November 20

Beloved, let us love one another, for love is (springs) from God; and he who loves [his fellowmen] is begotten (born) of God and is coming [progressively] to know and understand God [to perceive and recognize and get a better and clearer knowledge of Him]”. 1 John 4:7 (AMPC)

Love is the fuel for all mankind, and God is the source of that fuel. The well of His love never runs dry; it is deep, rich, and full. The abundant supply is always available to us—all we have to do is ask. 

We may say, “Father, please give Me Your heart for this person; for this situation. Jesus, let me love others as You have loved me. Holy Spirit, show me heaven’s love and acceptance for myself and let me extend that same love and acceptance to those I meet.” 

Sometimes that last one—love for ourselves, with our self-perceived shortcomings and failures, is the most difficult to ask for. Yet if we do not love, see, and accept ourselves as Jesus does, we miss out on His best, and the well can be dry for others, too. 

You don’t have to make up or pretend that you love. God is love, and He releases that love to you, so that it may flow through you. Your heart may feel empty, but He is always full. We love simply because He asked us to, and love, His love, is all we need. 

Dearest one, entwine your heart with His today and rest in the knowledge that you are truly, deeply, completely, accepted, and loved, for who you are, just exactly as you are. Find peace in the knowledge that you are fully capable of loving in just the same way. Even if you have never known, or cannot feel what that is like right now, His loyal love—completely committed and devoted to you—will lead, guide, and carry you through.
 
Trust Him, cherished one. It is the absolute surest and best thing to do.

 Prayer:

Father, I do pray today, just as it is written, that You would give me Your heart for the people I long to love well, or struggle to love in the grace-filled way that You do. Jesus, let me love others as You have loved me. Holy Spirit, show me heaven’s love and acceptance for myself and let me extend that same love and acceptance to those I meet, and to those in need.

Lord, for all the ways I have looked for love in all the wrong places, I ask Your forgiveness. I see that true and enduring love comes from You alone, and so I open my heart afresh to You even now and ask that You would allow Your love to heal my heart, even in the ways and places that I cannot see. Please allow me then to love others in that same life-giving and accepting way.

There is no shortage in Your love, Lord, despite what I may feel or believe, so come today, in a hurricane of affection, and set my hurting heart free.

In the kindness of Your redeeming grace, I pray. ​