“Nothing can separate us from the love of God... Neither what happens today or what happens tomorrow.
When did God start loving you? When you became a Christian? When you got your life sorted out? When you started being a good girl?
When did He start loving you and me?
Before the foundation of the world. The Lamb of God was slain before the foundation of the world... and He has never stopped [loving you and me].
He has never done anything to you -- He has never allowed anybody else to do anything to you (and people have done terrible things to all of us); He has never allowed one of those single things to happen which He --because of His power and His love-- is not capable of transforming for your good.”
--Elisabeth Elliot | A Woman’s Offering: Gifts of my Life
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"And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose." - Romans 8:28 KJV
When we believe God loves us, then we can love Him. He first loved us. When we love God, we follow God. When we follow God, our lives begin a growing transformation into His image. When we choose to live according to His purpose for our lives, God is glorified.
"Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." - Romans 8:37-39 KJV
Amazing love - how can it be that God loved me before I even existed in flesh, and He loved you. He loved me before I chose to love Him. He loves me and you when we make choices that are not His for us. He loves the one running fast and hard away from Him just as fiercely as He loves the one chasing after Him with all heart. He loves all people. Jesus died for all that all might come to repentance. All do not choose Him, but He chose all to love.
The question Elisabeth Elliot asked "When did God start loving you?" directs us to the unfathomable, unending, perfect love of God for each and every person He created. His love is impossible to contain or define, yet it is personal.
When we believe that He loves us deeply and personally, it is then we can begin to believe that all the bad stuff that has happened in our lives does not go unaccounted for, nor without His knowledge. God promises to work good out of it for those loving Him though we cannot humanly imagine how. God also promises in Scripture that He will preserve the faithful and will bring justice to the wicked. Again, His vengeance will be fulfilled in His way and in His time.
For the believer -through the love of God- all the bad stuff brings us closer to the Perfect One, the highest Judge, the sovereign God, our loving Father, our living Savior, our soul Redeemer, our Friend and our Help.
I hope these truths about God's love and sovereignty strengthen your heart as they have mine. Knowing God's love changes everything. ~Jeri Lynn