Valentine’s 2019

OK guys do hallmark has another day this week. Valentines Day this Thursday Feb. 14. So you have been warned. So don’t come running to me for counseling after that, if you mess up it’s on you.

Some of the most popular love songs of all time, maybe you have heard of these, we have:

The Righteous Brothers with Unchained Melody 1965
And it’s a good thing that they made that song because the year before they had a hit called You’ve Lost that loving feeling.

Stevie Wonder had a hit in 1973 called You are the Sunshine of my life.

Remember My Girl from the Temptations in 1964.

There was At Last by Etta James in 1961

Stand by Me by Ben King the same year.

Who could forget Ain’t no Mountain High enough from Mavin Gaye in 1967.

Of course there was also Wonderful Tonight from Eric Clapton in 1977. I used to sing that song to Joy.

Then there was also Maybe I’m Amazed from Paul McCartney in 1970.

One of my all time favorite voices Whitney Houston with I will Always Love You from the movie The Body Guard in 1992.

So this Thursday guys spend time with the lady in your life, if you have one, sing some of these songs (or not) and enjoy Valentines Day.
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Joke: Jim asked his friend, Tony, whether he had bought his wife anything for Valentine’s Day.
‘Yes,’ came the answer from Tony who was a bit of a chauvinist, ‘I’ve bought her a belt and a bag.’
‘That was very kind of you,’ Jim added, ‘I hope she appreciates the thought.’
Tony smiled as he replied, ‘So do I, and hopefully the vacuum cleaner will work better now.’
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Ephesians 3:14–19 (NIV): 14 For this reason I kneel before the Father, 15 from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name. 16 I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, 17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, 18 may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, 19 and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.

Let me ask you a question, “Are you sure that God loves you.”

I know most of you would answer that with a resounding yes. And I believe for most of us that’s true, but do you know it here (point to heart) and not just here (point to head)?

If you know it here (heart) then why do we continue to question one day, and believe it the next.

Let me explain. I wake up and say good morning Holy Spirit. Start my day just fine, but then sometime during the day I make a misstep. The enemy comes and tries to derail me and throw out condemnation and I begin to question how I could of have done what I did. And begin to believe the lie that He couldn’t possibly love me because of the life I led. The things I’ve done.

You need to hear this church, Jesus is crazy about you.

But. . .and I really dis-like that word because our but’s seem to get in the way, more often then not.

God would love me. . .but
I would love God. . .but

The truth is church, today nothing I will say today will convince you that God loves you.

What do you mean pastor?

Glad you asked, and here’s what you need to realize. . .you can’t make someone fall in love. I can introduce you to someone, but you are the one that will fall in love or not.

I have never done a wedding where the bride was being dragged by the dad up to the front where the guy is standing waiting for her. No each one choose to love the other. No one made them fall in love.

So today I want to once again introduce you to one that is crazy about you.

And church you need to understand that God loves you. . .despite you.

Paul said it this way. For this reason I kneel before the Father, he goes on to say, I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being,

Why?

So that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith.

He goes on, I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, 18 may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people,

So that, what?

You will grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge

Why? So that. . .

You may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.
Listen I’m not saying that God loves some of the choices you make, I’m saying He loves you in spite of your choices.

Look at it. Paul prays that you and a I would understand a love that surpasses knowledge.

That tells me we need the Holy Spirit to reveal just how much God loves us. Our minds on its own without the help of the Holy Spirit could not possibly understand how. . .

John 3:16 we all know it God so. . .

God so loved the world. And if you believe that say Amen.

But what you need to realize is, that yes God so loved the world, but that He also so loved you.

There is nothing you can do to receive it, nothing you have done to disqualify it, you cannot perform better to earn it, and if you’re thinking I have messed up. I’ve done so many things wrong, well that’s what makes the love of God such good news, He sent His Son, Jesus, who was without sin, to become sin for us on the cross. He died, and three days later He rose again, so that whosoever – and that includes you – calls on His name will be saved, forgiven, transformed, and made new.

Romans 5:6–8 (NIV): 6 You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. 7 Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. 8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Hear this church, I don’t try and please Him so that He will love me more, because the truth is I can’t.

I want to please Him simply because He loves me.

Illustration:

John was a peacemaker with a big heart.
Everyone loved him, and he was respected at the hospital where he worked.
John spent some time in the hospital before his death. The administrator of the hospital frequently visited him. They spoke like old friends. A few minutes later, even one of the janitors came to visit John.
When the janitor left, one of John’s children said to him, “Dad, why do you treat the president of the hospital and the janitor the same way?”
John smiled, then said, “Let me ask you something: If the administrator left for two weeks and the janitor left for two weeks, which one do you think would be missed more?”
Then John called his children around his bed. “Let me show you something I carry in my pocket all the time.”
John pulled out a pocket-sized cross and a marble with the golden rule on it.
John said, “On the cross are written these words, ‘God Loves You,’ and on the marble are these words, ‘Do unto Others as You Would Have Them Do unto You.’
The cross reminds me of how deeply God loves me.
And the marble reminds me of how deeply God wants me to love others.

