Tag: Ponderind the righteousness of God

God’s Justice In Jesus: The Greatness of Grace Is Reflected in Our Salvation from Sin. Romans 3:21-26

Romans 3:21-26 Amplified Bible

Justification by Faith

21 But now the righteousness of God has been clearly revealed [independently and completely] apart from the Law, though it is [actually] confirmed by the Law and the [words and writings of the] Prophets. 22 This righteousness of God comes through faith in Jesus Christ for all those [Jew or Gentile] who believe [and trust in Him and acknowledge Him as God’s Son]. There is no distinction, 23 since all have sinned and continually fall short of the glory of God, 24 and are being justified [declared free of the guilt of sin, made acceptable to God, and granted eternal life] as a gift by His [precious, undeserved] [a]grace, through the redemption [the payment for our sin] which is [provided] in Christ Jesus,  25  whom God displayed publicly [before the eyes of the world] as a [life-giving] [b]sacrifice of atonement and reconciliation (propitiation) by His blood [to be received] through faith. This was to demonstrate His righteousness [which demands punishment for sin], because in His forbearance [His deliberate restraint] He passed over the sins previously committed [before Jesus’ crucifixion]. 26 It was to demonstrate His righteousness at the present time, so that He would be just and the One who justifies those who have faith in Jesus [and rely confidently on Him as Savior].

The Word of God for the Children of God.

Adeste Fidelis! Venite Adoremus! Dominum.

Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia, Amen.

God’s Justice In Our Savior Jesus

There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by his grace.—  Romans 3:22-24

So there is no difference.

You, me, people all around the world, family members, coworkers, and all our neighbors—together, we “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”

None of us is in this alone.

Paul’s intent, though, is not to clarify that sin has a lot of company.

He is setting the stage for what Jesus came to do.

God’s goal from the beginning, when sin first entered the picture, was not just to judge us; nor was it just to rescue us from eternal punishment.

God’s goal has always been to get us back with him.

But for that to happen, there needs to be a sacrifice, which we can’t provide.

And there is no difference: whenever we live, whoever we are and wherever we live, we all need Jesus to be that one and only sacrifice of atonement for us.

Sometimes we lose sight of why God had things go this way.

A philosopher once suggested that it’s really not a big deal; God ultimately has to forgive us because that’s his job as God.

But God wants us to understand that Jesus’ sacrifice is not just some neat and ultra dramatic, ultra manipulative “love gesture.”

It is a big deal because as God, his job is also to be just.

The difference is that God gives us His only Son Jesus—because his goal is not his job.

God’s goal is us.

2 Peter 3:8-9 Amplified Bible

8 Nevertheless, do not let this one fact escape your notice, beloved, that with the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years is like one day. 9 The Lord does not delay [as though He were unable to act] and is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is [extraordinarily] patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.

God’s Goal: We Should Know Him as He Knows Us.

If you have ever felt depressed, ashamed, condemned, forgotten, or alone, or forsaken or abandoned or homeless, then you understand what sin feels like.

In our fallen world, sin is intricately woven into the fabric of what it means to be human, and even without a theological definition, all of us can recognize it.

We recognize the sorrow and emptiness of sin every day.

Sin is not just about ‘doing bad things’:

sin corrupts who we are created to be and separates us from the relationship with God we are designed to know and love.

The Painful Roots of Sin.

Romans 3:22-23 Amplified Bible

22 This righteousness of God comes through faith in Jesus Christ for all those [Jew or Gentile] who believe [and trust in Him and acknowledge Him as God’s Son]. There is no distinction, 23 since all have sinned and continually fall short of the glory of God,

The truth is that we are all born sinful – each and every one of us – and within our own power we have no means to escape our sin.

We can never ‘be good enough’ to shake the curse of sin.

As Paul writes in Romans 3, there is not a single person who is righteous on their own, nor can anyone even say that they are ‘a good person’ (Romans 3:11-12).

Nothing we can think, do, or say will free us from sin. 

This seems harsh, but any parent knows what this looks like.

No child has to be taught how to lie.

No child needs to be taught selfishness, greed, or anger.

Left to our own devices, we all come by these emotions naturally and must be diligently taught how to avoid them.

This is the nature of sin at work within us.

The Glory of God

Fortunately, this is not where things must end!

Sin entangles itself into every aspect of who we are, leading to hopelessness, until we understand that there is a way to be cleansed of it.

This is the good news!

We do not have to live in the shame and pain of sin! 

Leading up to this assertion of sin, Paul wrote “our unrighteousness” serves a purpose, as it “serves to show the righteousness of God” (Romans 3:5).

Our sinful nature is not who we are designed to be, nor is it where we are designed to stay.

The fact we cannot make ourselves ‘good’ only serves as proof that God alone is good, that through Him, we can have everything that sin holds us away from!

Sin reveals a sharp contrast between the love of God and the evil of the world.

In accepting His grace and forgiveness we see His truth and beauty tear down the lies of sin.

Redemption in Christ Jesus

Romans 3:24 Amplified Bible

24 and are being justified [declared free of the guilt of sin, made acceptable to God, and granted eternal life] as a gift by His [precious, undeserved] [a]grace, through the redemption [the payment for our sin] which is [provided] in Christ Jesus,

It sounds silly, but when I see the word ‘redemption’, I often think of …coupons.

Whether you find them online, in a mailer, or even if you still bust out the scissors and clip them from the newspaper, all coupons state what it is to be redeemed, and where this redeeming can take place. 

When you ‘redeem’ an item with a coupon, you pay less (or sometimes nothing) for that particular product.

The important thing is that the price and value of the product have not changed.

The retail price is still the retail price.

But when you walk to the checkout counter and hand over that coupon, you do not pay that price because it has already been paid for you.

The coupon is a gift that just needs to be acted upon.

The entirety of scripture is filled with accounts of God’s redemptive work among us, a redemption that we cannot ever possibly earn enough to pay for ourselves.

Not even close!

Our redemption is a gift of God’s grace alone.

Our eternal worth in Christ is not something we could ever afford to pay, but the price is already paid through Christ’s redemption on the cross.

