1. Loved…
Father, I am praying not only for these disciples but also for all those who will ever believe in me… I am in them, and you are in me. May they experience such perfect unity that the world will know that you sent me and that you love them as much as you love me.
John 17:20, 23
For this is how God loved the world: He gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.
John 3;16
The Bible is full of references to God’s love for each of us but I think the image I have selected for this post says it all – he loves each one of us so absolutely that he was willing to sacrifice his only son to pay for our sins and restore us to a right relationship with him. Because of that sacrifice we know that before our dreams are even conceived, we have God’s love no matter what the journey may throw at us. He is with up each step of the way because he loves us and because he has planted dreams and visions in us:
For I know the plans I have for you. They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.
Jeremiah 29:11
John Bevere writes this in his book “Extraordinary”:
God’s love for you and me is indeed unconditional, unchanging, and will last forever. He loves each of us individually as much as he loves Jesus Christ. That is almost too wonderful to comprehend, but it’s true. (p12)
God’s love for you, for me, and for every person on this earth is complete, perfect, the greatest it can be. God’s love can’t be diluted, like paint, to half-strength to make it stretch further. As the old hymn says:
The love of God is greater far
Than tongue or pen can ever tell.
It goes beyond the highest star
And reaches to the lowest hell.
Could we with ink the ocean fill,
And were the skies of parchment made;
Were every stalk on earth a quill,
And every man a scribe by trade;
To write the love of God above
Would drain the ocean dry;
Nor could the scroll contain the whole,
Though stretched from sky to sky.
The journey we travel from conception to birth of our dreams and desires is one borne up by that all-encompassing love of God. Remember that as you journey towards your goal no matter how tough things get, He loves you.
Prayer: Lord, thank you, a million times, that, no matter how much I might muck up, deviate, struggle in my life journey you will always love me wholly, completely, absolutely and you are always there for me. Love so amazing, so divine, demands my soul, my life, my all (Isaac Watts, 1707, When I survey the wondrous cross).
Amen
Action: Take some time to reflect on the immensity of God’s love – all that love is poured out on Jesus, on you, on me. God can’t love us anymore that he already does. What does that mean for you?
Journal your thoughts:
