“This is the day the Lord has made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.”—Psalm 118:24
I would like to invite you to join me this year on a journey of discovery.
One of the great passions of my life and ministry is to understand and communicate the love of God. As I read and study the numerous Bible verses that describe God’s love, I long to live it and believe it wholeheartedly. I also want those I teach to know our true identity as God’s children. To believe and know that we are God’s beloved.
I pray that every day, this day, we experience His presence in our lives.
Everything about the Gospel proclaims love, and everything about God’s actions demonstrates the ultimate romance of our souls by the One who is the Lover of our souls, passionately seeking to capture our hearts and bless our lives.
There is no greater way to start the New Year than to open ourselves to the presence and love of God. And, to believe it so much that you can transcend the trials of life (not avoid them) and have confidence in the bigger picture, where God has a plan and a purpose, founded in His love for you, personally.
Some years ago, I endured a crisis of faith. Everything in my life was challenged. Everything I held dear was threatened. I had nothing to cling to but God’s love. And you know what? His love held me. It kept me. The Holy Spirit protected, taught, and comforted me—for that is what the Holy Spirit does: comfort and communicate, above all, the personal, passionate love of God.
Can God’s love help you survive a broken heart? Can that love help you overcome personal, financial, and health problems? Can the love of God give you the strength to endure and survive? Can His love give you the ability to cling to Him? Can His Spirit give you the insight to understand some of the mysteries of life? Can we really live in His presence?
The answer to all those questions is yes. God truly does love and provide for us, and that is what I want to explore in a myriad of ways during this next year.
“Give us this day our daily bread,” Jesus taught us to pray. He is the Bread of life that will nourish and bless us.
I feel constrained and compelled to get this message across. God’s love is great, full of depths, heights, valleys, and mountains that most of us have barely begun to explore. It is a love that corrects, convicts, comforts, teaches, and saves.
It is a love that will transform and save our lives.
“For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” — Romans 8:38-39