It is for us to simply accept this redemption of our souls.

When we learn to embrace and proclaim this truth, we find the freedom we cannot even imagine any other way.  

Justified by God

Even once we have accepted His infinite grace, can we truly be justified before God?

We may often ask ourselves this question, as many have asked it for generations before us.

Throughout scripture we see the question written ‘in between the lines.’

In Ecclesiastes 3:16, King Solomon clearly states the difficulty in finding justice in the world, saying “in the place of justice, even there was wickedness, and in the place of righteousness, even there was wickedness”. 

We humans regularly fail to define and determine justice.

True justice is found only in and only from God.

The justice he offers us through his redemption is completely unmerited and unrestrained by anything we consider ‘just’.

The good news of the gospel is that we who are guilty before him can be justified, the price of redemption has been paid, and God’s justice satisfied.

The Gift of Grace

Earlier in Romans 3, Paul drives home the fact that we are all sinners deserving of God’s wrath, but he doesn’t end the discussion there!

He continues on into verse 24 with the truth that we are justified through the gift of grace!

Paul, in his letter to Titus echoes this thought, as he writes, “being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life” (Titus 3:7).

Through this gift of God’s grace, we are justified, made clean, made Holy, and given the opportunity to share this grace with those around us.

Our freedom in Christ springs from the fact His grace is free, His justification is final, and His redemption is complete.

Through His holiness alone, through His righteousness alone, we are each free to live for Him, unhindered by shame and guilt, strengthened by the power of the Holy Spirit, and equipped to do what only He can do in and through us.

The Greatness of God’s Grace Is Reflected in Our Salvation from Sin.

To God, and God alone, be the glory for His matchless, infinite grace!

In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,

Let us Pray,

Heavenly Father, thank You that You are a righteous God and that You chose to redeem mankind by means of the death, burial and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. Thank You that I have been imputed with righteous – even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ and that all who trust in Him for salvation will also be declared righteous, through time and into eternity. Heavenly Father, your justice is real, because you have given your Son, Jesus, to die in my place, paying the price for my sin. Thank you that through the sacrifice of Christ I may know freedom from my sins, to live in your love alone as my Father in heaven. in Jesus name, AMEN

Adeste Fidelis! Venite Adoremus! Dominum.

Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia, Amen.

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Distant or Delighted? Not Feeling the Love of God? How About Learning to See Jesus With a Smile? 1 John 3:1-3

1 John 3:1-3 Amplified Bible

Children of God Love One Another

3 See what an incredible quality of love the Father has shown to us, that we would [be permitted to] be named and called and counted the children of God! And so we are! For this reason the world does not know us, because it did not know Him. 2  Beloved, we are [even here and] now children of God, and it is not yet made clear what we will be [after His coming]. We know that when He comes and is revealed, we will [as His children] be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is [in all His glory]. 3 And everyone who has this hope [confidently placed] in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure (holy, undefiled, guiltless).

The Word of God for the Children of God.

Adeste Fidelis. Venite Adoremus. Dominum.

Gloria. In Excelsis Deo. Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia, Amen.

See How Well We Are Lavished With Love?

1 John 3:1 New International Version

3 See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him.

The word lavish presents a picture of extravagant abundance.

It is almost too much, too generous and luxurious.

Being lavish borders on being wasteful.

But the Father has lavished his love on us.

God’s love is even more than what a wonderful mother showers on her infant.

Isaiah 66:12-14 New International Version

12 For this is what the Lord says:

“I will extend peace to her like a river,
    and the wealth of nations like a flooding stream;
you will nurse and be carried on her arm
    and dandled on her knees.
13 As a mother comforts her child,
    so will I comfort you;
    and you will be comforted over Jerusalem.”

14 When you see this, your heart will rejoice
    and you will flourish like grass;
the hand of the Lord will be made known to his servants,
    but his fury will be shown to his foes.

God’s love and care are supplied all the time.

God’s love is a constant bombardment of affection and care.

We may be as oblivious as an infant to the presence of his love, but God still continues to pour his love into our lives.

God’s love flows into us deeply, redefines who we are at the very core of our heart, mind and soul.

When we open our hearts to God’s love, we are transformed by it.

We are remade, regenerated into children of God.

It is God who makes us his children, not us.

We cannot earn that status.

It is a gift of God’s great love.

Because we are sinners, we do not understand God’s love for us at first.

We don’t even know we need him until we realize we are stuck in sin and cannot save ourselves.

We become God’s children when we receive Jesus as our Savior (John 1:12).

Not one of us is worthy of God’s love.

We cannot earn it.

God just loves us.

We would not be God’s children if he were not already deeply in love with us.

How amazing is that!

Being said with an exclamation mark, what if we turned that into a question?

“How Amazing Is That?”

“I Really Do Not Feel God’s Love.“

Psalm 13 Authorized (King James) Version

Psalm 13

To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David.

1 How long wilt thou forget me, O Lord? for ever?
how long wilt thou hide thy face from me?
2 How long shall I take counsel in my soul,
having sorrow in my heart daily?
how long shall mine enemy be exalted over me?
3 Consider and hear me, O Lord my God:
lighten mine eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death;
4 lest mine enemy say, I have prevailed against him;
and those that trouble me rejoice when I am moved.
5 But I have trusted in thy mercy;
my heart shall rejoice in thy salvation.
6 I will sing unto the Lord,
because he hath dealt bountifully with me.

Have you ever said or thought these words in public or in private?

If so, you’re not alone.

Truth Be Told, Too many times I have really struggled with the disconnect between knowing that God loves me and actually seeing, and feeling His love.

It might be tempting to brush aside the discomfort of this disconnect and get on with the responsibilities of life.

“After all,” some will pat you on the back, say, “love is an action, not a feeling.”

But if you look closely at the love displayed in the Bible, it’s clear that it’s not just automatic rote Christian responsibility—it’s also passionate emotion.

God doesn’t just act lovingly toward us, He feels love for us.

And He doesn’t want us to only understand His love, but to experience it in a deep way, a deeply visual and tactile way – to visualize it and touch it daily.

