Remembering God’s love is a healthy antidote for life’s curve balls. His unconditional Love is one that is matched by no one here on earth. If you find yourself alone and thinking there is no hope just think about God’s love. If you find yourself not loving someone think about God’s love.

God’s love is perfect, never ending, and full of compassion. There is a powerful set of scripture found in 1 John 4:7-21

 ⁷ Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. ⁸Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.⁹ This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. 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. ¹² No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.

 ¹³ This is how we know that we live in him and he in us: He has given us of his Spirit. ¹⁴ And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. ¹⁵ If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in them and they in God. ¹⁶ And so we know and rely on the love God has for us.

   God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them. ¹⁷ This is how love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment: In this world we are like Jesus. ¹⁸ There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.

 ¹⁹ We love because he first loved us. ²⁰ Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar. For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen. ²¹ And he has given us this command: Anyone who loves God must also love their brother and sister.

Let’s look at God’s kind of love this week.

Effective evangelism starts with a solid gospel message. We are called to tell others the good news, and share with them the faith that we have. The following is a simple way to help us share the gospel message. Using the word GOSPEL we can look at it like this: 

God created us to be with him (Genesis1)    

Our sins separate us from God (Genesis 3) 

Sins cannot be removed by good deeds (Genesis 4 - Malachi 4)

Paying the price for sin, Jesus died and rose again (Matthew - Luke)                 

Everyone who trust in Him alone has eternal life (John)                                   

Life with Jesus starts now and lasts forever (acts - Revelation)  

Let’s think about sharing our faith with someone today. 

True forgiveness is not an easy things to do. The fact is we all mess up, but we do not always forgive. It is easy to tell others to forgive, but when the time comes for us to forgive it quickly becomes a very hard thing to do. Throughout our lives we are going to hurt, offend, and make people angry. Whether or not they forgive us is really depends, its not guaranteed that we will see forgiveness. 

The good news is that there is someone that always demonstrates forgiveness even when we are undeserving. His name is Jesus and 1 John 1:9 tells us that he is faithful and just and will forgives us our sins. The first part tells us that he is faithful that means he is always there to forgive and forget. He does not hold our mistakes against us.

The second part of that verse states that he is just. That means if we mess up he know exactly how to deal with it. Everything that we do has a consequence whether its good or bad. Take a moment today and thank God for his forgiveness.

Do you know the God of the most high?….

The Bible says He’s the King of the Jews.

He’s the King of Israel.

He’s the King of righteousness.

He’s the King of the ages.

He’s the King of Heaven.

He’s the King of glory.

He’s the King of Kings and He is the Lord of Lords.

Now that’s my King.

David said the heavens declare the glory of God,

and the firmament shows His handiwork.

No means of measure can define His limitless love.

No far-seeing telescope can bring into visibility

the coastline of His shoreless supply.

No barriers can hinder Him from pouring out His blessing.

Well, well, He’s enduringly strong.

He’s entirely sincere.

He’s eternally steadfast.

He’s immortally graceful.

He’s imperially powerful.

He’s impartially merciful.

That’s my King.

He’s God’s Son.

He’s the sinner’s savior.

He’s the centerpiece of civilization.

He stands alone in Himself.

He’s august.

He’s unique.

He’s unparalleled.

He’s unprecedented.

He’s supreme.

He’s preeminent.

He’s the loftiest idea in literature.

He’s the highest personality in philosophy.

He’s the supreme problem in high criticism.

He’s the fundamental doctrine of proved theology.

He’s the carnal necessity of spiritual religion.

That’s my King.

He’s the miracle of the age.

He’s the superlative of everything good that you choose to call Him.

He’s the only one able to supply all of our needs simultaneously.

He supplies strength for the weak.

He’s available for the tempted and the tried.

He sympathizes and He saves.

He’s a strong God and He guides.

He heals the sick.

He cleanses the lepers.

He forgives sinners.

He discharges debtors.

He delivers the captives.

He defends the feeble.

He blesses the young.

He serves the unfortunate.

He regards the aged.

He rewards the diligent and He beautifies the meek.

Do you know Him?

Well, my King is the key of knowledge.

He’s the wellspring of wisdom.

He’s the doorway of deliverance.

He’s the pathway of peace.

He’s the roadway of righteousness.

He’s the highway of holiness.

He’s the gateway of glory.

He’s the master of the mighty.

He’s the captain of the conquerors.

He’s the head of the heroes.

He’s the leader of the legislatures.

He’s the overseer of the overcomers.

He’s the governor of governors.

He’s the prince of princes.

He’s the King of kings and He’s the Lord of lords.

That’s my King! Yeah. Yeah. That’s my King. My King, Yeah!

His office is manifold.

His promise is sure.

His light is matchless.

His goodness is limitless.

His mercy is everlasting.

His love never changes.

His Word is enough.

His grace is sufficient.

His reign is righteous.

His yoke is easy and His burden is light.

Well, I wish I could describe Him to you,

but He’s indescribable. He’s indescribable.

He’s incomprehensible.

He’s invincible.

He’s irresistible.

I’m coming to tell you,

the heavens of heavens cannot contain Him,

let alone a man explain Him.

You can’t get Him out of your mind.

You can’t get Him off of your hands.

You can’t outlive Him

and you can’t live without Him.

Well, Pharisees couldn’t stand Him,

but they found out they couldn’t stop Him.

Pilate couldn’t find any fault in Him.

The witnesses couldn’t get their testimonies to agree.

Herod couldn’t kill Him.

Death couldn’t handle Him and the grave couldn’t hold Him.

