Gods Promises Still Stand - An Unending Love

Devotional

Day 1: Unending Love That Meets Us First

You may not always feel lovable, but God’s love is steady, initiating, and unfailing. His promises stand, and His motive toward you is love, not reluctance. He moved first, giving His Son so you could be rescued, restored, and welcomed home. Let that unending love draw you to love Him with all that you are, not to pay Him back, but to live from the gift you’ve received. Today, simply say yes to the One who already said yes to you [38:11].

John 3:16 — God loved the world so deeply that He gave His only Son, so that everyone who entrusts themselves to Him will not be lost to death but will share in everlasting life.

Reflection: Where do you still live as if you must earn God’s approval, and what specific prayer of surrender will you offer Him today?

Day 2: Agape Love: Selfless, Unconditional, Sacrificial

Agape is not a mood or a momentary rush; it is a choice to seek another’s good, whatever the cost. Jesus did not feel like going to the cross, yet He set His face toward it in self-giving love. He meets you where you are—like He did with Peter—and then calls you into a deeper, more costly love. Ask Him to shape your everyday choices into cross-shaped actions for the good of others. Love is more than feeling; it is faithful, sacrificial doing [50:41].

Romans 5:6–8 — At just the right time, when we were helpless and far from God, Christ died for us. It’s rare to find someone willing to die even for a good person, but God proves His love in this: while we were still sinners, Christ laid down His life for us.

Reflection: What is one costly, concrete act of good God is inviting you to do for someone this week, even if you don’t “feel” it?

Day 3: Remain In His Love Through Obedience And Surrender

God’s heart is that you would never step outside the shelter of His love. We remain in that love as we keep Jesus’ words, not to earn acceptance, but because we’ve already been accepted. Like the prodigal, we can wander; like the Father, God still loves—but we experience His love most fully when we come home and walk in His ways. Obedience is love’s response and the pathway of joy. Stay under the umbrella of His love by saying yes to His voice today [59:38].

John 15:9–11 — Just as the Father has loved me, I have loved you; stay rooted in my love. If you keep my commands, you will dwell in my love, just as I keep my Father’s commands and dwell in His. I say this so that my joy will be in you and your joy will be complete.

Reflection: Which of Jesus’ commands is presently hardest for you to keep, and what practical step will help you obey from love rather than fear?

Day 4: From Scarlet To Snow—Cleansed, Restored, Fear Cast Out

God does not treat you as your sins deserve; His love removes your guilt as far as east is from west. Because of Jesus, the stain that would not come out has been washed clean, and you are given His righteousness in exchange for your ruin. This cleansing invites you to release the fear of judgment and rest in the mercy that holds you. Let His kindness quiet your shame and steady your heart. Receive the freedom of forgiveness He delights to give [55:28].

Isaiah 1:18 — “Come, let’s settle this,” says the Lord. “Even if your sins are deep red like scarlet, I will wash them until they are white as fresh snow; though they are crimson, I will make them like pure wool.”

Reflection: What specific memory of failure still stains your conscience, and how will you let God speak His cleansing word over that place today?

Day 5: Loved People Love People—Let It Flow Outward

The love you’ve received is meant to overflow to others—friends, family, and even those who oppose you. Agape love is not natural to us; it is the Spirit’s work as we remain in Christ’s love. When you serve, forgive, speak truth kindly, go the extra mile, and give without getting, people notice that Jesus is real. Your ordinary acts of selfless love can become bright beacons in a dark world. Ask the Lord to make His love unmistakable through you this week [03:08].

John 13:34–35 — I’m giving you a new command: love one another in the same way I have loved you. When you love each other like this, everyone will recognize that you are my disciples.

Reflection: Who is one person you find difficult to love right now, and what is one small, concrete way you will serve them this week while asking the Spirit for strength?

Sermon Summary

God’s promises still stand because His character does not change. That’s why the center of the gospel is love—unending, self-giving, initiating love. God’s motivation for sending Jesus wasn’t sentiment but agape, the kind of love that moves toward us at great cost to Himself (John 3:16). 1 John 4 tells us that love originates in God, is revealed in Christ’s atoning work, and is perfected in us as we receive and live it. Perfect love drives out fear because it removes punishment; we become people who are no longer avoiding judgment but abiding in a Person who has already borne it.

