Love

Years ago, Lori and I were taking our son back to college when, on the way, the traffic came to a sudden halt. After a time of stop-and-go, state troopers directed us off the highway onto the side road, where we drove for several miles. We knew that an accident had occurred on the main road, and it must have been a bad one. It was. A teenage girl, an outstanding athlete in our area, had been killed in a car crash. I am sure her family misses her every day.

To introduce this devotional, I wanted to show all the different decisions that make life complex. There are multiple choices for everything from washers and dryers to tires for your car. Since you may not be in the market for a washer or dryer, and your tires are just fine, I decided to see how many brands of jeans there are. I found a site that provided the complete list of jean brands listed in alphabetical order. I stopped counting at one hundred brands. I was only at “C”! I didn’t have it in me to count jean brands starting with “D” all the way to “Z.”

Does God really love me? Is this the best God has for me? Why is God holding out on me? These questions, which have echoed through the ages, started in the garden when Satan showed up to bring down Adam and Eve. After Satan told Eve that God’s Word was not true, he moved to God’s motive.

In the beginning, “the earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep” (Genesis 1:2). Then God created the heavens and the earth. God’s crowning creation was man and woman, made in his own image. God placed this sinless couple in a perfect environment, the garden of Eden. They had everything they could ever want or need. There was, however, one tree, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, from which they were not allowed to eat. God’s instruction regarding the tree was to allow his creation to obey him or not. The first sin centered around the tree.

We are in a battle, but not with other people. Our struggles with people and circumstances are real-life events and cause real-life problems. However, hiding behind every circumstance, there is a conspirator. Hiding behind every deception, there is a deceiver. Hiding behind every hurt, there is a hunter. Hiding behind every lie, there is the father of lies. Our clash is not with “flesh and blood.” We are in a spiritual battle.

Thanks for taking the time to join me as we engage in God’s Word together each day. If these devotionals are helpful, be sure to share them with a friend or have them subscribe at ronmoore.org/subscribe. Also, we are excited to resume our podcasts in September. We look forward to sharing many stories of how God works in real life. We have episodes featuring a former major league baseball player and his search for identity, a couple who struggled with a secret sin, two young adults sharing about their father’s lasting legacy, a moving story about a father’s unconditional love, and many more. I’ll let you know when the episodes are released.

Today’s devotional is for those who serve in church ministry. Certainly, serving the Lord in different areas of ministry is a great demonstration of love. You may serve as a teacher for children, teens, or adults. You may cook meals for those going through challenging times or serve food to the homeless. You may be gifted in music or skilled in technology. But please hear this: Service without worship results in spiritual burnout.

When our first daughter, Brittany, was born, I was surprised to feel a new channel of love open in my soul. I thought I had expended all my love on my wife, Lori. I didn’t know I had the capacity to love another person that much. And when we learned another baby was on the way, I wondered how I could love a second child as much as Brittany. But when our son arrived, I learned that my love for him didn’t “borrow” from my love for Brittany. A new reservoir of love was released for Garrison…and then for Lara….and then for Mackenzie…and now for our grandchildren.

Scoffers are great at scoffing. Dripping with sarcasm, they asked the believers, “When is this so-called ‘coming’ that Jesus promised?” Facing persecution, the believers were wondering the same thing. No doubt many were thinking, “Lord, if you are going to come back, this would really be a good time!” So, Peter gives an explanation and encouragement.