Today I overheard a father talking to his little girl on Facetime. I could hear the delight in his voice as he spoke to her for what I assumed was the first time that day. He exclaimed how pretty she was with enthusiasm, not caring who was around to hear. His love poured out through his voice as his face lit with pleasure.
The moment melted my heart and made me think how much more God loves me than that father loves his little girl. I imagine His face lighting up with love as I go into my closet for undivided time with him. His father-like heart must delight when I take the time to fellowship with him.
It would change our outlook on many things if the truth that God was our loving father got from our heads to our hearts. Let us take a moment and look at a few verses that show His fatherly love for us.
An Enthusiastic God
Know, therefore, that the LORD your God is God, the faithful God who keeps His covenant of loving devotion for a thousand generations of those who love Him and keep His commandments. Deuteronomy 7:9
I love this verse in the Berean Standard Bible because of the word, devotion; which means love, loyalty, or enthusiasm for a person, activity, or cause. Enthusiasm for a person is the part that struck me. Enthusiasm means intense and eager enjoyment, interest, or approval. God intensely enjoys you. Let that sink in. The God of everything enjoys YOU intensely.
He knit you together inside your mother’s womb (Psalm 139:13) with loving tenderness. God made your personality, your sense of humor, your appearance, and your talents for his pleasure and purpose (Revelation 4:11). His love and faithfulness are promised to those who obey his commands and will love him in return. If nothing “sold” you on a walk with God, the promise of a God who offers his enthusiastic love for you should be enough.
A God Who Rejoices Over You
The Lord, your God, is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; He will rejoice over you with gladness; He will quiet you by his love; He will exult over you with loud singing. Zephaniah 3:17
There is so much I could dig into with this verse, but I will save that for another time. I want to focus on the part where God rejoices over us. The word rejoice means feel or show great joy or delight. God is delighted by YOU; you cause him great pleasure by just existing. What an incredible truth!
He is in heaven rejoicing over you! He is so excited about you that he is singing at the top of his lungs. He can not contain his overflowing love for you. If we could establish this in our hearts, it would affect our outlook on the struggles we face. A God who is madly in love with us would never fail us.
A God Who Chose Us
God decided in advance to adopt us into His own family by bringing us to Himself through Jesus Christ, this is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure. Ephesians 1:5
The fact that we are considered the children of God is not a minor thing. We were chosen. He wanted us to be a part of his family. God loves you and me so much that it was not just enough to send His Son to save us from sin. He wanted the closeness and intimacy of being family. God wanted to give you all the good gifts that come with being his child!
It gives him great pleasure to be our father, and he longs for an intimate relationship with us where we treat him like a father and friend instead of a genie in a bottle who grants our every request. He could have saved us and allowed us to be servants; instead, he brought us into his family where he could love us, protect us, provide for us, and give us the rights of children of the King. If we allow him to act as our father and care for us, we will see how much lighter our load will become (Matthew 11:30)
A God Who Sent His Son
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life (John 3:16).
The gift of sacrificing Jesus was the ultimate show of God’s love for us. Think about this: God only has one son who he loves deeply. They have been together from the beginning (John 1:1), now imagine how hard it must have been for God to allow his son to suffer as he did. I think we sometimes think that God does not have feelings, but He does.
God understood the big picture and what it would accomplish for us, but the reality of the cross and all the pain that led up to it, for instance, the beatings, whippings, mocking, and humiliation that Jesus suffered, had to have caused Him great pain. Coupled with the pain that sacrifice caused God, Jesus chose to suffer because of his love for us. Greater love has no one than this, that someone to lay down his life for his friends (John 15:13). Let the reality of that gift sink in and show you the depth of His love for you.
Pause and take a few minutes today to meditate on these scriptures and spend a little time with the God who loves you deeper than you could ever understand (Ephesians 3:18-19)
Referenced Verses: https://biblehub.com/deuteronomy/7-9.htm
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm+139%3A13&version=ESV
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Revelation+4%3A11&version=ESV
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Zephaniah+3%3A17&version=ESV
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Ephesians+1%3A5&version=NIV
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+11%3A30&version=NIV
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John+3%3A16&version=NIV
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John+1%3A1&version=NIV
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John+15%3A13&version=NIV
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Ephesians+3%3A18-19&version=NIV
Jen says
Loved this. Thank you!
carrie says
Glad you enjoyed it!
Tamera-YourChristianBestFriend says
Every time I think of Ephesians 1:5 and I think that God chose ME flaws and all. I’m just in awe and overwhelmed with gratitude that He loves me that much.
Martina says
My faith was shaken these past few months, but I am slowly allowing myself to be receptive to His miracles. This is really a big help for me to regain that faith. Thank you for putting this together x
Evie says
What a fitting reflection for Thanksgiving time. So glad to have this reminder in my life today.
Natascha says
Such a great reminder! loved this 🙂 I totally agree with everything you said