The matchless love of God never changes. We change, but who He is and what He desires to do for us never changes. Only eternity will tell how deep His love for us is. To imagine the sinless Son of God taking our place on the cross and experiencing that moment of separation from God’s holiness is beyond our comprehension. God's love will do amazing things, and when we begin to build it into our lives, the measure of our sacrifice and service will be monumental. “For I am persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”- Romans 8:38, 39 The reason nothing will ever separate us from the love of God is all due to the fact that Christ, Himself, was separated for us. He went through a complete separation as an act of love to assure us that we will never have to experience it. Paul said, “To the praise of the glory of His grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved” (Eph. 1:6). The word “accepted” is the Greek word CHARITOO and means to be highly favored. It is only used two times in the entire New Testament. The only other time was when the angel came to Mary and told her, “Hail, thou art highly favored, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women” (Luke 1:28). The same favor God extended to Mary to become that chosen vessel to carry the Son of God in her womb is what we carry within us. I remember a word the Lord spoke to my heart. He said, “You will never know the height of where love wants to take you, until you understand the depth love went to apprehend you.” Jesus went to the lowest of the lowest place to not only break every stronghold of sin over your life, but He made a way for love to secure your place in Him forever. Your acceptance is in Him, and since He will never ever be parted from the Father again, He has guaranteed that nothing will ever be able to separate you from His love, which is in Christ! Paul prayed for this same church (Ephesus), and said, “For this cause, I bow my knee unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named. That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man, that Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith, that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height, and to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fullness of God” (Eph. 3:14-19). The Amplified Bible says, “That you may be filled [through all your being] unto all the fullness of God [may have the richest measure of the divine Presence, and become a body wholly filled and flooded with God Himself]!” The greatness of God’s love is incomprehensible without the Holy Spirit strengthening our spirit with His power to bring us to a place of pure devotion to making love our aim. The more “rooted and grounded” we are in God’s love the more of God’s power we will experience in shaping us to see and know the vastness of what Christ did to demonstrate His love for us. Paul so understood this matchless love that he dared to say, “I say the truth in Christ, I lie not, my conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy Ghost, that I have great heaviness and continual sorrow in my heart. For I could wish that myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh” (Rom. 9:1-3). There is no way we could come to this depth of love in and of ourselves. It took Paul stepping out of himself and sensing the greatness of God’s love to wish such a thing. How could any of us ever come to such a desire? It could only come by the Holy Spirit helping us identify with the “fellowship of Christ’s sufferings” (Phil. 3:10) When we choose to step up and take on the responsibility of being a carrier of love, that is when we break free from any containment barrier! We break out of our old mindsets and behavior patterns that limit us to selfish living. When we choose to love as Christ loved the church, we will view life and people differently. At this point, the power of God will begin to rise within us to new heights and levels. Jesus said, “A new commandment I give unto you, that ye love one another, as I have loved you, that ye also love one another” (John 13:34). The old covenant said we are to love our neighbor as ourselves (Matt. 22:39). This new commandment that Jesus gave did not change the first part, where we are to love God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength. That will always remain the highest command of all. But this second part, He did change. We are not just to love our neighbor as ourselves, but to love one another “as He has loved us.” There is no way we can do that without a full surrender to the power of the Holy Spirit. He is the one who shed abroad the love of God in our hearts” (Rom. 5:5). Jesus said, “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends” (John 15:13). Paul recognized this truth but went far beyond what natural love can do. He said, “For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die. But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (Rom. 5:7,8). For a friend? Maybe. But for someone who is sinful, how could anyone be willing to die for them? Only God! This is what a matchless love is: it is willing to give up its life even for those who are wretched, misery, and poor. Can you begin to imagine how powerful the church would be if this same love took us over and we lived devoted to it? It would create a whole new level of influence on those in the world where Christ would become clearly revealed through His people! DEFINING MOMENTS… There is nothing in this world that can begin to compare to the love of God. Our natural minds cannot fathom God’s matchless love. Everything within our grasp has limits, but God’s love has no limits. When we give ourselves completely to love and allow it to become perfected in us, we will step into the unlimited measure of God, showing Him strength through us. CONFESSION My heart desires to experience the fullness of the love of God. I want to be overcome by it until it oozes out of every pore in my body. I do not want to put limits on it by giving in to the weaknesses of my flesh. I want to be robust in love with God, with my brothers and sisters in Christ, and those who need someone to see Jesus can open their heart to see Him in me. PRAYER Father, I want my love for you and for others to grow and increase in me until it takes me over. I do not want to be on the fence, living my life back and forth, in and out. I want to be solid, always yielding to the better side, which is following after love. In Your name, I pray. Amen. u AUGUST 2025 GLAD TIDINGS 9 The Keen Agers "O God, thou hast taught me from my youth: and hitherto have I declared thy wondrous works." Psalms 71:17 GOD’S MATCHLESS LOVE DAVID & BETTY DUNNING
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