I’ve seen the hand of pride reach out

To feed the hunger of my doubt

Disguised as an old familiar friend

It promises to lead me on

To meet my need and make me strong

And tells me it won’t break me if I’ll bend

But I’ve been through that lie before

Seen what lies behind that door

And what it costs is more than I could pay

chorus Love wants nothing

Love gives everything

Love wants nothing

It’s the power of a man with the bread in His hands

The fulfilling of every need

(It’s the heart of a man with his head in his hand)

The fulfilling of every dream

I have prayed Thy will be done

Even said Thy kingdom come

but often seemed to walk away unchanged

Heard the roar of my own will

Drowning out all else ?????

All that I believed was rearranged

I’ve seen though that lie before

Seen what lies behind the door

And what it takes is more than I can give

Been through all those lies before

Somewhere’s (Valerie, I couldn’t read this) so much more

chorus

On Christmas eve, I was in Starkeville, Mississippi at my brothers house. During that night after dinner, my brother’s wife got real sick. In fact, she got so sick that we decided to take her to a doctor in Jackson. But because it was such a long drive, I decided to fly her there in my plane. So hopping on board, we took off. When we got near Jackson, it was almost entirely covered in fog. But no problem, the air traffic controller would guide me in safely. We talked for some time until I finally spotted the runway on my own. Landing on the runway, I immediately noticed some was wrong. There were weeds all around me and there were no other airplanes around! I had landed at an old abandoned airfield instead of the Jackson airport! I later discovered that the air-traffic controller had been talking to another plane the entire time, and I thought it was me!

Whether intentional or by mistake, sometimes as Christians we can get "mixed up in the clouds" of life, heading in the opposite direction than we originally planned. We can get so caught up in doing things for God that we lose sight of our relationship with Him. And when this happens, we "land" on the wrong continent. It’s during these times that we can confuse our Christianity with "Church-ianity". Our relationship without Christ deteriorates into a mere religion. Our devotion becomes a duty. Instead of prayer being a conversation, it becomes a chore. It’s like banging your head against a wall (. . . and you know what’s good about banging your head against a wall? It feels good when you stop!)

Have you ever felt like that?

It’s during those times that we need to call "time-out" and take a fresh look at what the Christian life is all about. We need to take a step back and see the big picture of our relationship with our Heavenly Father. And there is no better way to do that than to remind ourselves how much God truly loves us. Over the next few days, you will take a walk through the wonderful love of God. Through this journey, you will re-discover the unbelievable ways God loves you.

How is God’s love for you described in Psalm 103:11? ___________________________

_______________________________________

The word for "love" in the original Hebrew (one of the languages the Bible was written in) means a "loyal, faithful love". God’s great love for you in this verse is illustrated by the distance between the heavens and the earth. (By the way, I do believe God created the heavens and the earth. In fact, I believe in the "Big Bang". God said "Bang!", and it happened! ) And He’s in charge of it all. Have you ever thought about how far the heavens are from the earth?

The moon is 252,000 miles from the earth. If you started walking today and walked 24 miles a day, it would take you only about 28 years to get there (isn’t that encouraging?). But if walking sounds boring to you, how about traveling at the speed of light? Moving at 186,000 miles per second, you could get to the Moon in less than two seconds and make Mercury in four and a half minutes. You would arrive at Jupiter in the time it takes to go through this devotion and get to Saturn in an hour and ten minutes. That’s not bad for a trip of 793 million miles! Talk about jet-lag!

As David looked up at the stars and thought about how great God’s love is, it must have blown his mind (as it does ours) to think of how far away the heavens were from earth. He compared the vast distance of space (infinity) to God’s love for him. Have you ever looked up at the stars and considered how vast outer space is?

No matter how many times you look up at the stars, you will never see them all.

That’s exactly how it is with God’s love for you.

Before I asked my wife to marry me, I went to a jewelry store to pick out a ring. The jeweler brought out a beautiful diamond, placing it on a background of black velvet to highlight the color and brilliance of the precious stone. Then he placed it under a magnifier and began showing me the many different facets of this gorgeous gem, turning it to show me it’s various characteristics. Each time he rotated it, I gained a new appreciation of it’s beauty. Then he dropped the bombshell on me by revealing how much this rock was going to cost me. The next thing I remember is hearing the paramedics say, "Sir, are you all right? Wake up" (okay, that part really didn’t happen, but I did feel like passing out). Though it was a very costly stone, it didn’t really matter. It was well worth the price for my sweetheart (a very righteous fox).

