Can I pray for you in any way? Send any prayer requests to ourchristianwalk@aol.com In Christ, Mark
The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. John 3:16
This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.
1 John 4:12-12
“As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love. I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. John 15:9-13
This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.
Today is a special day…Valentine’s Day…a day to celebrate love.
Typically, the day is seen as a day for couples to revel in their love for one another but what about those who are single, divorced, or widowed. Do they not have anything to revel in?
The world might say “no” but the Lord would disagree with that outlook. This is because there is never a time when anyone is unloved when it comes to the One who is the very essence of love. And so not only on Valentine’s Day but every day, the Lord sends His love to us…He sends valentines as found in His word. Today, I’ll touch on three special ones.
First, one of His most famous love messages:
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. John 3:16
Valentine’s Day is often punctuated by special love gifts carefully selected for the one loved. In the case of all of us, God gave us the greatest gift ever given in His only Son Jesus because he loved us deeply. And this awesome gift of love spawned an even greater gift…the gift of hope found in the promise of eternal life granted to those who believe and trust in Jesus as Savior…as the perfect, unblemished Lamb of God who was sacrificed on Calvary’s cross and paid the price for our sins.
And this leads to message number 2:
This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.
1 John 4:12-12
Yes…God so loved us that He sent His Son Jesus as an atoning sacrifice for our sins…and in doing so, He wrote the definition for love. And so since we have love’s definition…or in other words, we know what love means…then we are to apply it to the way we live our lives and love one another. We need not seek to figure out what love is. We only need to look to Jesus and we will know. And if we ask for Jesus to send His love to us, we will find ourselves loving in a way that is self-sacrificial.
And this leads to message number 3:
“As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love. I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. John 15:9-13
What is the greatest form of love? The kind that finds one willing to lay down their life for another. And when we choose to love as Jesus loved, then we’re committing ourselves to love this way for it’s the way He loved. And the good news is that we will remain in His love as long as we remain in Him by learning and obeying His commands…commands given to us out of love from the One who wishes for us to live lives filled with righteousness and holiness…lives that will find our joy complete.
The Lord’s message is clear all through the scriptures. He loves us…and loves us dearly.
Can you hear the Lord today? He is saying to you and me, “Happy Valentines Day! I love you more than you know.”
Amen.
In Christ,
Mark
PS: Please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.
Send any prayer requests to ourchristianwalk@aol.com
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