For the past few days, I have been thinking on the Father and His great love for us. I woke up this morning with a song on my heart:
How deep the Father’s love for us
How vast beyond all measure
That He should give His only Son
To make a wretch His treasure
How Deep the Father’s Love For Us (Stuart Christopher Townend)
You should go on YouTube and listen to the rest of that song when you get a chance. It blows my mind to think on how much the Father, my Abba, loves me. I want to love like that, but I can’t. The only way I can love like Him is by Him. We love as well as we can, but we don’t know how to love apart from Him.
Real love is sacrificial:
John 3:16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. (NKJV)
Why would He do that? What could possibly make Him want to give His only Son as a sacrifice to die for us so that He could raise Him again to dwell in earthen vessels?
I’ll tell you why. He wanted you and I to have a right relationship with Him so that He could be our Father and we could be His kids and be with Him forever. It was the only way. Man had blown it more than once, so He came up with a better way. He gave us a choice: choose to accept Jesus Christ as Savior, or not. Choose to have a relationship with Him forever, or not. Choose to love Him, or not.
Real love doesn’t require anything back:
My husband has this wonderful picture story of the Father and us. Remember back to when your children were babies. You hold this tiny being in your hands, this beautiful little creation and you love it. It doesn’t have to do anything for you to love it, you just do because it is yours. That is how the Father sees you! Nothing you have done or could do would ever make Him stop loving you. When your kids are disobedient you don’t kick them to the curb. Nor does He.
Most of us read the story of the prodigal son and focus on the son. Look at the father! He saw his boy coming back to him and he was SO happy that he RAN to him! “Yes! My boy is coming! My boy is coming!” That is love guys! I want to love like that!
Real love enjoys intimacy:
Our Holy Father loves us and He loves our company. He wants to fellowship with us. He wants to know all about us and for us to know all about Him. He wants to share deep things with us.
He loved the children of Israel so very much that He chose to lead them out of captivity in ways that they would know He was there: the cloud by day and the fire by night! Holy God chose to dwell in these and now in us! That is love.
Our oldest son shares how his son, Benny, will come up to him and slip his little hand is Luis’ big one and say, “C’mon Dad. Let’s hang out.” Your Holy Father wants to hang out with you, too! Just as Benny loves being around His dad and vice versa, so it is with the Lord. We are His kids when we accept His Son, Jesus as Savior. Children of the Most High God! I want to encourage you to seek Him out this week just because you love Him and want to be with Him. Share your heart with Him and listen as He shares His with you. Your Daddy loves you.
1 John 3:1 Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed upon us, that we should be called children of God! Therefore the world does not know us, because it did not know Him.
(Picture is Ron and Gabi snowshoeing near our house.)