If, like me, you’ve struggled with a disconnect between knowing about God’s love and actually seeing, feeling it, accept your feelings as being quite real.

Sometimes, like the Psalmist who penned Psalm 13, we will not feel loved.

Sometimes, like the Psalmist who penned Psalm 13, we will not see God’s love.

Psalm 13 is someone’s deepest expression of a heart and soul in angry anguish.

It has remained in the Bible through countless edits because God wants you the reader to know, the maximum extent to which God feels, visualizes our hearts.

Heart Distant or Delighted? Learning to See Jesus With a Smile …

Psalm 13:5-6 Authorized (King James) Version

5 But I have trusted in thy mercy;
my heart shall rejoice in thy salvation.
6 I will sing unto the Lord,
because he hath dealt bountifully with me.

1 John 3:3 Amplified Bible

3 And everyone who has this hope [confidently placed] in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure (holy, undefiled, guiltless).

I recall many years ago sitting in a circle with the other members of my Bible study group when our leader invited us to imagine what Jesus’ face looks like.

Dutifully, I closed my eyes and tried to picture Him.

The image that appeared was of a man with long, greyish silver locks and dull, piercing brown eyes.

His unsmiling lips were hard set in a neutral line.

He didn’t look disapproving, but he didn’t look very happy either.

As I studied His face, I felt sad, fearful, and unsure of how He felt about me.

I was deeply troubled by this experience because, intellectually, I knew God always loved me deeply and felt positively—even passionately—about me.

Throughout the Bible, God describes His love in the most tender terms known to humankind.

He compares His love for us to the love a parent has for their child—a warm, welcoming, compassionate love (Isaiah 66:13; 1 John 3:1).

He also describes His love for us as the love a groom has for his bride—a passionate, ardent, sacrificial love (Revelation 19:7; Ephesians 5:25-27).

Yet, my picture of Jesus that evening revealed that, deep down, I also perceived Him as uppermost serious and restrained, maybe even a little depressed at me.

It also highlighted my fear that I was not a source of joy or pleasure to God, and that, though He loved me, it suddenly felt more being with a distant, aloof love.

I knew this isn’t how God wanted me to view Him.

Ephesians 3:18, the apostle Paul prayed, “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” (NLT).

More than anything, I wanted to experience the love of God—I wanted to feel it, not just know about it.

So I started asking God to take my understanding beyond intellect and into a more studious, scriptural, deep heart knowing of my value to Him.

1 John 3:1 Amplified Bible

Children of God Love One Another

3 See what an incredible quality of love the Father has shown to us, that we would [be permitted to] be named and called and counted the children of God! And so we are! For this reason the world does not know us, because it did not know Him.

Truth be told, sometimes it’s so much easier to notice the love people have for you than the love God has for you.

Why?

Because you can physically see them and the way they express love.

But when it comes to God, it can be challenging to see, understand, the extent to which He loves you.

After all, none of us can physically see Him on this side of Heaven.

That’s why God gave us His Word… to help us to see, feel, and understand who He is and how much He really does love us. 

See, throughout the Bible, God is described as an all-powerful and eternally just God, but also as deeply loving to those He created.

In the entire biblical story, God is presented as a character who strongly cares for us… so much so that He even allowed His Son, Jesus Christ, to enter this world to bring about a redeemed and restored relationship with humanity.

In fact, Jesus is the physical embodiment of God’s eternal love, showing us that His love is a real, tangible being we can cling to and put our hope in rather than just an abstract concept we cannot ever hope to even begin to .01% understand.

Now, before we dive further into how Jesus loves us, first let’s clarify the meaning of biblical love.

BIBLICAL LOVE

1 Corinthians 13:4-7 Amplified Bible

4 Love endures with patience and serenity, love is kind and thoughtful, and is not jealous or envious; love does not brag and is not proud or arrogant. 5 It is not rude; it is not self-seeking, it is not provoked [nor overly sensitive and easily angered]; it does not take into account a wrong endured. 6 It does not rejoice at injustice, but rejoices with the truth [when right and truth prevail]. 7 Love bears all things [regardless of what comes], believes all things [looking for the best in each one], hopes all things [remaining steadfast during difficult times], endures all things [without weakening].

There are many different kinds of love.

There is parental love, brotherly love, and romantic love.

When anyone says the word love, we often first associate it with anything from dating to sex.

But, the word is so much more broad than we often think.

According to the above passage, biblical love is simply putting the needs of others before your own. 

All of us fall short of the expectation set by this passage at some point, because selflessness does not come naturally to us (Romans 3:23).

But, the good news of the Gospel is that God perfectly embodies these four verses.

He is the one that created love in the first place!

In turn, this means that God is LOVE itself (1 John 4:8).

And because He is love, He displays this quality not only through His words, but through His actions as well.

GOD’S DEVOTED LOVE

Psalm 103:12-14 Amplified Bible

12 
As far as the east is from the west,
So far has He removed our transgressions from us.
13 
Just as a father loves his children,
So the Lord loves those who fear and worship Him [with awe-filled respect and deepest reverence].
14 
For He knows our [mortal] frame;
He remembers that we are [merely] dust.

As any good father would, God feels sentiment and shows affection toward His children.

This picture of God as the perfect Father is a deeply intimate one because it illustrates how far [east from west], He would go to keep us safe and secure.

Another illustration of God’s love is seen in Hosea 2:14-23.

Rather than a father this time, this Bible story describes a faithful husband that comforts and treasures his wife – which is also meant to be seen as a metaphor for God’s devoted love to an unfaithful Israel.

Despite Israel’s unfaithfulness, God expressed His infinite love for His people all the more through love poetry, painting a beautiful image of God’s extreme devotion and affection towards His Bride, the Church.

LOVE AS AN ACTION

Romans 5:8-10 Amplified Bible

8 But God clearly shows and proves His own love for us, by the fact that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 9 Therefore, since we have now been justified [declared free of the guilt of sin] by His blood, [how much more certain is it that] we will be saved from the [a]wrath of God through Him. 10 For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, it is much more certain, having been reconciled, that we will be saved [from the consequences of sin] by His life [that is, we will be saved because Christ lives today].

