Thankful Giving

Daily Devotionals

Author: In Touch Ministries

February 6, 2012

How God Expresses Love

Romans 5:5-8

God loves every person He created. We could spend an entire day talking about the ways He expresses His love, and we’d still be unable to mention every one. But let’s take a look at a few examples from Scripture.

Creation is a tangible love message. God made a beautiful world for us to enjoy. He didn’t have to make the earth interesting to observe or explore. But He did so because He delights in our pleasure. He also enjoys meeting our needs, which He often accomplishes through other people. For that reason, He formed the body of Christ. He made believers into a family so that we could look to each other for encouragement and support.

People can decide whether or not to join the family of believers. That freedom is an expression of God’s love, too. Free will allows us to choose obedience, which makes us grow into mature followers who bear Christ’s image. Another important example of God’s love is that He causes all things, even hardships, to work for our ultimate good. And, of course, His greatest expression of love is the cross, where Jesus paid our sin-debt and purchased our salvation.

God could have chosen to offer salvation and nothing more. But He did not stop there. He provided each believer with the Holy Spirit as a comforter and guide. We have the uninterrupted presence of God in our lives because He wants to spend time with us!

Everything God does is an expression of His love. Take a moment to list a few of the blessings He has poured into your life recently. Let your gratitude be heard.

Book: My Utmost For His Highest

by Oswald Chambers

Are You Ready To Be Poured Out As an Offering?

I am already being poured out as a drink offering . . .
	2 Timothy 4:6

Are you ready to be poured out as an offering? It is an act of your will, not your emotions. Tell God you are ready to be offered as a sacrifice for Him. Then accept the consequences as they come, without any complaints, in spite of what God may send your way. God sends you through a crisis in private, where no other person can help you. From the outside your life may appear to be the same, but the difference is taking place in your will. Once you have experienced the crisis in your will, you will take no thought of the cost when it begins to affect you externally. If you don’t deal with God on the level of your will first, the result will be only to arouse sympathy for yourself.

"Bind the sacrifice with cords to the horns of the altar" ( Psalm 118:27 ). You must be willing to be placed on the altar and go through the fire; willing to experience what the altar represents-burning, purification, and separation for only one purpose-the elimination of every desire and affection not grounded in or directed toward God. But you don’t eliminate it, God does. You "bind the sacrifice . . . to the horns of the altar" and see to it that you don’t wallow in self-pity once the fire begins. After you have gone through the fire, there will be nothing that will be able to trouble or depress you. When another crisis arises, you will realize that things cannot touch you as they used to do. What fire lies ahead in your life?

Tell God you are ready to be poured out as an offering, and God will prove Himself to be all you ever dreamed He would be.

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