Message from Scripture: 9/27/2021

 

Our message from Scripture today comes from Ex. 34:6; “The Lord, the Lord God, compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in lovingkindness and truth.”

 

Certainly, God loves us, but we need to understand that love in the context of His being God, and not from what our desires or preconceived ideas want. God’s love can be conceived as condoning any and every activity we engage in, whether righteous or otherwise. While God loves the sinner, He does not approve or condone sin. The Hebrew writer told his audience, “For those whom the Lord loves He disciplines, and He scourges every son whom He receives” (Heb. 12:6). If God didn’t love us, He would just let us live however we want and then suffer the consequences in eternity. Since we are to be in the image of His Son in eternity (1 John 3:2), the life of love we live today should be one of purifying ourselves from sinful thoughts and actions, just as Jesus is pure (1 John 3:3).

 

If we truly love God, shouldn’t we hunger and thirst for righteousness, as Jesus taught (Matt. 5:6)? Shouldn’t we earnestly seek and pursue peace and holiness? Yes, God loves us beyond measure; this is why life is filled with opportunities to live for Him, to repent and return to Him, to have a real hope for eternity. God in His love offers us all this and more, but His love in us should stir us to “cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body and spirit, bringing holiness to completion in the fear of God” (2 Cor. 7:1).

 

Today, let’s go out to serve our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Let us truly love with the love of God, which He revealed in His word, and see the remarkable transformation that it brings, to reflect in us His image. God bless.

 

Robert