Some news is so good that we desire to tell it over and over again. Suppose a young lady gets engaged. Does she usually announce it only once? Or if our team wins the world series or the championship, do we only tell it once? Not usually. No rather, we broadcast the joyous news over and over and over again. John the apostle gives a wonderful example of this repetition of good news in today's verse found in the book of First John in chapter four and verse sixteen. He wrote:
And we have known and believed the love that God has to us. God is love; and he that dwells in love dwells in God, and God in him.
Throughout the book of First John, John has been sharing with us about how much God loves us. Like a loving spiritual father, he is directing us to the knowledge that God truly loves His kids. He loves us, and today John shares two aspects for realizing that love. First, he declares “we have known”. The idea to to know by experience. How many times in our lives have we experienced the love of God? If we think about it long enough, there have been many times. Times when advantage and protection came out of no where, and we didn't really know who it was who provided them for us. Times when we experienced pain or suffering and there seemed to be a comfort that was invisible. As John, we too have known the love of God if we think about it long enough, but if we are having a difficult time recalling, simply realize the fact that God allowed us to exist in the first place is a very loving act.
Secondly John says, “believed the love that God has to us.” This is the element to fellowship with God that many omit. They simply do not believe. They do not believe that God loves them, and they do not believe God cares. Oh, they may be able to recall an event or situation where it seems that an answer came out of no where, but this is usually credited to happenstance or fortuitous occurrences rather than a loving God who cares deeply for His children. But the truth is stated in the next part of this verse, “God is love”, and He does care for every person who lives and has lived on this Earth.
Finally for our benefit, John says once again, “he that dwells in love, dwells in God, and God in him.” This is the determining factor as to whether we are in fellowship with God. Are we loving - Not only to ourselves, but to others? Is our very makeup, our core being, our inner self concerned as much for others as we are for ourselves? Do we spend as much time caring for the needs of others as we do our own? If so, God's love is manifested throughout our lives, and if not, perhaps we should visit the pages and verses within this book over and over and over again until we know and believe the love that God has to us.
Next time we shall look at how we can have boldness when the day of judgment comes, so read ahead, and we shall join together then.
Until tomorrow...there is more...
Look for the new devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation” in all major bookstore sites, www.amazon.com ; www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at www.mrzlc.com/bookstore
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