MONDAY April 26, 2021
Standing in the Love
...that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love....
Ephesians 1:4
As God has chosen us, we now have a beautiful standing before Him. As a child of God, we are holy and without blame. God has given to us His grace and mercy. Often we do not look at each other this way; instead of seeing what God sees, we see each other’s flaws. It is only because of Jesus Christ that we stand before God––holy and without blame.
Believers also stand before God in love: “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life” (John 3:16). As we have received the love of God, I believe with all my heart, it is not possible for a true Christian to say they love God, but hate their brother. This is exactly what the Apostle John explains:
If someone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen? (1 John 4:20)
Where is the love of God in your life? Understand, a Christian knowing the love of God, loves and forgives others. God’s love is never critical; it does not judge others:
Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails (1 Corinthians 13:4-8).
Unconditional, agape love is what is so special about being a child of God.
Love — and the unity it attests to — is the mark Christ gave Christians to wear before the world. Only with this mark may the world know that Christians are indeed Christians and that Jesus was sent by the Father.
~Francis Schaeffer~
For more from Raul Ries, please visit SomebodyLovesYou.com!