To grasp this, we need to define love the way Scripture does. The Bible speaks of phileo (friendship), storge (family), eros (romantic), and agape (selfless, sacrificial). In Peter’s restoration, Jesus kept inviting him into agape, and when Peter could only honestly offer phileo, Jesus met him there and still commissioned him. That’s the way agape operates—honest, costly, persistent, and for the other’s good. It isn’t a feeling; the cross proves that. It is action for another’s benefit despite personal cost.

This love is undeserved and unearnable. God moved toward us “while we were still sinners,” not after we cleaned up. Love like this forgives, cleanses, and removes stain as far as east is from west. And this love invites us to remain—Jesus said, “Remain in my love.” How? By keeping His commands, not as merit but as alignment. Obedience isn’t paying God back; it’s staying under the waterfall of His presence and joy.

From that place, we love others freely. Our credibility in a cynical world is not our arguments but our agape—costly kindness, patient truth-telling, enemy-love that resembles Jesus. When we struggle to love, the solution isn’t trying harder; it’s returning to the Source. Paul prayed we would “know” (ginosko) Christ’s love—not just know about it (oida), but experience it so deeply that it fills us to God’s fullness. People changed by that kind of love naturally become conduits of it. That’s what makes Jesus believable to our neighbors, families, and even our enemies.

Key Takeaways

1. Agape chooses sacrifice over feelings Agape is not mood-driven; it is cross-shaped. Jesus didn’t feel like going to Calvary—He chose it for our good. Real love moves toward another’s benefit even when it costs time, comfort, reputation, or control. That’s the love the Spirit forms in us. [50:01]
2. Remain in love through obedience Jesus ties abiding in His love to keeping His commands. Obedience is not earning; it’s agreeing with reality—staying where love actually lives. When we walk in step with Him, fear shrinks and joy grows because we’re aligned with His heart. [59:38]
3. Move from oida to ginosko It’s possible to know facts about God’s love without being shaped by it. Experiential knowing—ginosko—comes as we trust, surrender, and receive. When love moves from data to encounter, it reshapes what we want, how we forgive, and whom we serve. [68:01]
4. Let love become your witness Jesus said the world would recognize His disciples by their love. Agape in public—patient presence, truthful mercy, enemy-love—disrupts our cultural scorekeeping. It’s not weakness; it’s cruciform strength that makes Jesus plausible to those watching. [65:14]
5. You cannot earn God’s love God moved toward us when we were powerless and undeserving. That frees us from performing for worth and releases us to repent without terror. The cross settles the question of whether we’re wanted; now we live from acceptance, not for it. [53:20]

Youtube Chapters

[00:00] - Welcome
[35:42] - Prayer and greeting
[37:15] - Promises and unending love
[39:27] - God’s love in 1 John 4
[42:39] - What is love? Defining our terms
[44:25] - Four biblical words for love
[45:57] - Peter restored: agape vs phileo
[50:01] - Agape is not a feeling
[53:20] - While we were still sinners
[59:38] - Remain in His love: obedience
[61:00] - Prodigal Son: leaving and return
[63:08] - Love others with Christ’s love
[65:14] - Our love as a public witness
[68:01] - Know by experience, not data
[80:48] - Closing prayer and next steps

Bible Study Guide

Bible reading
- 1 John 4:7–21

Observation questions

In 1 John 4:7–12, where does love come from, and how did God show it among us?
In 1 John 4:17–19, what changes about fear and the day of judgment for those who are “in” God’s love?
In the restoration moment with Peter, what two different words for love are used, and what shift happens in the third question? [48:45]
What does Jesus connect to “remaining in His love” in John 15:9–11, and what result does He promise? [59:38]

Interpretation questions

“Agape love is not a feeling; it is selfless, unconditional, sacrificial” ([50:01]). If love is defined this way, how does that change what counts as real love in daily choices (time, comfort, reputation, control)?
“If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love” ([59:38]). How does obedience function as alignment with love rather than earning love?
“Perfect love drives out fear… because fear has to do with punishment” (1 John 4:18). What picture of God is needed for fear to shrink, and how does the cross remove the fear of punishment?
Moving from knowing about love (oida) to knowing by experience (ginosko) ([01:08:01]): What helps a person shift from information to encounter so that love actually reshapes desires and habits?

