DAILY DEVOTIONAL FROM PASTOR WESLEY August 23, 2024
God’s Message to His Children
Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love. By this the love of God was manifested in us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world so that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has seen God at any time; if we love one another, God abides in us, and His love is perfected in us. By this we know that we abide in Him and He in us, because He has given us of His Spirit. We have seen and testify that the Father has sent the Son to be the Savior of the world. 1 John 4:7-14
Sometimes we hear so much about love in books, songs, and conversations that we begin to lose sight of its spiritual dimensions. Believers must remember that God’s love is of a much higher caliber—it is the starting point of our salvation. If He had not loved us first, we’d be destined for eternal condemnation rather than eternal life.
God revealed the extent of His love by sending His Son to die in our place. Jesus Christ became our substitute and bore God’s wrath for our sins so we could be forgiven and receive life everlasting.
But divine love extends even further. Not only are we pardoned forever, but God has also adopted us into His family (Ephesians 1:5). As His children we are loved, accepted, and cared for by our heavenly Father. Yet even this is not the full extent of His love. God has also made us co-heirs with His Son (Romans 8:17). Our inheritance is reserved for us in heaven, and one day when He returns to earth as King, we will one day rule with Christ in His kingdom.
Never let the world’s shallow concept of love rob you of the wonder of being a recipient of God’s divine love, which transforms us from enemies to heirs.
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