Pursuit22

Week 3:  “God’s Love is…”

Memory Verse
{Psalm 143.8 – “Let me hear in the morning of your steadfast love, for in You I trust.”}

The focus of February… LOVE. Not the love the world pushes at this time of year. Love that can only come from God, be given to God, and be given through God. This week we are going to look at just a few of the characteristics of God’s love for us!

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~Day 1~
God’s love is …. STEADFAST

Steadfast: firmly fixed in place, not subject to changed.
It is often interchanged in the Bible with the words unfailing, unconditional, and relentless.

In a world where everything is changing, it seems there is nothing that is really sure. You may think there is nothing really constant. I bet in the last year or two, your friends have changed, classes have changed, relationships have changed, clothes have changed, your hair has changed, and your relationship with God has probably changed. But the one thing that never ever changes is God’s love for you.

Read Isaiah 54.10.

No matter what changes… His love never will! Many of you may think to yourself... “you don’t know what I’ve done. God definitely can’t love me now.” Don’t be so sure…

Read Psalm 86.5.

Not only does it say His love is forgiving… but it says He is abounding with His love! The word “abounding” means to have a great quantity of. So God doesn’t just have a little bit of steadfast love… but He has more than we can imagine!  It reminds me of a song we sing a lot at my church that many of you probably know:

“Constant in the trial and the change, One thing remains
Your love never fails, it never gives up and never runs out on me!”

Read Lamentations 3.21-24.

-          Do you have hope because of His steadfast love?

-          This verse says, “I call to mind..” Do you think about and remind yourself of God’s steadfast love?

-          His love never ever ceases and it is new every morning. I challenge you this week to spend time each morning, even if it’s while getting ready, reflecting on the truth that God loves YOU and you can have hope because of that. Maybe write it on your mirror or somewhere you will see it each morning.

 

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~Day 2~
God’s love is… SACRIFICIAL

Sacrifice: to suffer loss of, give up, renounce, injure or destroy especially for an ideal, belief, or end.

Take a look at Romans 5.8.

It’s so hard for me to read that definition and this verse together and realize that the sacrifice here was Jesus! God gave up and injured HIS son, who is also God, to SAVE US… filthy, dirty, sinful us. Don’t believe you were every sinful, dirty, or filthy?

Read Ephesians 2.1-5.

How does verse 1 say we were? “Dead in trespasses and sins.” DEAD! It doesn’t say dirty or filthy… it says DEAD! Reread verse 4 though. I’m so thankful for those words “But GOD!” God couldn’t just leave us like that… why? Because of His “great love” for us! PRAISE GOD! Let’s think some more about what this “but God” included. There’s a part of this that just hit me this week in our 1021 bible study.

Read Hebrews 1.2.

Did you catch that last part? “through whom (Jesus) also He created the world.” Okay… I want you to see something that took me years to know. Jesus existed when the world was created. Jesus has always been… and will always be. Jesus didn’t just come in existence when born on earth…. Jesus was part of creation. This verse says that through Jesus, God created the world! Okay so think about this for a minute. He’s God, He can do anything. When humans messed up and God knew He would have to save us He could have just created something new to use as the sacrifice…. But He knew that wouldn’t be sufficient… He knew that the perfect sacrifice for us would be something that He already had… Jesus. His perfect Son. His prize possession. His true treasure. But because He loves us sooo much… He chose to use Jesus for our salvation! Wow… do you feel loved or what?

 

-          Have you ever had someone love you so much that they would give up anything for you? Many of you are probably thinking of a parent or sibling or maybe a friend. I can assure you that there is no one on earth who loves you like Christ… now ask yourself, is there anyone on earth who you love like Christ?

-          Take some time to reflect on what your life would be like if God didn’t sacrifice for you. Think about what your life would look like if you didn’t have Jesus. Thank Him for the difference that sacrifice has made in your life.

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~Day 3~
God’s love is JEALOUS

Jealous: intolerant of rivalry or unfaithfulness; vigilant in guarding a possession.

The word jealous isn’t a word I would typically associate with anything good. So it may be hard for you to think of God as being a “jealous God.”

Read Exodus 20.4-5.

God IS a jealous God! He wants every piece of us!

Think about the sparrow… When a momma bird has a baby bird she is very protective of it. If it falls from the nest, humans are not to touch it. Why? If the human scent gets on the baby bird the momma gets very upset. The momma bird wants no other scent on her baby but her own. She wants to be the only one influencing it because she knows what’s best for it. She wants what’s best for it … because she loves it.

Read Mark 10.17-22.

You may be wondering why I had you read this passage. Am I telling you that you need to sell everything you own to follow Jesus? NO. Jesus told the man this because his possessions were the most important thing to him. This was the only thing left he was holding back from Jesus. But reread verse 21 “Jesus looked at him, LOVED him…” Do you get that? Jesus wanted him to give up everything! WHY? Because He LOVED him. Why does Jesus want you to give up everything for Him? Because He loves you! Jesus is jealous for you because He loves you and He knows what’s best for you!

-          What is the one thing that you are holding on to instead of giving up to Jesus? Do you truly believe that He wants you to give that up because He loves you?

-          When Christ is your 1^st love, it is a natural response to give Him everything. If you get very sad like the man in the Mark passage when thinking of what you’re holding on to … you probably need to evaluate what your 1^st love is. Ask yourself… Is HE really your first love?

 

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~Day 4~
God’s love is SATISFYING

Satisfy: to gratify to the full.

Read Zephaniah 3.17.

It says He will “quiet us with His love.” The word quiet used here means to make secure by freeing from dispute or question.

God’s love satisfies us because it secures us.

Read Psalm 63.3-5.

This verse says that God’s love is “better than life.” It makes sense that something that is better than life would satisfy anything we could imagine. In the same passage it talks about how the satisfaction from God’s love is like with the richest of foods.

Think about this…. You know the 3 primary colors, red, yellow, and blue. From these three colors, you can make any color. Any color you create would have to come from these three colors. For an artist… these colors satisfy all of his needs. He has no need for any color that couldn’t come from these three. In the same way, God’s love for us satisfies all of our needs and also allows us to produce anything we need.

God’s love satisfies us because it is the BEST.

Read Ephesians 3.19.

This passage says that God’s love…. Which is bigger than anything we can comprehend…. “fills us with the fullness of God.” WOW!

God’s love satisfies us because it fills us!

-          Reflect on a time when God’s love secured you. Reflect on a time when God’s love filled you.

-          Look up Psalm 90.14… pray this verse at least three times this week. It could change your whole day.

 

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~Day 5~
God’s love is EVERLASTING

Everlasting: lasting or enduring through all time.

Get into imagination mode for a minute. It’s sunset… the sky is that perfect mix of purple and orange…. It’s a gorgeous view. The horizon looks like a perfectly painted picture. All you want to do is get closer to it. You take off walking but no matter how far you walk, it seems you are not getting any closer to the end. That’s because there is no end. It’s the same with God’s love for us!

Read Psalm 138.8.

His love endures FOREVER! It goes on and on and on and on….. We can go forever and never see the end!

Read Jeremiah 31.1.

He loves us with a love that never ever ever ends… it’s like the horizon!

-          Journal a prayer and thank God for loving you with a steadfast, sacrificing, jealous, and satisfying love that never ever ends!

 

I pray you’re seeking the Lord and falling more and more in love with Him each day!

What are your thoughts? I want feedback. Feel free to send me any question responses. I would love to hear from you, answer any questions you have, and pray for your needs specifically. Feel free to share this, comment, email me at brandycaudill90@gmail.com, or facebook message me!