But, love is not merely a feeling.

Love is also an action… that God shows from the very beginning of the Bible.

Out of His love, God established a rescue plan for humanity in the wake of Adam and Eve’s sin (Genesis 3:15).

Out of His great love, God freed Israel from slavery in Egypt – not because they earned it, but because they were His people (Exodus 12-14).

Out of His love, God became fully human, yet fully God through the person of Jesus Christ – living a perfect life and dying a death we deserved so that we could all be restored into unto, a right relationship with Him (John 3:16-17).

In each scenario, all of God’s actions toward His people are motivated by pure love. He doesn’t just say He loves us, but He actually does something about it.

THE LOVE OF JESUS

John 15:13-16Amplified Bible

13 No one has greater love [nor stronger commitment] than to lay down his own life for his friends. 14 You are my friends if you keep on doing what I command you. 15 I do not call you servants any longer, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you [My] friends, because I have revealed to you everything that I have heard from My Father. 16 You have not chosen Me, but I have chosen you and I have appointed and placed and purposefully planted you, so that you would go and bear fruit and keep on bearing, and that your fruit will remain and be lasting, so that whatever you ask of the Father in My name [as My representative] He may give to you.

By coming into the world and sacrificing his own life for us, Jesus demonstrated the ultimate love of God.

He died for us because He considered us friends worth dying for (John 15:15).

This is the radical love that Jesus showed during his time on Earth… and still shows us today even if we do not see it in quite the same way we see the love of our friends and family.

So, when asking the question “Does Jesus love me?” the simple answer is “yes.”

Jesus really does love you not because of anything you have done, but because of who He is!

In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,

Let us Pray,

Almighty God, we praise and thank you for making us children of God, not through our own power and piety but through our baptism into crucified and risen Lord Jesus Christ. We turn daily to you, and in that turning we find peace, courage and purpose. Make your whole church a witness to the great good news of Christ’s resurrection. Father God, may we have the grace and the power of the Holy Spirit to grasp how immeasurable wide and deep and high and long is your love for us, expressed in all that Savior Jesus has done for us, that we may be your children. In his name, Amen.

Adeste Fidelis. Venite Adoremus. Dominum.

Gloria. In Excelsis Deo. Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia, Amen.

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Pondering the Word of God: What Does it Mean For Us to Say, and to Believe and to Also Act Upon, ‘God Is Love’? 1 John 4:7-8?

1 John 4:7-8 Amplified Bible

God Is Love

7 Beloved, let us [unselfishly] [a]love and seek the best for one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves [others] is born of God and knows God [through personal experience]. 8 The one who does not love has not become acquainted with God [does not and never did know Him], for God is love. [He is the originator of love, and it is an enduring attribute of His nature.]

The Word of God for the Children of God.

Adeste Fidelis. Venite Adoremus. Dominum.

Gloria. In Excelsis Deo. Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia, Amen.

I want you to take a few seconds or minutes, preferably the rest of forever, and meditate, ponder, and just think about the depths of love that Jesus has for you.

Depending on the day, perhaps you may perceive or you genuinely feel a barrier, because we may know all too well, how we often fail, falter, take our eyes off our King, and at times maybe even want nothing to do with Him.

But I’m here to tell you that in those exact moments, Christ’s all-encompassing love is yet all the more present and there to sustain you!

For He has chosen you, though you will most definitely fail, and falter and too, stumble, He called you his own, though you and I will flinch, and we all have a place at His table even when your gaze is not perfectly fixed on the divine host. 

So do meditate, ponder and think about how Christ’s love for you and me is like an all consuming ocean that you and I cannot ever swim away from. 

Do think about that He is the greatest joy in times of triumph. 

Do think about that He is your deepest comfort in your utmost trying of times and sorrows. 

Pray – Oh, what love He has for his children…Oh, what love He has for you!

So please join me today in praising God, and His Word, for his persistent love.

Praise God, that He continually shows us what love is even right now.

Praise God, that He first loved us which enables us to, therefore, go and love on others exactly where they are. 

So today, the remainder of this week, and continually, let there be no shortage of love from the children of God especially during times we are all experiencing.

Ask Jesus right now, through prayer and study of His Word, through fellowship, to love others through you as He has so graciously covered all of you in his love.

What Does it Mean That ‘God Is Love’ in 1 John 4:8?

1 John 4:8 Amplified Bible

8 The one who does not love has not become acquainted with God [does not and never did know Him], for God is love. [He is the originator of love, and it is an enduring attribute of His nature.]

Love is a word that has taken on many meanings throughout the ages.

Innumerable writers, movie directors, music and dance choreographers and hosts and myriads artists alike have tried their best to convey the idea of love.

Though almost no one has the same definition, there is an underlying thought.

Love is a feeling and an action.

Love is what one person feels and does for someone else.

Even in the Christian faith, love entails many qualities. 

1 Corinthians 13 is an entire passage devoted to the idea of love.

The chapter ends on the notion that love is both greater than hope and surprisingly greater than faith.

Here too we see that love is how one person relates to another, both in feeling and action.

The dictionary definition also describes how people relate.

With so many perspectives on the idea of love, an entire biblical passage dedicated to the idea, and too many songs, stories, and movies to count, love must be very important.

Moreover, this proves without a shadow of doubt we have all been affected by love in one way or another – love touches everyone – without any exceptions.

We also know that God values the idea of love because of how many times the word is used in the Bible.

In the original King James Version (KJV) the word love appears 310 times.

The frequency of the word will largely depend on the translation.

Important to note, the English word for love is split into different words in the original writing of the Bible.

The original languages used words to describe love including phileo, pragma, and agape.

When love is evoked in Scripture, the term is used to describe the way we talk, act, and our mindset toward others.

In the Bible though, love is by no means limited to human relationships.

In fact, the Bible informs us that the reason why we love other people, the reason we can understand love, is exactly this: because God first loved us.

1 John 4:19 Amplified Bible

19 We love, because [a]He first loved us.

God gave us the example and the how-to guide.

