Your Daily Devotional for December 29, 2006

 

December 29, 2006

 

 

God Loves You

by Dr. Paul Chappell

 

 

“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. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.”

 

John 3:16-17

 

 

 

It was once said that if God had a refrigerator, your picture would be on it. If God had a wallet, your photo would be in it. He sends you flowers every spring and a sunrise every morning. When you want to talk, He listens. He could live anywhere in the universe, yet He chose your heart. And don’t forget the Christmas gift He sent you in Bethlehem!

 

God loves us so much! He waits for us to talk to Him every day, and He wants to give us so many blessings! God showed His love by sending His Son to die on Calvary. He paid the ultimate price when He gave up His only Son to come to earth and to die on a rugged cross for us. Philippians 2:5-8 says, “Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.”

 

No other sacrifice would have met the requirements to pay for sin. Because God is holy and just, He demanded a perfect sacrifice. The only perfect sacrifice was Jesus Christ. He was the only one who could pay for the sins of the world.

 

By paying for this sin, He not only provided forgiveness for our sins, but also a home in Heaven for eternity. Revelation 22:1-2 says, “And he shewed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb. In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.”

 

Heaven is a wonderful place. But even more than providing a home in Heaven for us, He also saved us from eternal separation from Him in the Lake of Fire. Revelation 20:15 says, “And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.”

 

God loves us so much that He offers to spare us from eternal torment and separation from Him. We deserve to be punished for disobeying God and sinning against Him. We deserve whatever punishment God demands! Yet, Christ came and died so we do not have to go to Hell. We can spend eternity with Him in Heaven if we accept His gift of salvation! What a loving God!

 

Friend, God loves us so much that He does not want us to go to Hell. If you are saved, thank Him for sending His Son to die in our place. Also, we should have that same love for those who have not accepted Christ. We should tell them of Christ and warn them of the punishment for sin! If God loved us so much that He was willing to send His only Son, we should love others enough to tell them of God’s free gift of salvation.

---

================================================
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