7^th June

“..God is love, and all who live in love live in God, and God lives in them. And as we live in God, our love grows more perfect. So we will not be afraid on the day of judgement, but we can face Him with confidence because we live like Jesus here in this world. Such love has no fear, because perfect love expels all fear. If we are afraid, it is for fear of punishment, and this shows that we have not fully experienced His perfect love.”

1 John 4:16b-18

Today’s key verses is one of the clearest demonstrations in the whole Bible of how much God really does love us. Of course, Jesus’ ultimate sacrifice on the cross, fully demonstrated how much He loved us, but these verses spell it out plainly and clearly through understandable words.

John tells us that God is love and if we live in God and He lives in us, then His love will live in us too. Moreover, it is His love in our lives that transforms us; not only in our love towards God and others, but in our understanding of how much God loves us, despite of our sins and mistakes. John says that we can ‘face Him with confidence’ on the day of judgement because Jesus’ love has washed away our sins. John alludes to the ultimate act of love on the cross, where Jesus gave up His life for our sins, cleansing us from all our unrighteousness and clothing us in HIS righteousness. This love washes away our sins, and transforms our lives so radically, that we no longer need to live in fear of God’s judgement. Because we are loved, we can walk in the freedom of His forgiveness, free from judgement and condemnation. Isn’t that a great feeling? To know you are so loved by Almighty God, that you don’t have to live in fear of His wrath!?

Our challenge is to not allow the enemy to plant thoughts of fear in our hearts, because they do not come from God. There is no fear in Him; His perfect love expels our fear. Let us ask for more of God’s Spirit to help us understand the fullness of this love, and how much we truly are loved.