August 23, 2016: SOAP #2455:  Jeremiah 31-32; 1John 4

Scripture:  1John (NIV) 4:10 This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.  11 Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another…   19 We love because he first loved us.  20 If anyone says, “I love God,” yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen.  21 And he has given us this command: Whoever loves God must also love his brother.

Observation:   Where does my love for my brother start?   Where does the love I have for God start?  Both loves start in the heart of God.  It all started with Him loving us!   Our love for God is a response to God’s love for us.  Our love for our brothers and sisters is a response to God’s love for us.

Application:   God enjoys the love I give to Him.  But He is honored by the unconditional love I give to people who may not return it.  His love for me is a love of action.  My love is to be a love of action.  It is not a love hidden away in my heart, but a love that those around me can see.      Surely one of the worst pains in life must be when a spouse walks away from his/her marriage vows.  I wonder if God does not whisper in the hurting heart of the one rejected, “now you know how I hurt when you walk away from me!”

Prayer:    Heavenly Father, it all started with You!   Your love could not be satisfied until it was returned by those who had a choice to love you, or not to love you.  Today I choose to love you, and I choose to let your love flow through me to those nearby.   May my love for you be well known.  Amen

Pastor Leon
Making friends for time and eternity!