The Overwhelming Importance of Christians Knowing and Truly Understanding the Immense LOVE God has for Them!

22 Aug 2026 Leave a comment

by randyobrien50 in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Today’s Scrip-Bit   22 August 2026   1 John 3:1a.

1 John 3:1a.        Behold, what manner of LOVE the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons (children) of God:

It’s our lazy-day Saturday friends! So good to know that we are our own bosses today and can do what ever we wish; work hard, or do exactly nothing. And it’s shaping up to be a good day to do nothing because it’s damp and cloudy with rain promised during the day. And we all know that a wet, cloudy day is the best one to lol around on the couch or covered up in bed, just enjoying some quiet time with the Lord. And I must admit that I enjoyed a bit of covering up in the bed before I had to come down and do the Lord’s work. But dem’s the breaks! (smile)

But before we get too far gone into the lazy-day attitude, let’s offer up our Lazy-Day Saturday Prayer in all sincerity and truth. As one strong voice: ‘Lord, I want to be with You now. Please slow my thoughts and quiet my soul. Let my muscles relax, my breath deepen. You are here with me – Your peace and LOVE are present. I marvel to think You can’t be contained, that Your LOVE both surrounds and fills me. Thank You for this tenderness, Lord. I praise You for Your unceasing nearness. Increase my awareness of You today, that I may know You all the more. Amen!’ 

And for sure, if our prayer was truly sincere, and we really wanted to get closer to God, then He will soon lighten our spirits with His peace and calm that passes all understanding, because there’s nothing He LOVES more than getting close to His children, like any LOVING Father would. It’s like John says in his first epistle. ‘Behold, what manner of LOVE the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons (children) of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not. Beloved, now we are the sons (children) of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.’ (1 John 3:1-2)

Yes friends, when we receive Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour we become spiritually born of God and therefore His children. And according to the scholars, ‘Bestowed is in the perfect tense, suggesting the enduring effect of the LOVE God has given.’ And it cannot be any other way, for what the Lord gives He does not take away, especially His wonderful, unconditional, unwavering LOVE! And when Jesus returns we will be transformed into His likeness, a process that has already begun with our accepting Him as Lord and Saviour and having His Holy Spirit dwelling within us, leading and guiding us in His ways.

However, since the world doesn’t know God, therefore it doesn’t know us either; the children of God. That’s something Jesus pointed out to the disciples as a condition of following Him. ‘If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you. If ye were of the world, the world would LOVE his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you.’ (John 15:18-19) And that’s an important point for us to remember; we’re not of the world. Meaning we don’t behave like the world, don’t do like the world does, or think like it does. Because Jesus has set us apart, sanctified us to do His work, which is usually the exact opposite of the world’s desires, that are fleshly and carnal.

That’s why Bruh Paul wrote thus to the Roman church. ‘For they that are after the flesh do mind (set their minds on) the things of the flesh; but they that after the Spirit the things of the Spirit. For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is  not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God.’ (Rom. 8:5-8) Yes my brethren, to be carnally minded, or having one’s life dominated by our sin nature does not jive with being spiritually mind or being controlled by the Holy Spirit, therefore the two things cannot survive together. It’s either one or the other.

And if we unwisely choose to be carnally minded, then we’re choosing to be enemies of God, as James so rightly declares. ‘Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of (with) the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will (wants to) be a friend of the world is the enemy of God (makes himself an enemy of God). (James 4:4) And I don’t think any of us in our right minds would like to become God’s enemy. No sir! For look at the awesome power He can unleash against us, from life to death and everything in between! That’s why it’s wise to stay on God’s good side, by being spiritually minded, being sanctified or set apart form the world to do His work, and living in close proximity to Him.

Here’s how John puts it in his first epistle: ‘Beloved, let us LOVE one another: for LOVE is of God; and every one that LOVETH is born of God, and knoweth God. He that LOVETH not knoweth not God; for God is LOVE. In this was manifested the LOVE of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world that we might live through him. Herein is LOVE, not that we LOVED God, but that he LOVED us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation (atoning sacrifice) for our sins. Beloved, if God so LOVED us, we ought also to LOVE one another.’ (1 John 4:7-11)

And that’s the ONLY way it can be my fellow believers! If we are filled with God’s LOVE, then we ought to share and show it with each other! Otherwise, we’re not truly children of God. And this damp and cloudy lazy-day Saturday is an excellent day to ponder our status on the subject, and consider how we go about showing that we’re children of God. Much LOVE!

…remember talk is cheap…but actions…which can be expensive…speak louder than words…

Hear our podcast at https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/randy-obrien

Today’s Scrip-Bit 27 February 2018 1 John 3:1a.

