Gateway Church Family, Date: Wednesday 2 January 2018
Encountering God’s Love:
We sing songs about God’s love, we read stories about God’s love and we even enjoy hearing testimonies about people that have experienced God’s love. But there is also a sad reality about God’s love. While most have sung about, read about and even heard about God’s love, most people have never encountered it.
I heard a great illustration recently. The illustration went like this: Paul and Sam were lifelong friends. One day they both decided to take a visit to see the Grand Canyon. When they got to the edge of the Grand Canyon, it was an amazing site. As they were there, Paul began stating all of these crazy facts about the Grand Canyon. He talked about the history of the Grand Canyon, he talked about the depth of it and the width of it. He even talked about the bodies of water that flowed in the Grand Canyon. When Paul was done speaking, Sam asked Paul an interesting question. He said, “You know so much about the Grant Canyon, however you would really know more about it if I pushed you over the edge and you fell face first into it. Sam said, “If I pushed you in then you would know first-hand the magnitude of the width and depth of this place.” While this is just an illustration, it does raise an interesting point. What if we are just so great at exploring God’s love? What if we know the history of God’s love? What if we know the power of His love and we just know all the great stats about God’s love? But what if we never go over the edge of the cliff and go face first into God’s love?
Years ago, I encountered God’s love first hand and it changed everything about me. To experience this encounter I did specific things. Once I did these things, everything changed. Years ago I was broken. I was a terrible husband, a terrible father, I lived for success and I was addicted to terrible things. However, when I encountered God’s love, everything about me changed. Here are three ways that I encountered the love of God…..
1. Take a fresh look at the Gospels – For so long, people had told me about Jesus. They told me all about Him. For me, I didn’t want anyone else telling me about Jesus. I wanted to discover Jesus for myself. So I sat down and read the entire Gospel of Mark. I literally went through this entire Gospel and did a character profile on the life of Jesus. I wanted to understand truly who Jesus was. Even today, I do this often. I will take a Gospel and just get a more accurate picture of who Jesus is. The first time I did it, it was overwhelming. I found that Jesus truly is full of love, full of grace, full of second chances and full of compassion. When I started to see Jesus as He is, I started to encounter His love! For many of us, we just listen to what others say about Jesus. I would encourage you to take an honest look at the life of Jesus in the Gospels and discover for yourself who He is! You will be amazed!
2. Begin to see yourself as a child of the King – For many years, I never felt good enough for God. Even when I first became a Christian, I was fine being a servant of God but never felt worthy to be a child of God. The more I truly started to see myself as God’s son, the more I fell in love with Him. I discovered the fact that I truly have been adopted into God’s family. I discovered that I get the full inheritance of being His son. I discovered that God truly does desire me.I love my kids with all my heart and to think that God loves me even more than I love my own kids is pretty incredible. Most people cannot accept the fact that God truly loves them (not only does He love them but He actually likes them). Most people cannot accept the fact that God sees them as a son or a daughter. The evangelist Brennan Manning once said this: “I am utterly convinced on the day of judgment that God is going to ask each of us one question. And that question is this, did you know that I love you?” Most people just cannot accept the fact that God truly does love them. Let me ask you the question now, “Do you know how much God loves you? Do you know that you have been adopted as a son or a daughter?”
Years ago the theologian Dr. Karl Barth was asked at a lecture he was giving an interesting question. He was asked, “What is the most profound theological statement in human history?” Dr. Barth gave a simple answer. He said this, “Jesus loves me this I know, for the Bible tells me so”. When you encounter the fact that you are a son or daughter of God, then this will change everything!
3. God wants to spend eternity with you! This is how much He loves you. Begin to see yourself as He sees you! You are a son or daughter of the King of Kings.
Be around other people that have already encountered God’s love – I love being around people that know how much God loves them and around people that see themselves as an adopted son or daughter. These people that have encountered God’s love are amazing to be around. Get around these people! Let them share with you their experiences. Hear the amazing words that they share about their own personal experiences of encountering God’s love. When you hear the stories, you will want to experience it yourself.My hope is that you would encounter God’s love! That you would not just read about, hear about it or even just speak about it. My hope is that you would fall face first into God’s love! If you do, you will never be the same!
