GOD IS LOVE

SCRIPTURE OF INTEREST

“And we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him” (1 John 4:16 MEV)

MY COMMENTARY

GOD’S PROGRAM OF LOVE

Part One

Have you ever asked yourself that one very important question, “Does God really love me?” The only reason you would ask yourself that question is because you see yourself in a certain way. You probably would ask yourself another follow up question, “How could God really love me?” As far as you are concerned you are simply screwed up and full of mistakes. Anything you touch becomes shambles. You struggle with anxiety and you have problems sleeping. It seems you can’t do anything right. In fact you will go as far as to say “How can God love anyone like me with all my failures and confusion?” Now this is a confession of many people. But the question that arises out of this is, “Is it true that God cannot love someone like this?”

Everything about our lives might be true, that things are simply out of whack and out of sync. It could be true that you have failed in life and made many mistakes. It could also be true that frustration and anger have been the rule of the day. Yes, you could come to that conclusion because you probably have felt for quite some time that God has not come to the rescue, therefore His love is not real and He doesn’t care. Again, is it true that God does not care and He doesn’t love you?

Let’s look at the most reliable source that can assist us in this dilemma. It’s called the Bible. Now we are not going to look at other books. However, there are some good books on this subject but we must rely on the only source that gives us excellent information on who God is. So I want to share with you one element of God’s character that overshadows everything else. And that is God is love.

LOVE IS NOT GOD

One thing that we must look at briefly and make the point very clear that love is not God. The thought today would make it to be true that it is love that is God and so love becomes an idol. This means that we then define love. Love is a word that carries the idea of simply being nice to each other and that is all that matters. There is no responsibility attached to it. We do not hold anyone accountable for what they do or what they believe. It simply tells me that we accept each other wherever we are without any warnings of danger that they might face or what the consequences might be for the actions people might take. We simply are nice. Now, I am not saying we should not be nice to people but there is more to the picture.

GOD IS LOVE

“Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God, and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. Anyone, who does not love does not know God, for God is love” (1 John 4:7, 8 MEV). One thing that is very clear in this passage is that “God is love”. And because of our relationship with Him we should love one another as well. Love is one element of God’s character that is foundational to everything that God is. God is also holy, righteous and just. So, in holiness, He is loving, in righteousness He is loving, and in justice He is loving.

He is the origin of love, thus He is rich in love and compassion. Jesus demonstrated this when He fed the five thousand in Matthew 14:14 MEV ‘Jesus went ashore and saw a great assembly. And He was moved with compassion toward them, and He healed their sick.” Later in the feeding of the four thousand in Matthew 15:32 we have these words, “Then Jesus called His disciples to Him and said, ‘I have compassion on the crowd, because they have remained with Me now for three days and have nothing to eat. I will not send them away hungry, lest they faint on the way‘.” God is our excellent source of love and so if we really want to know about love we must go to His Word. Listen, God also shares His love with us according to Romans 5:5 MEV “And hope does not disappoint, because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.” Beautiful!

GOD LOVES YOU

Wherever we are in life God loves us. God knows exactly every detail of our lives but that does not change who He is. God is still “love”. Even if you don’t care about Him He stills loves you and me.

Scripture points out in John 3:16 MEV “For God so loved the world . . .” that means me and you. Jeremiah 31:3 MEV “Indeed, I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore with lovingkindness I have drawn you.” God is saying to you and me that His love is drawing us to Himself so that we would have a relationship with Him. He loves you my friend.

One last thing that I want to say is that even though we mess up and our lives may be in complete shambles one thing is for certain that, God loves you in the midst of your world. Listen to this, according to Romans 8:35 and 39 MEV God is saying this to you and me, “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword . . . For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, neither angels nor principalities nor powers, neither things present nor things to come, neither height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Whatever we do in life, nothing can make God stop loving you. You and I are the reason why Jesus came and showed His love for us. My prayer is that you will discover of how special and valued you really are to God. He loves you. Next week Part two in this series.

Q AND A

Question: Is Judaism considered among the largest religions in the world?

Answer: Judaism is the 10^th largest religion in the world with approximate adherents of between 14.5 to 17.4 million. The largest concentrations are in the United States, Israel, France and the former Soviet Union. And about a third of the Jews living in the United States live in New York City.

Historically speaking, Judaism is made of three main branches: Orthodox, Reform and Conservative.  Orthodox Judaism began about the second century B.C. with the development of the Talmud – the authoritative body of Jewish tradition – and remained the only form of Jewish practice until the 18^th century, when Reform Judaism was developed, in part, as an attempt to modernize Judaism. Conservative Judaism arose in America in the 19^th century as a middle ground between the other two branches.

When it comes to core beliefs, each branch of Judaism differs. Orthodox Jews believe that God is spirit that He is personal and that man is perfected through observance of the Law of Moses. They believe that the Torah – the teaching of the Five Books of Moses – is truth. For Conservative Jews, the concept of God varies, but He is generally considered impersonal. They believe man is basically good but can achieve perfection through enlightenment. They see the Bible – including the books that make the Torah – as the word of God and man. Reformed Jews allow for different interpretations of the idea of God. They believe man is basically good but can maximize his potential through education and other means. And they consider the Bible a strictly human document.