THE LORD’S LAVISH LOVE
BREAD
16 “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.”
John 3:16-17 (NIV)
21 Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope: 22 Because of the LORD’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. 23 They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. 24 I say to myself, “The LORD is my portion; therefore I will wait for him.” 25 The LORD is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks him; 26 it is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the LORD.
Lamentations 3:21-26 (NIV)
11 For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him; 12 as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us. 13 As a father has compassion on his children, so the LORD has compassion on those who fear him; 14 for he knows how we are formed, he remembers that we are dust. 15 As for man, his days are like grass, he flourishes like a flower of the field; 16 the wind blows over it and it is gone, and its place remembers it no more. 17 But from everlasting to everlasting the LORD’s love is with those who fear him, and his righteousness with their children’s children– 18 with those who keep his covenant and remember to obey his precepts.
Psalms 103:11-18 (NIV)
17 “The LORD your God is with you, he is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing.”
Zephaniah 3:17 (NIV)
16 And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him.
1 John 4:16 (NIV)
BUTTER
“Unless Christians are convinced of God’s love for them and His favor over them by virtue of their union with Christ, they will minimize their sin and engage in blame-shifting and excuse- making in order to feel justified before God. Unfortunately, many in the Church today teach believers a two-step. The two-step is to simply repent and fight. They acknowledge their sin and proceed with new resolve to try harder to avoid sin. The problem with this approach is it bypasses the cross of Christ and the power of the resurrection.” Bob Flayhart
“We must lean into the truth of God’s love displayed in Jesus’ coming. Our fall into depravity and alienation was because our confidence in the kindness and love of God was shaken. We doubted and doubt the love of God. Our recovery must begin with the belief of His love; ‘this is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as the atoning sacrifice for our sins’ (I Jn. 4:10).” Dr. Tom Wood
“God’s love is always supernatural, always a miracle, always the last thing we deserve.” Robert Horn
“Often hell is portrayed as a place of punishment and heaven as a place of reward. But this concept easily leads us to think about God as either a policeman, who tries to catch us when we make a mistake and send us to prison when our mistakes become too big, or a Santa Claus, who counts up all our good deeds and puts a reward in our stocking at the end of the year. God, however, is neither a policeman nor a Santa Claus. God does not send us to heaven or hell depending on how often we obey or disobey. God is love and only love. In God there is no hatred, desire for revenge, or pleasure in seeing us punished. God wants to forgive, heal, restore, show us endless mercy, and see us come home. But just as the father of the prodigal son let his son make his own decision God gives us the freedom to move away from God’s love even at the risk of destroying ourselves. Hell is not God’s choice. It is ours.” Henri Nouwen
“For although there is nothing in the world deserving of God’s favor, He nevertheless shows He is favorable to the whole world when He calls all without exception to the faith of Christ, which is indeed an entry in to life.” John Calvin
“They who love God with all their hearts, find that His ways are ways of pleasantness, and all His paths are peace.” Charles H. Spurgeon
“Only he who has experienced it can believe what the love of Jesus Christ is.” Bernard of Clairvaux
HEART SAVOR
• Jesus loves me this I know.
• Christ’s love gives me hope – His compassions never fail – they are new every morning.
• I can know and rely on God’s love.
Beth Yoe's Sharing Bread 