Daily Scripture: Exodus 34:4 Moshe cut two stone tablets like the first. Then he got up early in the morning and, with the two stone tablets in his hands, ascended Mount Sinai, as Adonai had ordered him to do.
5 Adonai descended in the cloud, stood with him there and pronounced the name of Adonai. 6 Adonai passed before him and proclaimed: “YUD-HEH-VAV-HEH!!! Yud-Heh-Vav-Heh [Adonai] is God, merciful and compassionate, slow to anger, rich in grace and truth; 7 showing grace to the thousandth generation, forgiving offenses, crimes and sins; yet not exonerating the guilty, but causing the negative effects of the parents’ offenses to be experienced by their children and grandchildren, and even by the third and fourth generations.” 8 At once Moshe bowed his head to the ground, prostrated himself 9 and said, “If I have now found favor in your view, Adonai, then please let Adonai go with us, even though they are a stiffnecked people; and pardon our offenses and our sin; and take us as your possession.”
2 Corinthians 3:1 Are we starting to recommend ourselves again? Or do we, like some, need letters of recommendation either to you or from you? 2 You yourselves are our letter of recommendation, written on our hearts, known and read by everyone. 3 You make it clear that you are a letter from the Messiah placed in our care, written not with ink but by the Spirit of the living God, not on stone tablets but on human hearts.
1 John 4:16 Also we have come to know and trust the love that God has for us. God is love; and those who remain in this love remain united with God, and God remains united with them.
17 Here is how love has been brought to maturity with us: as the Messiah is, so are we in the world. This gives us confidence for the Day of Judgment. 18 There is no fear in love. On the contrary, love that has achieved its goal gets rid of fear, because fear has to do with punishment; the person who keeps fearing has not been brought to maturity in regard to love.
19 We ourselves love now because he loved us first.
Reflection Questions:
All Christian faith is founded on trust in a real God who loves us. This was (and is) quite extraordinary. Egyptians, Canaanites, Greeks or Romans—none of them believed their gods loved them. But Exodus said God showed Moses a divine character based on the profound realities of love and forgiveness. And that belief makes a real difference. Paul told the Corinthians that their changed lives were some of the best evidence that God is real.
- These Biblical ideas are so familiar, repeated so often, that it may be hard for us to catch their depth and power. Have you ever known (or been) a person who tends to see God as out to get you, an angry being to be placated by good behavior? How does that view affect our ability to love or trust God? What difference do you see between “God loves” and “God IS love” (which John said in 1 John 4:16)? In her book Many Waters, Madeleine l’Engle wrote of a “vast, patiently waiting love” at the heart of the cosmos. How does it shift your view of life’s meaning and purpose to believe in that, rather than a cold, empty universe?
God of love and grace, as the anguished father in the Bible prayed, “I believe—help my unbelief.” Ground my life ever more deeply in the reality of your existence as the ultimate source of life, love and grace. Amen.
Family Activity:
God’s love is never-ending! Tell your kids you are going to play a measurement game. Give each child a measuring stick or tape and ask them to measure items around the house. Point to or holler out the name of items (couch, cabinet, pets, toys, etc.) and have the kids measure each item. Invite them to call out the measurements after each one. Keep the game moving quickly and give lots of encouragement. After a few items have been measured, holler out, “Measure God’s love for us!” Watch as they think about what you have asked them to measure. Discuss ways we might try to measure God’s love. Remind them that God’s love is so big it simply cannot be measured—it is bigger than anything in our home, the world and the universe! Thank God for His love that is bigger than we can imagine.
Insights from Michelle Kirby
Michelle Kirby is the Program Director for Learning Events such as the Journey 101 courses and Destination Resurrection at The Church of the Resurrection.
(Due to an oversight, Michelle Kirby did not receive the GPS materials in advance. Until she is able to write, we share a post that Chris Folmsbee, Resurrection’s Director of Discipleship, wrote originally on February 23, 2013.)
Love is so central to our faith that to come into contact with it is to find oneself entangled with every element of Christian doctrine and life.* Absolutely every aspect of our stories of faith—past, present and future—is inseparably linked to the very nature and inner character of God. From the creation stories to the atonement to the loving words and actions of Christians all over the world to the coming new creation, we are a part of God’s story of love and restoration.
