Welcome to another day the Lord has made that we should rejoice and be glad in. (Psalms 118:24)

We are continuing our ‘D-Love’ of God appreciation, by considering His ‘Demonsrated-Love’.

Today’s scripture, Romans 5:8 (NIV), testifies…
[8] But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Consider…
President Theodore Roosevelt said, “People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care”.

Today’s scripture reminds me of elementary school when we used to have show and tell, where we would share things that we were proud or fond of.

The scripture also makes me think of the promise that people who were confident they could win a fight would say, which was “I can show you better than I can tell you”.

Both childhood memories were about people’s actions speaking louder than their words. Seeing leads to knowing.

This makes me think of my wife who loves prop-aided sermons. You see she’s a visual learner and appreciates seeing things that bring God’s message to life.

As I wrote that, it dawned on me that people during Jesus’ journey here on earth must have been visual learners too because Matthew 13:34-35 (NLT) says…
[34] Jesus always used stories and illustrations like these when speaking to the crowds. In fact, he never spoke to them without using such parables. [35] This fulfilled what God had spoken through the prophet: “I will speak to you in parables. I will explain things hidden since the creation of the world.”

Yet, today’s scripture is about much more than a prop to convey a message. Indeed, today’s scripture is emphasizes the nature of God’s love through demonstration. The passage tells us…

• God loved us while we were sinners
• God died for us

…that shows us God’s love is full of grace because it’s

• Unconditional
• Sacrificial

1 John 4:9-10 (NLT) underscores that truth by testifying…
[9] God showed how much he loved us by sending his one and only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through him. [10] This is real love—not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins.

Verse 10 just hit play on Mary J Blige singing…
We are lovers through and through
And though we made it through the storm
I really want you to realize, I really want to put you on
I’ve been searching for someone to satisfy my every need
Won’t you be my inspiration?
Be the real love that I need

Real love, I’m searching for a real love
Someone to set my heart free
Real love, I’m searching for a real love

Although Ms. Blige was singing to her man, I believe her words could also be appropriately sung to the Son of Man!

I say that because only Jesus can provide real love. In fact 1 John 3:16a (NLT) declares…
[16] We know what real love is because Jesus gave up his life for us…

Real love is demonstrated by how much is given, not said.

As I continued my search for scriptures that highlight how God demonstrated His love, I discovered Genesis 39:21 (NLT) which says…
[21] But the Lord was with Joseph in the prison and showed him his faithful love. And the Lord made Joseph a favorite with the prison warden.

I like this scripture because it says that God demonstrates His faithful love by giving us favor regardless of what we’re going through. That reminds me of a favorite song that my children loved hearing from Hezekiah Walker. At the end of ‘God Favored Me’, minister Walker elicits testimonies…

(God favors me) Marvin Sapp, come here!
I don’t know what you’re goin’ through
But I want you to know, tonight, you’ve got favor
(God favors me)
In your trial, in your test, in your hard time
Don’t worry (God favors me)
Attack your character, attack your integrity
Don’t worry, no, no (God favors me)
Touch your neighbor, encourage the person next to you
Tell him, “I got it”, tell him, “I got it”
I can say yes
to Your will
(Yes) say yes
(Yes) because I got it
(God favors me) through my crisis
(Yes) difficulty
(Yes) through my hurting
(Yes) I’ve found (God favors me) favor
favor
(Yes) I got it, I got it
(Yes) I got it, I got it, ha
(God favors me) I got it
(Yes) and the Lord gave it to me
(Yes) you know what, y’all?
(Yes) I got another witness
Come here, D. J. Rogers (God favors me)
Wondering why I did not die?
I’ll be happy to tell you why (God favors me)
No longer do I cry
When fake friends say goodbye (God favors me)
Some days, the well was dry
But I had the same reply (God favors me)
Evil wants to bring me down inside (hey God!)
But God said again I’ll rise
come on, everybody, say, “Yes”
(Yes) don’t you let the evilness
(Yes) of your haters bring you down
(God favors me) oh
(Yes) oh-ooh-oh, oh
(Yes) God favors me
(Yes, God favors me) yeah-oh
oh!
(Yes) yes, God favors me
(Yes, God favors me)

God demonstrates His love by His favor shown in our lives, especially during difficult times.

