It's a wonderful Sunday to be alive, to have been awakened by the grace, mercy and love of God. Today I want to offer you some encouragement to help you through your day and maybe through your week. God loves you, yes you!
And if at all possible, this message will encourage you for the rest of your life, especially when tough times arise (as they will), when bouts of depression sets in, when anxiety overwhelms you, when you lose a loved one, or when you have done something wrong.
We have all done wrong
None of us are perfect. We have all made mistakes, some of which we still regret. We have all done things that are wrong and continue to do so on an almost daily basis. But God still loves you and I!
We have sassed our parents, gossiped, lied, cheated, stole something (even time), had sexually impure thoughts, and we have been angry at God for not hearing and answering our prayers in the timely fashion we expected. But God still loves you and I.
These wrongs we do are called sins and God hates sin. He cannot look on it because of His purity. and yet He knows we sin.
You see, "For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight" (Ephesians 1:4, NIV). If that is not love, what then is love?
We were chosen! We were in His mind before the creation of the entire universe! Our small minds find this fact hard to fathom but it is nevertheless true.
God's remedy for our wrongs
Can you imagine offering up your child to be cruelly beaten by soldiers, slapped around, spit upon, whipped with a cord with metal spikes, mocked, and then hung on a cross to die for six hours? Well, God did that to His Son Jesus.
You and I couldn't and wouldn't do it.
But why did God do this to His Son? Because God loves each and everyone of us! With His intense hatred of sin, He knew before the foundation of the world that His Son would come to earth to pay the penalty for our wrongs.
This was God's plan to redeem us to Him so we might serve Him with a godly life. But He also knew well in advance that we would all disobey His commands. And yet He still loves us!
His plan for us
God didn't create us as toys to be played around with. He created us because we each have value and worth. You are worthy! And he has a plan for each of us. Through His unfathomable mercy and love for us, He gave us all special gifts (talents) to honor Him.
But He also knew we would not use these gifts as we ought and yet He still loves us!
"The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance" ( 1 Peter 3:9, NIV).
Repentance
In simple terms, repentance is God's way of telling us to turn from our wrongs and come to Him or to come back to Him. He does this because He loves us!
Tell Him today that your are sincerely sorry for your sins. He will hear and forgive because He loves us!
And let us show our love for others today as well.
"Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another" (1 John 4:11).
"This is My commandment, that you love one another, just as I have loved you" (John 15:12).
So be encouraged today. Treat others with the love we know how to give. Be encouraged, because despite our wrongs, God loves us.
I would like you to talk more on the topic repentance. Thanks alot