Love III - Love Abundance ...

Tuesday, Aug 4, 2015. Love is important for humans. And love plays a key role in the message of the bible - both in the Old Testament and in the New Testament. Love, love, love - “all you need is love”, we could sing together with popular artists. And indeed, “God is love”, we are told by the apostle John (1 John 4, 16). Let us explore what is said about love in the bible!

God's steadfast love …

We are told about God's steadfast love in the Psalms, in this old songbook, ranging back into the time of David around 1000 BC. It is not only the New Testament and the story of Jesus, where God's love becomes evident and obvious. God has been the same ever since - so is his love!

Please take some electronic version of the bible and search for “love”. You will find hundreds of passages. Some of them are about what you love, some are about the love of God. Let us have a look at a selection, just picking from what you find when you search:

Ps 144:2 he is my steadfast love and my fortress, my stronghold and my deliverer, my shield and he in whom I take refuge, who subdues peoples under me. Ps 145:8 The Lord is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. Ps 145:20 The Lord preserves all who love him, but all the wicked he will destroy. Ps 146:8 the Lord opens the eyes of the blind. The Lord lifts up those who are bowed down; the Lord loves the righteous. Ps 147:11 but the Lord takes pleasure in those who fear him, in those who hope in his steadfast love. Pr 3:3 Let not steadfast love and faithfulness forsake you; bind them around your neck; write them on the tablet of your heart. Pr 3:12 for the Lord reproves him whom he loves, as a father the son in whom he delights. Pr 4:6 Do not forsake her, and she will keep you; love her, and she will guard you.

His Love in my Life …

Where is God's love in my life? That might be one of yor key questions. In particular, when we suffer, we often ask this question. But it also appears when everything is well, when we are all set, but realize that this has not yet been what we tried to reach with our life! Life can appear empty and void - where is his love? Where is meaning and fulfilment?

We need to reach a point in our life where we are full of meaning and purpose! Every single human needs this meaning. We need it in a way that it touches all our senses, all layers of our personality, mind and heart and feelings and decisions! And this purpose is him, his love, his presence, him as source and goal, as beginning and end. Nothing else can substitute him. All other things we might choose to replace him as purpose and fulfilment will turn out to be void in the end.

His love has to reach my heart and my mind. He can fill me, with his spirit, and with a meaning which is much deeper than human goals can be. Imagine the original source of life, of purpose itself, of logic, of feelings, of air, water, trees, motion - this original life comes to you in a relationship which is full of attention and appreciation, of care and faithfulness! Christian faith is much more than an empty set of rules, much more than an institution, much more than some ideals. It is the power, love and presence of the living God in your life. (RWEP) ... more texts