God bless you this week! (Pastor Kevin)
Encountering God’s Love:
We sing songs about God’s love, we read stories about God’s love and we even enjoy hearing testimonies about people that have experienced God’s love. But there is also a sad reality about God’s love. While most have sung about, read about and even heard about God’s love, most people have never encountered it.
I heard a great illustration recently. The illustration went like this: Paul and Sam were lifelong friends. One day they both decided to take a visit to see the Grand Canyon. When they got to the edge of the Grand Canyon, it was an amazing site. As they were there, Paul began stating all of these crazy facts about the Grand Canyon. He talked about the history of the Grand Canyon, he talked about the depth of it and the width of it. He even talked about the bodies of water that flowed in the Grand Canyon. When Paul was done speaking, Sam asked Paul an interesting question. He said, “You know so much about the Grant Canyon, however you would really know more about it if I pushed you over the edge and you fell face first into it. Sam said, “If I pushed you in then you would know first-hand the magnitude of the width and depth of this place.” While this is just an illustration, it does raise an interesting point. What if we are just so great at exploring God’s love? What if we know the history of God’s love? What if we know the power of His love and we just know all the great stats about God’s love? But what if we never go over the edge of the cliff and go face first into God’s love?
Years ago, I encountered God’s love first hand and it changed everything about me. To experience this encounter I did specific things. Once I did these things, everything changed. Years ago I was broken. I was a terrible husband, a terrible father, I lived for success and I was addicted to terrible things. However, when I encountered God’s love, everything about me changed. Here are three ways that I encountered the love of God…..
1. Take a fresh look at the Gospels – For so long, people had told me about Jesus. They told me all about Him. For me, I didn’t want anyone else telling me about Jesus. I wanted to discover Jesus for myself. So I sat down and read the entire Gospel of Mark. I literally went through this entire Gospel and did a character profile on the life of Jesus. I wanted to understand truly who Jesus was. Even today, I do this often. I will take a Gospel and just get a more accurate picture of who Jesus is. The first time I did it, it was overwhelming. I found that Jesus truly is full of love, full of grace, full of second chances and full of compassion. When I started to see Jesus as He is, I started to encounter His love! For many of us, we just listen to what others say about Jesus. I would encourage you to take an honest look at the life of Jesus in the Gospels and discover for yourself who He is! You will be amazed!
2. Begin to see yourself as a child of the King – For many years, I never felt good enough for God. Even when I first became a Christian, I was fine being a servant of God but never felt worthy to be a child of God. The more I truly started to see myself as God’s son, the more I fell in love with Him. I discovered the fact that I truly have been adopted into God’s family. I discovered that I get the full inheritance of being His son. I discovered that God truly does desire me.I love my kids with all my heart and to think that God loves me even more than I love my own kids is pretty incredible. Most people cannot accept the fact that God truly loves them (not only does He love them but He actually likes them). Most people cannot accept the fact that God sees them as a son or a daughter. The evangelist Brennan Manning once said this: “I am utterly convinced on the day of judgment that God is going to ask each of us one question. And that question is this, did you know that I love you?” Most people just cannot accept the fact that God truly does love them. Let me ask you the question now, “Do you know how much God loves you? Do you know that you have been adopted as a son or a daughter?”
Years ago the theologian Dr. Karl Barth was asked at a lecture he was giving an interesting question. He was asked, “What is the most profound theological statement in human history?” Dr. Barth gave a simple answer. He said this, “Jesus loves me this I know, for the Bible tells me so”. When you encounter the fact that you are a son or daughter of God, then this will change everything!
3. God wants to spend eternity with you! This is how much He loves you. Begin to see yourself as He sees you! You are a son or daughter of the King of Kings.
Be around other people that have already encountered God’s love – I love being around people that know how much God loves them and around people that see themselves as an adopted son or daughter. These people that have encountered God’s love are amazing to be around. Get around these people! Let them share with you their experiences. Hear the amazing words that they share about their own personal experiences of encountering God’s love. When you hear the stories, you will want to experience it yourself.My hope is that you would encounter God’s love! That you would not just read about, hear about it or even just speak about it. My hope is that you would fall face first into God’s love! If you do, you will never be the same!
God bless you this week! (Pastor Kevin)
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