YOU ARE GREATLY LOVED BY THE LORD - PART 1

THURSDAY 15 SEPTEMBER 2022

To be loved by God is far better than life at its best. For me, living a thousand years on earth can still not be enough to fully grasp and cherish the love of God for me. No matter what your life looks like, I mean whether you are experiencing good health, honour, wealth, life's pleasures and luxury, or even if you are in state of discomfort, put simply, God loves you dearly. He demonstrated this love in Christ Jesus profusely. Imagine that He chose you in Christ, made you a royal priesthood, a holy nation and His own special possession, by calling you out of darkness into His marvellous light, so that you may declare His praises and manifest His virtues, perfections and excellence. Therefore, Christians should take pride in this truth because it is a great privilege to be loved, called, chosen and saved by God.

Reference: 2 Thessalonians 2:13-14 New Living Translation (NLT) "As for us, we can't help but thank God for you, dear brothers and sisters loved by the Lord. We are always thankful that God chose you to be among the first to experience salvation—a salvation that came through the Spirit who makes you holy and through your belief in the truth. He called you to salvation when we told you the Good News; now you can share in the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ."

When any person gives their life to Christ, it means that they have been saved. Now the Christian has come to believe the gospel and his heart is set at liberty to walk in the ways of the Spirit. So the above Scripture is letting us know that we can't be loved by the Lord without experiencing the transforming power of the gospel, by the working of the Spirit. So it was by the Spirit of God alone that our hearts become changed under the gospel, as we believed its truth. Moreover, to enjoy the truth of His love, we must continually align ourselves with the Word and meditate on it day and night (see Joshua 1:8 NIV).

Beloved, aside from yielding to the Word, you must aim to be rooted and grounded in the revelation of God's love and His delight in you. This was apostle Paul's desire according to His prayer for the Ephesians, which he presented before God successfully: "I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will empower you with inner strength through his Spirit. Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God's love and keep you strong. And may you have the power to understand, as all God's people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is. May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God" (Ephesians 3:16-19 NLT). "How do I get rooted and grounded in God's love?", Someone might ask.

We can live a life deeply filled, inundated or enveloped with God's love, by following the example of Christ, bearing in mind that He loved us and offered Himself as a sacrifice for us, a pleasing aroma to God (see Ephesians 5:2 NLT). Got it? One of the ways to follow Christ's example is this: Remember how He prayed without ceasing while on earth, thereby enjoying the presence of God and being filled with the Spirit on a regular basis. For beginners, you can start out by disciplining yourself to enjoy His presence through a daily prayer and worship commitment, and then intensify the commitment until you realise that you're growing strong in His love, which will in turn, overwhelm your heart with swollen joy from time to time.

Therefore, let's keep pursuing a dedicated and effective prayer life, which is a means by which God bigly enjoys us, shows us things to come and shines His face brightly on us, such that our hearts will keep bursting with His love always. Now you can understand that it is because of this love that God called you to salvation through faith so you can share in the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. Stay tuned for part 2. Shalom!

Scripture Reading - Psalm 36:7; Psalm 63:3; Ephesians 1:5-6; Galatians 2:20.

Guided Prayer: Dear Father in heaven, your love is sweeter than honey and fresh watermelon, even in its lowest form. It is the universal fascination of every human desire, in its purest form. No matter how the world changes around me, your unfailing love remains constant as my eloquent testimony because it always surrounds me, readily available to guide, instruct and uphold me wisely. Because of your unfailing love which is better than life itself, I'm being transformed from glory to glory and I grow stronger in faith. Therefore, my lips will always praise and honour you in all my ways, in Jesus' Name, Amen!