That’s my King! Yeah!

He always has been and He always will be.

I’m talking about He had no predecessor

and He’ll have no successor.

There was nobody before Him and there’ll be nobody after Him.

You can’t impeach Him and He’s not going to resign.

That’s my King! That’s my King!

Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory.

The glory is all His.

Thine is the Kingdom and the power and the glory,

forever and ever and ever

and when you get through with all of the forevers, then …

                                  - Dr. S. M. Lockridge

The deeper the roots the stronger the tree. So it is with the Christian, when we stay in the word of God we are strong. The further that we step away from the things of God the weaker we become. God is, and must be our source of living water. 

Psalms 1:1-6 tells us how important meditating on God’s Word really is. The Psalmist tells us that blessed is the man whose delight is in the law of the Lord and meditates on it day and night.

Let’s get past the thinking part and move to complete mediation on Gods Word engaging in contemplation and reflection. Doing this will allow our roots to grow deeper. 

Psalm 1: 1-6

1 Blessed is the one who does not walk in step with the wicked or stand in the way that sinners take or sit in the company of mockers,

2 but whose delight is in the law of the Lord, and who meditates on his law day and night.

3 That person is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither—whatever they do prospers.

4 Not so the wicked! They are like chaff that the wind blows away.

5 Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous.

6 For the Lord watches over the way of the righteous,but the way of the wicked leads to destruction.

Comfort is one of the things that we lack many times. Things do not always go our way life throws us loops and we get discouraged. During those times its nice to hear the words of comfort from a friend or family member. There is just something about those words that leave us feeling warm and balmy afterwards. 

Are you feeling like today you need some comfort? Are you feeling down with life’s uncertainties?  Whatever your feeling it does not matter we serve a God that provides us with all the comfort we need. 2 Corinthians 1:3-6 reminds us that we have a God that shows all comfort. He is the Father of compassion, and the God of all comfort. He comforts us in all of our troubles not just some, but all. He comforts us so that we can comfort others. 

Take a moment out today and thank God for his comfort. If you need some comfort all you have to do is ask!

Isaiah 40:28-31

28 Do you not know? 

Have you not heard? 

The Lord is the everlasting God, 

the Creator of the ends of the earth. 

He will not grow tired or weary, 

and his understanding no one can fathom. 

29 He gives strength to the weary 

and increases the power of the weak. 

30 Even youths grow tired and weary, 

and young men stumble and fall; 

31 but those who hope in the Lord 

will renew their strength. 

They will soar on wings like eagles; 

they will run and not grow weary, 

they will walk and not be faint.  

Have you ever made the same mistake over again more than a few times? It’s amazing how many times we as humans never learn from our past. Its like the bird who keeps flying into to the window trying to get to the outside world. No matter how many times it hits the window its never going to let him through. The bird never learns that there is a clear barrier called glass that is preventing it from going outside. 

Sound familiar? Are we not like the bird that keeps crashing into the window, because it never learns that there is glass in the way. It seems silly, but its actually they way we live our lives sometimes. The Bible gives us a great example of this with the Israelite’s. We hear story after story in the Old Testament about how their constant battle with the things of God, many times they repeated the same mistakes over and over again. 

Paul brings this very point back up in 1 Corinthians 10, and tells us that those things occurred as examples for us. Today let us start learning from our mistakes and start taking some steps for improvement. 

Romans 15:4-7

4 For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope. 5 May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you a spirit of unity among yourselves as you follow Christ Jesus, 6 so that with one heart and mouth you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. 7 Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God.

One of the most basic things that we are called to do as Christians is to tell others about the hope we have in Christ. This basic duty of witnessing is something that always needs to be refined and adjusted to be effective. For instance, the way you share the message of Christ to one person may not be effective on another person we live in a very diverse world. 

The Apostle Paul gives us an example of what he did to be an effective distributor of the gospel. In 1 Corinthians 9:19-23 he gives us some examples of adapting to the situations that he was presented with just so that he could spread the gospel. Now Paul was not changing his ways and misleading people pretending to be something he was not. Instead he adapted to the culture and people that were around him at any given time.

You see sometimes our focus on spreading the gospel gets selective. We feel as though we need to minister to a certain type of people at a certain time. That’s not the way it works. Verse 23 Paul tells us that he did all of that for the sake of the gospel. Maybe we need to examine the situation around us and quit waiting for the right people to come along to share the gospel to.

Let’s take a look at the places we live and see how we can be more effective in spreading the good news about Jesus Christ.

Matthew 27:18-20 

18 Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

Is it ever easy to be an example to others? Before you answer that question think about it for a minute. Would you really want someone to act the way that you do, talk the way you do? If we are honest I am sure that we all can use some improvements in that area. 

We know the ultimate example we should follow is Christ, but what about us should we be example to others? 1 Corinthians 4:16 Paul tells the church of Corinth to imitate him. You see Paul was not looking to glorify himself he was looking to lead by an example. Paul said it again in 1 Corinthians 11:1 In the same way we too must live in such away that others can follow. 

Our lives should mimic Christ and others should be able to follow our example. This is not an easy task, but the more we practice our lives become better examples for others to follow. Today lets take a look in the mirror and see what kind of an example we are setting for others. 

Philippians 3:17-21

17 Join with others in following my example, brothers, and take note of those who live according to the pattern we gave you.18 For, as I have often told you before and now say again even with tears, many live as enemies of the cross of Christ.19 Their destiny is destruction, their god is their stomach, and their glory is in their shame. Their mind is on earthly things.20 But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ,21 who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body.