Living In The Light

March 5, The Father’s Love

And we have known and believed the love that God has for us. God is love, and he who
abides in love abides in God, and God in him.
—1 John 4:16 LL 72.1

The Lord of life and glory humbled Himself to partake of human nature, that in and through Him the fallen sons and daughters of Adam may become united with God. Never could an earthly father feel as great and deep a pity and sympathy for his sons and daughters as our heavenly Father feels for His sons and daughters. Never can love be shown like the love our Father in heaven has shown for the human family. “God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (John 3:16). LL 72.2

This is the truth that is to be proclaimed everywhere. If we only had the leaven of truth in our hearts, we would have for one another the love that Christ had for us. All who know this love are privileged above anything that language can express. To understand it means to understand what Paul meant when he said, “That He would grant you according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might by His Spirit in the inner man” (through the leaven of truth); “that Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith, that ye being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth and length and depth and height, and to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye may be filled with all the fulness of God” (Ephesians 3:16-19). LL 72.3

If we are laborers together with God, the deep interest we have in those for whom Christ died, will lead us to use His precious gifts to the very best advantage in rescuing the souls who are dying in their sins. As we use the power we have in God’s lines, we shall be encouraged to exercise faith. We shall be shown what we can do in connection with Christ. LL 72.4

There are many souls to be saved. Begin your work by feeding the hungry, by ministering to their bodily necessities. This will give you an opportunity to minister to the necessities of the soul. By ministering to the temporal necessities of the neglected, the way is prepared for the uplifting of Christ.—Manuscript 87, 1898. LL 72.5

Further Reflection: What is so special about the love of God that makes us supremely privileged to know and experience it? LL 72.6