1 Thessalonians 2:8 English Standard Version (ESV) So, being affectionately desirous of you, we were ready to share with you not only the gospel of God but also our own selves, because you had become very dear to us.

Sometimes it is difficult to grasp just how much God loves us. We believe that Christ died to save us from our sins, that was two thousand years ago. We might have just come to the realization of that love in the past few years but the concept of love and all that loves does is in the present. If it were not our faith would fade and we would return to our beggarly ways.

What allows us to feel the love of God? It is the fellowship in the saints which has the most obvious and relevant impact of love. So much of Paul’s epistles lays out the conduct of the church age related in how we treat one another.

John 13:34-35 English Standard Version

³⁴ A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. ³⁵ By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”

If the abiding love of Christ is not present in the body of believers that surround us, then something is desperately wrong. The definition of abiding love is selfless. We have to love one another or our faith is not in Christ. It is no longer a commandment, it is who we are in life.

Finding our place in a large family seems difficult in the natural. In God’s family we are to be met with open arms, embraced and made to feel like a valued part of the family of God.

1 John 5:20 English Standard Version (ESV) And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true; and we are in him who is true, in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life.

I admitted at the end of yesterday’s blog that my definition of intercessor was ill defined. That is true.

We often find it difficult to discover the answers we seek in the bible. We question without understanding because it makes us uncomfortable to think of a question without an answer. It is part of that grand mystery of seeking God in all things.

Looking for answers in commentaries helps us to see what biblical scholars have to say about certain subjects, scriptures, and a myriad of useful references. Those do not always answer our questions.

It is easy to lean on secular dictionaries but those sources are not biblical, they are worldly. Dictionaries only tell us how words are used in the world and include misuse as well. If enough people misuse a word it will eventually make its way into the dictionary. As an example, the word ask now has the acceptable pronunciation “AX”. Not because it is right but because it is often pronounced that way.

God’s truth only has one source and that is God Himself. Given that the bible contains everything that God has to say related to our coming to know Him in truth, then understanding of every question comes from God because of our relationship.

Jeremiah 29:13 English Standard Version (ESV) You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart.

Seeking God with our hearts is different than seeking Him with our minds.

Luke 24:38, 45 English Standard Version (ESV) And he said to them, “Why are you troubled, and why do doubts arise in your hearts?  Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures,

Jesus said this to His disciples after His resurrection. Think about that.