There is one ultimate question, a question of all time, the only question in the universe, and Hannah Whithall Smith puts it into words.

Our great need, therefore, is to find out this fact of His abiding love. Our question of one another, or of our own hearts, ought to be not, “Do you love God?” but, “Have you found out that God loves you?”

Smith, Hannah Whithall, “Being Loving” July 4, God Is Enough, Minneapolis, MN: Zondervan Publishing, 1986.

Ultimate question

I will ask you life’s ultimate question, “Do you know that God loves you? Really know?” 

Our outlook, our worldview, what we think of other people, what we think of ourselves, everything is the result of that question. Everything can be traced back to that one question. Our answer determines our current life and future life, eternal life.

If we don’t know, or if we refuse to listen to His voice, then we feel alone, cut off from Him, our creator. 

We don’t have to be afraid of God, of surrendering our lives to Him. We act like He is this big bully wanting to be mean to us. But…He’s not. He tells us over and over and over and over again how much He loves us. 

I know some of us find it difficult to grasp that, to understand that, because it isn’t something we have experienced. And we don’t know what love is like. We don’t quite believe it. But, God does love us. He wants the best, most constructive thing for us. He’ll do all He can for us, if we would but allow Him to take care of us.

Unanswered question

If we don’t grasp that, if we can’t comprehend that, then all is not lost. God is not incapable of showing us. He is not limited by what we can do, by our mental capabilities. He is way beyond us. He can show us. And He will if we would come humbly to Him, and ask. 

He’s not somebody to be afraid of. He’s not a bully. Over and over again He expresses His love. I just think there is a life in Him that is so much more than we can grasp, than we can imagine. And if we let ourselves imagine, if we say it is true, if we act like it is true then that is the door that opens up the next door and the next door to more revelations and more revelations of Jesus’s love for us. Not of His judgment and His wrath, but of His love. His incredible, incredible love He has for us, if we would open up that one door, if we would but believe that one statement “as the Father loved Him,” …now think about that, “as the Father loved Him,” that is how much He loves us.

Have you received an answer to that question

Our concept of God—if that is twisted, then our whole life is twisted. It really, really is better than you can even imagine. It really is good. But it is something that we have to accept, to receive. To hold up our hands with an open heart and receive. We have to, by faith, receive His life and act like it is true because it is true.

It is a wonderful life no matter what is going on around us. No matter if there are all kinds of things that are wrong, all kinds of things that our flesh, our natural self would complain about. But if we believe that He loves us, then we can ignore everything, all the bad. It may be swirling around us, shouting at us, and demanding our attention, but we can be at peace, unafraid, as we live in His love.

It is not being selfish to want to know God loves you; it is your inheritance. It is where He wants you to live.

Do you know, really know down deep inside, not in your brain, but in the center of you, your heart, do you know that God loves you?

Words to light your path:

1 John 4:19  We love Him because He first loved us.

John 15:9  As the Father loved Me, I also have loved you; abide (live) in My love.

1 John 4:10  In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.

1 John 4:18 There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love.

John 3:16  For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

1 John 3:16  By this we know love, because He laid down His life for us.

All references from the New King James Version of the Bible. Choose one verse to meditate on each day.

Dear God, the enemy has clouded our thinking. He has done his best to smear Your name, to cause us to be afraid of You. Part the clouds and help us to see the truth that You are the epitome of love. You don’t simply love as a nice gesture, but You are love. You can’t be anything else but love. Not that You excuse our sins, but You, through Your Son, paid for our sins. You ask of us and You provide what You ask. How much more loved can we get?

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