Every time you look at God’s love for you through the cross, you will see a precious diamond whose beauty you can never fully explore. Each time you pause to gaze up at His love, you will see something new and be awe-struck by how vast it is.

Why not take time right now and write out a short prayer from your heart, asking God to help you "look up" more often and to give you eyes to see more of His love for you.

Summary - God’s love for me is totally faithful and infinite.

Back in 1954, a milkshake-mixer salesman named Ray Kroc walked to into a family-owned drive-in restaurant in San Bernardino, California expecting to make a sale. The restaurant already owned eight of his mixers, but Ray wasn’t there to sell them another machine. He was there to sell an idea. Ray, who was very impressed with the speed and efficiency of the little restaurant, wanted to talk to the brothers who owned it about starting a franchise. Convinced it would be a good deal, the brothers agreed. The very first in the chain opened the following year in Des Plaines, Illinois. Five years, 228 stores and $40 million dollars later, McDonalds had become a household name. The rest, as they say, is history - with "billions and billions" sold. Maybe next time you hear the words, "Would you like fries with that?", you’ll think about the humble beginnings of the most famous burger restaurant in the world.

Do you ever wonder how things get started?

• Where did bubble gum come from?

• Who invented dental floss?

• When did man first eat pizza?

• Who built the first bridge?

• When did Americans first start paying taxes?

• Where did blue jeans come from?

All these are questions you are dying to have answered, right?

. . . NOT!

Well here’s a much better question: When do you think God first began loving you? Now that’s a good question. See if you can find the answer in your Bible.

Find Ephesians 1:4-5. From these verses, when do you think God first began loving you?

_________________________________________________________

Unfortunately, God doesn’t give us the day, month and year when He first set His love upon us. But He does tell us that it was sometime before the earth was created - sometime in eternity past. It could have been 100,000 years ago or 100,000,000 years ago. Or it could even be that He has always loved you - from eternity past.

But how could God possibly love you when you weren’t even born? _________________

_______________________________________

This is a true "brain-buster".

It’s possible that, like God Himself, His love for you never had a beginning. But there’s something else about God’s love you need to know.

Since you’re already in Ephesians, look over at chapter 2, verses 1-3. Here Paul gives an autobiographical sketch of all believers’ lives before they came to know Christ. From those verses, write down what was true about you before you became a Christian.

• I was ___________________________________________ (v. 1)

• I followed ______________________________________________________(v. 2)

• I lived to _______________________________________________________ (v. 3)

• I was, by nature, __________________________________ (v. 4)

Pretty dark picture, huh? And yet it is an accurate one. Remember Romans 5:8?

"God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us"

What does that really say about God’s love for you? ______________________________

There is nothing you could ever do to make yourself worthy to receive God’s love. That’s because His love was never meant to be earned. It was only meant to be received.

Do you remember the story of the Prodigal Son? The younger brother wanted to get his inheritance early instead of waiting until the proper time. Reluctantly, his father agreed. So, leaving home, the young man went away to seek the pleasures of the world. But after a while, all his money was gone, and so was his happiness. He had ruined his reputation, sinned against God and his father and disgraced the family name. Broke financially and broken spiritually, he returned to his father’s house just hoping to become a servant.

But all along his dad had been praying . . . and waiting. Seeing his son from a distance, he ran to meet him, weeping and kissing him. Though he certainly didn’t deserve to be welcomed back, he was. Though he didn’t deserve to be a part of the family again, he was. Though he certainly didn’t deserve a party, he got one. The father’s love for his son was undeserved love.

Even though we don’t deserve God’s love, like that son, we are embraced and loved anyway. Don’t forget - God loved you before you were born. He loved you even when you were lost and full of sin. And He loves you now during the times you wander away from Him. You can never do anything to deserve His love. Just enjoy it and appreciate it.

Knowing God loves you this way, how does that make you feel? ____________________

_______________________________________________

What difference does this love make in your daily relationship with Him? ________________________________________________________________

Summary - God loves me . . . even though I don’t deserve it.

