God loves you, and His love never fails. 1 John 4:19 declares, “We love Him because He first loved us.” We return God’s amazing love by loving Him with all our heart, soul, mind and strength. This is the first commandment as Jesus taught in Mark 12:
Mark 12 (NKJV)
The Scribes: Which Is the First Commandment of All?
28 Then one of the scribes came, and having heard them reasoning together, perceiving that He had answered them well, asked Him, “Which is the first commandment of all?”
29 Jesus answered him, “The first of all the commandments is: ‘Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. 30 And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ This is the first commandment. 31 And the second, like it, is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”
God’s love is the sure foundation for our lives. We grow stronger in our faith and love by pressing to know Him better, as Paul describes in Philippians 3:14, “I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” When we seek Him with all our heart, we come to know His love ever more deeply, and are “filled with all the fullness of God.” (Ephesians 3:19)
John Paul, a Pastor in India, posted this word of encouragement in Facebook on 9/9/24:
No matter what others have said or how many times you’ve faced rejection, always remember that you are wonderfully made by 𝐆𝐨𝐝. Your worth is not determined by the opinions of others, but by the One who created you. You are not a mistake; every part of you is carefully and lovingly designed with purpose. Even in moments of doubt or hardship, 𝐆𝐨𝐝’𝐬 love and plans for your life remain steadfast. He sees you as valuable, loved, and important. Hold on to His truth, and let it be the foundation of your identity.
“For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made.” (Psalm 139:13-14.)
God’s love is the sure foundation of our identity. I experienced rejection from a parent as a teenager and sought God about it. He assured me that He loved me and that His love would never fail. I was able to go on strongly after that. Fortunately I had already come to saving faith in Jesus Christ, as described in John 3:16, “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.”
We are saved by grace through faith as Paul explains in Ephesians 2.
Ephesians 2 (NKJV)
8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, 9 not of works, lest anyone should boast. 10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.
We don’t need to earn or prove anything to receive God’s gift of salvation through Jesus Christ. We only need to come to Him with simple childlike faith, as Jesus explains in Matthew 18:
Matthew 18 (NKJV)
1 At that time the disciples came to Jesus, saying, “Who then is greatest in the kingdom of heaven?”
2 Then Jesus called a little child to Him, set him in the midst of them, 3 and said, “Assuredly, I say to you, unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven. 4 Therefore whoever humbles himself as this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. 5 Whoever receives one little child like this in My name receives Me.
God’s steadfast love endures forever as Psalm 136 declares.
Psalm 136 (ESV)
1 Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good,
for his steadfast love endures forever.
2 Give thanks to the God of gods,
for his steadfast love endures forever.
3 Give thanks to the Lord of lords,
for his steadfast love endures forever;
26 Give thanks to the God of heaven,
for his steadfast love endures forever.
Our faith is a gift from God to be exercised every day. “Come close to God and He will come close to you.”
James 4 (NLV)
7 So give yourselves to God. Stand against the devil and he will run away from you. 8 Come close to God and He will come close to you. Wash your hands, you sinners. Clean up your hearts, you who want to follow the sinful ways of the world and God at the same time. 9 Be sorry for your sins and cry because of them. Be sad and do not laugh. Let your joy be turned to sorrow. 10 Let yourself be brought low before the Lord. Then He will lift you up and help you.
In Ephesians 3, Paul describes the joy and fulfillment of living in faith and being rooted and grounded in God’s love.
Ephesians 3 (NKJV)
14 For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, 15 from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, 16 that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man, 17 that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, 18 may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height— 19 to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.
David Krause, dhkrause2@gmail.com, https://compellinglove.net/
Compelling Love 
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