“We love him, because he first loved us”. ( 1 John 4:19)

An old song says, “so many reasons why I love the Lord. So many reasons I can’t count them”. While there is a sense in which you can say that is true, the truth is there is but one reason why we love the Lord–” because he first loved us”. While the believers blessings are more than can be numbered the basis of our love is His love. He is the source of all love “for God is love” (1 John 4:8).

Of His love for us there can be no doubt. He has proven His love for us by giving His Son for us ( 1 John 4:9-10 ; Rom. 5:8). In Rom. 2:4 we are told that “the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance“. That goodness springs out of His love, and our love of God flows out of His love for us. We reciprocate the love God reveals toward us. While the law demands love it cannot produce love. It is only God’s love for us that can create our love for Him. Our love is the response of a repentant heart to the revealed love of God for us.

His love is the source, the force, the creative power of our love. Thus He alone deserves the praise for us loving Him. None of the credit goes to man. As Paul said, “by the grace of God I am what I am” ( 1 Cor. 15:10). There would be no mutual love were it not for the miracle of grace. His love gives birth to ours and brings blessings so numerous that ” I can’t count them”. — HDS

David Stone
Lakeway Baptist Church
5801 FM 1960 E
Humble, TX. 77346

“Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.”- Matt. 22:37

God’s love for us should always be on our mind, but so should the fact that we are to love Him. It is amazing to think that God loves us, but it is also amazing to think that He desires our love. How is it that He who has everything and can do anything would want the love of vile, filthy sinners? Why would He care?  With the great gulf between His holiness and our sinfulness it is amazing that He not only desires our love, but actually devised a means whereby we can be reconciled to Him.

God wants us to trust Him, obey Him, honor and serve Him. But at the head of the list of what He desires from us is love. He even demands it –“This is the first and great commandment” ( Matt. 22:38). And seeing He is deserving of what He demands we would be fools to deprive Him of it. Knowing He loves us how could we not love Him? His demand should be our desire.

Notice that He also speaks of the degree to which we are to love Him- “with all thy heart…soul…and….mind”. Let us then withhold nothing from what He demands, and give to Him our all. When we love God supremely not only is He pleased, we finally find the satisfaction our hearts yearn for. God’s demand for our love is not due to an inflated ego that demands center stage. It is because God knows that He is the missing link between our desires and satisfaction. It is only as we realize His love for us and return our love for His that our lonely heart is fulfilled. It is because He loves us that He demands us to love Him. – HDS

David Stone
Lakeway Baptist Church
5801 FM 1960 E
Humble, TX. 77346

“May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God.”- Eph. 3:18-19

You cannot meditate upon God’s greatness without being impressed. We marvel at His wisdom, power, etc., but perhaps more than anything else we think of His love. We do so for good reason–” God is love“. But regardless of how much we speak of it and rejoice in it we can never fully comprehend it. Paul speaks of the dimensions of God’s love – it’s breath, length, depth, and height ( Eph. 3:18), but admits that it is beyond what he can discern or describe. He wanted his readers to “know the love of Christ”, yet he says it “passeth knowledge“. The point is that although we can know of it, and the effects of it, we cannot know all of it. It is without limits. There is nothing to which it can be compared. It has no equal. The magnitude of His love is marvelous. It exceeds the limits of our understanding. God’s love is unmeasurable!
As the song says:
Could we with ink the ocean fill
And were the skies of parchment made
Were every stalk on earth a quill
And every man a scribe by tradeTo write the love of God above
Would drain the ocean dry
Nor could the scroll contain the whole
Though stretched from sky to sky

God’s love is indescribable. Trying to describe the love of God is like trying to count the drops of water in the seven seas, or the grains of sand on all the beaches, or the stars in the sky–you just can’t do it. Of all the subjects that could occupy your mind none are more mind-boggling than this. The most spiritual minded brilliant scholars in the world cannot exhaust the subject.

God’s love is unchanging. Adding to the wonder of God’s love is the fact that it is unfailing. It is not some fleeting concern for our terrible plight, nor a reward for some good deed. It is unconditional and unchangeable. Regardless of our faults and failures there is never a moment when we are unloved! Nothing “shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Rom. 8:39)– HDS

David Stone
Lakeway Baptist Church
5801 FM 1960 E
Humble, TX. 77346

By the grace of God-
— I am not who I was- Eph. 2:8
— I am what I am- 1 Cor. 15:10
— I do what I do- Eph. 3:7
— I have what I’ve got- Ja. 1:17
— I am able to keep going- 2 Cor. 12:9
Repeatedly I have to remind myself that I don’t deserve anything. I would like to think that I’m not so proud as to believe I am deserving of anything, especially a trouble free life, but all the evidence is against me. I suspect it’s the same with you. After all, we just naturally want to put ourselves in the best possible light. And since none of us enjoy suffering we look for a way to escape it, excuse it, or explain the reason away. We want things to be better, and tend to believe they should be better. — a proof of pride.

The first problem with believing we deserve better is it is a denial of the facts. We are deceived. Both the Bible and our behavior proves we are sinful and undeserving of God’s goodness. Anyone who understands grace knows that is true. None of us are earning our way with God. Were it not for grace we would all be in hell.

But there is another problem associated with believing we are deserving of a better life. Those who entertain such a notion are never satisfied, because there are always problems to contend with and they don’t like it. Difficulties come and we get disappointed because things don’t go our way. Then we get bitter when things don’t get better. We feel that life, God, or someone is being unfair with us. Even when we have more or better than the vast majority of people in the world we still aren’t happy. Our proud, sinful, selfish nature is convinced that things should go as we please. Not until we come to see the truth about ourselves do we begin to understand the greatness of God’s grace. It is indeed amazing! Then, grateful for grace, we are content with such as we have – as the Bible commands us to be. “Grace be with you all. Amen.” ( Heb. 13:25) –HDS
David Stone
Lakeway Baptist Church
5801 FM 1960 E
Humble, TX. 77346

“I must be about my Father’s business”– Luke 2:49
   Jesus lived in perpetual awareness that his Father had a purpose for his being here, and that he must therefore be constantly about his Father’s business.
   What is the driving motivation of your life? Whose “business” are you usually and primarily concerned with? Are you mostly working toward your own ends and purposes, toward the pleasure and admiration of your colleagues, toward the fulfillment of your friends’ expectations? Jesus determined that his Father’s business was his one driving, overruling interest.
   You may excuse yourself as being too young or too new to the faith to make such an all-encompassing, single-minded resolution. But do you know how old Jesus was when he uttered these words? He was twelve years old!
   It is never too soon to give your life to the service of the Lord, to dedicate your time and energy and labors to His glory and pleasure. Can you hear the urgency in Jesus’ words, at the age of twelve, to accomplish this purpose in His own life?
   You, also, are here for the glory of God. Like Jesus, you must determine to pursue your Father’s purpose for you now, no matter what family members or coworkers or classmates might say or think. Sadly, Jesus is here having to remind his own parents, in a gentle and respectful way, of the God-centered nature of his calling and life.
Believer, you must be about your Father’s business! Do not let any personal ambition or conflicting counsel get in the way of that great purpose. (Baptist Bible Hour)
If God’s business isn’t your business you are out of business! And that is a wasted life. A life well-lived is a life spent doing the will of God from the heart. So what are you living for?-HDS

David Stone
Lakeway Baptist Church
5801 FM 1960 E
Humble, TX. 77346