In Swaziland we have quiet time with the Lord every morning from 7 – 7:30. Many mornings I find myself sitting trying to fathom God’s love. In an attempt to understand how much the Lord really loves each and every one of us, I am continuously mind blown and left in awe in how great His love is.
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There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.
(John 15:13)
These words coming from the lips of Jesus at the last supper, the night before He was crucified on the cross, speaking to the apostles. There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. The following day Jesus gives His life. He gives His life for the world. Notice how it reads “for one’s friends,” plural. Not just one friend. But all friends. Jesus laid His life down for every single one of us. Not a single person skipped over. Continuing on…
You are my friends if you do what I command. (John 15:14)
We are invited to have a friendship with God. Not only is God our Father, but our friend. He calls us His friends whether we call Him our friend or not. Obeying God when He calls us to things both small and big help to manage that friendship and provide growth.
You didn’t choose me. I chose you. (John 15:16a)
Before the earth was created the Lord chose you and He chose me. Whether we choose God or not, He chooses us. He chose you before you were born. He chose you before you messed up. He chose you after you messed up. He chooses to clean up the mess for us because that’s the kind of dad He is. His love is so great that He will clean up any mess just to have a relationship with us.
This is my command: love each other. (John 15:17)
The Lord loves us more than we can imagine and has more than enough love to go around. In fact there’s enough love for us to have extra and even extra after that.
I truly don’t think that we will ever fully be able to fathom how great our God loves us. I just know that He does love us greatly and that’s a pretty good start. If you have questions or want to further chat it up about the love of God in your own faith, or if this is breaking news to you (woohoo!) and want to talk about it, email me [email protected] I’d love to chat with you!!
So I’ll leave you with this…
I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today or our worries about tomorrow – not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. No power in the sky above or in the earth below – indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed to us through Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:38)
