Love & Devotion (1 of 21)

***For the month February, our daily devotionals will all center around love. Be mindful that I will be writing on weekdays (Monday through Friday). However, our reading schedule will encompass the entire month. Check here each morning for my Love and Devotion thoughts, and I hope you'll share it with others by text or on your social media pages. I pray that these writings are a blessing to you!

Romans 5:8 (New Living Translation) "But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners."
-You Give Good Love (Whitney Houston) To watch the video click here

No questions asked, God is the giver of every good and perfect gift! The best gift of all is his love. God's love is unconditional and without restraint. Romans 10:8 leads us to believe that God is a 'I can show you better than I can tell you' kind of God. He not only proclaims his love for us but he proves his love toward us. My great grandmother always told me that the proof is in the pudding. Sure enough, when I taste of the wondrous love of Jesus (Psalm 34:8), I'm proof positive that he loves me!

God's unconditional and unrestrained love for us, was proven in the death of his son. God sent Jesus to die for us. It was a substitutionary death, because we were supposed to die but Jesus died in our place. That's worth pausing for, just to say thank you Jesus! If we were to pay our sin debt with death, we would've been done. But Jesus paid the debt that we owed with death, then he beat death up and was declared the victor! That's good love!

Here's what get's me choked up everytime, Jesus died for us while we were still sinners. There was no way for us to be better without him. We'd tried everything possible to get around Jesus, but there is no other way! It's our sin that reminds us that Jesus is our only hope.

Let's tie all of this together. God proved his love for us by allowing his son to die so that we could live. His death came without condition or prerequisite. Jesus died for our benefit, before we were aware that there was anything wrong with us. So, where doe's that leave us? It leaves us with a decision to make. Should we follow Jesus because he gives us the good love that we've been searching for, even though we haven't reciprocated it or will we continue to sin without any hope of being made better? I can't answer that for you, but I can inform you of my choice. Today I declare like Joshua in Joshua 24:15 "But if you refuse to serve the Lord, then choose today whom you will serve. Would you prefer the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates? Or will it be the gods of the Amorites in whose land you now live? But as for me and my family, we will serve the Lord.” I pray that you choose right and know that each day with Jesus is sweeter than the day before.

***Tomorrow's verse...Romans 12:5 'Believing Includes Belonging'