Oh How He Loves You and Me!

When my daughter was a toddler, we had a favorite game we used to play. I would say something like, “Do you know how much I love you sweetheart?” She would reply, “No, how much dad?” “I love you thisssssssssssssssssssss much,” I would say, holding the note for as long as I could. We would then collapse together in the couch or whatever was near by for some smooches and tickles. My daughter would laugh hysterically; feeling assured that her dad loved her down to his last breath. For my daughter, that was never enough. “How much do you really love me, dad?” she would beam, waiting for whatever I could come up with to top my last demonstration. Finally, I would say, “I love you infinity, darling” and that would end the questions. You just could not top infinity.

And although I believed that statement with all of my heart and I am sure that my love for my daughter could not be measured, I am also sure that my love absolutely pales in comparison to the Father’s love for her. This is sometimes a difficult truth to grasp, but it is a truth worth knowing and coming to terms with. God’s love for us is so great that even as we reject Him and tell Him no thanks, He loves us, forgives us and bids us to come.

Do you have this assurance friend? Do you have absolute confidence in the love of God for you? Consider this thought for a moment. We all have things in our lives or in the past that we are not proud of. Could you imagine confessing all of those faults to the people who you are most familiar with, like family members, coworkers and colleagues? Grizzly thought. Think of the judgment, the feigned shock and the hungry bites for the “juicy” gossip!

Yet God already knows all of these things, but He doesn’t count them against you. No false judgment, no visible gasp and no condemnation. Just our Lord saying, “Hey friend, do you know how much I love you?” “No, Lord, how much?” “Infinity, beloved, infinity.”


Take a look at Luke 7:1-10 and meditate upon the poem below. I pray that it will lift your faith as you consider His great love for you. I am looking forward to taking the 40 Day love journey with all of you! God bless.


How Much More
Luke 7:1-10

If a man can love his servant
How much more the Son of Man
If a man would seek to save him
Would not Jesus take your hand?

If a man can care so deeply
That he would move mountains for a slave
Would not He who loves completely
Care about your every prayer?

If a man would seek the Master
To lead Him to his servant’s bed
Is not He the One who numbered
Every hair upon your head?

If a man would give his son a fish
And would not give a stone
Would the Lord not give you mercy
When you approach His Throne?

If a man could love a friend so dear
Regardless, rich or poor
How much more He loves you my friend
How much more, how much more!


Copyright A. W. Gill 2003
All Rights Reserved

40 Days of Love?

Dear friends: This weekend, we are kicking off a spiritual growth campaign in our church called "40 Days of Love." We believe this will be a great time of learning and growing together, but if you think about it, why just 40 days? God calls us to a lifetime and a lifestyle of love. In fact, one of the Scriptures that we promised to memorize and operate by for the days and weeks ahead is the New Living Bible translation of I Corinthians 16:14. That Scripture says, "Everything you do must be done with love."

Everything? That's right, everything! How about when the waiter messes up your order at the restaurant? How do you approach that? You guessed it - with love! And how about when your children blow it or don't live up to your expectations? Or how about the really difficult people in your life; how are you supposed to treat them? The Bible says with love, friends. "Everything you do must be done with love."

I admit this is really challenging. But Jesus asks all of us this question, "If you only love those who love you, what credit is that to you?" Luke 6:32. You see, it's easy to love those who love us and who treat us well. True love is much deeper than that. True love is a choice and a commitment; it is also an action and not just an emotion. Loving God and loving others is a skill that can be practiced and improved upon. It only requires a willing heart and a small step of faith.

So for the next 40 Days, we will take a love journey together. But let's not stop there. Let us commit ourselves to loving a little more and a little better each and every God-given day. Take a moment to read and meditate on the poem below.

Easy Love

I much prefer easy love
The kind that takes no stretch at all
My wife and children
Friends and family
Safe and sound behind my wall.

There are no risks with easy love
So cozy are its velvet ways
You love the ones
Who love you most
And praise the ones who give you praise.

Publicans love easy love
Doctors, chiefs and lawyers too
Rarely queasy
When it’s easy
My friend, how about you?

Are you a friend of easy love?
Do you scorn your enemies?
Revenge is sweeter
When you feed her
Though costly are her fees.

