Week 16 of 52 Prayers of faith - Faith is knowing that the Love of God transcends all things

Faith is knowing that the Love of God transcends all things - Lord, increase our faith

The love of God, God's love or Agape love is a love that is not rooted primarily in the human condition. There are many kinds of love. The love of a man for a woman, the love of a parent for a child, the love of a friend for a friend. But all these kinds of love come from the human heart. The human heart can be a very dark place. We can harbor secret lusts and hatred in our hearts. Human love is tainted; tainted by our sinful proclivities.

On the other hand God's love comes form the wellspring of God's heart. God is everything good and right. There is no darkness in Him. The Apostle John even goes so far to say that God is love, or stated another way, God's very nature is love. God may hate sin, but He loves sinners. God so loved the world that He sent is only begotten Son into the world to make a way possible for us to experience His love first hand.

Then He sent his Holy Spirit to dwell in those who believed in his Son, so that we would have the power to love others as He first loved us. That is a powerful thing. So powerful that the Apostle Paul said that this Agape love, never fails. This love gives us the power to love even our enemies. It grants us forgiveness so that we can receive God's forgiveness and so that we can forgive those who have transgressed against us.

God's Agape love in us is proof of God living in us. The Apostle John goes so far to say that if we don't love our brother or sister (referring to others of our faith) then God is not in us. That makes for quite the charge against us. Jesus says that our love is the evidence of our faith. We will be known by our love, not our piety or our theology. God's love makes it possible for us to love the unlovable. This is truly transcendent. Jesus said that anyone can love someone who loves them. But with his Love we can love anyone.

Thank you Lord, that your Love transcends: our fears, our hatred, our sin, our selfishness. Lord, your love transcends all of our shortcomings and makes us more like You. Lord, increase our faith.

Week 15 of 52 Prayers of Faith - Faith is knowing that God knows all the dark recesses of our hearts and still loves us

Faith is knowing that God knows all the dark recesses of our hearts and still loves us - Lord increase our faith

I find it interesting that we find in the very beginning of the Bible that there is sibling rivalry and murder in the first children born to Adam and Eve and by the 6th chapter we read "and that every inclination of the thoughts of their (humanity's) hearts was only evil continually." Yet already God had Jesus in mind in "God so loved the world..." that God provided away out of moral depravity.

Jesus didn't die on the cross because we were so deserving. Jesus died on the cross because we were in need of help and because God loved us so much. God loves us so much that He doesn't want to leave us in that mess. Not only has He paid for our sins, but He has made a way for us to have victory over sin. God did this because He loves us. "While we were yet sinners Christ died for us. God doesn't expect us to get it together in order for us to earn is love. He loves us even while hating our sin.

Faith in Christ's crucifixion and resurrection is foundational for us as Christians. We must believe that He died for us because of our depravity not because we deserved it. His love is what empowers us to love others. His love is what draws us to Him. He doesn't love us because we sin, He loves us in spite of our sinful inclinations.

Lord, thank you for loving us in spite of the darkness in our hearts. Lord, increase our faith.