Tag: Pondering God's Desires

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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For Grace to Grow Up: What is God’s Greatest Desire for Us and Our Lives? Psalm 139:13-18

Psalm 139:13-18 Amplified Bible

13 
For You formed my innermost parts;
You knit me [together] in my mother’s womb.
14 
I will give thanks and praise to You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
Wonderful are Your works,
And my soul knows it very well.
15 
My frame was not hidden from You,
When I was being formed in secret,
And intricately and skillfully formed [as if embroidered with many colors] in the depths of the earth.
16 
Your eyes have seen my unformed substance;
And in Your book were all written
The days that were appointed for me,
When as yet there was not one of them [even taking shape].

17 
How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God!
How vast is the sum of them!
18 
If I could count them, they would outnumber the sand.
When I awake, I am still with You.

The Word of God for the Children of God.

Adeste Fidelis. Venite Adoremus. Dominum.

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

Finding God’s Purpose for My Life

I can remember being a young teenager, on summer vacation at my family’s country place. 

A lot of time was spent in the back of my Dad’s old 1968 International Pick Up truck, staring out into the vast fields and meadows and trees and ponds beyond wondering: WHAT my purpose in life was. 

I fully knew that God created me for a reason, but I couldn’t understand what he wanted me to do with my life. 

I was so busy trying to think my own way to live my own life, not finding God’s purpose for my life, that I had basically immobilized myself in that idyllic place.

It was naïve of me to think at that time that this feeling of uncertainty would disappear as I got older and smarter and wiser and I thought far more mature. 

“It’s only teenagers who struggle with the big life questions,” I thought to myself – adults [Mom and Dad] have it made in the shade with their careers.

After – all, Mom and Dad had bought this great 40 acre place in the country.

I laugh now, thinking about how much I had to learn then. 

Now, as a 60 plus year old adult, I find myself thinking and praying through so many of life’s biggest questions I never thought to ask myself then. 

A lot of those questions, I’m no more certain of the answer now than I was as a teenager. 

But I am more confident in God’s word, and I’m able to rest in that more than I did back then.

God’s word has been the biggest answer for me on my quest to finding God’s purpose for my life.

Does God Have a Purpose For Me and My Life?

If you’re asking yourself this question, I know from experience that it’s likely causing you some stress. 

I want you to know that God wants you to rest in the knowledge of something beautiful:

“For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb.  I praise you , for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.” – Psalm  139:13-14

Does that sound like a God who wants you to live in stress and toil away about missing your purpose? 

It certainly doesn’t sound that way to me. 

The God described in that beautiful psalm (my personal favorite psalm) is an intricately and intimately involved God. 

That is not the kind of God who doesn’t have a plan for us, or is content to let us waste away our remaining days in the worry of being unsure of your purpose.

Life Makes Sense: God’s Story of You

Psalm 139:15-16Amplified Bible

15 
My frame was not hidden from You,
When I was being formed in secret,
And intricately and skillfully formed [as if embroidered with many colors] in the depths of the earth.
16 
Your eyes have seen my unformed substance;
And in Your book were all written
The days that were appointed for me,
When as yet there was not one of them [even taking shape].

We love stories, but it’s surprising how easily we can end up missing the stories God has written for our lives.

Winston Churchill once famously claimed that history was simply “one big years long collection of one thing after another.”

In other words, he was claiming there was no “just one” story behind our experiences in life, only a years long weaving of numerous series of events.

Few things are more deadening to your soul than thinking that your life ulti­mately means little more than we live through several one thing after another.

Yet that’s how we often find ourselves feeling – no matter how old we are in life.

On many days we view our jobs or careers or families as where we have “ended up” in life.

In fact, it can seem a bit overly presumptuous to think there’s only one master plan and master planner behind whatever situation you and I are in right now.

But the Bible tells us that the events of our lives make sense because they are part of a much larger story.

The struggles of last month or the victories of yesterday that we may claim in the next few weeks are not simply chance occurrences.

They are part of a intricately weaved story line that is going somewhere.

The work you do, the people you share life with, the abilities you have, and the weaknesses you struggle with are all part of a collection of ele­ments intended to make for a really good story—the story of you – that’s really God’s story of you. 

Do you believe this?

What Does God’s Living Word Say About Purpose?

I want to share a couple more Bible verses about purpose with you. 

I’m sharing them in a specific order as it’s going to help round out the edges of this devotional, and I pray will truly help you to be able to say with confidence,  “God has a purpose for my life.”

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future.” – Jeremiah 29:11

God has a plan for your life… and what’s better, it’s a good plan.  There’s nothing in that plan that says God intends harm or unhappiness for your life.  God KNOWS the plans he has for you, and that includes plans to prosper you, keep you safe, give you beautiful hope, and the promise of a future.

Now, I want you to keep that knowledge and promise in mind as we read the next couple verses together.

“I know you can do all things; no purpose of yours can be thwarted.” – Job 42:2

That verse is referring to God, not us. 

God can do all things. 

His plans cannot be thwarted. 

So when you’re trying to find your God-given purpose, take comfort in the fact that there is NOTHING that can ruin God’s plans. 

Not even your own indecision, or fear, or pride… NOTHING. 

I want you to whisper that to yourself and pray thanks to God for that fact. 

God has a purpose for my life, and God has a purpose for your life.  

There’s absolutely, positively nothing we (or our circumstances can do) to ruin, or destroy or ever erase that purpose.

Now when David had served God’s purpose in his own generation, he fell asleep; he was buried with his ancestors and his body decayed.” –Acts 13:36

There’s a couple really interesting things in this Bible verse about purpose.

