The Love of God

"What could God give us to enjoy that would prove Him most loving? There is only one possible answer: Himself! If He withholds Himself from our contemplation and companionship, no matter what else He gives us, He is not loving." -John Piper

Have you ever wondered if God really loves you? Have you ever "felt" during certain periods or at certain times that maybe He wasn't loving you the same or maybe at all? Do you ever wonder if something you do might change that love? Is it hard for you to grasp the reality of His love?

I think that as humans we have all had our moments of weakness when it comes to believing in the love of God. We can read countless verses and yet there seems to be something within us that makes us believe that somehow He really doesn't, or that He is far off. At TrueNorth (the HS ministry of CBC) we have been reading through the Psalms and boy has it opened up my eyes to this truth, GOD IS LOVE...and that my friends is a fact! The book of 1 John is a great reminder of this, in fact 1 John 4:16 says, "And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him." Once we grasp that reality we can have freedom from the captivity our feelings hold us in! Our feelings come from deep within our hearts and as we know, from Scripture, our hearts are wicked and deceitful (Jeremiah 17:9) and consistently lead us astray; in fact Solomon in Proverbs 4 exhorts us to "guard our heart"...not guard it from the world, but guard it in the sense that it could easily cause us to stumble and fall. In our moments of weakness where our feelings are telling us that God doesn't love us because we don't "feel" the warm tingly fuzzies, the closeness of His presence, or whatever longing you may be needing, we need to remind ourselves of this foundational fact..GOD IS LOVE!

Do you realize that God has never and will never love you more than He does right now??!!? He loves you with infinite greatness today, as much as He ever could, and He always has and always will. In fact God loved you WHILE YOU WERE A SINNER; we read in Romans 5:8, "But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us." That is soooo encouraging! Think about that for a moment; the greatest act of love in all of history was accomplished because God loved YOU (if you are His) while you were a sinner! And His love that compelled Him to the cross was that same love that loves you two months after you are saved, fifteen years later, and the day you enter into His presence...it NEVER EVER CHANGES. Nothing you do, say or don't do or say is going to change His love for you! That is another truth you can mediate on and believe me when we start to think about the reality of that it blows our minds!! Romans 8:38-39 says, "For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons,[m] neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord." Do you really believe that?! Do you really believe that NOTHING in this world or within you can EVER separate you from His love?? This is the Truth of the Bible!

And lastly, John Piper asked a rather good question, "Do you feel more loved when God makes much of you or do you feel more loved when God at the cost of His Son allows you to make much of Him?" If you notice, it is in times of you realizing God's glory, His majesty, your dependence on Him and when you make much of Him in those times that you find more joy in the love He has for you, in fact it probably overflows. In our lowest moments we often see God's grace at a greater level and find so much peace in the love He has always had and will continue to have for us, His kids!

So remember, "In Himself, God is love; through Him, love is manifested, and by Him, love is defined."