Thought for the Day
August 20, 2008
Thought for the Day

The love of God is one of the great realities of the universe, a pillar upon which the hope of the world rests.  But it is a personal, intimate thing too.  God does not love populations, He loves people.  He loves not masses, but men, women and children.  He loves personally and we will experience His love as we develop our relationship with Him, (A. W. Tozer, adapted)
God's Living Word

This is how we've come to understand and experience love: Christ sacrificed his life for us. This is why we ought to live sacrificially for our fellow believers, and not just be out for ourselves. If you see some brother or sister in need and have the means to do something about it but turn a cold shoulder and do nothing, what happens to God's love? It disappears. And you made it disappear. When We Practice Real Love  My dear children, let's not just talk about love; let's practice real love. This is the only way we'll know we're living truly, living in God's reality. It's also the way to shut down debilitating self-criticism, even when there is something to it. For God is greater than our worried hearts and knows more about us than we do ourselves.  And friends, once that's taken care of and we're no longer accusing or condemning ourselves, we're bold and free before God! We're able to stretch our hands out and receive what we asked for because we're doing what he said, doing what pleases him. Again, this is God's command: to believe in his personally named Son, Jesus Christ. He told us to love each other, in line with the original command. As we keep his commands, we live deeply and surely in him, and he lives in us. And this is how we experience his deep and abiding presence in us: by the Spirit he gave us. (1 John 3:16-24, The Message)
Today we are reminded that God's love is personal, real and focused on us as we learn to turn to Him, trusting that He really does care about what happens in our life.  The sad fact is that many of us only know God at a distance, never really developing a personal prayer time or time in His Word.  We desperately want to be close to Him, but something is not working.

Max Lucado, made this observation about God's love.  Take a look and let the Holy Spirit speak to your heart.

"God's love for you is not dependent on how you look, how you think, how you act, or how perfect you are.  His love is absolutely nonnegotiable and nonreturnable.  Ours is a faithful God."

"No matter what you do, no matter how far you fall, no matter how ugly you become, God has a relentless, undying , unfathomable, unquenchable love from which you cannot be separated.  Ever!"

"Run to Jesus.  Jesus wants you to go to him.  He wants to become the most important person in your life, the greatest love you'll ever know.  He wants you to love him so much that there's no room in your heart and in your life for sin.  Invite him to take up residence in your heart and you will experience the greatest love the world has ever known".

Have a great day with Jesus and Be There!
Building Relationships for eternity....one person at a time
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