God is Love
At the time of this writing it is February 14 th , St. Valentine’s Day. I did me a lot of thinkin’ (with the Lord’s leading) about this thing called love and how it might apply to a bunch of us cowboys and rednecks. Now I know what you’re thinkin—cowboys ain’t much into showin’ all that love caring, and affection stuff. But what about a different love? An awesome love? What about God’s love? Well, let’s have a look at how we ought to think about God’s love.
How much does God love us? With arms stretched out, we teach our kids to say, “This much!”
In John 3:16 Jesus says, “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that
whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.“ (nasb)
How then shall we love? A good place to start off is lookin’ to what Jesus said in the gospel of Luke, 10:27 , “‘YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART , AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND.’ ….’YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.” That’s red letters in my Bible. Red means Jesus said it, and here, He was quoting Old Testament book of Deuteronomy. I count 49 red Jesus said “love’s” in my Bible. From Genesis to Revelation, I count 348 “love’s.” GOD IS LOVE!
God desires for us to join Him in that love! If we don’t know love, then we don’t know God. If we don’t know God then we don’t know love! God had John to explain it in 1 John 4:7-16:
7 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves is born of God
and knows God.
8 The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love .
9 By this the love of God was manifested in us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the
world so that we might live through Him.
10 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.
11 Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.
12 No one has seen God at any time; if we love one another, God abides in us, and His love is perfected in us.
13 By this we know that we abide in Him and He in us, because He has given us of His Spirit.
14 We have seen and testify that the Father has sent the Son to be the Savior of the world.
15 Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God.
16 We have come to know and have believed the love which God has for us. God is love, and the
one who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. (nasb)
Okay, if we know God we have love. God’s love is to be shared with others. Don’t hide it.
One of the things Jesus said in the red letters was “love your enemies.” And He told us to pray for them. And if we love them, we have to forgive them.
Some of y’all are sayin’ whoa there Preacher! “I can’t possibly love that (insert name, be kind), especially after what he done to me and mine! Jesus specifically said in Luke 6:27-28, “But I say to you who hear, love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.”(nasb) There’s been many a “good” Christian who couldn’t or wouldn’t do that one.
If you ride for Christ, there must be love. Now, if someone has wronged you in a deal then you would want to be careful about what you do there in the future. But don’t hold hate for another. It will just keep festering up ‘til it explodes. And that don’t agree with God’s love. Instead, we are to love others as Christ loves us!
Choose Jesus, choose life and let your light shine! And find a Bible believin’ church where you “fit in” and know, grow, and follow Christ! Tell others! See y’all at church and keep PRAYIN’ for HIS HARVEST! Invite Him to bring forth the Rain! Amen!