For whether we live, we live unto the Lord; and whether we die, we die unto the Lord: whether we live therefore, or die, we are the Lord’s. Rom 14:8

A common phrase among our local community is “Who’s your people?” It is a way to identify and understand a person by kinship, community, and family history. It is a phrase based on relationship, and expectations may be set based on family’s history and influence in the community. For some, this may be a blessing or a curse. But no matter what the family history, it is whose we are. The scripture passage reminds us of whose we are. As a child of God, “we are the Lord’s.” We are His for eternity. Nothing can change that. Nothing and no one can separate us from His love. Though we are surrounded by things that are temporal, things that come and go, things that fade and fail, but life in Jesus Christ is eternal. When we sleep in death, we are still “in the Lord” (Philemon 16). When He returns in glory we will go to be “with the Lord” (1 Th 4:17) forever. For the child of God, eternity is settled. “Whether we live therefore, or die, we are the Lord’s.” We are the benefactors of God’s love and eternally adopted into His family. We are His children, joined to Him through Christ Jesus by witness of the Spirit of God “whereby we cry, Abba, Father” (Rom 8:15). My friend, you are loved with an eternal love. You are liberated from the bondage of sin with an eternal liberty and “the Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God” (Rom 8:16). What great hope we have for life today and for all eternity that “we are the Lord’s.” Father, thank You for Your eternal love and the liberty to love You, praise You, and adore You through Your Son Jesus Christ. He is the hope of glory and my eternal salvation. In the blessed Name of Jesus. Amen.

For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. John 3:16

There are great wonders in the world that exemplify the creative imagination and crafty innovations of man. Massive structures worthy of time and thought that remind us of the strength and will of man. These wonders are monuments to man’s determination for good and great self-achievement. Yet the wonder that excels them all is the wonder of God’s love. The scripture passage is popular among many well-known Bible verses and recited quite often in the gospel presentation. It is cited and often used as a support statement to strengthen an argument to win-over the loss or demonstrate that God cares. Far more than we could ever think or imagine, we find in this scripture passage the core of who God is and the great wonder of His Divine love. God more than cares for the world, “God so loved the world.” All that is within Him is love. He spared nothing to express His great love for the world which was perishing (Rom 8:32). God demonstrated “His own love towards us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Rom 5:8). God expressed “the breath, and length, and depth, and height” (Eph 4:17) of His inexhaustible love “that He gave His only begotten Son.” The wonderful gift of God’s love is “His only begotten Son.” The one and only Divine Son of the Father who is the “express image” (Heb 1:3) of God’s love. “For in Him dwells the fullness of the Godhead bodily” (Col 2:9). Christ Jesus was loved of the Father and demonstrated the Father’s love to the world through His obedience and death on the cross. My friend, God can do no more to demonstrate His love and express the love He has for you and I than “that He gave His only begotten Son.” His greatest desire for all mankind is “whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” Father, thank You for Your love and the wonderful gift of Your love through Jesus Christ, Your only begotten Son. In the blessed Name of Jesus. Amen.

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.