Our pastor’s message this morning was about God’s tenacious love.

He reminded us that God’s love is always present . . . but not always received. Such a simple statement, yet it resounded in my heart.

God’s love is always with us. But we don’t always open our hearts and minds to it. I believe that is so true for both people who have not received Jesus as Lord and Savior . . . and for those of us who have.

If you’ve never invited Jesus Christ to be your personal Lord and Savior, please know that he loves you. Just as you are. He understands you better than you understand yourself. And he is so much more able to guide you through life’s challenges than you are. He is just waiting for you to invite him into your life.

Perhaps you think God could never love you because of the sinful life you have led. But God’s love is so much bigger than any sin you could ever commit. His love is in your presence right now . . . you just need to receive it.

But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ
died for us. Romans 5:8 NIV

Those of us who have received Christ and committed our lives to him may sometimes doubt his love. We may think, God, if you love me, how could you let this happen? Maybe you don’t really love me. Again, his love is always present but we don’t always receive it. As our loving Father, our Creator, he knows what is truly best for us. Sometimes we fail to receive his love because we are trusting our own version of what’s best for us, not God’s version. We need to receive his love even when he shows it in a different way than we expect or want him too.

Unlike us, God sees the big picture. He knows what lies ahead. He knows what’s best for us. His love is always present. It’s up to us to remember that and to receive his love–and his plan–in every situation.

Can anything ever separate us from Christ’s love? Does it mean he no longer loves us if we have trouble or calamity, or are persecuted, or hungry, or destitute, or in danger, or threatened with death? (As the Scriptures say, “For your sake we are killed every day; we are being slaughtered like sheep.” No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us.

And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Romans 8:35-39 NLT