As I’ve struggled through finding God’s purpose for my life, I’ve forgotten a couple key things that this verse makes very clear:

  1. We are serving God’s purpose... not our own.  Did you notice that in the verse above?  It says David had served God’s purpose in his life.  I think often (whether innocent or not), we end up searching for and serving our own purposes instead of God’s.  This is something we need to avoid.
  2. The other thing I want to pull out of that verse is that David didn’t pass away until he had fulfilled God’s purpose in his life.  So when you think about fulfilling your God given purpose, know with confidence that the purpose is actually God’s, and he’ll keep you on this earth until that purpose is fulfilled.

How to Know God’s Purpose For Our Lives

“For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him.” –Colossians 1:16

This Bible verse about purpose, like the one above about David, is also helpful as I find myself, along with you, on the journey of finding God’s purpose for my life.

This verse makes it clear again, that the purpose is ultimately God’s, and not our own. 

This doesn’t mean we are devoid of purpose… in fact, our purpose is FOR him.

We were created through him and for him. 

This is where the lights, for me, started to come on while I was finding God’s purpose for my life.  

Check out this next Bible verse about purpose:

“But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.” –1st Peter 2:9

Isn’t that beautiful? 

If we know Jesus as our Savior, we are chosen, royal, holy… his special possession.  

And why do we get this privilege? 

So that we can declare his praises!  Bingo! 

Right there we have uncovered and discovered our main purpose for God.

We do each have different and unique ways of living out our purpose.

Down at the root of it all, as Christ followers, our main purpose is to glorify God and to declare his praises and to point our neighbors to Christ through our love.

If you seek to do this in everything you do… you won’t miss out on fulfilling your God given purpose.

Identifying Your Unique Purpose

16 I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers; 17 [I always pray] that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may grant you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation [that gives you a deep and personal and intimate insight] into the true knowledge of Him [for we know the Father through the Son]. 18 And [I pray] that the eyes of your heart [the very center and core of your being] may be enlightened [flooded with light by the Holy Spirit], so that you will know and cherish the [a]hope [the divine guarantee, the confident expectation] to which He has called you, the riches of His glorious inheritance in the [b]saints (God’s people), 19 and [so that you will begin to know] what the immeasurable and unlimited and surpassing greatness of His [active, spiritual] power is in us who believe. These are in accordance with the working of His mighty strength 20 which He [c]produced in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His own right hand in the heavenly places, 21 far above all rule and authority and power and dominion [whether angelic or human], and [far above] every name that is named [above every title that can be conferred], not only in this age and world but also in the one to come. Ephesians 1:16-21 Amplified

God’s Desire and Purpose: Our Growing in Wisdom

Growing in wisdom is about cultivating a character that is Christlike.

If we want that wisdom, then the words of Ephesians 1 are a great discovery and and an even greater source of divine encouragement.

What is striking about these verses is how they tell us we don’t have to figure this all out on our own.

It’s not a project for which God gives us a textbook and tests us with a final exam at the end of life.

God, the Father, Son and Holy Spirit is absolutely never a “hands off” teacher.

In Ephesians 1 Paul explains that he prays for people to have wisdom, and he asks God to be involved in the process—because that is what God promises. Paul goes on to mention “the Spirit of wisdom,” and he isn’t asking only for the Spirit to help us; Paul asks that the Spirit of wisdom be given to us.

Why? So that we may know God better.

Suddenly this matter of gaining wisdom is not just about anyone or everyone learning some Christian way of living.

It is about an interactive God who wants to live in interaction with and within us and be the absolute most vital part of our faith growth by becoming part of us.

We can simplify all that to this: God wants us to have wisdom.

So we can make this prayer our own, saying, “I want to have the Spirit of wisdom and revelation because I absolutely want to know my God better.”

God’s Desire For Us: Eyes Open, Mind Illuminated

Ephesians 1:18-21Amplified Bible

18 And [I pray] that the eyes of your heart [the very center and core of your being] may be enlightened [flooded with light by the Holy Spirit], so that you will know and cherish the [a]hope [the divine guarantee, the confident expectation] to which He has called you, the riches of His glorious inheritance in the [b]saints (God’s people), 19 and [so that you will begin to know] what the immeasurable and  unlimited and surpassing greatness of His [active, spiritual] power is in us who believe. These are in accordance with the working of His mighty strength 20 which He [c]produced in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His own right hand in the heavenly places, 21 far above all rule and authority and power and dominion [whether angelic or human], and [far above] every name that is named [above every title that can be conferred], not only in this age and world but also in the one to come.

What a blessing it is to read this prayer of the apostle Paul!

He asks that God will open, or enlighten, the eyes of our hearts.

Why?

That we may “know him better,” have “the Spirit of wisdom and revelation,” and know the hope of all that God promises to us.

With hearts open to the wonder of all that God has done, we are empowered by his Spirit to live faithfully and purposely and wisely for him, as Jesus did.

When we are open to God’s working in and through our lives, we are like a blank page on which he writes his poetry, a blank empty canvas on which he works his artistry, softened clay with which he molds, shapes and transforms his vessels.

Perhaps the right combination is openheartedness and singlemindedness—our heart and mind, hands and feet, equally devoted to the God of infinite wisdom.

Lent is an excellent time to have the eyes of our hearts opened and our ears and our minds illuminated to absolutely all of that our Lord has done, all that he can do in our lives, and all that we can look absolutely look forward to in sure hope.

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

Let us Pray,

God of ALL 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. Give me a clear mind and push out all my confusion. Savior Jesus, encourage us in the single minded pursuit of being open and opened up to your greater wisdom and your working and your desires and purposes in our lives. In your name we live.

Adeste Fidelis. Venite Adoremus. Dominum.

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