The Lord rejected easy love
Far too precious you and me
While we were scoffers
He died for us
True love displayed upon a tree.



Copyright A. W. Gill - 2004
All rights reserved

"Bigger Barns"

And He told them this parable: “The ground of a certain rich man produced a good crop. He thought to himself, ‘What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.’ “Then he said, ‘This is what I’ll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there will I store all my grain and my goods. And I’ll say to myself, “You have plenty of good things laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.”’ “But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself? “This is how it will be for anyone who stores up things for himself but is not rich toward God.”Luke 12:16-21(NIV).

You’ve heard the story about the man who climbed the ladder of success only to discover that he had leaned his ladder against the wrong wall. Sounds familiar doesn’t it? Sometimes it takes years to find out that without God, it is indeed lonely at the top. There is only so much space on a ladder. This was never God’s intent. From the very beginning, God created mankind to dwell with Him; to share in a divine fellowship unlike that of any other created being. Man was made to worship God and to find his identity and purpose in Him.

Sadly, some of us have reckoned ourselves smarter than God. We've sought to live life on our terms, to worship what or whom we please. In our search to find true meaning in life, we often foolishly look beyond our Creator (The Person who holds the key to our ultimate joy and the only One worthy of our worship) to find meaning in relationships with people, status symbols, human accomplishments and the size of our barns. When those barns overflow with all of the stuff that we have accumulated, we build bigger barns. And on and on the cycle goes. The world calls this person a success. The Bible calls this person a fool.

Tell me, Beloved, what’s inside your barn? What have you been storing up with the life God gave to you? Is your barn filled with God’s merchandise or are you mostly rich toward yourself? Wouldn’t it be sad to arrive at the end of your days, only to realize that you had missed your life’s true purpose?

The good news is that if you are alive today, then you can make a change. You can stop right where you are and make a U-Turn toward God. Perhaps it is time for a garage sale; time for you to empty your barns of this world’s goods, and exchange it for some true riches that pay eternal dividends. Stop and think about that today.

God is Able!

Dear Friends: Remember this. God is able. Whatever our difficulties or struggles; He is able. Throughout the Scriptures mankind is pictured as frail; easily moved, frequently discouraged and prone to wander. But our God is all-sufficient, steadfast and Almighty. The poem below is based upon Matthew Chapter 3 and verse 9.

The verse states, "And do not think you can say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham as our father.' I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham.” That's right! God can still make something out of nothing. God made man from clay and He can raise up children from stone. He has no limitations.

Please meditate on these words today and let it be an encouragement to you. God bless. P. Wayne

GOD IS ABLE

For I say unto you
God is able
Water, clay
Flesh and bone
Breath of life
From His nostrils
Raising children
Up from stone.

Again I say
God is able
Love and power
Seated above
Many nations
Enter freely
No limit
Has His love.

Do not forget
God is able
Full of mercy
Wholly just
Divine refuge
A strong tower
Strength and hope for
All who trust.



Copyright 2004 by A. W. Gill
All Rights reserved

Be Like The Bird That Sings!

Dear Friends: One of my favorite poems is a very short, but profound verse by the French writer, Victor Hugo. It says, "Be like the bird that, pausing in her flight awhile on boughs too slight, feels them give way beneath her, and yet sings, knowing that she hath wings.”

Read that again, slowly. Let the meaning seep in before you move on. Have you ever taken a moment to observe a bird dancing in a garden? I've noticed the very thing that Hugo describes above: A little bird flutters and then settles in on a weak branch or a palm frond. Just when the bird thinks it's safe, the branch gives way! Does the bird panic? Maybe, for a second - but then just as quickly, she sings - knowing that she has wings - a God-given means of escape.

From time to time, you and I will pause mid-flight, on boughs too slight, and it will feel as if the entire branch of our lives is giving way beneath us. Friend, that is the time that we must learn to sing, knowing that God has given us wings! The Bible says that "He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty...He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge" (Psalms 91:1,4).

There is absolutely no height from which you can fall that the Almighty God will not rescue you. He is the God who carries His people on eagle's wings (Exodus 19:4). So the next time you step out on a branch and you feel it start to give way - be like the bird and sing! Knowing that God will carry you on His wings.