My scripture search also returned 1 Kings 3:6 (NLT) which testifies…
[6] Solomon replied, “You showed great and faithful love to your servant my father, David, because he was honest and true and faithful to you. And you have continued to show this great and faithful love to him today by giving him a son to sit on his throne.

My main takeaway from this verse is that God’s faithful love is just like the Energizer Bunny, it keeps going and going and going…

In fact here are three quick scriptures that declare that truth…

• Psalms 100:5 (NLT)…[5] For the Lord is good. His unfailing love continues forever, and his faithfulness continues to each generation.
• Psalms 106:1 (NLT)…[1] Praise the Lord! Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good! His faithful love endures forever.
• Psalms 118:1, 4 (NLT)…[1] Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good! His faithful love endures forever. [4] Let all who fear the Lord repeat: “His faithful love endures forever.”

I don’t think it’s just a coincidence that the Psalmists recognized the goodness of God simultaneously with His faithful enduring love. That’s because they recognized what James 1:17 (NIV) affirms…
[17] Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.

I believe people recognize God is good by His goodness they experience in their lives. That’s why it’s important that we sing the hymn chorus…
Count your blessings, name them one by one;
Count your blessings, see what God hath done;
Count your blessings, name them one by one;
Count your many blessings, see what God hath done.

And as we recount how good God is to us, we begin to appreciate how much He must love us!

Think about it, would you believe a person who mistreats you really loves you? No. Actions must align with sentiments. That means God is good because He’s loving, AND God is loving because He’s good.

Thus when we experience God’s goodness we’re seeing His love demonstrated.

As I close, there’s one more important word the Psalmists used in conjunction with God’s love, which is FAITHFUL.

Oxford Languages defines faithful…

• remaining loyal and steadfast.
• true to the facts or the original.

This means God’s love remains loyal and steadfast in our lives regardless of what we think, say or do. And God’s love remains that way because it’s true to who He is.

That’s reminds me of the Apostle Paul’s testimony in 2 Timothy 2:13 (NIV)…
[13] if we are faithless, he remains faithful, for he cannot disown himself.

God demonstrates His love to us faithfully. In case you need a reminder of how He does that, allow me to share Lamentations 3:22-23 (NIV)…
[22] Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. [23] They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.

This pressed play on Eddie James sing…
As I look back over my life
I can see how Your LOVE has guided me
Even though I’ve done wrong
You never left me alone
But You forgave me
And You kept on blessing
This I recall to my mind, therefore I have hope
It’s because of Your mercy that we are not consumed
Because Thy compassions fail not, they are new every morning
Great is Thy faithfulness
Great is Thy faithfulness…

The last thing the Holy Spirit showed me about God’s ‘Demonstrated-Love’ is that we may recognize it as God’s Righteousness At Christ Expense (G.R.A.C.E.)

Ephesians 2:4-5 (NIV) declares…
[4] But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, [5] made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved.

The Holy Spirit also added that God’s ‘Demonsrated-Love’, also known as GRACE also stands for God’s Riches at Christ Expense. The scripture that was provided as support is 2 Corinthians 9:8 (NLT)…
[8] And God will generously provide all you need. Then you will always have everything you need and plenty left over to share with others.

God demonstrates His love to us so that we can demonstrate it to others.

Here’s the bottom-line, God’s ‘Demonstrated-Love’ has been, currently is and forever will be evident in your life. But it won’t mean anything to you until you recognize it.

So today, I encourage you not to take God’s ‘Demonstrated-Love’ for granted. In fact, recognize and appreciate that you can’t live without it!

Today’s song is…
Without Your Love

Blessings 4HG (1 Corinthians 10:31)