27 Feb 2018 Leave a comment

by randyobrien50 in Christian Thoughts and Inspiration., Daily Devotion, Daily Inspiration, Inspirational Living, Spiritual Living Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

1 John 3:1a.   Behold, what manner of LOVE the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons (children) of God.  

And then it was Tuesday…and the much appreciated spring break amidst the winter season continues seemingly unabated. Oh Glory to God! And on top of that, both the sun and the SON are shining forth brilliantly today. Mama Yo! What more can a mortal man ask for eh? Not much really. 

But yuh know what, in our undeserving, sinful nature, our wonderful God gives us even more. Read with me, as I share this poem from our One Year Book of Bible Promises, with writings by Ruth Harms Calkin. It’s simply titled ‘You LOVE Me!’ 

‘God When I am wretched and weak You LOVE me. When I am steady and strong You LOVE me. When I am very right Or terribly wrong You LOVE me. When I talk too much Or laugh too loud Or sob too long You LOVE me. When I am quiet and serene You LOVE me. 

When I willingly obey You LOVE me. When I insist on my own way You LOVE me. When I fail to put you first You LOVE me. When I come running back to You You LOVE me. I need not beg You to LOVE me For You who are LOVE Cannot exist without LOVING. 

And yet this very day, dear God I have no real assurance Of Your LOVE at all. I wonder why?  (And the Lord answered)  BELOVED child The fact remains I LOVE you.’ 

Isn’t that something now mih people! Regardless of who we are, or how we behave, our amazing God LOVES US! Even when we don’t feel His LOVE, the indisputable truth still stands; He LOVES us! He just cannot help LOVING, because He is LOVE personified! 

And He caused me to share this particular poem today because He wants to remind us of that fact. He apparently sees that we don’t appreciate the true nature of His LOVE enough, that’s why we are so unsure and uncertain of ourselves in this crazy, troubled society. 

Please accept this reminder my fellow believers, and let it penetrate our hearts and minds right to the very core, so that we’ll never be in doubt, in any situation whatsoever, of our great God’s true and unconditional LOVE for us. It’s one of the elementary tenets of our faith, and if we can’t accept it without reservation, then our faith will be lacking, and won’t be able to grow and mature, as it ought to. 

That’s why John, in his first epistle thought it so necessary to remind us of God’s great LOVE for us, as stated in our Bit. ‘Behold, what manner of LOVE the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons (children) of God.’  

Ah mih breddren how can we not appreciate such an awesome bestowal eh? God didn’t have to, but He wanted to. Why? Because we are His; created by His hand, in His image, and we breathe His breath of life. And even though we have become sinful and disobedient, the facts of the matter cannot be changed. 

Now listen to the scholars on our Bit. ‘3:1. Bestowed is in the perfect tense, suggesting the enduring effect of the LOVE God has given. Believers are children of God by virtue of being born of Him (2:29). Jesus stressed a connection between how the world related to God and how it would in turn relate to Christ’s true followers (John 15:18). After ‘sons of God’ the phrase “And we are” should be added, according to many ancient manuscripts.’ 

Yeh friends, for some reason or the other that definitive statement got left out of our version of the Good Book, but there is no doubt that we are indeed children of God, once we are born again and believe in His Son, our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. 

I think though that a part of the problem is that our minds are so small and finite, that we cannot truly grasp the concept of a mighty and holy God LOVING us, despite our sinful and blasphemous nature. But don’t we still LOVE our children though they are disobedient and go astray? So why should it be any different with God eh? Children are children, and fathers are fathers in whatever situation you place them. 

Now let’s look at a couple of scriptures that corroborate our Bit. John says in his gospel: ‘He (the true Light) was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not. He came unto his own, and his own received him not. 

But as many as received him, to them gave he power (the right) to become the sons (children) of God, even to them that believe on his name. Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.’ (John 1:10-13) 

We couldn’t get more authority than that to become children of God. Now hear this most momentous and eye opening scripture, re the LOVE of God from John’s first epistle. ‘Herein is LOVE, not that we LOVED God, but that he LOVED us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. BELOVED, if God so LOVED us, we ought also to LOVE one another.’ (1 John 4:10-11)  

That’s our Christian faith in a nutshell right there my brethren. Please let’s practice it in all sincerity and truth nuh. Now let’s go home declaring our Tuesday Mantra, letting the world know who and whose we are in strong voice. 

‘I’m not what I do. I’m not what I have. I’m not what people say about me. I am the beloved of God, that’s who I am. No one can take that from me. I don’t have to worry. I don’t have to hurry. I can trust my friend Jesus and share His LOVE with the world.  Amen!’ 

And since we’ve declared it, let’s go out now and action it nuh! Much LOVE!

…regardless of what we have…if we don’t have LOVE…we are nothing…