This verse comes shortly after the aforementioned verse from 1 John 4.

To understand the context of the words here, we have to first identify the passage’s author – John, an apostle of Jesus.

In this chapter, John draws a comparison between people of the world and people of God.

More specifically, he identifies that some people will claim to purport God, but do so falsely.

These are “false prophets” (1 John 4:1).

We can identify these people by testing their spirit.

One way to test the spirit is by examining someone’s ability to love.

After John makes clear the difference between false prophets and true believers, he admonishes us to love one another.

How do we accomplish this?

We look at what God has done for us.

John makes the claim that love is first and foremost defined by God’s choosing to love us, His children.

With this powerful and inspiring truth into mind, we should then in response, turn our heart to love one another (God’s children), the way our Father loves us.

He speaks confidently in detailing that God loves us, so we ought to love one another, but what does John mean when he says, “God is love”?

What Did John Mean When He Said ‘God Is Love’?

1 John 4:8Authorized (King James) Version

8 He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.

In this verse, we see that John equates God with love.

This metaphorical statement takes on a literal meaning when we consider the evidence of John’s claim.

In this passage, John mentions the sacrifice of Jesus for humanity–an act of love (1 John 4:10).

Since the Garden of Eden, God has acted on behalf of humanity, showing His love and support for His followers.

There have been consequences such as the banishment from Eden (Genesis 3), but God has maintained a loving relationship with people since the Fall.

Why?

The answer is evident in God’s love and all the stories that follow in the Bible where God acts on behalf of humanity.

These events culminate into the eventual Second Coming of Christ.

As God has remained an ever-present constant in the lives of humanity, so too are we supposed to show ever-present love to one another on an ongoing basis.

John states that we cannot love God and hate someone else (1 John 4:20).

If God has already chosen to love each of us despite our fallen nature since the beginning of time, why should or would we choose not to love someone despite an offense in the present time?

Obviously, this is easier said than done, but John makes clear “God is love.”

He drives this point further by stating we remain in love when we draw close to God, and as we draw close to God, the love of God abides in us (1 John 4:16).

The way God perpetually treats us in love, we should strive to treat other people.

How Does This Verse Affect How We Give and Receive Love?

John’s message to followers of Christ is a message echoed throughout the Bible.

A significant area where this is shown occurs when Jesus is questioned by a Pharisee.

“When the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, they came together. And one of them, an expert in the law, asked a question to test him: ‘Teacher, which command in the law is the greatest?’

He said to him, ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and most important command. The second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself. All the Law and the Prophets depend on these two commands.’” (Matthew 22:34-40)

Jesus lets us know that the second greatest act we can do daily as Christians is love other people, while the greatest commandment is to love God.

If we are abiding in God, as John admonishes us to do, then we will not only seek to love God as Himself but will see loving others as an extension of that.

Interestingly, the Bible does not tell us to love ourselves, possibly because that action comes so naturally for believers and nonbelievers alike.

We can use this awareness then to change how we view other people.

Instead of maintaining a mindset of “me versus you” or “them versus us,” we can acknowledge the fact that we are all image-bearers of God (Psalm 139:13).

No matter our difference in faith, behavior, or physical appearance, we are God’s children and we should definitely strive to treat each other accordingly.

Three Ways to Love Others by Knowing that God Is Love
1. Encourage One Another

Proverbs 16:24 Amplified Bible

24 
Pleasant words are like a honeycomb,
Sweet and delightful to the soul and healing to the body.

The words we speak carry weight, for better or for worse.

When we choose to speak in a godly fashion, we can use words to encourage those around us: family, friends, coworkers, even strangers.

Pleasant words include gratitude, compliments, and any other type of speech that benefits the person hearing.

As we know that God is love, our love is not by any means limited to words.

We can also show love through actions that bring about health to the body of the person receiving.

2. Forgive One Another

Matthew 6:14-15 Amplified Bible

14 For if you forgive [a]others their trespasses [their reckless and willful sins], your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 15 But if you do not forgive others [nurturing your hurt and anger with the result that it interferes with your relationship with God], then your Father will not forgive your trespasses.

Holding resentment against another is not the proper way to act as a Christian.

God has chosen to forgive humanity despite our constant sinful nature.

Likewise, God wants us to exercise forgiveness for those people who offend us.

3. Pray For and With One Another

James 5:13-16 Amplified Bible

13 Is anyone among you suffering? He must pray. Is anyone joyful? He is to sing praises [to God]. 14 Is anyone among you sick? He must call for the elders (spiritual leaders) of the church and they are to pray over him, anointing him with [a]oil in the name of the Lord; 15 and the prayer of faith will restore the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up; and if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. 16 Therefore, confess your sins to one another [your false steps, your offenses], and pray for one another, that you may be healed and restored. The heartfelt and persistent prayer of a righteous man (believer) can accomplish much [when put into action and made effective by God—it is dynamic and can have tremendous power].

A lot of people say expressions like, “I’ll pray for you.”

How many of them will stop and pray in that moment?

Scripture informs us that prayer has miraculous power.

If the words we speak to one another can bring health to the body, surely the words we say in prayer are even stronger.

When we love like God, we pray for those we love, and those we don’t feel as fondly toward because the Lord watches over us all.

If God is omnipresent, then the Lord is present in all of our lives, whether we feel or even acknowledge His presence.

Acquiring this disposition of love will push us to serve and love others even when we may feel like their faith is not where we prefer, and may even bring others closer to God.

Once we perfect loving people, we would have perfected and fulfilled the second greatest commandment.

This will prove not only God is love, but God is always with us and within us.

In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,

Let us Pray,

May I Recognize Your Words Prayer

God of truth, sometimes I not sure if I’m actually hearing your voice, or if it’s just my own thoughts or even another spirit. Sharpen my spiritual hearing, Lord, so I can recognize your words when you are speaking to me. Help me know it’s really you, with no doubt or second-guessing. When I’m asking for your guidance in important decisions, give me your peace that surpasses understanding with your answer. Help me remember that your words to me will never go against your written word in the Bible. Please, Give unto me a clear mind and push out all my confusion. Amen.

