God's love Archives - Page 4 of 5

Everlasting Love {No Matter What Monday}

April 24, 2017 by Marissa Leave a Comment

A few years ago, I watched my wedding video with my daughter. She loved seeing my dress and veil, and she was riveted by all the pre-ceremony footage of my bridesmaids and mom bustling around me, helping me with my makeup and carrying my dress’s train. At one point, she turned to me and asked, “Is Daddy going to be in this video?”

God’s Word tells us that the human institution of marriage points to something greater—the love Jesus Christ has for His bride, the church. But often, our view of Christ’s love for us is marred by our experience with marriage: the sting of unfulfilled longings in singleness, the pain of broken promises in divorce, the end of marriage in death, or the unmet expectations in intact marriages.

God’s love is not like human love. I want my young, romantically-inclined daughter to understand that there is One who has loved her perfectly and will never stop. In Jeremiah 31:3b, the Lord says:

“I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore I have continued my faithfulness to you.”

Yes, my daughter’s daddy eventually made an appearance in our wedding video. But more importantly, her Heavenly Father is present with her, even in her most unlovable moments, pouring out His never-ending love and continuing faithfulness.

There is a love that lasts forever. The good news of the gospel is that there’s nothing you can do to earn this love and nothing you can do to lose it. Christ gave His life to make you His bride. His love is freely and faithfully given to you.

No matter what you face this week, God loves you with an everlasting love.

God Proved His Love for You {No Matter What Monday}

March 20, 2017 by Marissa Leave a Comment

Arkansas basketball fans will never forget that night. It’s one of those “I remember where I was when . . .” moments. I was a senior in high school, riding home from an orchestra rehearsal. I listened on the radio as the Arkansas men’s basketball team beat Duke to win the 1994 NCAA National Championship. That year, we stood on solid ground as we raved about our team. It was proven fact: we were the best.

Have you ever read about God’s love for you, but the words felt hollow? Maybe as empty as the boastful claims of a losing team? We sometimes wonder if He really loves us. Our circumstances don’t always appear to reflect His love—at least not the kind of love we would choose!

And yet, God’s Word tells us that God doesn’t just say He loves us. He’s proved it.

“In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.” (1 John 4:10)

Here’s how you know God’s love for you: before you ever loved Him, He sent His Son to be the propitiation for your sin. But what is propitiation, and what does it have to do with love?

Propitiation refers to Christ’s turning away God’s wrath from us and taking it on Himself. Christ laid His life over ours like a big shield, taking what we deserve because of our sin. Being our propitiation, our wrath-shield, came at a high price. The sinless One took the punishment our sin deserved. That’s true love.

No matter what you face this week, God proved His love for you in Christ.

What’s your #NoMatterWhatMonday? Join me on Instagram and use the hashtag to remind us all of a truth or a verse that you’re clinging to this week. I’d love to see your #NoMatterWhatMonday!

His Steadfast Love Endures Forever {No Matter What Monday}

August 8, 2016 by Marissa 1 Comment

“Would you still love me if I murdered someone?” my son asked recently, and it wasn’t the first time. He loves to push the hypothetical limits and find out whether my love would survive. My answer is always the same: “I love you because you’re my child. Because you’re mine. Nothing will ever change that. You’ll always be my son, so I will always love you.”

I often tell my kids that I don’t love them because they obey or get good grades or treat each other kindly. I love them because they are my children. Because nothing can change their status as my children, nothing can change my love for them. They didn’t earn it, so they can’t lose it.

I desperately want my children to understand this concept so I can explain that God’s love is similar. Except God’s love is even better—it is perfect, and mine is not! I will always love my children, but I don’t always act lovingly toward them. I get impatient. I get angry. I lose my temper. I fail to keep my promises when I get busy, forget, or change my mind.

God loves us perfectly all the time. His love for us is rooted in our status as His children, not on our behavior or accomplishments. We could never earn His love. Christ earned it for us, and He died for us so we could share in His inheritance as children of God. Because we didn’t earn God’s love, we can’t lose it.

His love will never fail you. Nothing you do will ever change or lessen God’s perfect love for you. God’s love is a solid rock to cling to when trials come.

Psalm 100:5: For the Lord is good; his steadfast love endures forever, and his faithfulness to all generations.

No matter what you face this week, His steadfast love for you endures forever.

Christ Died for Us {No Matter What Monday}

August 1, 2016 by Marissa Leave a Comment

Most of us will never face the excruciating decision of whether or not we will die to spare someone else’s life. But think with me for a moment: For whom would you die? A family member or close friend? If you were in the unimaginable situation of choosing between your life or your child’s life, would you die for your child? There are loved ones I would die for, but I have to admit, the list for is short.

What if a criminal broke into your home and stole all that you had. He robbed you blind, showing his disdain for you, your family, and your belongings. Then an even nastier criminal found him, dragged him to you, and gave you a choice: your life or his. Would you die for the one who hated you? What if the choice was between the criminal’s life or your child’s life? Would you sacrifice your son or daughter to spare the criminal? I wouldn’t.

But God did.

Romans 5:6-8: For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die—but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

While we were yet sinners and enemies of God, Christ died for us. We can confidently trust God’s love for us, because He proved it on a real day in history, when a real man who was also the Son of God bled and died to save us from God’s wrath. The Father did not spare His own Son, but gave Him up so His enemies could become His children (see Romans 8:32).

No matter what we face this week, we can trust God’s love is true, because Christ died for us.

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