God’s love is mysterious. It is both fixed and dynamic. It is fixed in that it is never removed from us (Romans 8:31-39). It is dynamic in that it moves to continually cover all of our trouble, hardship and danger. God’s affection for us is most noticed in his desire to be in a mutually loving relationship which can only be brought about by the most loving act of all—the birth, death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ. God’s love transforms what would only be abstract and theoretical into something tangible and real through the life and ministry of Jesus.
God’s love is uninfluenced. The pure, present and perfect love of God is not granted to us because of who we are or what we do. God’s love is granted to us because of who God is—and God is love. God’s love is deeper than the popular concept of love. In fact, God’s love is a profound correction of the modern concept of love. It is not based on emotional and social connection.* Rather, God’s love is based on spiritual truth. God’s love is what gives structure to all of life and leads us to understand other attributes of God (such as holiness, righteousness, justice, grace, mercy, forgiveness and goodness). This is the reason Paul can make the outlandish claim in Romans 8:31-39 that “nothing can separate us from the love of God that is in Jesus Christ our Lord.”
God’s love is the great equalizer. It destroys indifference, pride and partiality; it levels the ground for all.* Through God’s love all of us are invited to take part in the greatest love story ever told, a story marked by mutual loyalty and devotion. God’s clearest representation of God’s love is the life and ministry of Jesus. Jesus modeled for us—the people of God, the church—what \ it means to faithfully love God and neighbor. God’s call for the church is to lean into the guidance of the Holy Spirit and find ways to participate in God’s redemptive work in the world. What ways are we finding to interact with non-religious and nominally religious people so that they too might experience God’s love?
*Thoughts adapted from Wynkoop, A Theology of Love. Beacon Hill Press, Kansas City, MO, 1972.
Download the GPS App
The United Methodist Church of the Resurrection
13720 Roe Avenue
(Due to an oversight, Michelle Kirby did not receive the GPS materials in advance. Until she is able to write, we share a post that Chris Folmsbee, Resurrection’s Director of Discipleship, wrote originally on February 23, 2013.)
Love is so central to our faith that to come into contact with it is to find oneself entangled with every element of Christian doctrine and life.* Absolutely every aspect of our stories of faith—past, present and future—is inseparably linked to the very nature and inner character of God. From the creation stories to the atonement to the loving words and actions of Christians all over the world to the coming new creation, we are a part of God’s story of love and restoration.
God’s love is mysterious. It is both fixed and dynamic. It is fixed in that it is never removed from us (Romans 8:31-39). It is dynamic in that it moves to continually cover all of our trouble, hardship and danger. God’s affection for us is most noticed in his desire to be in a mutually loving relationship which can only be brought about by the most loving act of all—the birth, death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ. God’s love transforms what would only be abstract and theoretical into something tangible and real through the life and ministry of Jesus.
God’s love is uninfluenced. The pure, present and perfect love of God is not granted to us because of who we are or what we do. God’s love is granted to us because of who God is—and God is love. God’s love is deeper than the popular concept of love. In fact, God’s love is a profound correction of the modern concept of love. It is not based on emotional and social connection.* Rather, God’s love is based on spiritual truth. God’s love is what gives structure to all of life and leads us to understand other attributes of God (such as holiness, righteousness, justice, grace, mercy, forgiveness and goodness). This is the reason Paul can make the outlandish claim in Romans 8:31-39 that “nothing can separate us from the love of God that is in Jesus Christ our Lord.”
God’s love is the great equalizer. It destroys indifference, pride and partiality; it levels the ground for all.* Through God’s love all of us are invited to take part in the greatest love story ever told, a story marked by mutual loyalty and devotion. God’s clearest representation of God’s love is the life and ministry of Jesus. Jesus modeled for us—the people of God, the church—what \ it means to faithfully love God and neighbor. God’s call for the church is to lean into the guidance of the Holy Spirit and find ways to participate in God’s redemptive work in the world. What ways are we finding to interact with non-religious and nominally religious people so that they too might experience God’s love?
*Thoughts adapted from Wynkoop, A Theology of Love. Beacon Hill Press, Kansas City, MO, 1972.
Download the GPS App
The United Methodist Church of the Resurrection
13720 Roe Avenue
Leawood, Kansas 66224 United States
913.897.0120
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