See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are.
[1 John 3:1a ESV]
There are 2 things I love about this verse that I would like to discuss.
Firstly we are not just called God's children, that would be miracle enough, but we actually are his adopted children as the bible says:
Because of his love he had already decided to adopt us through Jesus Christ. He freely chose to do this
[Ephesians 1:5]
I don't have any children of my own but there are a few young people in different parts of the world, mostly Africa, who call me Mum. I'm even a grandma. We aren't related in any biological sense but we care about each other like family. I have a Mum and Dad of my own who aren't biologically related to me, actually I have 2 mums as well as my natural mother. I separate the families in my mind by calling them my natural family and my other family.
My point is, God could just choose to call us his children but he goes one step further and actually adopts us into his own family through Jesus Christ. You know the saying you can pick your friends but you can't pick your relations? Well god picked us, the unlovely, the sinful, those who have rejected him and hurt him and disobeyed him and ignored him. he still picked us. I think if I were God and wanted to add to my family I'd pick the angels because, apart from the third of them who joined Lucifer's side, the angels are obedient to his every word and they don't sin. God didn't do that though, he chose to love us even though he knew exactly what our lives would be like and all the good and bad things we would do. the bible says:
This is love: not that we have loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the payment for our sins.
[1 John 4:10
God wanted to show his love and he chose to do that by loving and saving us through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. we are god's children.
the second thing I love about our verse from 1 john 3 is it talks about god's love, which we have spoken about already. God's love is not like our love, it doesn't fluctuate, it isn't less when we mess up and it doesn't increase when we do good although he is pleased when we do good. There is no force on heaven or earth that can stop God from loving us ... except if we ourselves reject God and totally turn away from him and
even then he will try to draw us back to him until the end of our lives.
this is incredibly comforting. I can't lose God's love unless I reject him. When I sin I may wonder why God puts up with me but I know he doesn't stop loving me. There was a time a few years ago when I strayed away from god and got into some stuff that I regret very much now. When I came back to god he didn't say "I'm not taking you back, my love for you has died because of your actions". no no no! He took me back, cleaned me up and put me back on the pathway to walk with him. If he did that for me he will do that for you, whatever you have done. If he could forgive and use the Apostle Paul, who persecuted the Church of /god in Jerusalem, then he can forgive anyone who asks him. Isn't that great news! How awesome God's love for us is!
This is what the Apostle Paul says about god's love:
I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love which Christ Jesus our Lord shows us. We can't be separated by death or life, by angels or rulers, by anything in the present or anything in the future, by forces or powers in the world above or in the world below, or by anything else in creation.
We need to realise that even if we don't feel that God loves us, he really does. In times like this we have to choose to believe what we know is true rather than relying on our own feelings or knowledge.
A point to remember is thatGod doesn't love us sparingly but willingly, lavishly, more than we can ever imagine. He doesn't accept us into his family grudgingly but welcomes us and loves us and works in our lives because he wants us to be the best we can be and he wants us to glorify him.
It does us good to reflect on these things. today I spent a few minutes thinking about who God is and reflecting on his great and awesome love. i came away from that feeling very grateful and deeply loved. I was thinking about the verse:
"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]
I only got as far as "for god so loved the world" but there will be other times to reflect on the rest of it. I'm glad I took the time to do it today, I often get too busy and caught up with things but we all need to take more time to read god's word and think about what it says and how we can apply God's word to our lives. It draws us closer to god and helps us to learn more about god, or ourselves, or whatever we have been reading or reflecting on. I hope you will take some time soon to reflect on the verse at the top of this message, or on any verse you find that talks of god's love. We really need to know and believe that god does love us and that he showed it by sending Jesus
"who loved me and gave himself for me."
Galatians 2:20c.
Prayer:
God we thank you for your amazing, unfailing, steadfast love. thank you that you did adopt us into your family through Jesus. thank you that he did give himself for us. Lord help us to reflect on your great love so that we will have a deeper understanding of it and so that we will truly believe that you do love us, despite what the enemy may tell us.
we pray in the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord and King. Amen.
