Romans 5:8 has enraptured my heart for years — along with any Scripture that begins with “But God” — because these words are generally preceded with man’s helpless dilemma followed by God’s powerful deliverance. And it rings true in this verse as well which is preceded by our dilemma in verses 6 & 7…

“You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die.” Then, in comes our Eternal Hero, Our Generous, Compassionate, Loving, Gracious God riding on the wings of Mercy… as He states, “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” ~Romans 5:6-7

While we were ‘still’ sinners, lost in our own sinful, selfish ways, The God of the Universe saw our dilemma and sent His One and Only Beloved Son to die for our sins and RESCUE us from ourselves! Jesus Christ was the Greatest Gift ever given, and He suffered the cruelest, most indescribable death as payment for our sin, which was the greatest debt every owed. He did all this so that we, the undeserving, could be set free, now and throughout eternity!! The words of Chris Tomlin’s ‘Amazing Grace (My Chains Are Gone)’ come to mind…

“My chains are gone
I’ve been set free
My God, my Savior has ransomed me
And like a flood His mercy reigns
Unending love, amazing grace…”

These lyrics, along with today’s Scripture, bring me to a place of awe, as I am enraptured in the absolute Wonder of His Love, a place beyond such description that all I want to do is worship Him, serve Him and make Him smile! If they do that for you too, I would love to meet you at the foot of the cross so we can worship Him together! The ground is level there, and all are welcome. May He alone be exalted! Hallelujah!! 🙌🏻✝️🧎🏼‍♀️❣️

As we continue through February, I thought 🤔💭 ‘What better thing to chat about than the matchless love of God!’ God is love and He blesses us with the absolute privilege of knowing Him and making His amazing love known to our generation…to love one another. Oh, how I desire to be a vessel, a conduit as it were, of His love. When I fail, I have to admit, it affects me deeply.

Thankfully, His love is laced with His boundless mercy and grace, so much so that even when I mess up, He still loves me…even when life is hard, He still loves me…even at my most undeserving moments, yes, He still loves me. And yes, He still loves you too. How can we ever lives of gratitude to the same degree of His love? Bottom line, we can’t…thus, mercy bursts forth and grace abounds all the more!

It’s unfathomable, yet, I believe it, accept it and depend on it more than ever! Today I just want to praise Him for Who He is, for how He SO loved the world that He gave His one and only Son as a sacrifice for our sins! May we follow His blessed example and SO love one another.❣️🥰❣️

God’s redeeming love…It is unconditional, everlasting, forgiving and generous beyond compare. No matter what we have done, His love, mercy and grace still wants us to believe in His Son, and to invite and welcome Him into our hearts and lives.

The Book of Hosea was written to call the Children of Israel to repentance and back to God. It was to demonstrate His loyal love, and to show them their lack of knowledge, loyalty, love and faithfulness Him. Too often, we sadly see ourselves and our lack of faithfulness through their mishaps. On the upside, we also have the absolute joy and privilege of experiencing His mercy, grace, love and compassion just as Gomer (yes, that is ‘her’ name) did from Hosea. Though Gomer was unfaithful to Hosea over and over again, Hosea continued to peruse her and bring her back to himself, even to the point of buying her back… Just as our faithful, loving God does for us! Mercy, what a story!

You may have already viewed the movie “Redeeming Love” which is based on Francine Rivers’ 1991 novel by the same name. Though the story line is taken from the Book of Hosea, Francine’s creativity takes us to the American Old West during the California Gold Rush. Here, Angel (Gomer) is sold into prostitution as a child, and she knows nothing but betrayal until a man, Michael Hosea (Hosea), comes into her life to patiently show her differently. I won’t reveal any more of the plot just in case you plan to see the movie, but I will tell you that it is a beautiful picture of God’s amazing, matchless, GIANT, redeeming love for me and for YOU!!! ❤️❤️❤️

This verse perked my interest. Tying the first line and the last line together, it makes me think of how lovely it is when we clearly see Him in others who give us unearned, undeserved grace, mercy, love and compassion. And, hopefully, His love shines through us as well as He prompts us to show these same tender mercies in ways we never thought we ever could. Oh, for God’s love to be made complete in us, through us, to others… The very thought of it makes me smile! 😁❣️✝️❣️🙏🏻❣️