*Some of us were taught early in our childhood that God loves us, right? One of the first Bible verses we learn isJn. 3:16, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten son...”
Let’s explore some scriptures about God’s love...
1 John 4:8 He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love. (a form of the word, ‘Be’) *We are made of flesh, bones, organs etc - God’s very being is Love.
10 Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. *This behavior / action is what love is = God came to earth in the form of flesh to sacrifice Himself for our sins. He is the very essence of love. He is the quality or nature of what love is. The definition of Love.
11 Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought (must) also to love one another.
12 No man hath seen God at any time. If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and his love is perfected in us. *No man has physically seen God, but if we love one another, His love is seen complete & whole in us.
13 Hereby know we that we dwell in him, and he in us, because he hath given us of his Spirit. *A portion of his spirit (or His love) dwells in us, if we are born again. If we don’t have this love dwelling in us, we don’t have His spirit...if we don’t have His spirit dwelling in us, we don’t have this love.
16 And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him. *He’s speaking by experience - they saw it - felt it - lived it! >
1John 1:1 ...that which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life...
2 (For the life was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness...
*They received forgiveness. That’s what sets our love apart from God’s - there is nothing that shows greater love than forgiveness! If God’s love didn’t dwell in us, it would be hard to forgive some things!
John 13:35 By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.*By this - that we love & forgive others like God forgave us. God is quick to forgive...we are quick to judge. Our nature is to put ourselves first.
We love because we are loved -God loves unconditionally. God’s love is so beyond our love that the way we show Him that we love Him is by loving others! (Matt 25:40 ...Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.)
*If we don’t love others, we can’t say that we know God, because God is love...He is the very action of love. We’re supposed to love our neighbor as we love ourselves. How much do we love ourselves? I mean with the God like kind of love... we tend to have selfish love - what sacrifices will we make for ourselves? God created us - we need to show God that we love his creation. Our heavenly father wants what’s best for us, not necessarily what we desire. Parents that love their children don’t always say yes to their wants yet, it’s hard for us to deny ourselves, isn’t it? We don’t always do what’s best for ourselves! We can’t begin to compare our love with God’s love - we can’t even comprehend it.
►[Matt 8:28... two possessed with devils, coming out of the tombs, exceeding fierce, (violent) so that no man might pass by that way.] *What did Jesus do? He had compassion - he freed them
*It would be very hard for us to love those men - maybe, if we can get to that secret place of the most High, we can allow the love of God to love through us. The more we seek to love God, the more we will love others. (Ps 91:1)
1 John 2:6 He that saith he abideth in him ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked. (His examples)
(He said this about false prophets = Matt 7:20 Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them..*If false prophets are known by what they bring forth, so are we. We’re supposed to bring forth the fruit of the spirit - if God does indeed dwell in us! (love, joy, peace. longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance - this is God! this is love
*Mk. 2:1-5...Jesus was in a house in Capernaum & a multitude of people gathered to see & hear him. A man with palsy came & no one there helped him get to Jesus - the 4 that carried him there had to uncover the roof to get him to where Jesus was...Where was the love in all those people (followers) that were there to be in His presence? Do we help people make their way to Christ or do we hinder?
Do we just preach at them, or do we show the love of God?
*Just because someone is different than us, doesn’t mean God doesn’t love them - it might be a little more difficult for some to get to Christ - to understand the truth - to make changes in their life. Figuratively, we might not have to come thru the roof like this man, or press thru a crowd like the woman with an issue of blood, or climb a tree like Zacchaeus. We don’t know what other people’s struggles are - how much of a hold their vices or addictions have on them - maybe they’ve been hurt by church people - maybe all they see is hypocrisy - We don’t know their heart - God does!
We might be saying “I’m not like them, I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all I possess” (Lu. 18:12)
*We are not the judge of other people - what we consider to be faults might just be weakness (Jesus told Paul - “My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness.” 2 Cor 12:9
*We are called to profess the love of God & His forgiveness - we should be telling people, “You are fearfully & wonderfully made & you are precious to God & He has created you to be His treasured possession.”
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