Adeste Fidelis. Venite Adoremus. Dominum.

Gloria. In Excelsis Deo. Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia, Amen.

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“It is For God Alone My Soul Waits in Silence.” Psalmists Invitation to Pray a Prayer of Rest for Our Sabbath Days. Psalm 62. 

Psalm 62 The Message

62 1-2 God, the one and only—
    I’ll wait as long as he says.
Everything I need comes from him,
    so why not?
He’s solid rock under my feet,
    breathing room for my soul,
An impregnable castle:
    I’m set for life.

3-4 How long will you gang up on me?
    How long will you run with the bullies?
There’s nothing to you, any of you—
    rotten floorboards, worm-eaten rafters,
Anthills plotting to bring down mountains,
    far gone in make-believe.
You talk a good line,
    but every “blessing” breathes a curse.

5-6 God, the one and only—
    I’ll wait as long as he says.
Everything I hope for comes from him,
    so why not?
He’s solid rock under my feet,
    breathing room for my soul,
An impregnable castle:
    I’m set for life.

7-8 My help and glory are in God
    —granite-strength and safe-harbor-God—
So trust him absolutely, people;
    lay your lives on the line for him.
    God is a safe place to be.

9 Man as such is smoke,
    woman as such, a mirage.
Put them together, they’re nothing;
    two times nothing is nothing.

10 And a windfall, if it comes—
    don’t make too much of it.

11 God said this once and for all;
    how many times
Have I heard it repeated?
    “Strength comes
Straight from God.”

12 Love to you, Lord God!
    You pay a fair wage for a good day’s work!

The Word of God for the Children of God.

Adeste Fidelis. Venite Adoremus. Dominum.

Gloria. In Excelsis Deo. Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia, Amen.

Psalm 62 … God and God Alone is Our Only Rest and Salvation

When you wait on God, you find He is your salvation and provider of all you need. Only God can fill the need of your soul.

Your Salvation

If you are like me, my first response when faced with a significant problem is to gather up all my resources and do everything I can to fix it.

The bigger the problem, the more frantic and anxious I become.

King David wrote this psalm during a particularly difficult time in his life.

He was facing constant attacks from his son, who was trying to overthrow his rule as king.

Instead of gathering his army and advisors, the first thing he did was go to the Lord.

David understood that trusting in men was foolish.

It was not about his strength or wisdom but God’s deliverance.

David saw God as his only true source of salvation.

He stopped everything to get with the Lord.

David didn’t come to God with loud cries or pleas for help.

He came to God in silence.

He waited before the Lord without speaking.

When I face a problem, I want to tell God all about it.

Too often, I come before Him filled with fear and anxiety.

David came before God in complete rest. 

David had a quiet confidence that God would see him through. 

So often, we think prayer is about what we say and how we say it.

If we can just use the right words, God will surely see our needs and answer our prayers.

David understood it was not about his words but his faith.

When you set your mind and soul to wait silently before the Lord, it’s not only an expression of your openness to God but a complete dependence on Him.

Salvation and deliverance are always gifts of grace from God and God alone.

David didn’t trust in his strength or the wisdom of others.

He didn’t panic and try to fix everything.

He went to the source of his salvation and waited silently for Him to provide.

One of the great truths of life—if not perhaps the greatest truth—is that when all else fails, when everything else falls apart, there is one and only one person on whom you and I and everyone else can absolutely rely.

And that person is not yourself: it is God. God and God alone.

That is the theme of this psalm. “For God alone my soul waits in silence” (62:1).

“He alone is my rock and salvation” (62:2).

“For God alone, O my soul, wait in silence” (62:5).

“He alone is my rock and my salvation” (62:6).

“Yes, my soul, find rest in God; my H.O.P.E. comes from him.” Psalm 62:5

As Christians, we are called to hope.

Not wishful thinking, imagining things, or pining for better days.

Hope.

Hope is not a pipe dream or a fairy tale.

It is a strong action instead of a reaction.

Hope is always alive in Christ Jesus, Our Lord and Savior.

When we choose to live in Christ Jesus …

When we choose to live and choose live in our Savior’s complete hope we:

H – Heed His Word.
Hang onto encouraging verses in Scripture in times of trouble, stress or doubt. Recall His promises, read, mark and memorize helpful verses, and repeat them often.

O – Obey.
Sometimes we have to do things simply because someone in authority says so. If we can trust God and obey, then in hindsight we may look back and see more clearly why He told us.

P – Pray.
Instead of fretting, if we can drop to our knees and lay it at the cross we will find an inner peace which, as Paul states, surpasses our understanding. Much better than jogging in a hamster wheel of worry and churning it over and over in our minds. Pray, lay it down, walk away.

E – Expect.
The more we rely on God’s promises and His timing, then experience will show us things work out for the best when we “let go and let God” handle it.

So pry your fingers off the situation and relax.

A Prayer for the Sabbath – Your Daily Prayer

Exodus 20:8-11 Amplified Bible

8 “Remember the Sabbath (seventh) day to keep it holy (set apart, dedicated to God). 9 Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is a Sabbath [a day of rest dedicated] to the Lord your God; on that day you shall not do any work, you or your son, or your daughter, or your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock or the temporary resident (foreigner) who stays within your [city] gates. 11 For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea and everything that is in them, and He rested (ceased) on the seventh day. That is why the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy [that is, set it apart for His purposes].

Rest is so important to God that he put it in the Ten Commandments.

He wants you to take a day off every week.

That’s called the Sabbath, which literally means a day of rest, and God wants us to do it every seventh day.

The day isn’t important.

It doesn’t have to be a certain day, just every seventh day.

It’s so important that even God rested on the seventh day when he created everything — not because He was tired but to give us the ultimate example of how we should be more like God and take that gift of the seventh day to rest.

What do you do on this Sabbath day to actually have it be a day of rest?

1. Rest your body.

God has made us so that we need rest.

If your car engine heat light were showing red, you would stop because you would know it’s going to damage the engine.

God says if you don’t take one day out of seven to rest, if you keep pumping the adrenaline all day, every day, seven days a week, your engine is going to break.

