IMMANUEL ~ The Gift of WITH - Advent Day 8

Love 

We know we need love, it is the universal human longing. The incredible message of the gospel is that you are loved by God. When you think about the concept of love what does it mean to you? What feels like love is unique to each of us - being noticed, recognized, appreciated. Comfort, support, safety? What does getting love look like for you? 

The news of the gospel is that God has freely given us of His love, demonstrated through the sacrifice of Jesus. The coming of Jesus as Immanuel is proof of God’s devotion to us - that He WANTS us in relationship with Him. But stepping into the experience of what that means can be a process. You may be so used to earning the feeling of being loved a certain way it feels foreign to just receive it from God. We may try to show up or hide, perform or quit - we do whatever we can to manage the thing that means love to us - but the truth is, we cannot enjoy it as long as we are trying to earn it.

Take a moment and notice what does love mean to you? What do you do to get that? What keeps you from just receiving? Take a minute to sit with God and enjoy His love freely given, freely received. Let God love you. 

“For the mountains may depart and the hills be removed, but my steadfast love shall not depart from you, and my covenant of peace shall not be removed,” says the LORD, who has compassion on you” Isaiah 54:10