“Are you full yet?” I asked. “Not yet,” Thomas grinned. I hugged him tighter and asked, “How about now? Are you full up to your elbows? Your shoulders? Your ears?” I teased in succession, finally tilting his head to peek inside each ear.
Teaching Thomas and Amelia passages like 1 John 4:19, “We love because He first loved us,” is memorable because it’s fun! Hugging them tight again and again until their love tank is full is my way of reminding them that when we allow Jesus to fill us continually with His love, we have plenty to share. We can love generously without fear of running out. It’s a great way to ward off a meltdown when we’re pushing through nap time or trying to survive bath time or any particularly sticky toddler moment.
“Our love for others is our grateful response to the love God first demonstrated to us.”
1 John 4:19 TPT
https://bible.com/bible/1849/1jn.4.19.TPT
The richness of God’s Word astounds me the more I study through it. The deeper I dig, the more treasure I find. Notice how the varying translations above picture the reciprocity of God’s love. He gives first and last every single time. His love, like His mercies which are new every morning and His all-sufficient grace, is inexhaustible. We plumb the depths of His love and our soundings will only become deeper. Measuring its width is like finding the distance from East to West. You could go on forever and never reach its end. Think of what Jesus did on the cross when He stretched out His arms to die for us.
“But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
Romans 5:8 NIV
https://bible.com/bible/111/rom.5.8.NIV
“And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is.”
Ephesians 3:18 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/eph.3.18.NLT
Just today, I came across this precious gem that I can hardly wait to share with my grandchildren.
“And to the one who conquers I will give the privilege of sitting with me on my throne, just as I conquered and sat down with my Father on his throne.”
Revelation 3:21 TPT
https://bible.com/bible/1849/rev.3.21.TPT
A child, the son of a king, does not fight battles in order to become an heir. He is heir by birthright. A king builds a kingdom which he plans to pass on to the boy when he comes of age. When the king sits on his royal throne and his boy runs in, he pulls the boy into his lap with a smile and continues with his work of ruling, judging, strategizing. He teaches his boy by example to steward well. He makes war to defend, to fight for the safety and security of the boy and his kingdom.
Have you experienced God’s demonstrative love? Or has your love tank been running on empty for longer than you can remember? Have you known Him as Father? Have you dared to approach His throne boldly for help when you need it most? (Hebrews 4:16) Or is your head bent too low in shame for your eyes to seek His face? Do you worry you’ll find only stern disapproval or disgust in His gaze?
“Let me illustrate: As long as an heir is a minor, he’s not really much different than a servant, although he’s the master over all of them.
For until the time appointed by the father, the child is under the domestic supervision of the guardians of the estate.
So it is with us.
When we were juveniles we were enslaved under the hostile spirits of the world.
But when the time of fulfillment had come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law.
Yet all of this was so that he would redeem and set free those held hostage to the law so that we would receive our freedom and a full legal adoption as his children.
And so that we would know that we are his true children, God released the Spirit of Sonship into our hearts—moving us to cry out intimately, “My Father! My true Father!”
Now we’re no longer living like slaves under the law, but we enjoy being God’s very own sons and daughters!
And because we’re his, we can access everything our Father has—for we are heirs because of what God has done!
Before we knew God as our Father, we were unwitting servants to the powers that be, which are nothing compared to God.
But now that we truly know him and are intimately known by him, why would we for a moment consider turning back to those weak and feeble principles of religion, as though we were still subject to them?”
Galatians 4:1-9 TPT
https://bible.com/bible/1849/gal.4.1-9.TPT
“This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person.
The old life is gone; a new life has begun!
And all of this is a gift from God, who brought us back to himself through Christ.
And God has given us this task of reconciling people to him.”
2 Corinthians 5:17-18 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/2co.5.17-18.NLT
Teaching Biblical concepts concretely doesn’t just apply to parents and children. Pastors and teachers, yes, and every believer has the same calling from our Lord Jesus to go into all the world and make disciples, teaching them to obey, observe, faithfully follow all He has commanded us. (Matthew 28:18-20) Jesus promised His presence and authority, and He prayed for His first followers and all who would believe because of their testimony.
“Make them holy by your truth; teach them your word, which is truth.”
John 17:17 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/jhn.17.17.NLT
Jesus’s commission was not new. The New Testament mirrors the Old. The promise of Messiah is found from the first chapters of Genesis throughout the Law and the Prophets as Luke 24:27 attests. “Then Jesus took them through the writings of Moses and all the prophets, explaining from all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.” Jesus even said He did not come to do away with the Law but to fulfill it. (Matthew 5:17) Disciple-making begins at home with those closest to us, and the ripple effect spans generations.
““But watch out! Be careful never to forget what you yourself have seen.
Do not let these memories escape from your mind as long as you live!
And be sure to pass them on to your children and grandchildren.”
Deuteronomy 4:9 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/deu.4.9.NLT
““Listen, O Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord alone.
And you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your strength.
And you must commit yourselves wholeheartedly to these commands that I am giving you today.
Repeat them again and again to your children.
Talk about them when you are at home and when you are on the road, when you are going to bed and when you are getting up.
Tie them to your hands and wear them on your forehead as reminders.
Write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.”
Deuteronomy 6:4-9 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/deu.6.4-9.NLT
“So commit yourselves wholeheartedly to these words of mine.
Tie them to your hands and wear them on your forehead as reminders.
Teach them to your children.
Talk about them when you are at home and when you are on the road, when you are going to bed and when you are getting up.
Write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates, so that as long as the sky remains above the earth, you and your children may flourish in the land the Lord swore to give your ancestors.
Be careful to obey all these commands I am giving you.
Show love to the Lord your God by walking in his ways and holding tightly to him.”
Deuteronomy 11:18-22 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/deu.11.18-22.NLT
“O my people, listen to my instructions. Open your ears to what I am saying, for I will speak to you in a parable.
I will teach you hidden lessons from our past— stories we have heard and known, stories our ancestors handed down to us.
We will not hide these truths from our children; we will tell the next generation about the glorious deeds of the Lord, about his power and his mighty wonders.
For he issued his laws to Jacob; he gave his instructions to Israel.
He commanded our ancestors to teach them to their children, so the next generation might know them— even the children not yet born— and they in turn will teach their own children.
So each generation should set its hope anew on God, not forgetting his glorious miracles and obeying his commands.
Then they will not be like their ancestors— stubborn, rebellious, and unfaithful, refusing to give their hearts to God.”
Psalms 78:1-8 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/psa.78.8.NLT
“Knock, knock. Anybody home?” I ask as I gently tap on Amelia’s forehead. “Who is it?” she replies.
“Behold, I’m standing at the door, knocking.
If your heart is open to hear my voice and you open the door within, I will come in to you and feast with you, and you will feast with me.”
Revelation 3:20 TPT
https://bible.com/bible/1849/rev.3.20.TPT
“The one whose heart is open let him listen carefully to what the Spirit is saying now to the churches.”
Revelation 3:22 TPT
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