Bible Reading 1 John 4:8-10

When I first read the title, I too thought how might this relate to God’s love.  If you think about how many pet-crazed people there are then on the opposite end of the end of the spectrum how many people could care less about pets and just do not understand the affection people can have toward a dog, cat, reptile, or even fish.  But often times these furry friends do not do anything to earn our love or affection.  They can chew up or tear up or mess up things that belong to us.  The shed on our furniture and can soil our floor, but yet we still pay for them and love them.  In a lot of ways we can relate this to our relationship with God.

We mess up all the time.  We tear things up God puts together and even don’t return affection to Him when he cares for us, but that doesn’t change his love and favor for us.  He loves us unconditionally whether we deserve it or not.  Maybe you are reading this early in the morning and have a daunting day ahead or maybe it’s late in the evening after a long, tough day when things didn’t go quite right, God is there for you.  Whether you are deserving or not His mercies are new every morning and his love and power can over-whelm your weakness.

Is it hard for you to believe God loves you?  Why or Why not?

Do you feel worthy of God’s love right now? How is that affecting your level of joy and peace?

How would your life change if you focused more on God’s love and less on your failure?

(Information based on Life is _____ Forty-Day Experience by Judah Smith)

Day 5

Romans 2:4

On of my favorite shoes on TV is Fixer-Upper.  I love watching Chip and Joanna take a house that is older or in need of renovation and make it beautiful.  Think about our life without Christ, and how he comes in and cleans us up and makes us new.

Think about the Disney song from the popular movie Frozen, Fixer-Upper.  It says, “The only fixer-upper fixer that can fix up a fixer-upper is true, true love.”  Where else can we find that love, but in Jesus Christ.  We are all fixer-uppers, but God is the Fixer.  He’s the handyman who can repair us, and His tool of choice is love.

Do you spend more time thinking about your failures or God’s love?  Why?  How does that affect you?

Why do people tend to view God as threatening and angry? Is that your view of God? Why or Why not?

What areas of your life need to improve?  How can focusing on God’s love help you grow in those areas?