God's Love
Devotions:
God is love, I John 4:8. God does not have love, He is love and that love reaches out to everyone and that love has demonstrated in Jesus dying for our sins. That love continues to demonstrated now and throughout eternity.
"That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus." (Ephesians 2:7 KJV)
God does not have just barely get along grace, He has exceeding riches of grace for us. God calls us to focus on the abundance of His love for us and not on our brokenness and failure. We succeed in His success not in our efforts to do right. Without God we are bankrupt and cannot perform what is required. In the new birth God has changed our "want to" from walking in the flesh to a desire to do His will.
"Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you. A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them."
(Ezekiel 36:25-27 KJV)
In this passage from Ezekiel the new birth is prophesied where God cleanses us and gives us a change of heart to hear His voice and puts His Spirit within us to cause us to walk in His statutes and to keep His judgments to do them.
"For if by one man's offence death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ.) Therefore as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life. For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous." (Romans 5:17-19 KJV)
By the obedience of Jesus, He opened the door for us not only to be righteous but also to walk in righteousness. Ezekiel says the God will sprinkle us clean with clean water and cleanse us from our filthiness and ALL our idols. This sprinkling is the baptism of the new birth that Paul wrote about to Titus, Titus 3:5, the washing of regeneration. This is love poured out. This is God's love for you.