God’s Extravagant Love

 

By Andrea Merrell

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 NKJV

 

The Sunday school lesson was about God’s love and the excuses we tend to make not to receive it. The teacher said to the class of second graders, “Finish this sentence. God can’t love me because …”

Hands went up, and answers filled the room:

• “I’m not good like my brother.”
• “Mom says I’m a tattletale.”
• “I don’t pay attention in big church.”
• “I took something that didn’t belong to me.”
• “I have bad thoughts sometimes.”
• “Dad saw me kick the dog.”

The answers kept coming until the teacher stood and walked to the blackboard. “Well done, class. Now let’s list all the reasons God can love us.”

The room remained silent as the teacher waited. Then she turned and wrote one simple statement on the board: For God so loved the world that He gave …

As adults, don’t we have our own reasons why God can’t possibly love us? Thankfully, He doesn’t measure His love for us by our failures and mistakes. He doesn’t withhold it when we mess up or punish us for our lack of perfection. We punish ourselves.

We just celebrated Easter, reminding us that Jesus paid the ultimate price to demonstrate His love for all mankind. For me. For you. And nothing, absolutely nothing, can separate or come between us and that extravagant love ... no matter what.

God so loved the world that He gave ... and His love just keeps on giving.

(Photo courtesy of Canva.)

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God's not looking for perfection, and nothing can come between us and His extravagant love. via @AndreaMerrell (Click to tweet.)

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No More Excuses

By Andrea Merrell

Excuses, excuses, excuses.

We all have them. I’ve been guilty more times than I can count for coming up with a reason not to do something—or at least putting it off.

 

At times, our reasoning can be totally bogus because we don’t know the whole story or the truth. Or because we don’t understand the situation. Too much of the time, it’s simply because we don’t want to.

When it comes to God’s kingdom, He takes all our excuses away. All we have to do is read His Word to understand—to know the whole story and the truth. Then the decision is up to us to do the right thing, to do what God instructs us to do.

Let’s defuse some of the most common excuses with the Word:

• I’m too weak. My strength is made perfect in weakness (2 Cor. 12:9).
• I’m not smart enough. We have the mind of Christ (1 Cor. 2:16).
• It’s because of my past. Old things have passed away; all things have become new (2 Cor. 5:17).
• I can’t afford it.  And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus (Philippians 4:19).
• I don’t know what to do. If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him (James 1:5).
• I don’t have what it takes. His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness (2 Peter 1:3).
• No one believes in me. If God is for us, who can be against us? (Rom. 8:31).
• That’s just the way I am.  Being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ (Philippians 1:6).
• It’s impossible. But Jesus looked at them and said to them, “With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible” (Matt. 19:26).

When God puts a call on our lives, He doesn’t accept our feeble excuses. And He doesn’t leave us to fend for ourselves. He makes a way where there is no way. He is God of the impossible. Whenever we need direction, He promises to guide us, light the way, and make our path straight.

God has a plan for your life, and you will fulfill it when you come into agreement with His Word. Begin to see yourself as God sees you.

And … no more excuses.

(Photo courtesy of FreeDigitalPhotos.net, Stuart Miles, and artur84.)

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God has a plan for your life, and you will fulfill it when you come into agreement with His Word. via @AndreaMerrell (Click to tweet.)

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