God Loves You

God Loves You

Once upon a time there was a young man, .Work and school kept him busy. He was friendly enough. One evening he came home from school a little early, there were was a car in the driveway. Not just any car but, a car that he knew.

He was suddenly afraid. What could be going on? Why were they there? Not knowing if he could face the scene, he did not stop at the house.

He called home and unfortunately his fear was correct. There was indeed something going on. In a short but, heated phone conversation with his wife he learned that they were waiting for him.

You see it was his birthday. He learned about cake, ice cream and presents just for him.

He learned that his early arrival caused him to stumble into a surprise party.

For reasons of his own, he refused to come home, until he was sure that every guest had left. He refused to go to a place where he actually knew he was loved and even celebrated as a family member.

I was the young man who refused to come home to family and friends that gathered to surprise me. It took months for me to get over the shame I eventually felt for my hard headed actions.

Do you know that Renee did not leave me and her family never shunned me?

They never tried to surprise me like that again. Not because I was right or apologized enough. Is was simpler than that, it was because, they love me, not because I deserve it, but because they are that good and forgiving.

God’s love is just like that and that I what I want to talk about this morning.

Sometimes we don’t notice God’s actions as much I as I think we should. If we don’t see his hand we will never notice His love. God’s love is all around us.

I want to point out this morning some of the ways we see His love.

Let me start with my personal favorite. (God’ creation)

God’ creation is an expression of love that is hard to ignore. Even if you are not the outdoor type, I hope that you notice the beauty that surrounds us.

Every spring I get on a kick where my prayers seem to include every blooming flower and sign of live. But I don’t want to start a list like that this morning. I want to pick just one to mention. Some mornings I am on the road early and I witness a sunrise that has the most fantastic colors. I wonder if I am the only one that is noticing.

It feels almost like it is something God is doing just for me. Why, because I know He Loves Me! So, I can’t help but think of God in the beauty of the moment. -Listen to Psalm 8,

1 O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!

You have set your glory above the heavens.

2 From the lips of children and infants you have ordained praise

because of your enemies, to silence the foe and the avenger.

3 When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers,

the moon and the stars, which you have set in place,

4 what is man that you are mindful of him,

the son of man that you care for him?

5 You made him a little lower than the heavenly beings

and crowned him with glory and honor.

6 You made him ruler over the works of your hands;

you put everything under his feet:

7 all flocks and herds, and the beasts of the field,

8 the birds of the air, and the fish of the sea,

all that swim the paths of the seas.

9 O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!

I am no less amazed than David when I look at nature and even more so when I look at our position in the structure. We are on the top in most categories and the ones we are not physically the best at we over come wit our intelligence.

To me that screams how obviously important we seem to be to Him. God show his love for us through creation.

Another sign of God’s genuine love for us is free will.

We have the ability to think and more specifically to choose. He loved us so much that he allowed free will. We are not robots or simple dolls for His entertainment. We are not automatically loving like the dogs at house that are so happy when I come home and yet I don’t clam them or directly feed them.

He made us with this unique ability to participate in a relationship with him.