And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him. 1 John 4:16

There are times in one’s life that we feel alone and unloved. We may ask “Does anyone really care?” Even for the child of God, feelings of loneliness and lovelessness are not foreign. The feelings of loneliness and desire for greater love, appreciation, and acceptance battle for prominence in our thoughts or a stake hold in our mind. God created us to be nurtured in fellowship and grow in His love. Sometimes the difficulties of life, the disappointments in relationship, and the delusions of grandeur leave us empty and feeling alone and unloved. The scripture passage teaches us that “God is love.” All that God is, and all that He does, is love. He loved us and sent His Son to die for us that we might live with Him in heaven for all eternity. “Greater love hath no man…than a man lay down his life for his friends” (Jn 15:13). At Calvary, Christ knew the Father’s great love, even while He suffered and died for the sin of the world. God’s love does not protect us from pain and suffering but carries us through the troubles, trials, and temptations that we may know “the breath, and length, and depth and height” (Eph 4:17) of His love. In the difficulties we face, when we are perplexed by life’s problems, we can look within and find sorry, or we can lift our eyes towards heaven to the Maker and Creator of all things, who is God (Ps 121). It is in Him that we find help and hope. It is in Him that we find love, for “God is love.” Love is a choice and “he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God.” My friend, “dwelleth in love” that the love of God may overshadow you, overcome you, and overwhelm you to proclaim with all the saints of old, “we have known and believed the love that God hath for us.” God’s love is a daily choice. In all you do in life, “above all things put on love, which is the bond of perfection” (Col 3:14). Father, thank You for You love and the peace of God that rules our hearts through faith in Jesus Christ our Lord. In the blessed Name of Jesus. Amen.

That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God. Eph 3:17-19

I pray that you were encouraged and strengthened in your gathering with the saints and worship unto the Lord on this pass Lord’s Day. I pray that you are continually encouraged in you walk of faith throughout this week. This scripture passage is filled with encouragement for the child of God to continue to live by faith. It causes us to think the love of Christ that saved us and now keeps us, that we consider the dimensions of His love. God is love and His love extends and reaches in every direction possible. His love continues forever. It is without beginning or end. His love is unchanging, unstoppable, uncontainable, and undeniable to accomplish the plan and purposes of God (Is 55:11). “The breath” of His love is as broad as all humanity “for God so loved the world” (Jn 3:16), and the “length” of God’s love has no date of origin and is always present. His love knows no “depth” for Christ “first descended into the lower parts of the earth” before He “ascended far above all the heavens” (Eph 4:9). His love reaches deeper that the bottomless pit of our sin to forgive, all our misery to comfort, all our pain to heal, and lower than our lowest low to catch us when we fall. His love extends beyond the heights of heaven as the flood waters surpassed the tops of the mountains in the days of Noah (Gen 7:19), His love scales above the highest of our sins. The prayer of the Holy Spirit is for “all saints” to know “the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge…be filled with all the fullness of God.” My friend, the love of Christ is beyond all our comprehension, but it is all for the child of God to enjoy and “dwell in your hearts by faith.” In the times when you may not see His love, show it. In times when you may not feel His love, share it. Then your faith will grow “to know the love of Christ…with all the fullness of God.” Father, thank You for Your love that is “able to do exceeding abundantly above all we ask or think” (Eph 4:20). In the blessed Name of Jesus. Amen.

For the hope which is laid up for you in heaven, whereof ye heard before in the word of the truth of the gospel. Col 1:5

We live in troubled times. The news media and social media are filled with stories of contention and unrest in politics, communities, schools, marketplaces, and families are not excluded. At every turn in life there is some sort of conflict, disturbance, threat of disease, sickness, illness, suffering, loss of jobs, loss of life, and even loss of hope. The certainty of changing circumstance can leave a person with a sense of hopelessness and dim outlook for the future. The scripture passage reminds us that the child of God has a hope that is beyond this world and beyond this life. It is a “hope which is laid up for you in heaven.” It is the “hope” for every child of God through faith in Jesus Christ. He paid the debt of sin for the whole world that “whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life” (Jn 3:16) and be with Him in a new home in heaven. He has promised not to leave us hopeless in this chaotic world of constant change and uncertainty but receive us to Himself to live in glory. It is a hope founded “in the word of truth of the gospel.” God’s word leads us into everlasting life, life full of joy, and hope for the future. The psalmist writes for us that we may know joy that is ours and the hope of living in His eternal presence. “Thou wilt shew me the path of life: in Thy presence is fulness of joy; at Thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore” (Ps 16:11). It is “Christ in you, the hope of glory” (Col 1:27) that fills our hearts with anticipation and excites us everyday to look to heaven “for the hope which is laid up for you.” My friend, be strong and of good courage. Live each day in the presence of God, for the pleasure of God, and on the promises of God. Then you will see the pains and troubles of this world “will grow strangely dim, in the light of His glory and grace” (Baptist Hymnal, 320). Father, thank You for the hope of eternity that fills me with “joy unspeakable and full of glory” (1 Pet 1:8). I will rejoice and be glad in the salvation that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. In the blessed Name of Jesus. Amen.