I didn’t grow up in a church. I never heard people talking about Jesus. I’d never heard the gospel preached. No one invited me to Vacation Bible School, church camps, youth retreats. I never even heard about Easter egg hunts hosted by a church until I was already going to church.
Instead, I heard plenty of threats about a punishing God who shamed me for every bad thing I did and blamed me for bad things that others did to me.
I prayed, asking God to forgive me repeatedly. Even as an adult, when life’s heartaches overwhelmed me, I pleaded with God, tried bargaining with God, made promises to God, and begged Him to tell me what I did wrong so I could fix it in hopes that He’d stop punishing me and make the pain go away.
I had no trouble seeing myself as a sinner, but had no idea how to stop sinning so God could take the target off my back.
After I stole my first Bible, at the age of thirty, I found out that God used the four-letter word!
Knowing changed my life!
I wasn’t prepared to read about God acting out the four-letter word. But when I started studying Scripture, I couldn’t unsee the word even when it wasn’t written.
LOVE.
“For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through him.” (John 3:16-17, NLT)
God “so loved the world,” including those who rejected Him, mocked Him, and nailed Him to the Cross on Calvary.
God so loves the world, even those who can’t seem to get everything right . . . like me.
God the Father sent God the Son so that everyone would have a chance to believe in Him, to be loved by Him and to be transformed by the four-letter-word that changes everything.
LOVE!
Jesus doesn’t wait for us to clean up our act before He offers His unconditional love to us.
Jesus came to redeem us before we repented. He gave His life for us before we asked for forgiveness.
He knew we could never be good enough or do enough good things to earn His love, to be worthy of His gifts of forgiveness and grace, or to be perfect enough to look saved and live out a new life in Him without Him doing something first.
So, He loved completely before we knew we needed His saving grace.
John 3:16 is proof that He doesn’t even demand that we love Him first.
The Creator and Sustainer of all things in heaven and earth chose to be the initiator, to pursue us, to wait for us even though He has the power to force us to love Him and be obedient to Him.
God chooses to wait with loving patience for us to realize how desperately we need Him, turn to Him, and simply receive all He is offering us.
We don’t even come to Him on our own either.
Jesus said, “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them, and I will raise them up at the last day” (John 6:44, NIV).
He also said, “And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself” (John 12:32, NIV, emphasis added).
Jesus doesn’t say He will draw to Himself a select few who have deemed themselves worthy of His love. No, Jesus said that He will “draw all people” to Himself after His resurrection.
He gives us a choice to accept His love, love Him back, and receive Him as our Savior and Lord. But Jesus never asks for our permission to love us or waits for us to believe before He loves us.
But, when we choose to believe Him, God helps us keep believing and loving Him and others.
Once we’ve received God the Son, all we have to do is surrender to God the Spirit.
Living in a fallen world often leads to the temptation of thinking God loves us because we try to be good, because we’re better than we were yesterday, or because we’re not as bad as someone else.
We are tempted to fear or reject those who don’t yet know Jesus or who live like they don’t believe in Him, even though Jesus loves those who don’t yet know Him and pursues those who live like they don’t believe Him so they can experience His unconditional love.
We were once lost, too.
Yet, we act as if obedience to His Word is something we can force on people who don’t believe, when those of us who do believe and love Jesus can’t even obey Him perfectly in our own strength . . . even though we have unlimited access to Him and the unwavering assurance of His presence and power.
“Jesus was handed over to die because of our sins, and he was raised to life to make us right with God.
Therefore, since we have been made right in God’s sight by faith, we have peace with God because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us.
Because of our faith, Christ has brought us into this place of undeserved privilege where we now stand, and we confidently and joyfully look forward to sharing God’s glory.” (Romans 4:25-5:1-2)
God’s love is unconditional and dependent on Him not us. Period.
He never tells us to change anyone or force anyone to believe. He knows no one has a chance without Him, so He tells us to love people because He first loved us.
“When we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time and died for us sinners.
Now, most people would not be willing to die for an upright person, though someone might perhaps be willing to die for a person who is especially good.
But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners.
