God’s Amazing Love

Ever wonder how to be sure God loves you? Take a look at these scriptures!

“In his goodness he chose to make us his own children by giving us his true word. And we, out of all creation, became his choice possession.” James 1:18 NLT

1.) “In his goodness he chose to make us his own children by giving us his true word….”
He chose to make us his own children. Consider this an adoption by parents who are capable of conceiving their own children, who have their own children, yet choose to adopt more children out of the love in their hearts. And also consider these parents to be able to bless their children “exceedingly and abundantly”.

2.) “And we, out of all creation, became his choice possession.”
Choice. Favorite. His most prized possession. The King James Version translates this verse: “…that we should be a kind of first fruits of his creatures.” Your first fruits are your very best. In olive oil, the first pressing, the extra virgin olive oil, is the top-of-the-line, highest quality, very best. God created us to be His top-of-the-line, highest quality, very best. We are indeed His prized possession!

Beautiful Kwanso day lillies.

Look at the lilies and how they grow……Solomon in all his glory was not dressed as beautifully as they are. And if God cares so wonderfully for flowers that are here today and gone tomorrow, won’t he more surely care for you?” (Luke 12:27,28)

This was spoken by Jesus himself. The Son of God. The perfect reflection of God (John 14:9). Who could know God’s heart better than Jesus? In earthly terms, we would say “the mirror doesn’t lie”. Knowing full well God cannot lie (Hebrews 6:18; Titus 1:2; Psalm 89:35), neither, then, can Jesus.

Roget’s New Millennium™ Thesaurus, First Edition has two distinct entries for the word “care”, as used in this verse. Both are verbs; the first, defined as “tend to” (synonyms: attend, baby-sit, consider, foster, look after, mind, minister, mother, nurse, nurture, protect, provide for, sit, take pains, tend, treasure, wait on, watch, watch over), and the second, defined as “regard highly” (synonyms: cherish, desire, enjoy, find congenial, go for, hold dear, like, love, prize, take to, want). Both of these definitions declare how strongly and to what extent God truly cares for each and every one of us!

©BarbiDarbey – Original Post Date April 27, 2007 – Share Freely – Do Not Sell

You Promised: Holding Tight to the Promises of God

Have you ever gotten a direct word from God and then had it seem that you had to fight tooth and nail to get what He promised you? I have.

It was my second litter of puppies and their mother’s milk went bad a week and a half after they were born. Needless to say, they were in bad shape. Now this might seem a little strange to you, but God had promised me a strong, healthy litter; not just any litter, but one that would grow up to be a blessing to their owners, their community, and maybe even lead people to Christ. He also promised that for each puppy, there would be a soul won for Christ. Knowing full well ten puppies would equal ten souls, I was not about to give up easily. After all, He promised.

I stood firmly on that promise, for days, even to the point of telling him I was willing to “wrestle the angel” like Jacob did, even if it meant he had to break my hip in the process. Fortunately for me, God is not only faithful, he’s merciful!

By their fourth week, the puppies were back on track and doing well. By ten weeks, you would never know they had had a problem.

Lately, as I look back on this ordeal, I wonder if the time spent with God crying “You promised” would have been better spent not crying, but standing on and quoting the scriptural promise that he is faithful. How much faster might the puppies have mended? Would there have been a second round of fighting for a few of the puppies? I’ll leave that as food for thought with a recommendation: READ YOUR BIBLE. KNOW YOUR BIBLE. QUOTE THE SCRIPTURE.

As for me, I’m chalking this lesson up as a lesson in faith and understanding, knowing full well I’ll probably need the experience later on.

A Few Verses to Stand on When You’ve Gotten a Promise:

Hebrews 10:23
“Let us hold fast to the profession of our faith without wavering; for he is faithful that promised.”

Numbers 23:19
“God is not a man that he should lie.”

Jeremiah 1:12
“I watch over my word to perform it.”

Hebrews 6:18
“So God has given us both his promise and his oath. These two things are unchangeable because it is impossible for God to lie.”

©2005 BarbiDarbey – Original Post Date May 23, 2007 – Share Freely – Do Not Sell