Loved by God

 

DEVOTION

THE 1^ST LETTER TO THE THESSALONIANS

LOVED BY GOD

1 Thess 1:4-10

4 For we know, brothers loved by God, that he has chosen you, 5 because our gospel came to you not simply with words, but also with power, with the Holy Spirit and with deep conviction. You know how we lived among you for your sake. 6 You became imitators of us and of the Lord; in spite of severe suffering, you welcomed the message with the joy given by the Holy Spirit. 7 And so you became a model to all the believers in Macedonia and Achaia. 8 The Lord's message rang out from you not only in Macedonia and Achaia — your faith in God has become known everywhere. Therefore we do not need to say anything about it, 9 for they themselves report what kind of reception you gave us. They tell how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God, 10 and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead — Jesus, who rescues us from the coming wrath.

NIV

Although it seems best to take this whole thought together, there is so much here it might take us a while to digest it all. We will have to see how the Holy Spirit leads us through all this. The first thing we notice is that Paul calls them brothers loved by God. That alone should give us great joy also, for we are among those who are loved by God. Yes, we know God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son so that whosoever believes in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. However, Paul is making the point, as he is inspired by the Spirit, that there is the love of God for the world, but there is a love of God for those who believe that seems to be something different. We do not know if we can explain it, but we feel his love within and we know of his love. The non-believer lives without the knowledge of God’s love and therefore lives without true joy and the power of the Holy Spirit. Paul also tells them that God chose them because the gospel came to them not simply with words, but also with power, with the Holy Spirit, and with deep conviction. This is the response that we think should be normal among hearing the gospel. How can we not believe God chose us because when we heard the words when we asked God to reveal himself to us, and he did so with a mighty miracle, and then the Holy Spirit came upon us with his power, and the joy that flooded our heart and mind was almost overwhelming? To be converted from death to life was and still is the most exciting moment in our lives. To know without a doubt that God loves us, and that he is working in our lives, leading, guiding our footsteps, providing for us all that we need is again almost overwhelming.  It never ceases to amaze us of how his love is manifested in our lives. To think the Lord God Almighty, the creator of all the universe has chosen us to love and sent his Son to save us from perishing and giving us eternal life, and then send his Holy Spirit to live within us so to manifest his fruit and his gifts in our lives is above and beyond anything else in this life. How can we not live with a deep conviction, knowing all this? We cannot simply make God a part of our life, but he is our life, and everything else in our life is built upon our being loved by God.