Don't Forget God's Love - Friday Praise & Pray (for others) December 24, 2021

1 John 4:19 - We love because He first loved us. Our capacity to love comes from the fact that we are loved by God Almighty. Far too often, we forget God loves us. We even imagine He's forgotten about us. All because we're mired with the challenges of life that make it hard to hold onto the sweetness we experience.

However, none of that changes the fact He displayed that love by creating us in His image. God wouldn't have done that if His love for us was a question. He even went further than that by letting His Son live among mankind only to be hung on the cross. This sacrifice was an illustration of His deep love for us - that by allowing Jesus to be a sacrifice for our sins, we could be redeemed and reconciled with Him (Romans 5:10). In fact 1 John 4:10 states - This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.

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

This Christmas, may the Lord help each of us to remember His love for us. May we remember how incredibly valued we are to Him and thereby love ourselves as His cherished children. May the Lord increase our capacity to love Him and express it. May our love for the Sovereign of sovereigns cause us to thereby love those He created. And, may we show kindness to those we know and the strangers we come into contact with.

Father, please help us, IJMN, Amen.

See you at Noon EST for Praise & Pray (for others). Let's gather to express our love for the Lord with worship and intercession. Let us enter into Christmas having honored the Lord for an hour in fellowship with each other. May the Lord bless you. Amen.