As we enter the Christmas season, I am once again struck by the awesomeness of God’s incredible love for us manifested in the Christmas story. In the most profound display of true agape love ever to occur, God sent His most precious gift to live, die and rise again for broken humanity – Himself in the person of Jesus Christ. It is mind-boggling to me that so much love not only exists, but is available to me as a free gift. Although I enjoy the trees, caroling, and gift giving, the true wonder of Christmas still lies in John 3:16 and the baby wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.
Yet sadly, the holidays are known to be a difficult time for many people. Whether dealing with the loss of a loved one, money struggles throughout the previous year, a broken family situation or other challenges, not everyone will enter this season with joy and cheer, but some with hurts and disappointments, or even resentment and bitterness. Even many Christians will pass through the holidays and miss the Spirit of the season – the opportunity to experience the love of God in a fresh way as we reflect on His “unspeakable gift” given to us in Christ Jesus.
Recently the Holy Spirit began to talk to me about the importance of having continual faith in the love of God as a believer. Although our initial experience of God’s love through salvation is certainly the first step, a constant revelation of God’s love toward us is vitally important if we are to enjoy the journey from here to Glory. In Ephesians 3, the Apostle Paul prayed an incredible prayer for the church. In verse 13 Paul expresses his desire that the church not faint or grow weak or weary due to the tribulations he was facing on their behalf. It could have been very discouraging to this relatively new church that after such awesome displays of power in the life of Christ, their beloved father in the faith and many others dear their hearts were now suffering intense persecution. How could these believers rise above what they were seeing, hearing and feeling about the current situation? Paul prays that they will be strengthened, but we need to pay close attention to what he said would bring them strength for the tough times they were facing. Let’s look at verses 14 – 19 in the Message Bible.
14-19My response is to get down on my knees before the Father, this magnificent Father who parcels out all heaven and earth. I ask him to strengthen you by his Spirit—not a brute strength but a glorious inner strength—that Christ will live in you as you open the door and invite him in. And I ask him that with both feet planted firmly on love, you’ll be able to take in with all followers of Jesus the extravagant dimensions of Christ’s love. Reach out and experience the breadth! Test its length! Plumb the depths! Rise to the heights! Live full lives, full in the fullness of God.
What was going to take God’s people through this difficult time? Firmly planting their faith in the extravagant dimensions of Christ’s love!
Most of us probably remember the childhood game played by little girls first exploring the idea of love and romance where you take a flower with petals, pick one off at a time, and for each one either say, “He loves me” or “He loves me not.” Of course, the hope is always that the last petal will tell us that the object of our affection does indeed love us. Many a broken heart has been had simply because a flower was short a petal that probably blew away in the wind earlier that day.
As believers we must be very careful that the enemy does not use the trials and situations of life to lead us into a similar mental game about God’s love for us. Satan is the ultimate accuser and will use any tactic he can find to distract us from the revelation of God’s great love for us. Regardless of what we face in this life, we must remember one thing – what really matters never changes, and what never changes is the Word of God! If the Word says He loves me, then He loves me. Period.
We must reject every lie that comes to undermine this truth. Why? Because according to I Corinthians 13:8 love never fails! If we will firmly plant and hold fast our profession of faith in His extravagant love for us, we cannot fail in this life. According to Romans 8:32, if He has given us Jesus, He will freely give us all things! It is an essential component of faith to understand that God loves us and wants us to be healthy and live a long life, wants us to prosper, wants us to have a good marriage, wants us to be protected and kept, and in every way you can think of wants us and our children to live a blessed life! If we will do our part to believe in and act on His love through holding fast our profession of faith, He will do His part to manifest His goodness in our lives – and He’ll do it every time!
Romans 8:35-39 is clear that no outside natural or supernatural force can separate me from the love of God. It all boils down to one thing – what will we believe? If doubts and fears regarding God’s love for you and your family have come to torment you, now is the time to put them to flight! There is no better time than the Christmas season to renew your faith in the love of God. Reach out and experience the breadth! Test its length! Plumb the depths! Rise to the heights! Let it overwhelm you and every situation you are facing in life right now!
Below are some ideas to help you get started in your quest to renew your faith in His great love. I wish each of you a wonderful Christmas filled with the awesome love of God!!
– Do a study on the love of God. Look up and read every Scripture you can find on His love. Jot down or type out the ones that really minister to you and begin to meditate on them daily.
– Develop a personal confession of faith about God’s love for you based on Scripture and say it out loud faithfully each morning and night. Faith is released by the words of our mouth!
– Listen to anointed teachings about the love of God. One great resource is www.moorelife.org. Pastor Keith Moore has some awesome teachings on the love of God available for free download there. There’s a single called “God Loves Me” (S25), and a series titled “The Love of God” (0801) that will cause faith to rise in your heart again!