Don't Just Know But Believe!

1 John 4:16

16And we have known and believed the love that God has for us. God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in him.

You may have heard and know that God cares for you and loves you, and that He demonstrated His love for you by dying on the cross for you. But it’s one thing to know this; it’s another thing to believe the love that God has for you.
For example, it’s one thing to know that the sun shines on us during the day. But it’s another thing to believe that the sun is still shining even though you don’t feel its warmth and all you see are cloudy skies.
Sometimes we are slow in believing God’s love for us when we are going through a bad patch. Today, God wants you to know and believe that He loves you in the midst of the deal falling through, when that job is slow in coming, when the boss is fault-finding, when your child still refuses to come home.
In the midst of the pain, He wants you to know and believe that He is wholly for you, on your side and defending you. And if God, the most powerful being in the universe, is for you, can anyone or anything come against you successfully?
Perhaps you feel like you have messed up big time. God wants you to know and believe that though others may be angry with you, He will never be angry with you. Neither will He condemn you. The sum total of His anger against your sins fell upon Jesus at the cross. So He wants you to know and believe that He will never punish you because Jesus was punished in your place.
When you feel unworthy because you have just blown it for the hundredth time, know and believe that your heavenly Father still offers you the gift of no condemnation. So come boldly to His throne of grace to receive mercy and grace. (Hebrews 4:16)
My friend, know and believe that since He loved you and died for you while you were still a sinner, at your worst and ugliest (Romans 5:8), how much more is His love for you now that you are His beloved child and the righteousness of God in Christ! (2 Corinthians 5:21)