And since we have been made right in God’s sight by the blood of Christ, he will certainly save us from God’s condemnation.” (vv. 5-10)
Though we are still utterly helpless without Him, we can believe that Christ’s redeeming work is finished.
Jesus is our Risen King, who reigned before the creation of the world, who reigns now as He sits at the right hand of the Father, and who will come again in all glory and still reign.
Hallelujah!
Until then, the Spirit of God enables us to be citizens of heaven with Christlike character cultivated by the Spirit who enables us to walk by faith, live by faith, and love by faith.
“If it seems we are crazy, it is to bring glory to God. And if we are in our right minds, it is for your benefit. Either way, Christ’s love controls us.
Since we believe that Christ died for all, we also believe that we have all died to our old life.
He died for everyone so that those who receive his new life will no longer live for themselves. Instead, they will live for Christ, who died and was raised for them.” (2 Corinthians 5:13-15, NLT)
Love fills our new life with purpose and gives us power to serve as sojourners on a mission to share the gospel wherever He has placed us, wherever He leads us, and with whomever He entrusts us to love on His behalf.
“And all of this is a gift from God, who brought us back to himself through Christ. And God has given us this task of reconciling people to him.
For God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, no longer counting people’s sins against them. And he gave us this wonderful message of reconciliation.” (vv. 18-19)
The world will try to deceive us with images of love that can’t last, expectations that make us feel unloved and even unlovable, false beliefs that make us struggle to show love and make it easier to refuse love.
But our heavenly Father sealed His promise with a kiss of abounding grace, securing us in His Son as we walk in step with His Spirit one sacred stride at a time . . . simply because He loves us.
Knowing God says this four-letter word and means what He says changes everything . . . including us.
As God lavishes us with His unconditional and unrelenting life-transforming LOVE, He empowers us to love Him and others. The question isn’t if we believe this is true, the question is what will we do.
Today, in the power of the Holy Spirit, will you join me in celebrating the Resurrection of our Savior and Lord Jesus Christ, rejoicing over the lovingkindness of our Father, and loving the One True God by loving the beautifully diverse people He designed and determined for us to love?
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Exclusive Sneak Peek for Members of My Blog Family
I thank God for creating you and leading you to become a member of my blog family. I appreciate your prayers as you help me spread God’s truth and love to the ends of the earth. I can do nothing without God or your partnership in ministry!
So, I want to thank you and include you in a special celebration as we praise God together.
Here is an exclusive sneak peek at the cover of my second devotional published by Our Daily Bread, a book I started praying over in 2017, researching in 2019, and writing in 2022.
Sacred Strides: Walking in the Power and Presence of the Holy Spirit is available for pre-order TODAY on Amazon and wherever books are sold!
The official release date is scheduled for July 1, 2025.
To God be the glory, the honor, and the praise!
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Bulk Order Discounts from Our Daily Bread Publishing
Eligible Ministries/Churches/Nonprofits or Church-sponsored Book Clubs, Bible Study Groups, and Ministries can receive special discounted prices for bulk orders of Sacred Strides: Walking in the Power and Presence of the Holy Spirit.
To find out if you are eligible, please contact Our Daily Bread Ministries at:
Ministry Sales / Tax Exemption
1-800-653-8333
To order the Our Daily Bread quarterly devotionals, please:
* Visit www.odbm.org
* Email [email protected]
* Call 1-800-653-8333
You can also send a written request to:
Our Daily Bread Publishing
ODB Quarterly Devotional Request
P.O. Box 3566
Grand Rapids, MI 49512
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Here are four easy ways you can continue partnering with me in ministry:
- Pray for me.
- Pre-order and order my books.
- Love your neighbors by pre-ordering and ordering extra copies of my books as gifts.
- Write a review on Amazon and any other review platforms you enjoy.
- Share my books on social media. Please tag me when you post photos or my book covers.
- Encourage your church/ministry/nonprofit/church-sponsored group to order bulk copies.
- Invite me to serve as a speaker at your next retreat, book club, one-day or multiple-day event.
I can do nothing without God or your ongoing prayers and support!
To God be the glory, the honor, and the praise!
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