But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”      Romans 5:8 

Can you imagine where we'd be if God had waited for us to reach out to him?   What if He had said, "I'm not going to love them until they love me?"  Or consider this - what if your parents had waited for you to show them love and affection before they would care for you?  As a newborn baby, it would've been absolutely impossible for you to do that.  You couldn't do much beyond eating, crying and sleeping. If your parents had waited for you to prove your love, you would've never survived!

Thankfully, God didn't wait for us to prove our love for Him either. He saw our hunger, our tears, and our need for rest. And like a loving parent, He sacrificed to meet those needs. He became a man - Jesus - so that He could make a way for us to have a relationship with Him.  And through that relationship He feeds hunger with truth, turns tears to joy, and gives rest to the weary.  Because He loved, He gave, and because He gave, we know what it means to love.   Just as God loves us, we need to return the favor.  

When Moses and the Israelites finally reached the outskirts of the Promised Land, Moses sent spies to scout it out.  Caleb was one of them.  He and the other men found some scary stuff in this place God was supposedly giving them.  There were other people already living there - big people they didn't want to mess with.  When the spies returned to camp, they gave Moses and the rest of the people the rundown: "There's no way we're going to move in without a fight, and we don't stand a chance against them."  The news caused an outburst of fear among the people.  But Caleb calmly stepped forward and said, "With God on our side, we can do it." 

Caleb was confident God loved His people and had a good plan for them.  That's why he was able to stand strong in the face of fear and doubt.  He chose to follow God even when the majority disagreed, knowing God would keep His word - just like He always had.  God's love had gripped Caleb and because of that, Caleb followed God with his whole heart.  

We need to have these thoughts in mind as we go out this month.  We need to understand that God loves each and everyone of us!  He always has and He always will, but we also need to express this kind of love back to Him … just like Caleb!

                                                                                                          Your bro in Christ, Josh