Food for Thought1 John 4:16 God is Love
Food for Thought
An all-creatures.org Guide to Kingdom Living

By Marni Montanez

1 John 4:16 New Living Translation

16. We know how much God loves us, and we have put our trust in his love. God is love, and all who live in love live in God, and God lives in them.

As human beings it is sometimes difficult to understand God’s love for us.

Our painful experiences seem to defy what a loving God would allow to happen.  We fall into emotional crises’ of depression, anxiety, fear etc...that leads to desperation and feeling abandoned by God.  

So what is the love of God?  It is something that is given unconditionally without reservation.   It is not hidden nor forced. God’s love is immeasurable and boundless.  

Ephesians 3:17-19 (NKJV)

17. that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love,

18. may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height—

19. to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

It is an offering of forgiveness and says “even when you go through hard times, I will walk every inch of the way with you, sharing the tears you shed and feeling the blows that come your way.”  It is a promise that He will use the moments of our suffering on earth for good; to grow us and make us strong so that we can fulfill the plans and purposes He created us for.  

To trust the love of God, one must first believe that He loves us.  When we believe He loves us, we open ourselves up to being vulnerable to His mighty works within us of healing and maturing.

God is love...meaning He is the embodiment and epitome of love.  Love is strong and able to minister into the very depth of our darkness;  it is active and responsive to every need of His children.   We need to hang on to love at all times and this can be challenging when overwhelmed by the cares of the day.  

God is love and we must stay within the umbrella of that love

Challenge:  When you feel dirty, ugly or unloved, go back to the bible and find the verses that speak of God’s love for us.  His love will carry us through the darkest times

God bless

Marni

Go on to: 1 John 4:18 No Fear in Love
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lamb-rightThe purpose of this series is to encourage people to live as loving, compassionate, and peacemaking children of God: Jesus tells us to pray, "Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven." (Matthew 6:10) God tells us through Micah (6:8), "He has told you, O man, what is good; And what does the Lord require of you But to do justice, to love kindness, And to walk humbly with your God." And we know from Revelation 21:4 that there will be no more mourning, or crying, or pain, or death. Thus, Christian living requires us to set the standards of these conditions here on earth for our fellow human beings, and for the other animals, as a witness to the rest of the world. To do otherwise is not Christian.