Prove It!

"But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." - Romans 5:8

Have you ever made a statement to someone to have them respond with a statement like this, "Prove it" or something along those lines?

In times of prolonged adversity, we can begin to entertain thoughts that cause us to doubt Christ's love for us.  At some point in our lives, we all have done this.  Satan is going to come to us and try to get us to doubt Christ's love for us.  He is going plant thoughts in our minds like, "If God really loved you, then He wouldn't let this happen" or "If God really loved you, then He would do this for you."  In order to fight this, we must store up truths in our hearts about God from His Word to use as weapons when Satan tries to convince us that we are not loved by Christ.

The most convincing evidence of God's love for us is when He gave Himself in the form of Jesus Christ to suffer and die for our sins on the Cross.  If you look at the verses 6-7 of Romans chapter 5, you see the depth of the love of Christ.

"For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly." - Romans 5:6


"For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare die." - Romans 5:7


First, we see that Christ died for the ungodly.  Secondly, we see that it is inconceivable to someone would even die for a good man or even a righteous man.  This tells us the depths of Christ's love for us, because according to Scripture, we are not righteous and neither are we good.  However, despite what we are, Christ died for us. He took the punishment that you and I deserved, suffering the wrath of God the Father because my sin and your sin was laid upon Him.  What love He demonstrated!  God showed His love for us by meeting our greatest need - paying our sin debt with His own life's blood thus satisfying the wrath of God the Father.

"Calvary is the one objective, absolute, irrefutable proof of God's love for us." - Jerry Bridges


Jesus Christ has already proved His love for us, and as a result of that, let us prove our love for Christ and demonstrate that love to a lost and dying world!

Prayer For Today:

Heavenly Father, thank You for demonstrating and proving Your love for me through Christ's death on the Cross.  Forgive me for the times when I doubt Your love for me due to my circumstances.  Help me to prove my love for You and demonstrate that love to those around me.  In Jesus name, Amen!

Who Are You Living For?

"For the love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead: And that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again." - 2 Corinthians 5:14-15



Most of us are very familiar with this chapter of 2 Corinthians, especially verse 17.  It is one those verses that most every Born Again Christian can quote, but have you paid much attention to the verses that precede it?  As I was reading one of my devotions this morning, there was something in these verses that stood out to me and really spoke to my heart.  Who am I living for?  Am I living my life for me or am I living my life for Christ?

The implications of these two verses could not be any clearer.  Since we all are spiritually dead and that Christ died for all, then we are no longer to live for us, but rather we are to live for Christ.  Sounds pretty simple, pretty cut and dry, right?  It may sound simple and easy, but it is a hard thing to do many times.  Our flesh still wants to have it's way and have it's lusts and desires fulfilled.  That is why we must daily deny ourselves and crucify our flesh that we might surrender all to Christ and live for Him.  I am so amazed at how many people will profess Christ as their Savior, but yet they still live for themselves.  Jesus Christ purchased our pardon on Calvary and freed us from the penalty of sin, so He has every right to demand that we live for Him and not for ourselves.

If you and I are living for Christ, then it doesn't matter what the church down the road is doing, it doesn't matter what another person says about us, the only thing that matters is that we are living for Jesus Christ and pleasing Him!  In the last couple of days I have seen this played out in our community, people so worried and concerned with others are saying and doing.  Quite frankly, I am not concerned with what others are doing, I have a hard enough time just trying to live my life for Christ.  In the end, it isn't going to matter what someone else did or some other church did, the only thing that is going to matter is whether or not you lived your life for Christ.

So the question is this child of God: are you living your life for you, or are you living your life for Jesus Christ, the One who died for you?  When I examine my life, unfortunately, I am forced to conclude that so many times I am living for me and not for Christ.  What about you?

Prayer For Today:

Heavenly Father, help me to examine my heart today and see whether I am truly living my life for You.  Help me to die daily, to crucify my flesh, surrender all to Christ, and live for Him with my whole heart.  In Jesus name, Amen!

The Love Of God

"Then said the Lord unto me, Go yet, love a woman beloved of her friend, yet an adulteress, according to the love of the Lord toward the children of Israel, who look to other gods, and love flagons of wine." - Hosea 3:1


I just wanted to share a quick thought on the love of God towards you and I.  Do we really comprehend the depth of God's love for us?  I personally think that we just throw around the phrase "God loves us" without fully understanding its implications and comprehending the reality of what those words communicate to us.

Here is what Charles Spurgeon said about the love of the Lord:

"Believer, look back through all thine experience, and think of the way whereby the Lord thy God has led thee in the wilderness, and how he hath fed and clothed thee every day—how he hath borne with thine ill manners—how he hath put up with all thy murmurings, and all thy longings after the flesh-pots of Egypt—how he has opened the rock to supply thee, and fed thee with manna that came down from heaven. Think of how his grace has been sufficient for thee in all thy troubles—how his blood has been a pardon to thee in all thy sins—how his rod and his staff have comforted thee."

Even as wonderful and beautiful as Spurgeon describes God's love for us, it still does not fully communicate to us truly the depth of His love for you and I.  When we take the time to meditate upon the Lord's love for us, it literally should overwhelm us.

Think about all of the ways that Christ has shown His love for us.  We all know that when Christ took our punishment that we deserved and died on the cross for our sins, He demonstrated the greatest act of love that there is.  Putting the cross aside for just a moment, think of all the other ways that Jesus has demonstrated His love for you.  If you were to start writing them down there would not be enough paper to contain them all.  In light of the reality and demonstration of Christ's love for us, why is it that we always question His love for us?

Just think about it, even though we murmur, complain, desire the things of the world, put our fleshly lusts first, and even many times turn our backs on the One who died for us, Christ still loves us.  WOW!  In spite of how miserably you and I fail Christ everyday and no matter how many times we put other things before Him, He still loves us!  This should literally melt our hearts and cause us to fall prostrate before Christ in repentance.

I would like to share one more quote with you from Charles Spurgeon about our response to this love.

"Surely as we meditate on “the love of the Lord,” our hearts burn within us, and we long to love him more."

Prayer For Today:

Heavenly Father, thank You so much for loving me, even though I am unworthy of Your love.  Help me today to meditate on the depth of Your love and what that truly means.  It is my prayer and desire that Your love for me would cause my heart to burn within me, that I would love You more and more.  In Jesus name, Amen!