God's Love for YOU!

If our lives are like gardens then we need a few things in order to grow into a healthy tree with good fruit:

• We need to pull out all the weeds - confess the sin in our lives regularly
• We need to prune the plants so they produce maximum fruit – remove the excess things that distract us
• We need sunshine – community with other believers
• We need rain (the tough times) – stay focused on Jesus, forgive others
• We need nutrients in the soul – a right view of God

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We are all created in God’s image. But, do you know what that means – it means that God has feelings, emotions, He loves, He enjoys, He has desires, He thinks and He has a will. Most Christians know these things in their head but it doesn’t affect their hearts. They actually don’t know God’s feelings, emotions, how He feels about them or what He enjoys about them never mind how He feels about His Church and the lost. A lot of people go to church each week with cold, empty and dry hearts. God gave us emotions because He has them. He wants us to feel things towards Him. Often people turn off their emotions because they have gotten hurt. A friend betrays us, our husband betrays us – so we vow never to trust again, never to love again. But we can’t live in relationship with God with a closed heart. We must work through our junk so that we can love God more deeply, trust Him more deeply and grow in our relationship with Him.

Eph. 3:18-19 (NKJV) That you…may be able to comprehend…what is the width, and length and depth and height – to know (experience) the love (affections or emotions) of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

We must be anchored in the love of God; it is the soil in which our roots must be. It is only then that we are equipped to resist sin (pull the weeds), get rid of excess (pruning), overcome the storms/rain (forgive) and enjoy the sunshine (be in healthy community with other believers).

In Eph. 3, Paul writes that God’s love passes knowledge. In other words, we can’t comprehend it without the help of the Holy Spirit. We cannot comprehend it in our own natural ability. The genuine experience of God’s love towards us makes us hungry for more of Him; it motivates us to go hard after holiness. The ultimate statement about our worth and value is that Jesus has the same measure of love for us (for you) as the Father has towards Him.

John 15:9 (NKJV) As the Father loved me, I also have loved you, abide in my love

When God begins to reveal to you how much He loves you, this removes all fear of rejection, fear of being judged, fear of what people may think about you or say about you…

1 John 4:19 (NKJV) We love Him because He first loved us.

KEY STATEMENT: Your love for God (and others) will only be as deep as how much you feel God loves you.

Reflection Questions:
1. What are some of the things that have happened in your life that tempt you to close off your heart towards others or God? A betrayal from a friend, maybe your husband?
2. What are some of the weeds/sin in your life? Take a moment to confess these things to God, asking Him to forgive you.
3. If you are going through a hard time right now, ask the Lord to show you some of the ways that He is growing you through it.
4. Ask the Lord to increase your ability to feel His love today. Tell Him that you want to love Him more and that you want to know His emotions towards you.