A cold drink. A hot bath. A happy reunion. Christmas morning. A home run. An A+. A loving family. Sleep. Playing in the snow. A warm fire. Friday nights. Laying out in the sun. Body-surfing. A crisp, red apple. A juicy hamburger. Friends. Getting out of school for the summer. When your parents say "Yes". A sunny day. A great movie. Loud music. Group photos. A college acceptance letter. School is canceled. Getting your braces off. Cookies and cold milk. Spring Break. Your first car. Coming home after a long trip. Spending money.

What do all these things have in common? They are all some of the "good things" we enjoy in life. They are part of what brings us a sense of satisfaction and fulfillment. Too many times, we focus on the disappointments in life. We’ve all had setbacks, so we need to look for more of those "good things". If you stop long enough to look around you, you’ll find that many of the good things God sends your way often go unnoticed or unappreciated.

Stop right now and think of at least 5 really good things that have happened to you in the past two weeks. Write them down here.

Some of the "Good Things" in my life are:

1. ____________________________________________________________

2. ____________________________________________________________

3. ____________________________________________________________

4. ____________________________________________________________

5. ____________________________________________________________

Now let’s take this a little further and think of something that’s even better - the love of God.

Look up Psalm 63:3-5.

How is God’s love described in verse 3? _______________________________________

What do you think that means? ______________________________________________

Look back at those "good things" at the beginning as well as the five you listed. In what way would you say God’s love is better than these?

___________________________________________________________________________

What does David say he will do as a result of this kind of love? (vv. 3-4) _____________

_________________________________________________

Imagine coming to dinner one night literally starving for something to eat. Arriving at the kitchen table, to your delight you discover your mom has prepared your favorite food. You can’t believe it. You haven’t eaten all day. So you proceed to devour the meal, savoring every bite in your mouth. It tastes great. Your mom has never cooked such a meal. While you’re enjoying this, thinking about how she ought to open a restaurant or something, all of a sudden she comes in from the kitchen carrying your all-time favorite desert. You can’t believe it. You pinch yourself to make sure you’re not dreaming. You wonder if you have any more room for food, but those thoughts quickly pass as you begin to smell the desert. She serves you and you gladly eat. Afterwards, you can hardly move, so you waddle over to the couch and crash . . . just in time to see your favorite TV show. At this point, your dad walks over and asks if you’d like anything else to eat. And you respond.

"No thanks dad, I’m ___________"

Now we all know what goes in that blank, don’t we? But the reason you can’t eat any more is that your hunger has been totally, completely and thoroughly satisfied. You’re full. Stuffed, right? What a great feeling!

But what your body feels after that kind of meal is exactly what your soul feels when you understand and experience God’s love each day. His love satisfies. It fills you up. When you know you are loved by Him, you don’t want what the world has to offer. You’re fulfilled. And since you’re already full of your soul’s favorite food, why would you want the rotten vegetables the world offers you?

However, when you’re really hungry, at times any old food will do, won’t it? We often go through the spiritual "drive-by window", filling our hearts with spiritual "junk food". Looking at the list below, highlight some of the spiritual "junk foods" you settle for at times.

• Wrong friends

• Being popular

• Having fun

• Depending on yourself

• Romance

• Laughter

• Retreating to your room

• Working out

• Getting mad

• ________________________

• ________________________

None of these things can satisfy the hunger of your soul. They only make you feel full for a short while. But soon the gnawing hunger pains for love come right back. Psalm 34:8 says "Taste and see that the Lord is good . . .". The more you feed your soul on His love, the more you will be satisfied and spiritually "full". So when you find yourself hungry for something to eat, don’t settle for the world’s junk food and the devil’s leftovers. Let God bring to you the greatest "good thing" of all - His enjoyable love that is guaranteed to please you and satisfy your spirit.

Summary - God’s love satisfies and fulfills me like nothing else can.

Several years ago, one of the richest men in America was sitting all alone in his mansion. Nestled in the mountains secluded from the rest of the world, this man had bought everything his eyes had seen. But thumbing through an art dealer magazine that evening, he spotted a beautiful painting. It was a very old portrait by a famous artist, and it cost several hundred thousand dollars. At once, he called his buyer (very rich people have other people who buy things for them!) and told him to call and asked about the painting. When the buyer called the art dealer, he was saddened to discover it had already been sold. The dealer then explained that because of the value of the portrait, he would not be able to give out the name of the person who had bought it.

