By, Pastor Bill
“Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God! therefore the world does not know us, because it did not know Him.” 1 John 3:1
John, here the aged apostle at the ripe old age of 100 years old writes to the churches he pastored but also with you and me in mind when He says, “Behold… what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us.” John, though persecuted physically and relationally for the gospel was barely kept by God’s LOVE but as he states here, he was overwhelmed by it. I think sometimes we can get down because of the difficulties of life and the darkness all around us, but John here is pointing us towards a fountain that never runs dry… GOD’S GREAT LOVE.
Another of the apostles, one called out of time, Paul the apostle writes so powerfully about the love of God in Romans 8:37-39 “Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Are you overwhelmed by God’s love today? Have you realized that God has called you into a love relationship with Himself? Is God’s love the driving force in your life and the main motivation behind your days? GOD WANTS HIS LOVE TO FUEL EVERYTHING YOU DO! I’ll close with this story that reminds us that our experiencing God’s love is not based on our circumstances or surroundings.
One of God’s faithful missionaries, Allen Gardiner, experienced many physical difficulties and hardships throughout his service to the Savior. Despite his troubles, he said, “While God gives me strength, failure will not daunt me.” In 1851, at the age of 57, he died of disease and starvation while serving on Picton Island at the southern tip of South America. When his body was found, his diary lay nearby. It bore the record of hunger, thirst, wounds, and loneliness. The last entry in his little book showed the struggle of his shaking hand as he tried to write legibly. It read, “I am overwhelmed with a sense of the LOVE OF GOD.”
By His Spirit,
Pastor Bill