Longing For Love 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 John 3:16 Romans 8:35-39 Isaiah 38:4-5 1 John 3:16-18 Ephesians 3:16-21 1 John 4:13-16 Deuteronomy 33:12 08.28.20

 

LONGING FOR LOVE

BREAD

⁴ Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. ⁵ It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. ⁶ Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. ⁷ It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. ⁸ Love never fails.  1 Corinthians 13:4-8 (NIV) 

¹⁶ “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”   John 3:16 (NIV) 

³⁵ Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? ³⁶ As it is written: “For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.” ³⁷ No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. ³⁸ For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, ³⁹ neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.  Romans 8:35-39 (NIV) 

⁵ “Go and tell Hezekiah, ‘This is what the LORD, the God of your father David, says: I have heard your prayer and seen your tears; I will add fifteen years to your life.’”  Isaiah 38:4-5 (NIV) 

 ¹⁶ This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers. ¹⁷ If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? ¹⁸ Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth.   1 John 3:16-18 (NIV) 

¹⁶ I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, ¹⁷ so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, ¹⁸ may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, ¹⁹ and to know this love that surpasses knowledge--that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. ²⁰ Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, ²¹ to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.  Ephesians 3:16-21 (NIV) 

¹³ We know that we live in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit. ¹⁴ And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. ¹⁵ If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in him and he in God. ¹⁶ And so we know and rely on the love God has for us.  God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him.  1 John 4:13-16 (NIV) 

“Let the beloved of the LORD rest secure in him, for he shields him all day long, and the one the LORD loves rests between his shoulders.”  Deuteronomy 33:12 (NIV) 

BUTTER 

“O Christian, is not this a singular comfort; that the Lord reflects with an eye of love upon your thoughts, upon your desires, upon your tears, and upon your groans?  The Lord casts an eye of love upon you.”   Thomas Brooks

“Although the love of Christ surpasses our present knowledge, we may know enough to feed us in this life and whet our appetite for more in the life to come.  We have enough to guide us through our pilgrimage on earth, and an abundance reserved for us in heaven.  Christ’s love has depths in which the daring soul may drown, and abundant shallows for the humble to safely wade.  Though our knowledge of Christ’s love is imperfect, we may know enough to shame us that we have not loved Him more.  His love allowed him to suffer the most dreadful things on our account.  As we reflect upon it, it is with great shame that we have been so weak to suffer for His name.”  Vincent Alsop 

“Believer, rest assured that the heart of Jesus cares about your lesser affairs.  The breadth of His tender love is such that you may resort to Him in all matters; for in all your afflictions He is afflicted, and as a father pities his children, so He pities you.  The humblest interests of all His saints are all borne upon the broad bosom of the Son of God.  Oh, what a heart is His that not only comprehends each one of His people, but also comprehends the diverse and innumerable concerns of each of those individuals!”  Charles H. Spurgeon 

“God’s love is always supernatural, always a miracle, always the last thing we deserve.”   Robert Horn

“There is only torment and slavery and wanting in envy and hatred and strife but sweet rest and pleasure and wholeness in the security of God’s love.”   BHY

“Many people have difficulty believing God is a God of love….If you really want to know the reality of God’s love, look at the Cross….It was love that restrained Him when He was falsely accused of blasphemy and led to Golgotha to die with common thieves.  He raised not a hand against His enemies.  It was love that kept Him from calling legions of angels to come to His defense.  It was love that made Him, in a moment of agonizing pain, pause and give hope to a repentant sinner who cried, ‘Lord, remember me when You come into Your kingdom’ (Luke 23:42)….Does God love us?  Yes….and the proof is the Cross.”   Billy Graham   

“Because of Christ, there is no place God will not go and no one He will not bless.  You are never beyond God’s love, and you are never alone. God is present even in the midst of your greatest need, your greatest weakness, and your greatest failures. Grace would have it no other way.”   ThornCrown’s Welcome

“God is love. Love is Who He is.  Love is fundamental to His nature – always has been and always forever will be.  He commands His children to love as He loves and equips them with the power of the Holy Spirit to love rightly.  We are not even capable of it in the flesh.  He seeks to maximize Biblical love in our lives because this points others to the Author and Perfecter of love.  Jesus perfectly demonstrated this love when He walked this dusty earth and those who follow Him are called to do likewise.”  BHY 

“In Jesus, we have been affectionately named and are so secure in our Father’s love, that we are free even to turn down a meeting request from a world famous rock star. Put another way, the love of God, when taken hold of, frees us from any need to be noticed, to make a name for ourselves, to find significance through achievement and advancement or from having access to fame and fortune. We already have these gifts and these blessings in abundance—in infinite supply—from the Father who is not blind to our value but who sees us and loves us dearly.”   Scott Sauls

“There is no pit so deep, that God’s love is not deeper still.” Corrie ten Boom

“Jesus sees the evil in this world as a lack of trust in God’s love. He makes us see that we persistently fall back on ourselves, rely more on ourselves than on God, and are inclined more to love of self than love of God. So we remain in darkness. If we walk in the light, then we are enabled to acknowledge that everything good, beautiful, and true comes from God and is offered to us in love.”  Henri Nouwen

“For the love of God is broader than the measures of man’s mind; and the heart of the Eternal is most wonderfully kind.”   Frederick William Faber

“When you can’t see the end of the ocean so blue, remember God’s love never runs out on you.  And just like a sailboat that fills up with wind, we feel most alive when we’re filled up with Him…And as sure as the sun will keep rising above, don’t forget to remember that you’re dearly loved…So just like the stars won’t forget how to shine, don’t forget to remember that all of the time, God’s light will guide you wherever you go and you’re loved from the top of your head to your toes…And even on days you forget what is true, don’t forget to remember…God won’t forget you.”   Ellie Holcomb

HEART SAVOR

·         God loves us with an everlasting love.  We know and rely on the love God has for us.

·         God desires for His children to love as He loves.  Love is an action not an emotion.

·         We can only love rightly through the power of the Holy Spirit indwelling every believer of Jesus.