WHO’S YOUR ONE? Day 28

He Cares Deeply

“So the Lord said, “You cared about the plant, which you did not labor over and did not grow. It appeared in a night and perished in a night. But may I not care about the great city of Nineveh, which has more than a hundred and twenty thousand people who cannot distinguish between their right and their left, as well as many animals?””
‭‭Jonah‬ ‭4:10-11‬ ‭CSB‬‬

Jonah was one of the most successful evangelists in the Old Testament, and he was also the most upset about it. To Jonah’s frustration, God extended mercy to the wicked Ninevites when they repented. He cares deeply for those who do not know Him, and He cares immensely for your one and others you are sharing the gospel with. He does not desire a single person to perish and spend eternity away from Himself, including the vilest of humans. Never believe a person is too far gone to be wooed back into the loving arms of the Savior. We can trust God to work in a person’s heart so they will repent and turn to Him, like the people in Nineveh.

Who have you believed is too far gone from receiving Christ? Repent of this mindset and pray this person would come to know the Lord. (From “Who’s Your One?” Devotional, NAMB)

LOVE DEMANDED

“Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has seen God at any time. If we love one another, God abides in us, and His love has been perfected in us. By this we know that we abide in Him, and He in us, because He has given us of His Spirit. And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent the Son as Savior of the world. Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. And we have known and believed the love that God has for us. God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in him.” (1 John 4:11-16).

Those who are saved love God and love those made in His image.  Jesus summed up all the demands of God in that.

Love is about giving—of ourselves—our time, talent, and treasure.  Without this our claim is contradicted.

When I got saved, nobody had to beg me to attend worship, read God’s love letter—the Bible, converse with the Lover of my soul in prayer, tell others about Him, get busy serving Him, and give my tithes and offerings in response to His gift of love. How could I not after all God had done for me, and the love that Jesus showed?

The power of love will transform you, your church, and your community!  Nothing is more important!

LOVE DEMONSTRATED

“In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.” (1 John 4:9-10)

Our ideas of love often involve words—saying, “I love you,” writing a love note, sending a card, or singing a love song.  God has said that He loves us, but it goes beyond words.

Often we think of love as a special feeling we have—and doubtless God has an incredible feeling of compassion towards us, but it goes beyond a feeling.

Love is an action.  God did something—and the  giving of His Son is the indescribable demonstration!  We may be tempted at times to doubt God’s love, when we face trials and tragedies, but I ask you to look at Calvary and you cannot question God’s love!

That love was not given to the deserving, but to the damnable.  He loved us when we did not love Him!

Many try to make Allah the same as Yahweh.  They are not.  Islam’s god loves those who love him.  He gives his love to those who earn it.  Christianity’s God loves all—even the infidel.

He has paid the price for our sins. That is the meaning of “propitiation.”  It declares God’s wrath that we merit has been appeased because of Christ’s death in our place.

Although God loves all people, those who are His children receive a special love.   “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. Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is.” (1 John‬ ‭3:1-2‬)

LOVE DEFINED

“Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. He who does not love does not know God, for God is love.” (1 John 4:7-8).

Since the world doesn’t really know what true love is all about—what they usually call love is actually lust—we need to be sure we understand it.  There were three basic Greek words used in the first century to define love.

The first was eros—from which we get the word “erotic,” which has to do with sensual, sexual expressions of love.  While it is true that our world often engages in this kind of love in an impure and self-centered way—it is not something dirty, but was the gift of God for a husband and wife to enjoy intimacy with one another.

Another word for love is phileo—from which we get the name of our city “Philadelphia”—meaning city of brotherly love.  This is seen in friendship, loyalty and charity—and to that extent it is a good thing.

The word used here, however, is “agape” and that is God’s kind of love—unselfish and sacrificial—given for the sake of another.  Only the believer can know and give such love.  It is the presence of the Spirit of God within the child of God that enables him or her to exhibit the fruit of love.

May it be abundantly seen in our lives today!

THE LOVE OF GOD

“You’d think that people would have had enough of silly love songs
I look around me and I see it isn’t so
Some people want to fill this world with silly love songs
And what’s wrong with that?  I’d like to know.”

So sang Paul McCartney in 1976.  He should know about silly love songs because one of the first ones he did with the Beatles had these brilliant lyrics,

“She loves you, yeah, yeah, yeah
She loves you yeah, yeah, yeah
She loves you, yeah, yeah, yeah.”

It was released one day before my eighth birthday, and was the Beatles best-selling single—and they sold a lot of records!

Love songs will continue to be written and recorded because love is a fundamental human desire.  All of us want to give and receive love.  Though sin has twisted and warped love’s meaning and expression, love—in its pure form—is nevertheless connected with our Creator.  Plainly, Scripture says, “God is love” (1 John 4:8b).

That was a radical concept in the ancient world.  Their gods were full of hate, jealousy, lust, and deception—taking advantage of and toying with humans for their own selfish whims.  The Bible shouts, “No!  God is nothing like that!”  This week, we will learn more of the love of God and see the difference that makes in our relationship with Him and with others.