So for your heart to be at its best, your body, mind and soul all requires rest.

You have to take the time to rest.

2. Recharge your emotions.

Just Be Still and Know only God can be, and is God … Psalm 46:10-11

Just be quiet before the Lord!

David’s Prayer

18 Then King David went in and sat [in prayer] before the Lord, and said, “Who am I, O Lord [a]God, and what is my house (family), that You have brought me this far? 19  Yet this was very insignificant in Your eyes, O Lord God, for You have spoken also of Your servant’s house (royal dynasty) in the distant future. And this is the law and custom of man, O Lord God. 20 What more can David say to You? For You know (acknowledge, choose) Your servant, O Lord God. [2 Samuel 7:18-20 AMP]

Like King David, take time for God, just sit still, be quiet before the Lord God.

Maybe you need to reconnect in your relationships.

Maybe there’s some kind of recreation that rejuvenates you.

I’m not talking about competitive recreation.

Some of you are not recharging your emotions out on the golf course.

You are just getting angry at your golf clubs or at the other guys golf clubs!

3. Refocus your spirit.

During your Sabbath, you do not take a day off from God.

You worship!

Worship puts life into perspective.

If you’re too busy for God, you’re just too busy.

To make this happen, you have to schedule it. 

Psalm 127:2 “It’s useless to rise early and go to bed late, and work your worried fingers to the bone. Don’t you know he enjoys giving rest to those he loves?” (MSG)

God enjoys giving rest to those he loves.

Be intentional about taking your Sabbath, and make it count!

62 1-2 God, the one and only—
    I’ll wait as long as he says.
Everything I need comes from him,
    so why not?
He’s solid rock under my feet,
    breathing room for my soul,
An impregnable castle:
    I’m set for life.

5-6 God, the one and only—
    I’ll wait as long as he says.
Everything I hope for comes from him,
    so why not?
He’s solid rock under my feet,
    breathing room for my soul,
An impregnable castle:
    I’m set for life.

11 God said this once and for all;
    how many times
Have I heard it repeated?
    “Strength comes
Straight from God.”

12 Love to you, Lord God!
    You pay a fair wage for a good day’s work!

be quiet, sit still, Make these confessions.

  • My salvation comes only from the Lord.
  • When I face troubles, I look to the Lord.
  • It’s not about my words but about God’s grace.
  • I will sit still in the Presence of God my Savior.
  • I will wait quietly before the God of my salvation.
  • I will shut my mouth, close both my eyes and open my ears.

Thanksgiving for the Lord’s Favor.

A Psalm of David.

138 I will give You thanks with all my heart;
I sing praises to You before the [pagan] gods.
2 
I will bow down [in worship] toward Your holy temple
And give thanks to Your name for Your lovingkindness and Your truth;
For You have magnified Your word together with Your name.
3 
On the day I called, You answered me;
And You made me bold and confident with [renewed] strength in my life.

4 
All the kings of the land will give thanks and praise You, O Lord,
When they have heard of the promises of Your mouth [which were fulfilled].
5 
Yes, they will sing of the ways of the Lord [joyfully celebrating His wonderful acts],
For great is the glory and majesty of the Lord.
6 
Though the Lord is exalted,
He regards the lowly [and invites them into His fellowship];
But the proud and haughty He knows from a distance.

7 
Though I walk in the midst of trouble, You will revive me;
You will stretch out Your hand against the wrath of my enemies,
And Your right hand will save me.
8 
The Lord will accomplish that which concerns me;
Your [unwavering] lovingkindness, O Lord, endures forever—
Do not abandon the works of Your own hands.

Have faith God will see you through it, and claim His promise as your own.

In the name of God the Father and God, the Son and God the Holy Spirit,

Let us Pray,

Father God, let us always choose to hope in You instead of fretting, or getting stressed over things we have no control over. Replace our qualms with quiet, our fears with faith, and our worries with wisdom. Dear Lord, help us make every Sabbath about you alone. Quiet my heart, give rest to my soul, refocus my spirit—for true renewal, true revival, comes only from you. Holy Spirit please help me to be intentional with my time and worship, and encourage me to find rest in you alone. In Jesus’ name. 

Adeste Fidelis. Venite Adoremus. Dominum

Gloria. In Excelsis Deo. Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia, Amen.

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God’s Most Eager Desire for Me: To Most Eagerly Pray, To Most Eagerly Preach, To Most Eagerly Proclaim, HIS Gospel. Romans 1:8-15

Romans 1:8-15Amplified Bible

8 First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith [your trust and confidence in His power, wisdom, and goodness] is being proclaimed in all the world. 9 For God, whom I serve with my spirit by preaching the gospel of His Son, is my witness as to how continuously I mention you 10 in my prayers; always pleading that somehow, by God’s will, I may now at last come to you. 11 For I long to see you so that I may share with you some spiritual gift, to strengthen and establish you; 12 that is, that we may be mutually encouraged and comforted by each other’s faith, both yours and mine. 13 I do not want you to be unaware, [a] brothers and sisters, that many times I have planned to come to you, (and have been prevented so far) so that I may have some fruit [of my labors] among you, even as I have among the rest of the Gentiles. 14 I have a duty to perform and a debt to pay both to Greeks and to barbarians [the cultured and the uncultured], both to the wise and to the foolish. 15 So, for my part, I am ready and eager to preach the gospel also to you who are in Rome.

The Word of God for the Children of God. Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia! Amen.

In my brief experience as a pastor, and now as a writer of these devotions, I would never try to describe preaching as either easy or boast as simply fun.

But it can be incredibly meaningful when you sense that something in your message of God’s love connects with your listeners.

So, I can appreciate that the Apostle Paul is indescribably ­eager to preach the gospel to the people he most adamantly cares about in Rome.

The Apostle Paul is eager not because he thinks he’s so good at what he does or because he desperately desires to become the headliner for a few perfor­mances before tens of thousands of Roman citizens in the empire’s great colosseum.

The reason for his eagerness comes from the fact the gospel is the power of God.

And it is power for a specific purpose – Salvation.

