Listen to this devotion
Have you lost this sweet assurance? Hang on to the promises of God.
In the Word
For God loved the world so much that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not die but have eternal life (John 3:16 GNT).
Of the Word
“How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.” So begins Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s famous sonnet to her beloved. Perhaps her list included all the superlative qualities she thought made her husband, Robert, worthy of her love.
Yet, in our relationship with God, nothing we are, nothing we have done, is truly worthy of His love. We have no list of “superlative qualities” at all. Still, … God has shown us how much he loves us — it was while we were still sinners that Christ died for us! (Romans 5:8 GNT). See how much the Father has loved us! His love is so great that we are called God’s children … (1 John 3:1a GNT). But that is not all; we rejoice because of what God has done through our Lord Jesus Christ, who has now made us God’s friends (Romans 5:11 GNT).
God loves sinners and has sacrificed His own Son to draw us back to Himself as His children, His friends.
Walking with my Lord
Father, thank You for Jesus, my Savior. Thank You for Your constant love. Help me love others as You love me. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.
Mustard Seed: Walking with My Lord. Author: Donna Streufert. 2/30 ©2007 Lutheran Women’s Missionary League, 801 Seminary Place Ste. L010, St. Louis, MO 63105. www.lwml.org
Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations were taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. All rights reserved worldwide.
Scripture quotations marked GNT are taken from the GOOD NEWS TRANSLATION — Second Edition, American Bible Society, New York, NY. Copyright © 1992.
Sonnet 43, Elizabeth Barrett Browning as printed in Familiar Quotations, John Bartlett, 14th edition, Little, Brown & Co., Boston, MA, 1968, page 618
