*I'll be publishing a new series of articles called "Unbelievable Truth" here over the next few days. These articles will each examine a different Biblical truth that most Christians don't actually believe, but should.
Unbelievable Truth #1: That God Really Loves You
God’s love for mankind is an incredible thing. The idea
that God, who knows the end from the beginning, would know in advance how much
pain and suffering He would have to personally endure as the result of creating
the Universe and yet still say the words, “Let there be light” is staggering.
The scriptures are replete with example after example of God’s endless declarations of love for every single person on the planet. Usually these statements are about nations, or about general populations of people, but Jesus goes even further with this idea and affirms that God actually loves each of us individually. This is why Jesus urges us to call God our “Abba” or “Daddy” when we pray. It’s why Jesus says that God loved the world (and that means everyone in the world, and therefore you and me) so much that He sent Jesus to give us life and set us free.
Paul the Apostle encouraged all of us to meditate on
God’s incredible love:
“ I pray that you, being rooted and established in love,
may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and
long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that
surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness
of God." (Ephesians 3:17-19)
God’s love is wider than we can imagine. It’s longer than
we can comprehend. It’s higher than we can reach. It’s deeper than we can
fathom. God’s love surpasses knowledge. This means it’s beyond knowing. It’s
too great for us to wrap our minds around. It means that if you had all the
knowledge in the Universe you’d still not be capable of fully knowing God’s
amazing love.
God made you in His own image. Just think of how that
makes Him feel everytime He looks at you. [Genesis 1:27]
His thoughts about you are more numerous than all the
grains of sand on all the beaches on this planet. He is actually thinking about
you. Right now. [Psalm 139:17-18]
God has plans for your life. They are good plans. Plans
to bless you and not to curse you. Plans to give you a future and fill you with
hope. [Jeremiah 29:11]
God is singing over you. Right now. Just try to imagine
what His voice sounds like as He opens His mouth and sings a song of love about
you. [Zeph. 3:17]
God loves you so much that He would rather die than live
without you. How amazing is that? [John 3:16]
The only thing more amazing than God’s awesome love? The
fact that you and I can take it for granted, or worse, not fully receive it.
Most Christians don’t really go through their lives with
the awareness of God’s astounding love in their hearts. They walk around
looking tired, or feeling bored, or stressed out; totally oblivious to the
endless showers of love that God is pouring down over them night and day.
I think I understand why we don’t believe that God loves
us like this. It’s because deep down inside we’re convinced that we don’t
deserve that kind of love, and certainly not from someone as Holy and Perfect
as God. But that’s the whole point of God’s love – we don’t deserve it and yet
He pours it all over us because of who He is, not because of who we are.
Just imagine if Christians really did believe that God loved
them? Wouldn’t they be happier? Wouldn’t this love fill them up and spill out
of them like light from under a basket? Wouldn’t a greater awareness of God’s
unconditional, endless, boundless and fantastic love change them forever?
Wouldn’t this love help them to love others more? Wouldn’t this love make it
easier to forgive those who hurt them most? Wouldn’t this love transform their
hearts, and their minds, and transform them from the inside out?
There’s only one way to find out.
-kg
**
Can you think of a truth that Christians don't actually believe in practice? Please post your thoughts in the comments below.
3 comments:
GREAT post Keith! This is perhaps the most Unbelievable Truth. Not believing this truth holds so many of us back from living in the abundance that Jesus promises us.
A friend recently shared with me the following statement that I say from time to time to remind me of reality. It contains several other Unbelievable Truths. One that He truly dwells within me and the other about the ABSOLUTE power and stability of His Kingdom!
"I am __________________, in whom God dwells and delights and I live in the strong and unshakeable Kingdom of God!"
I have come to perceive that we need to be more like moses who told god--if im so special to you then show me your self and god did so based upon your post im going to challenge god to prove his love for me cause im in need of some direction in my life right now as to what im going to do--you know-where does god want me to be and what does he want me to do.im at a place in my life where I really need some direction.
Yes, I have a hard time believing it. Logically I accept it and thank God for it, but when I repeatedly disobey, I think and act out, could He possibly still love me? But then, He knew I'd be the way I am and from before time He still loves me. So there is the hope.
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