The gospel is not power to get a new bill of health, to gain a reputation, or to sell a specific bill of goods or services or to gain the friend or spouse you desire.

It’s not power for financial success or fault-free parenting. It’s not power to get into heaven when you die.

It is God’s power for salvation.

And salvation has absolutely everything to do with getting to where we most desperately desire to be in our connection, Koinonia, relationship with God.

Paul’s eagerness in all this is a reflection of God’s desire.

God wants me to belong to him as fully and as completely and as maximally as I can in the life I am now trying to live.

That’s the point of the gospel, and that is its power.

The challenge for me is to have the same eagerness for God that God has for me.

The same eagerness which Apostle Paul expresses in His Epistle to the Romans.

Introducing himself, Paul gives us concise statements of the Gospel of God.

• The good news has absolutely everything to do with Lord Jesus Christ, the descendant of David by birth and declared the Son of God by His resurrection.

• Jesus’ death and resurrection brought us into a new relationship with God.

In these few lines, Paul laid out the thrust of his letter – the message of the Gospel.

This letter of Romans is different from the other letters he wrote, which concern the churches and their problems and needs.

• Romans focuses on God and His plan of salvation for man, both Jews and Gentiles.

Why Romans?

• Paul wrote the letter while he was in Corinth during his 3rd missionary journey.

• He was on his way back to Jerusalem with the collections from the Gentiles churches.

• So, the practical reason for the Letter was to communicate to the Roman Christians that he was planning to visit them after this trip to Jerusalem.

More importantly, he writes to present a clear explanation of the Gospel, the message that he has been entrusted with and proclaiming all this while.

• This was called for because of the differences in understanding between the Jewish and Gentile believers, with regards to their salvation in Christ Jesus.

Is there not now, in these times and seasons of 2022 great differences and even greater divides and chasms among Christians with regards to their salvation?

Are there not, even today, great expressions among “the believers” of ……

“You take your ‘theology’ and go your way towards your salvation!” and

“I will take my ‘theology’ and go my way towards my salvation!” and

“In the end we will see who is right, know who’s wrong, by who is in Heaven!”

Paul set forth the Gospel to unite us theologically and present Christianity fully.

• Romans turn out to be the longest of Paul’s letters that we have and the most in-depth, comprehensive exposition of the Gospel of Salvation in Jesus Christ.

That explains the introduction. He set the tone right.

• It is not about Paul’s message, or Peter’s message but the message of God; a message that is built upon the foundation of God’s revelation in the Scriptures.

• Salvation through Christ ALONE!

It is not any mere or meager afterthought but the plan of God all along and fulfilled in the Person and work of Jesus Christ – his death and resurrection.

• To bring lost humanity back to an eternally living relationship with Christ!

Romans 1:8-10Amplified Bible

8 First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith [your trust and confidence in His power, wisdom, and goodness] is being proclaimed in all the world. 9 For God, whom I serve with my spirit by preaching the gospel of His Son, is my witness as to how continuously I mention you 10 in my prayers; always pleading that somehow, by God’s will, I may now at last come to you.

A deep and abiding concern for the believers in Rome was reflected in Paul’s opening message of thankful praise for each of them.

Indeed, their faith in the Lord Jesus had been made known throughout the Roman Empire.

What a wonderful, inspiring testimony of these dear saints of God, and what an awesome message of encouragement to all of us to boldly proclaim the glorious gospel of Christ, which is the power of God unto salvation for all who believe.

Paul desperately did not want any single part of this important epistle to be lightly received, or lightly taken for granted and so he laid emphasis on his calling, his apostleship, and his bond service for the Lord Jesus Christ alone.

But infinitely more than this Paul called upon the eternal God of the universe, Creator of heaven and earth, as witness to his own deep and loving concern for their planted by God, blossoming, growing and maturing spiritual wellbeing.

Like all who trust in Jesus Christ, Paul had been given a new nature – a new life in Christ which delighted to spread the good news of the glorious gospel of Christ in spirit and truth, which loved these believers with a Christ-like love.

Paul’s love for these believers was reflected in his deep and earnest concern for them, as he constantly made mention of them to the Lord Jesus in daily prayer.

Let us seek to develop the same eagerness to preach and proclaim the Gospel.

The most eager and deep and loving concern for ALL our brothers and sisters in Christ, as we, like Paul, lift them up in earnest prayer to our Father in heaven.

Imagine yourself being a part of a faith community that was famous around the world because of its active faith.

When I meditate and ponder upon this Epistle to the Romans, it’s interesting the Roman believers did not have a previous visit from one of the Apostles.

After the persecution broke out in Jerusalem and the true believers fanned out, they spread the gospel everywhere. They made it as far as Rome and their church was thriving, and soon reports of their faith made it back to Paul.

One of Paul’s main goals in life was to visit Rome for mutual encouragement (Romans 1:11-12).

Paul was actively praying for an opportunity to go, but later in this letter he explains why he hadn’t been able to come (Romans 15:20-22).

He was hindered because there were many places in between that needed the gospel, which delayed his trip.

Amazingly, Paul reveals a bit of his passionate nature in midst of his waiting, “I remember you in my prayers at all times.”

Paul is simply reminding the Romans that, in the same way he serves the Lord wholeheartedly, this is the same way he remembers them in prayer. He thanks God for them and their faith and asks that the way be opened for him to come.

We can learn much from Paul.

Today, if you and I genuinely want to pray for people and do not know where to start, then start thanking God for their faith and what He is doing in their lives.

When we can recognize the way, He is working in others, we will see how He’s working in us and then find mutual encouragement through the Gospel of God.

In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,

Let us Pray,

O Lord my God, you are my shield and my strength. Help me to trust you with my decisions and my future. Let me lean on you and the message of your Gospel, with all my heart instead of relying on my own frail, faulty, failed understanding. Give me clear guidance in my life Lord. As I submit myself to your Gospel, I know that you will direct my paths and I can have confidence that your direction is always the best way to go. Lord, bless me and keep me, make your face shine upon me. Turn your face towards me and give me peace. Through Jesus Christ our Lord, Alleluia! Amen.

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