Your Daily Devotional for August 16, 2006

 

August 16, 2006

 

The Love of Our Father

by Dr. Paul Chappell

 

 

“Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not. Beloved, now are we the sons of God…”

 

1 John 3:1-2a

 

Friend, as we come to God’s Word today, let’s notice what the middle of verse one says, “…that we should be called the sons of God.” Have you ever stopped to realize how special that phrase actually is? Not everyone is called a son of God!

 

In John 8:44, Jesus tells the Pharisees, “Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.” He calls these hypocritical Pharisees the children of the devil! Praise the Lord we believers are His children, not the devil’s! Galatians 3:26 says, “For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus.”

 

Someone once said, “Salvation from start to finish is an expression of God’s love.” At the beginning, God loved us enough to die for us and grant us salvation. Then, throughout our Christian life, He loves us enough to forgive us when we sin and to restore our fellowship with Him. Thank God that He not only loves you enough to save you, but that He still loves you today!

 

Also, notice the first part of verse one, “…what manner of love…” It’s as if John is saying “Notice what kind of love with which Jesus loved us.” Jesus didn’t only love us, but He loved us with a love that could never be explained. What kind of love would endure unbearable pain and torture for people who hated Him?

 

Aren’t you glad that Christ didn’t have a normal kind of love? “Earthly” love would have stopped at the cross. Would you go through all the agony and humiliation that Christ went through for your enemies? Would you die a cruel death so that they could live in peace? Most of the time, we don’t even say hello to our enemies, let alone die for them!

 

Years ago, there was a young girl whose face had been badly disfigured by a fire. She was taken by train to a town where she was to attend a special school. Waiting at the terminal, she watched as the superintendent of the school greeted the other girls with a hug and a kiss on the cheek. After a long time she approached the superintendent and said, “Please mister, I know I am not pretty like the other girls, but would you mind hugging me? You don’t have to kiss me.” The superintendent then reached down and hugged and kissed that little girl.

 

Even when we were unlovely, God sent His only Son Jesus Christ to earth to die for our sins. We have a loving God! How loving are you? God loved those around Him even though they spat on Him and mocked Him! He even asked God to forgive them! We should love even our enemies so that they can see the love of Christ through us and come to know Him! Determine right now that you are going to put a smile on your face and show the love of God to even your enemies today!

---

================================================
THIS IS AN AUTOMATED MESSAGE PLEASE DO NOT REPLY
================================================
Manage your online subscriptions at
http://www.dailyintheword.org/email/user-login.aspx

To Unsubscribe from this list please follow this link
http://www.dailyintheword.org/email/user-unsubscribe.aspx?s=4159&l=1