1 John 4:9–12 (NIV): 9 This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. 10 This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. 11 Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 12 No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.
Paul said, I pray that you, being rooted and established in love,
We must be rooted and established in love.
Listen church. . .how much do you think God loves Jesus?

Well then listen to this:

John 15:9 (NIV): 9 “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love.
God loves you just as much. . .thats the good news of the gospel.

When you are rooted and established in love, you may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ,

Some of you may feel like there is an emptiness in your life, and may I suggest to you it may be that you just fully haven’t grasped the full measure of the love God has for you.

And so you try and fill the emptiness with things that just can’t satisfy.

You struggle with self-worth and question His love. You wrestle with condemnation and question His love. You look for approval from men, hoping that it all will some how fill the void.

It’s like our posts on Facebook, or the text we send. If we don’t get our response in like a minute we think no one cares.

But hear this church. . .

There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

Look again at what Paul said . .

19 and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.

It’s a process, the more I depend on Him the more full I become. The more I grasp His love the measure goes up in my inner man.

See the problem is we have so many that want to work on the outer man. What people see, that we neglect the important inner man.

(Talk about Martha and Mary – preparing and sitting)

There are times in my life that I simply rest knowing that God loves me I feel so secure in that, but then there are those times that I struggle thinking does He really.

It’s in those times I need to hit my knees and pray for the strength of the Holy Spirit to remind me once again the love of Christ.

I’m going to close this out today with a message from God it’s called God’s Love Letter.

When I finish I want to pray for each of you that the inner man may be strengthened in knowing how deep and wide, how long and high God’s love is for you.

AN INTIMATE MESSAGE FROM GOD TO YOU.

My Child…

You may not know me, but I know everything about you. Psalm 139:1 I know when you sit down and when
you rise up. Psalm 139:2 I am familiar with all your ways. Psalm 139:3 Even the very hairs on your head are numbered. Matthew 10:29-31 For you were made in my image. Genesis 1:27 In me you live and move and have your being. Acts 17:28 For you are my offspring. Acts 17:28 I knew you even before you were conceived.
Jeremiah 1:4-5 I chose you when I planned creation. Ephesians 1:11-12 You were not a mistake, for all your days are written in my book. Psalm 139:15-16 I determined the exact time of your birth and where you would live. Acts 17:26 You are fearfully and wonderfully made. Psalm 139:14 I knit you together in your mother’s womb. Psalm 139:13 And brought you forth on the day you were born. Psalm 71:6 I have been misrepresented by those who don’t know me. John 8:41-44 I am not distant and angry, but am the complete expression of love. 1 John 4:16 And it is my desire to lavish my love on you. 1 John 3:1 Simply because you are my child and I am your Father. 1 John 3:1 I offer you more than your earthly father ever could. Matthew 7:11 For I am the perfect father. Matthew 5:48 Every good gift that you receive comes from my hand. James 1:17 For I am your provider and I meet all your needs. Matthew 6:31-33 My plan for your future has always been filled with hope. Jeremiah 29:11 Because I love you with an everlasting love. Jeremiah 31:3 My thoughts toward you are countless as the sand on the seashore. Psalms 139:17-18 And I rejoice over you with singing. Zephaniah 3:17 I will never stop doing good to you. Jeremiah 32:40 For you are my treasured possession. Exodus 19:5 I desire to establish you with all my heart and all my soul. Jeremiah 32:41 And I want to show you great and marvelous things. Jeremiah 33:3 If you seek me with all your heart, you will find me. Deuteronomy 4:29 Delight in me and I will give you the desires of your heart. Psalm 37:4 For it is I who gave you those desires. Philippians 2:13 I am able to do more for you than you could possibly imagine. Ephesians 3:20 For I am your greatest encourager. 2 Thessalonians 2:16-17 I am also the Father who comforts you in all your troubles. 2 Corinthians 1:3-4 When you are brokenhearted, I am close to you. Psalm 34:18 As a shepherd carries a lamb, I have carried you close to my heart. Isaiah 40:11 One day I will wipe away every tear from your eyes. Revelation 21:3-4 And I’ll take away all the pain you have suffered on this earth. Revelation 21:3-4 I am your Father, and I love you even as I love my son, Jesus. John 17:23 For in Jesus, my love for you is revealed. John 17:26 He is the exact representation of my being. Hebrews 1:3 He came to demonstrate that I am for you, not against you. Romans 8:31 And to tell you that I am not counting your sins. 2 Corinthians 5:18-19 Jesus died so that you and I could be reconciled. 2 Corinthians 5:18-19 His death was the ultimate expression of my love for you. 1 John 4:10 I gave up everything I loved that I might gain your love. Romans 8:31-32 If you receive the gift of my son Jesus, you receive me. 1 John 2:23 And nothing will ever separate you from my love again. Romans 8:38-39 Come home and I’ll throw the biggest party heaven has ever seen. Luke 15:7 I have always been Father, and will always be Father. Ephesians 3:14-15 My question is…Will you be my child? John 1:12-13 I am waiting for you. Luke 15:11-32

Love, Your Dad
Almighty God

Close in prayer. . .