A Word from The Word

A Word from The Word

by Brenda Barno

April 2010

We are all familiar with John 3:16, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him will not perish but have everlasting life,” but do we have a grasp of the truths expressed and our responsibility?

God, the Creator and Sustainer who spoke the world and all it contains into existence out of nothing, loved us—us, sinful, fallen, rebellious, complaining dust of the earth. He has loved us with an everlasting love that was bestowed by a deliberate act of His will knowing that we had nothing to recommend ourselves to Him. It is an unconditional love that always has its arms open ready to receive the one who will repent of their sins to walk the righteous life He has laid out before us.

Take a moment and think about the cost of this gift of love. The love gift of Jesus was humiliation and degradation. It was beatings until the flesh was opened to bone and muscle. It was having a crown of thorns driven into His head before He carried the cross He would be nailed upon. It was being spat upon, mocked by a thief and having soldiers draw lots for His clothes. It was such a time of darkness of soul that He cried out, “My God, My God why have You forsaken Me?” It was a very high price to pay to redeem dust.

The truth is, God loved, God gave, and Jesus was obedient, even to death on the cross. This should make our hearts burn with a love for the Father and the Son. Our hearts should be like the burning bush that Moses encountered. We should be burning with a passion to do all the will of the Father, starting with loving one another as He has loved us, which is our responsibility (John 13:34).

Do you love God with all your heart, mind, soul and strength, and your neighbor as yourself (Luke10:27)? Is your heart ablaze with love for Jesus? Do you love because He first loved you?

1John 4:8 says, “The one who does not love does not know God, because God is love.” Love proves whose we are.

Walk in love with a heart ablaze and you will be blessed