Each summer, the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association runs a series of spiritual growth articles we call the Summer Soul Refresher. This year, we’re taking a look at five promises from God. This is part 1.
You can count on these, and all of God’s promises, even in a world that seems out of control.
“I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore I have continued my faithfulness to you.” —Jeremiah 31:3 (ESV)
Promises are made to be kept, yet lives are shattered every day when they’re broken. But there are some promises that will never break.
In the Bible, God made thousands of promises to mankind. One, though, perhaps serves as the foundation for why we should trust the others.
“I love you.”
>>A short devotion from Billy Graham on God’s love.
His agape, or unconditional, love is quite exceptional. This supernaturally deep love isn’t rooted in feelings, as human love can be. It’s not based on our good works, either. And if we disappoint Him, God doesn’t change His mind about us.
In their book Experiencing God, Henry and Richard Blackaby explain it this way: “God created you for a love relationship with Him. He yearns for you to love Him and respond to His immeasurable love for you.”
How do we respond? We start by praying for God to open our hearts to Him and forgive our sins. “He wants you to know and worship Him,” they write. “Most of all, He wants you to love Him,” because we weren’t designed for a one-sided relationship.
And just as mind-blowing as having a personal friendship with your Creator is this: He loved us before time and space, before He created the world.
Billy Graham grasped the depth of God’s love and shared it with people at every chance. He wrote, “Until you actually possess true peace with God, no one can describe its wonders [God’s love] to you.”
A Love Stronger Than Death
God has always loved us, but because He is holy and we are sinners, God cannot be in our presence. The solution was unimaginable—sending His Son, Jesus, to die on the cross for our sins.
It was the only way.
>>Why did Jesus have to die for our sins? Find out.
In her poem “Love Stronger Than Death,” Ruth Bell Graham described this ultimate sacrifice.
No matter how far a person wandered, no matter how big the sin, there would still be this way back to God. For love like this would be stronger than sin—stronger than death itself.
God raised His Son from the dead three days later. This powerful act of love defeated mankind’s sin.
Know & Trust God’s Love
When you’re going through a crisis in life, it’s hard to understand why a loving God would allow it to happen.
“We have to trust that in time, He will help us understand things that we don’t,” the Blackbys wrote. “He is the infinite God while we are limited human creatures. He sees the eternal ramifications of everything that happens. We don’t.”
It’s normal to question God during difficult times. But if you really believe God is love, they write, “You will also accept that His will is always best.”
To fully understand God’s love, we need to spend time with Him. We can do that by being obedient to His Word. The Bible gives us guidelines to live by so we don’t miss “the full dimensions of the love relationship He seeks to have with [us],” the Blackabys write.
Today, open your Bible or download a Bible app—the Book of John is a good place to start. Ask God to open your heart to Him and pray for understanding.
As you make this a habit, you will realize His unimaginable love for you and fall in love with Him, too.
God loves you! Take the first step toward a personal relationship with Him.
Give To Where Most Needed