The buyer returned to the rich man and told him what had happened. Filled with anger, the billionaire ordered his buyer to get on a plane and search the ends of the earth until he found that painting. "I want that portrait!", he screamed. So, leaving on a plane, he began his search. After several months, he had come up with nothing. The painting was simply no where to be found anywhere in the world.

Returning to the mansion late the following night, the buyer knew he would be fired in the morning. But before going to bed, a thought popped into his mind. Walking over to the vast storage building the billionaire had built to house all his treasures, the buyer began to sort through all the many hundred of paintings the man own. About an hour later . . . BINGO! There it was. This wealthy man had owned the priceless work of art all along!

Hey, when God thinks of valuable treasures, what do you suppose comes to His mind? What work of art is "priceless" to Him? Wouldn’t it be great if God would just tell you the answer to those questions? Wouldn’t it be cool if He could speak to you right now?

The good news is that you can hear Him speak to you from His Word. Your Bible is God’s heart and mind written down for you. Through it, you can know the real truth about how valuable God thinks you are to Him.

Today, you’ll tackle three truths about your relationship with God.

Truth #1 - God Made You (Psalm 139:13-16)

What can you discover about how God made you in these verses? __________________

____________________________________________________________________

We identify people today by the labels they wear. Nike, Reebok, Gap, Polo, etc. But the Bible says here that you have been "Designer-Made" by God Himself! You bear His image in you. He was personally involved in hand-crafting you. You are one-of-a-kind. There’s no one else like you. You’re an original!

Truth #2 - God Knows You (Psalm 139:1-6, 17-18)

What does God know about you? ____________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________

According to verses 17-18, how many times does God think about you? ______________

_____________________________________________________

Next time you’re at the beach, reach down and pick up a pinch of sand between your fingers. Count the number of those grains of sand (if you can). Then look down the beach and try to calculate all the grains of sand on that beach. Then multiply that number by all the grains on all the beaches of the world. Then throw into your calculation all the sand in the deserts of the world. Verse 18 says God’s precious thoughts of you outnumber that!

Truth #3 - God Cares About You (Romans 5:8; 1 Peter 1:17-19)

Just how much does God care about you? ______________________________________

How did He demonstrate that love and prove it to you? ___________________________________________________________________

Imagine being a slave in a foreign land and that you were being sold at an auction. Someone stepped forward and offered $2.19 for you. How would that make you feel?

But suppose a stranger in the back made another offer and got into a bidding war with someone else. The price began to rise. $50. Then $100. $400. $1,000. Then, after a long pause, the person in the back comes forward. You can see by his face that he is a kind and benevolent person. Approaching the auction block, he reaches into his satchel and produces a bag full of cash, jewelry, silver and gold coins. He places the bag containing this fortune on the auction block and says, "This is all the wealth I have in the world. I want to purchase this slave and set him free."

Now how do you feel?

How does it feel knowing God could have taken all the money, gold and silver ever made, combined it with the planets, stars, galaxies and angels - and all this put together could never match the value of His own dear Son to Him. And yet Jesus is exactly what God chose to give in exchange for your freedom and salvation. God thinks you’re worth that much! He paid the price of His priceless Son for you!

All this adds up to the fact that God made you, thinks about you constantly and cares deeply for you.

Your value and worth are not dependent on your:

• beauty

• wealth

• intelligence

• popularity

• personality

• athletic abilities

• talents

You are valuable just as you are - just like God made you. You have worth because Jesus Christ made you, knows you, died for you and cares about you! You are priceless to Him!

Once there was a famous painter named Velasquez who painted a portrait called "The Portrait of Juan de Pareja". When this painting was sold, someone paid $5,554,000 for it! The person who bought it paid such a high price not just because he liked the painting but because he also knew it was valuable because of who had painted it. Do you realize that the greatest Artist of all time made you. You are special!

So personalize these truths by saying to yourself out loud:

"God made me uniquely"

"God thinks of me constantly"

"God cares for me deeply"

Right now, choose to believe these three great truths. Tell the Lord in prayer that you believe them, then thank Him for personally creating you, thinking of you and caring for you.

Summary - God’s love for me is shown through His creation and constant care for me.

