must also love their fellow believers.) And why should we love even when we don't want to? Because we are to be imitators of God. And God is love. Everything about his character is perfectly loving. He cannot be otherwise. We know how much God loves us because he sent his Son to die for us. Is there any better feeling than being loved? To know that someone loves us gives us a sense of assurance, a sense of being special. That feeling can be ours every day because of God’s love for us. God has taken up residence in our lives through his Holy Spirit; therefore, love has taken up residence in our lives. We literally “live in love.” We are surrounded by it, filled with it. Love envelops us every moment of every day. Such love fills us and then overflows to other people, like water from a fountain. The result of such love? We will not be afraid on the day of judgment. God promises that we will be able to face him with confidence because we know that our salvation is sure. We can trust in this God who is love. We can also pray for others to sense God’s love and know their salvation is certain.
"Everything God does is love—even when we do not understand him."
Mother Basilea Schlink (1904–2001)
Thought of the day: MANY OF US HAVE THE RIGHT AIMS IN LIFE; WE JUST NEVER GET AROUND TO PULLING THE TRIGGER
Today’s passage stresses again and again the importance of loving one another. If loving others were a simple matter, though, perhaps so much of this letter from John wouldn’t be devoted to the subject. Let’s face it. Not everyone is easy to get along with, including ourselves! Scripture provides a powerful reason for loving others, however. If we say we love God, then he commands us to love the other members of our family in Christ. It is not optional. Identify the person who is the most difficult for you to love right now. As an act of worship to the One who is love, show your love to that person today in a concrete way. (1 John 4:20-21 If someone says, "I love God," but hates a fellow believer, that person is a liar; for if we don't love people we can see, how can we love God, whom we cannot see? And he has given us this command: Those who love God must also love their fellow believers.) And why should we love even when we don't want to? Because we are to be imitators of God. And God is love. Everything about his character is perfectly loving. He cannot be otherwise. We know how much God loves us because he sent his Son to die for us. Is there any better feeling than being loved? To know that someone loves us gives us a sense of assurance, a sense of being special. That feeling can be ours every day because of God’s love for us. God has taken up residence in our lives through his Holy Spirit; therefore, love has taken up residence in our lives. We literally “live in love.” We are surrounded by it, filled with it. Love envelops us every moment of every day. Such love fills us and then overflows to other people, like water from a fountain. The result of such love? We will not be afraid on the day of judgment. God promises that we will be able to face him with confidence because we know that our salvation is sure. We can trust in this God who is love. We can also pray for others to sense God’s love and know their salvation is certain.
"Everything God does is love—even when we do not understand him."
Mother Basilea Schlink (1904–2001)
Recent
Archive
Categories
no categories
No Comments