Application questions

Where are fear of failure, shame, or fear of punishment shaping decisions right now? What would it look like this week to bring that specific fear into the light of “perfect love drives out fear”? Share one step you will take. [41:14]
Think of one person who is hard for you to love (maybe even an “enemy”). What is one costly, concrete act of agape you can do for their good this week—serving, listening, telling the truth with patience, or meeting a real need? “By this everyone will know you are my disciples.” [01:05:14]
Be honest about capacity: if Jesus asked, “Do you love (agape) me?” would you answer with agape or phileo right now? What is one honest next step Jesus might be inviting you into today? [49:14]
In what area have you stepped outside the “umbrella” of remaining in God’s love? Like the prodigal, what concrete return looks like for you this week—confession, making a call, changing a habit, reordering your week? [01:01:00]
Pick one clear command of Jesus to practice this week (forgive, reconcile, give, serve, tell the truth in love). How will you live it out as a way to remain in His love and receive His joy? Who can check in with you about this? [59:38]
Where are you trying to earn God’s love or prove your worth? How will you practice receiving the truth that “while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” and live from acceptance, not for it? [53:20]
Plan one public act of love as witness this week: help a stranger, cover a cost, invite someone to a gathering, or show kindness to a co-worker who mistreats you. What will you do, when will you do it, and how can the group pray for you? [01:20:16]

Sermon Clips

Then there's the word eros, which we translate as love, which is romantic or passionate love. It's the relationship between two people in a romantic relationship. And then the last one that we see is agape. And agape love is selfless, unconditional, sacrificial love that seeks the good of others. And in the passage that we read in 1 John, all 27 times, it's talking about agape love. And it's the God kind of love. [00:45:02] (34 seconds) #GodsKindOfLove

See, agape love is not about feelings, it's about doing what is good and beneficial for someone else despite the cost involved. Despite the cost, it's the kind of love that would cause a father to save his children or to jump in front of someone to jump in front of a bullet for somebody. It's that kind of sacrificial, unconditional love. And see, God demonstrated his agape love for us by sending Jesus to save us from our sin. That is how God showed us his agape love. He didn't just tell us he loved us, but he showed it to us by sending his son. [00:51:17] (50 seconds) #AgapeInAction

Now, something that we have to understand about God's love today is that you can, there's nothing you can do to earn it. There is nothing that you can do to earn or to deserve God's love. He loves you because he created you. You are his child. It makes me think of my own children. There's nothing that they can do to make me love them more or less. And how much more perfectly does God love us? [00:52:07] (36 seconds) #LovedNotEarned

``Like, stop and think about that. It's not how the world works. The world doesn't work that way. You know, as you're growing up as a child, you do good, you get blessings. You do wrong, there's consequences. And yet, God, in the middle of our deepest pit, with no way to get out, there's no way that we could earn ourselves and work ourselves way to heaven, to salvation, he knew we needed to be rescued. And so, while we were in the middle of our deepest, darkest pit, the worst day, he said, I love you enough to die for you. [00:53:37] (38 seconds) #LoveRescuesUs

See, God doesn't just forgive us. He completely cleanses and restores us. That color scarlet was the color that they would dye clothes. It was a red tint and it was the strongest dye and it would never come out. And isn't that like our sins? The stain of our sin, the mistakes, the choices. And yet, because of what Jesus did on that cross, our sin can be white as snow. [00:56:23] (31 seconds) #WashedWhiteAsSnow

When he finally came to his senses and he returned back home, it says his father saw him and he ran to him. And once again, his father restored him and he was in his father's love again. So how do we remain in God's love? By walking with him and by obeying him and by living in his ways. And when we do that, the Bible says that we will remain in his love and God will reveal himself. [01:01:46] (29 seconds) #ReturnAndRemain

Yet, God calls us to selflessly love this agape love. He says, in fact, if you don't love others whom you can see, then how can you say that you love God whom you don't see? Church, this is a supernatural thing. We can't do it on our own. And what I've found in my life is that the more that I'm walking in God's love for me, that it naturally pours out to those around me. And if we're having a hard time loving those around us, we have to ask ourselves, are we walking in his love for me? [01:03:29] (37 seconds) #WalkInHisLove

See, this kind of agape love is not common in the world. This kind of agape love is actually what Jesus says the world, the lost world out there will look at the church and they will see the kind of agape love that they have for those around them and they will say, there's something different about those people. There's something different because when everybody else is saying mine, they're saying no, take my coat. They're saying no, let me walk with you an extra mile. They're saying no, let me actually serve you like Jesus has served me. [01:05:14] (37 seconds) #LoveThatStandsOut

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