Over the years some pretty odd inventions have been submitted for patents. While attempting to fill a practical need, people have come up with things that make you wonder about them (the people, that is). It was soon discovered that there just wasn’t a market out there for certain inventions and products. For example, who would be willing to purchase the following actual inventions :

• The tapeworm trap (had to be swallowed!)

• The combined helmet, gun and cooking pan

• The bathroom on wheels (one-seaters only)

• The mind-reading machine (still pops up a state fairs)

• The electric bed-bug exterminator

• The spring-loaded flyswatter

• The automatic spaghetti-spinning fork

• The propeller-driven rocking chair (go grandpa!)

You think maybe these guys had a little too much free time on their hands?

And how frustrating is it to be given something you know you will never use? Like maybe for Christmas or your birthday, that certain aunt gives you a Dictionary or a facial scrubber or perhaps a wax-sculptor kit. That’s when you give your Academy Award-winning performance of the grateful teenager -"Gee, thanks a lot aunt Jemima. It’s what I really needed". Right!

Even before you finish unwrapping them, those are the kind of gifts that you know you’ll never use. They go straight to the attic, closet or trash. Some other totally useless products would include:

• The home root-canal surgery kit (with 3/8 inch variable speed drill).

• A screen door for your submarine.

• An ejection seat for your helicopter.

• The Build-Your-Own battery-powered braces remover (batteries not included).

Allright, enough useless products! The fact is: life is full of things you don’t need. Every day in America, marketing guru’s and advertising geniuses frantically try and persuade you to wear their shoes, chew their gum, buy their CD player, use their acne medicine, drink their soft drink, wear their jeans, their hats, their sports jerseys. And they really aren’t concerned with whether or not you actually need these things. They just want a sale. They want your money.

But when something’s not practical for you, why mess with it?

Honestly, do you ever feel that way about things in the Bible? Listening to your preacher or youth leader speak, do you ever wonder, "What does that have to do with me?" or "How does something that happened thousands of years ago relate to me in the 90’s today?" In a sense, you’re checking out the "product" to see if you think you could use it. And sometimes your need has to be shown to you. Your job is just to keep an open heart.

So here’s the question - Do you feel like you need God’s love?

Don’t think of this in terms of a non-Christian needing salvation. Think of this question as it relates to you as a Christian.

Why do you believe you still need God’s love? __________________________________

________________________________________________________________________

Look up Ephesians 5:1-2

What are you commanded to do in verse 1? _____________________________________

According to the next verse, how do you do that? _____________________________

What example are you given to follow as you strive to do this? ______________________

Why do you need His love to do this? What’s wrong with your love? ________________

___________________________________________________

Receiving God’s love doesn’t stop the moment you ask Christ to be your Savior and Lord. We all desperately need God’s love on a daily basis like a sky-diver needs a parachute. It’s not an option. It’s essential and practical. We just have to realize our need for it each day.

Way back in 1829, a man named George Wilson robbed a US Post Office, killing a man during the holdup. After being arrested, tried and convicted, he was sentenced to be hanged. Fortunately for George, he had some very influential friends who petitioned President Andrew Jackson for a presidential pardon. Finally, after much persistence and persuasion, President Jackson signed the pardon. But when it was brought to Wilson, he refused to accept it!

Baffled, the local sheriff didn’t know what to do. He knew he couldn’t hang a pardoned man. So the matter was brought back to President Jackson, who turned the case over to the United States Supreme court. After reviewing the case, Chief Justice Marshall ruled that a pardon is nothing more than a piece of paper unless it is accepted by the person for whom it is intended. In other words, a pardon refused is really not a pardon at all. So George Wilson was hanged as his pardon sat on the sheriff’s desk.

Did you know that God has an unlimited supply of love and He offers it to you every day of your life? You can have it, but you must accept it. You must apply it to the needs in your heart and your relationships each day. And the way you do this is simple.

You make God’s love real in your life by choosing to follow Christ’s example in the power of the Holy Spirit. You allow His power and love to flow through you. You give up your will and power and let Him love through you.

Who do you need to love today? Who do you need to love that is:

• unlovely? ___________________________

• unloving? ___________________________

• "unlovable" ________________________

Remember, you can experience His real love for them as you fully accept His love for yourself daily.

Summary - I need God’s love daily to shine through me to others.