"We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brethren." The proof that the love of God has been poured out in us is that it is poured out through us. The place that it is needed first is in the lives of our brothers and sisters in Christ. May God love them through me!

We, who believe in Jesus and have fixed our hope on Him, cannot live without the love of God. It is our daily bread; It is our morning mercy! Even in intense trials, His love shines through.

God did not spare His own Son, but gave Him up for us all. This is the greatest display of love of all. It is fitting, then, that He calls us to practice laying our own lives down for Him as a daily, living sacrifice. Will I make the offering? Could I make the ultimate sacrifice?

Jesus warned His followers to be careful not to hold family, friends, or possessions above Him. Our love for Him must make our earthly affections look like hatred by comparison. Will we refuse to put them above Him when they are in conflict with each other?

God will never turn His love away from us, but we can walk away! We keep ourselves under the canopy of His love through obedience. From start to finish, God has made His message clear: if we are going to be in a relationship with Him, we have to submit to His Word.

If we are in Christ, the love of God has already been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit. Even so, for many of us, there is a great need to experience that inner outpouring in a baptism of love in which the Holy Spirit makes God's love real to us and through us. 

People will rarely give up their life for anyone or anything, though for a righteous man, someone might dare to die. But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

Jesus said to beware the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy. A little leaven leavens the whole lump, and then we have become something we never intended to be. On the other hand, the leaven of the Kingdom also can spread throughout us and redeem our brokenness for God's glory.

Diligence means seeing things through, and this quality is required of every servant of God and everyone who would succeed in life generally. Do I have it, or are things around me breaking down from neglect? God will teach us to be diligent just as He is!

Flipping the script just a bit, there are little things we cannot afford to MISS while we live that will actually hinder our ability to be fruitful. Enjoyment of the basic God-given pleasures of life is one of those things. With regard to these, we eat, drink, and are merry to the glory of the God who gave them.