See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are.
[1 John 3:1a ESV]
There are 2 things I love about this verse that I would like to discuss.
Firstly we are not just called God's children, that would be miracle enough, but we actually are his adopted children as the bible says:
Because of his love he had already decided to adopt us through Jesus Christ. He freely chose to do this
[Ephesians 1:5]
I don't have any children of my own but there are a few young people in different parts of the world, mostly Africa, who call me Mum. I'm even a grandma. We aren't related in any biological sense but we care about each other like family. I have a Mum and Dad of my own who aren't biologically related to me, actually I have 2 mums as well as my natural mother. I separate the families in my mind by calling them my natural family and my other family.
My point is, God could just choose to call us his children but he goes one step further and actually adopts us into his own family through Jesus Christ. You know the saying you can pick your friends but you can't pick your relations? Well god picked us, the unlovely, the sinful, those who have rejected him and hurt him and disobeyed him and ignored him. he still picked us. I think if I were God and wanted to add to my family I'd pick the angels because, apart from the third of them who joined Lucifer's side, the angels are obedient to his every word and they don't sin. God didn't do that though, he chose to love us even though he knew exactly what our lives would be like and all the good and bad things we would do. the bible says:
This is love: not that we have loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the payment for our sins.
[1 John 4:10
God wanted to show his love and he chose to do that by loving and saving us through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. we are god's children.
the second thing I love about our verse from 1 john 3 is it talks about god's love, which we have spoken about already. God's love is not like our love, it doesn't fluctuate, it isn't less when we mess up and it doesn't increase when we do good although he is pleased when we do good. There is no force on heaven or earth that can stop God from loving us ... except if we ourselves reject God and totally turn away from him and
even then he will try to draw us back to him until the end of our lives.
this is incredibly comforting. I can't lose God's love unless I reject him. When I sin I may wonder why God puts up with me but I know he doesn't stop loving me. There was a time a few years ago when I strayed away from god and got into some stuff that I regret very much now. When I came back to god he didn't say "I'm not taking you back, my love for you has died because of your actions". no no no! He took me back, cleaned me up and put me back on the pathway to walk with him. If he did that for me he will do that for you, whatever you have done. If he could forgive and use the Apostle Paul, who persecuted the Church of /god in Jerusalem, then he can forgive anyone who asks him. Isn't that great news! How awesome God's love for us is!
This is what the Apostle Paul says about god's love:
I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love which Christ Jesus our Lord shows us. We can't be separated by death or life, by angels or rulers, by anything in the present or anything in the future, by forces or powers in the world above or in the world below, or by anything else in creation.
We need to realise that even if we don't feel that God loves us, he really does. In times like this we have to choose to believe what we know is true rather than relying on our own feelings or knowledge.
A point to remember is thatGod doesn't love us sparingly but willingly, lavishly, more than we can ever imagine. He doesn't accept us into his family grudgingly but welcomes us and loves us and works in our lives because he wants us to be the best we can be and he wants us to glorify him.
It does us good to reflect on these things. today I spent a few minutes thinking about who God is and reflecting on his great and awesome love. i came away from that feeling very grateful and deeply loved. I was thinking about the verse:
"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]
I only got as far as "for god so loved the world" but there will be other times to reflect on the rest of it. I'm glad I took the time to do it today, I often get too busy and caught up with things but we all need to take more time to read god's word and think about what it says and how we can apply God's word to our lives. It draws us closer to god and helps us to learn more about god, or ourselves, or whatever we have been reading or reflecting on. I hope you will take some time soon to reflect on the verse at the top of this message, or on any verse you find that talks of god's love. We really need to know and believe that god does love us and that he showed it by sending Jesus
"who loved me and gave himself for me."
Galatians 2:20c.
Prayer:
God we thank you for your amazing, unfailing, steadfast love. thank you that you did adopt us into your family through Jesus. thank you that he did give himself for us. Lord help us to reflect on your great love so that we will have a deeper understanding of it and so that we will truly believe that you do love us, despite what the enemy may tell us.
we pray in the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord and King. Amen.
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