I know that God loves me

Behold what manner of love the Father has lavished onto me that I am called a child of God.

That is a combination of the KJV and NIV translations of 1 John 3:1.  It has been an excellent reminder to me as the Lord reminds me that there is always more in a relationship with Him, more abundant life (John 10:10).

Behold What Manner of LoveIf there is one aspect of a relationship with God that is challenged again and again by our enemy, it is our complete conviction and knowledge of how much God loves us. 

I would even venture to say that any person that has not given their heart to the Lord entirely probably has not had a complete revelation, understanding and comprehension of God’s love for them.

You can just hear Paul’s earnest desire to strengthen and encourage the Ephesians in his prayer in Eph 3:16-21.  He is particularly passionate about them knowing the love of God.

“I pray that out of his glorious riches, he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge – that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.  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, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever! Amen.”

Rooted and Established in Love

He longs for the Ephesians to be “rooted and established in love” which is where our relationships start and grow with the Lord.  In the knowledge of this love, we will grasp how wide, long, high and deep is the love of Christ.

    • Wide – it covers the breadth of our experience and the whole world
    • Long – it continues to the length of our lives into eternity
    • High – it rises to the heights of our celebration and elation
    • Deep – it reaches to the depth of discouragement, despair and even death.

And then, when we have grasped the immensity of this love, Paul prays that we “know this love that surpasses knowledge – that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.” Thus, we battle to embrace this love of God in our hearts and know it for many reasons:

    • Our hearts condemn us as not being worthy, qualified, deserving of this love
    • We resist His love because we feel condemned by Him.
    • We refuse to accept the reality of this love for us
    • We resist Him because we feel He cannot be trusted and decide that His love cannot be unconditional.

Paul longs for us to know this love that exceeds all reason and surpasses knowledge so that we can be “filled with the measure of all the fullness of God.”  It is not just an emotional feeling, but a unity in fellowship with God, a union that the Spirit empowers.  Then through the Spirit, all the fullness is available to us (Col 2:9).  It is being totally satisfied in Him – body, mind, emotions and spirit.  This fullness is available to us through prayer and faith as we bring it into our daily lives and live to the fullest, in full knowledge of the love of God.  As John declares in 1 John 4:16:

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 them.”

We are to “know and rely” on the love God has for us because when we live our lives in this knowledge of God’s love for us, it is then that we experience living in God and God living in us.

And so we know and rely on the love God has for us.

And then Paul’s prayer concludes:

“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, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever! Amen.”

What a thought! Immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine. Just meditate on that for a bit.

And it starts with knowing His love.

  • To what extent would you say that you are convinced of God’s love for you? That you deliberately believe and actively accept the love of God.
  • Do you battle to embrace the love that God has for you? What would your reason be?
  • Can you imagine what it would be like, to live a life totally satisfied in the Lord, experiencing fullness in every aspect of your life: mind, body, emotions, will, spirit.

Thank you, Lord, that you loved me so much, that You sent Your only Son to make provision for my sin so that I could be in a love relationship with You.  Thank you that You love and care for me.  Thank you that Your love extends to every person on earth, and even though our hearts condemn us, Your love covers our sin, and we may know and experience your love to the level of fullness that we cannot even begin to comprehend.  Help me know Your love intimately in my heart and thinking, and any lies I have told myself, to be cancelled with the truth from Your word so that I may be fully convinced of your love.  I declare that God loves me.

Affectionately Yours

The Basics of God’s Love

He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not

There is More