Saturday, July 6, 2013

No Higher Love



8:31 What then are we to say about these things? If God is for us, who is against us?
8:32 He who did not withhold His own Son, but gave Him up for all of us, will He not with Him also give us everything else?
8:33 Who will bring any charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies.
8:34 Who is to condemn? It is Christ Jesus, who died, yes, who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who indeed intercedes for us.
8:35 Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will hardship, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?
8:36 As it is written, "For your sake we are being killed all day long; we are accounted as sheep to be slaughtered."

8:37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.
8:38 For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers,
8:39 nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
   Romans 8:31-39




As high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is [God’s] love for those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.
- Psalm 103:11-12 (NIV)
 
As a little girl on my swing set, I tried to touch the sky with my toes. But no matter how high I sailed, I could never reach it. The sky seemed unfathomably high. In my teens, I experienced my first plane ride. I was flying through the same sky I’d thought was untouchable. With clouds for company, I couldn’t imagine anything higher. But I knew that beyond the clouds were planets, constellations, and the moon. Could anything be higher? Beyond the bright blue sky I tried to touch with my toes, past the height of clouds I’d experienced as a teenager, and beyond even the stars in outer space,


the love of God reaches farther still. Our Lord is called the “Most High” for a reason: No love is more expansive. When I became a Christian, I learned that God’s love reaches beyond my mistakes, my fears, and my sin. Tonight, take a close look at the stars. If you can’t imagine anything higher, remember that God’s love stretches farther.

Thought for the Day

The rich love of God has no boundaries.

Prayer

Dear God, help us understand the depth and height of your love. Help us to accept and experience your love today and to love you in return. Amen.
 
Prayer focus    Those who have never felt God’s love