[Faith-talk] Good Night Message for Thursday, February 14, 2013

[Paul]

Well, here in the Americas Valentine's Day is slowly coming to a close.  I hope and pray that you, in your individual or collective ways, celebrated it, whether quietly or with a dinner at a fancy restaurant.  As for me, I received only two personal Valentines, but they were of the kind that, as a song from the 1970's put it, were "treasures that money can't buy."  I really enjoyed these two Valentines.

Today's article treats of, what else?, the subject of love.  It's author's and original publication's names aren't given, but it title is "Love, Looking for the real thing?" and is rendered as follows:

You don't have to be a member of the Lonely Hearts Club to be looking for love.  All of us, whether we're 15 or 50, handsome or homely, married or single, need the kind of love that makes life worth living.

You know what I'm talking about.  You want someone to make you feel glad that you're alive.  Someone to love you, not for how you look or what you can do, but for just being you.  You want a love you can depend on when everyone else has failed you.

Unfortunately, that kind of love is hard to find.  Turn on your radio and someone will be singing about the lover who let them down.  Tune to a talk show and a daughter reveals the painful memory of a father who never loved her.  The problem is universal.  In some way we've all been wounded in our search for love.

The good news is that there is a love that can heal any broken heart.  A love that you don't have to earn.  An unconditional love is stronger than any human love.

God is the source of that love.  When our lives are open to Him, God's love can flow to us and through us to others.  But when sin separates us from Him, life is an emotional roller coaster.  One day we feel loved; the next day we don't.

God's love is so great that He sent His own Son to bridge the gap that separates us from Him.  The Bible says, "God demonstrates His own love for us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us" (Romans 5:8).

That's love! Jesus Christ gave His life so that we would know His Father's love forever.  There is no sin that we will ever commit that has not been paid for by Christ's death.  Nothing can separate us from His love.

Why not get off the roller coaster today? Only God's love can give you the security you're really looking for.  His unchanging love can free you to be all you're meant to be.  You can be sure of God's love if you will:

1.  Recognize that your sin separates you from God.  "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23).

2.  Realize that God loves you and believe that Jesus Christ died for your sins.  "God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life" (John 3:16).

3.  Receive Him into your life by faith.  "If you confess with your mouth Jesus is Lord, and believe in your heart God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved" (Romans 10:9).

And there you have it for today.  Not a card that is thrown away after a reading and not a box of chocolates that not only make you fat but drives up your blood sugar sky high, but a message that will last forever and ever.  I told a group on another email that, if I had not accepted Jesus into my life as my personal Lord and Savior, and if I had read this article carefully and meditatively, it would have been a very strong persuasion tool to turn my life around.

And now may the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob just keep us safe, individually and collectively, throughout this night or day and especially in these last days in which we live.  Your Christian friend and brother, Paul