I am convinced that many non-believers
as well as believers have failed to fully capture the truth concerning the Love
of God. I believe that many people’s relationship with God has been hindered by
this lack of understanding. The principle of the Love of God sounds “simple” to
some of us because we have heard about it all of our lives. We read the words.
We hear the words in songs and in sermons. And we actually believe in the Love
of God. Yet, we struggle believing that
GOD LOVES US!!!
I do not desire to “replay” last week’s
message but the Spirit of God continues to stir my heart concerning this
powerful truth in the Bible. I firmly believe that God is speaking to me and
that I am supposed to speak to you about the Love of God. Each of us must learn
to embrace His love and allow His love to transform us into His plan for our
lives. The enemy of our soul does not want us to receive the Love of God
because he knows that it will make a difference in our lives. But isn’t
transformation/change the true purpose of God in our lives? I am thankful that
God cares enough for me that He shares His love with me! I believe that we need
to celebrate the love of God more than ever.
I would like to share a portion of a devotional
with you written by Esther Allen. I encourage you to take a few minutes and
read this powerful inspirational message.
Romans 8:37, “No, in all these things we are more
than conquerors through him who loved us.” (NIV)
I’d been in a spiritual wilderness season for quite some time.
Having resigned from my job, I walked by faith, but as the days, weeks and
months went on, God felt more and more distant. I wasn’t hearing His voice
clearly, and I wondered if I’d mis-stepped or made a mistake.
After year three of unanswered prayers with hope deferred and no
job in sight, I asked myself, Would
this heart-sick feeling stick with me the rest of my days? Would “Defeated” be
my new name?
We will not feel like conquerors every day. In the seasons and
years we feel weary, unseen and tired, it’s important to not rename ourselves
in the middle of a storm. We’re meant to be more than conquerors, and
“Overcomers” will be a part of our new name — if we don’t give up.
I never felt like the phrase “more than
conquerors” applied to me. After being abandoned by my biological
parents, losing extended family members, facing financial independence as a
teenager and being unsure where I would lay my head at night, I certainly
didn’t feel like “more than a conqueror.”
And I know I am not alone. To the woman facing an unwanted
break-up, a betrayal or the death of a loved one — I’m sure you don’t feel like
you’re overcoming, either.
But let’s not miss the questions that precede calling us
conquerors. The Apostle Paul asks, Romans
8:35, “Who shall separate
us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or
famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?” (NKJV)
We’re told we can be more than conquerors in the midst of these
hardships and evils — right smack-dab in the middle of a trial.
Being more than a conqueror means whatever the enemy intended to
use to take you out — whatever was meant to destroy you — did not in
fact destroy you, and it’s now being used for God’s glory.
It means we don’t rename ourselves in the seasons we feel
forgotten and forsaken. It means we persevere to the other side of the trial
and wait, expectantly, for our new name.
Our stories are important. They’re part of our testimony about
what God has done for us. But there’s a second part to our stories. How are we
overcoming? How are we being made new? What’s God doing inside of us, not just
yesterday or last week or 10 years ago, but today? Do our stories show God’s ongoing faithfulness?
I used to see myself as an orphan, but now I know I am an
adopted daughter or son.
I am more
than a conqueror.
I trust and pray that this devotional was a blessing to you. Remember that GOD DOES LOVE YOU!!!
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