Holiday were always special in the Ennis household. My parents made each one meaningful, and though I relished all of the celebrations, Valentine’s Day was my favorite. I enjoyed preparing Valentines for my friends and celebrating at school. However, the highlight of the day was our family dinner. Mom always planned a special menu, set the dining room table with the best linen, crystal, china, and silverware. We all “dressed up” for the occasion. As I matured, I assisted her in the preparation and eventually assumed the responsibility as her health declined.
Dad selected the cards and gifts for the celebration, customizing them for Mom and me. The card he selected for me always affirmed the love my parents possessed for me. Though my mother’s signature was on the card, it was his strong handwriting and tender words that imbedded in my heart and mind that they loved and cared for me. Each Valentine’s Day the gift was my favorite—dark chocolate molasses chips from a gourmet candy shop. Even when he could no longer work and finances were snug, he managed to provide a small box. The final years of his life, because of his advanced case of emphysema, it was difficult for him to walk from the car to the store, yet he chose to do so. Eventually, the gift required a significant physical sacrifice on his part.
The sacrificial love my Father bestowed upon me for 17 years of my life established a firm foundation for me to understand and have confidence in the most powerful love in the universe—God’s love. Just as my earthly Father’s words are embedded in my heart and mind, so my heavenly Father’s love letter to me, the Bible, communicates His great love. As I meditate on the message contained in the verses that follow, I have the confidence that nothing can separate me from His love (Rom. 8:35). I pray that they will also affirm His unconditional love for you.
God loves me with an everlasting love (Jer. 31:3).
God’s steadfast love endures forever (Ps. 136:26).
God loved me before I was adopted into his forever family (Rom. 5:8).
Just as I called my earthly father “Daddy” since he chose to adopt me, so I have the privilege of calling my heavenly Father “Daddy” (Abba Father) because He adopted me in His eternal family (Rom. 8:15; Gal. 4:6-7).
Nothing will ever separate me from God’s love (Rom. 8:35-39).
God will never leave me or forsake me (Heb. 13:5)
I can place all of my discontent, discouragement, despair, and suffering on God because He cares for me (1 Peter 5:7).
God’s love for me is demonstrated by allowing me to be a part of His forever family (1 John 3:1).
Because God loves me, He sent Jesus to be the propitiation for my sins (1 John 4:10-12).
I can love others because my heavenly Father first loved me (1John 4:19).
Just as in the final years of his life, demonstrating his love for me by purchasing the Valentine chocolates was a physical sacrifice for my earthly father, so the intensity of my heavenly Father’s love for me was demonstrated by Him sacrificing His beloved Son to die on my behalf. May I encourage you to focus on His Valentine message to you by viewing John 3:16 through the lens of the bolded letters below? You might even consider personalizing it with your name in place of the words world and whosoever.
“For God so loVed the world,
That He gAve
His onLy
BegottEn
SoN
That whosever
Believeth In Him
Should Not perish
But have Everlasing life.”
Caleb Patrick Baker makes his debut this month as Kelsey’s Korner reinforces the confidence that she has of God’s love for her while savoring motherhood.
KELSEY’S KORNER
This morning when I arrived at work I kept smelling a funny odor. It smelled a bit sour and oddly familiar, and everywhere I went, it followed! Eventually, to my dismay, I realized that the source of the smell was spit-up—a nice little “remember me” gift that my two-month-old had stealthily left on my shoulder before I went to work (cue the eye rolling).
Motherhood, thus far, has been a chaotic frenzy of weird smells, extra cups of coffee, early morning snuggles, routinely evening cry-fests, and seemingly thousands upon thousands of diapers! Although I expected the adjustments to my personal life and the sleepless nights, I could never have fathomed the indescribable, all-encompassing love I would feel for my tiny, spit-up filled son. No matter how many times he cries out in the deep hours of the night, no matter how many loads of laundry, interrupted schedules, ruined outfits, or financial strains he may add, my son is not a burden. Each of Caleb’s many needs have provided an opportunity for me to express my deep love for him, and I cherish them all! How much more is our heavenly father’s love for us!?
Matthew 7:9-11 states this truth well: “Or which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!”
My love for my son is strong and unconditional, but it is by no means perfect. It is constantly hindered by my own selfishness and human limitations. But God is not limited! He is never hindered, and His indescribable love for us was put on full displayed through Christ. “But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved!” (Eph. 2:4-5). Christ died for our sins—past, present, and future—so that we could become children of God! Why, then, after adopting us at such a heavy price, do we question God’s love for us? Why do we feel like a burden when we, his children, cry out in the deep of the night for Him? Sisters, our heavenly Father longs to hear our cries for Him. He yearns to display, again and again, His deep and abiding love for us.
This year, when you fall into those snares of sin yet again, cry out to Him for help. When your daily needs are more than you can handle, lift up your voice to your God! When your burdens and sorrows strip you of speech, come before your Father with groanings too deep for words (Rom. 8:26). And if you have yet to cry out to God for salvation, then delay no longer! Confess your sins and your need for Him, for “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9). Praise the Lord for the gift of salvation. Praise the Lord for His unending, unconditional love for His children!
THE EVERYDAY HOMEMAKER’S MONTHLY MEDITATION THOUGHT
God’s Word states, “ God has said, “See what kind of love the Father has given to us that we should be called children of God . . .” (1 John 3:1).
Therefore, I may boldly say, regardless of the circumstances, I am confident that God loves me!”
You might enjoy other of our heart-related Posts:
“Do You Have the Heart of a Servant?”
“Are You A Magnet for God’s Love?”
“Spring Cleaning the Heart and the Home”
“Do I Choose to Love At All Times?”
Blessings on your day as you focus on making your house a home!