BIG Life Devotional | Daily Devotional for Women

Ephesians 5: 15-17, “So be careful how you live. Don’t live like fools (asophoi), but like those who are wise. Make the most of every opportunity in these evil days. Don’t act thoughtlessly, but understand what the Lord wants you to do.”

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Just as God has a work he wants to do in your life, so does the enemy. The devil wants to do a work in your mind. He wants to do his nasty work in your heart. And he wants to bring absolute destruction to your relationships. And here’s the really dangerous thing … you may just be doing the devil’s work for him.

That’s right – you might be causing the destruction yourself. Most of us have partnered with the enemy and without even knowing it, we’ve been doing his nasty work for him. We’ve made his job easy.

Paul warns us of this in Ephesians 4: 26-27, “Don’t sin by letting anger control you. Don’t let the sun go down while you are still angry, for anger gives a foothold to the devil.”

Here’s what this DOES NOT MEAN – this does not mean you can never be angry. This doesn’t mean you have to smile and always be happy. There is righteous anger. There are times when it is right to be angry. Jesus flipped a few tables in his day. You don’t have to be a pushover. In fact, God’s word even warns us that it’s not good to just go along with the crowd. We are to stand up for what is right. We are to be the light in the darkness. We are to cast out demons and evict evil.

But, here’s what we cannot do – we cannot let anger control us. You can have anger – but don’t let anger have you. There’s a difference. When anger has you, it takes control of your mind and your mouth. When anger has you, you lash out and you act in a way that is not honoring of God. When anger has you, you sin. Don’t sin by letting anger control you.

Where has anger taken control of you and left you thinking, saying and doing things you don’t even want to? Do you see this anywhere in your life? Do you know how that happened? Plain and simple, you didn’t put a time limit on that anger.

You can feel what you need to feel, but you can’t allow yourself an open ended space to feel those negative feelings because then they take root and they begin growing in you. Whatever grows in you begins to take over you.

This week I was sitting in a small village in southern Italy just looking at the old stone buildings and architecture. I noticed a grapevine that had grown up the side of the building. But then the grapevine had began to grow into the building. Attaching itself to the stone, wrapping itself around the railings, and literally growing to become part of the building. The grapevine was creating damage to the stone walls and taking over the walkway. This is the perfect picture of what happens within us with anything we allow to grow. We are taken over.

Some of us have angry grapevines growing on every surface, creating damage and destruction. It didn’t happen instantly, it happened over time.

Time. God works with time, but so does the enemy of your soul.

If you give God time, he will radically change your life and set you free. If you give the devil time, he will wreck your heart, corrupt your mind, and destroy your life.

And this is why Paul says, “Don’t let the sun go down while you are still angry, for anger gives a foothold to the devil.” This is about time. If you give the devil time with your anger, he will do his nasty work and eat you up on the inside. All anger, even justified anger, must be managed with a time limit. Anger absolutely cannot take up permanent residence in your heart and mind!

How much time will you give anger? Something makes you mad – okay – so how long will you allow yourself to be mad over that? Paul says, NOT EVEN A FULL DAY. That’s what it means to not let the sun go down on your anger. Don’t let today’s anger flow into tomorrow. Don’t go to bed mad about this and wake up mad about it again. Set a time limit on that anger.

Unlimited anger with the free rein of time gives the devil a foothold. Do you know what a foothold is? Think of it like this – if a bad guy is chasing you and you run into your house, but he sticks his foot in the door before you get it closed, that’s a foot hold. With his foot in the door, he can gain access and do damage. It might only be a 3 inch crack, but if he gets his foot in the door, then you are left vulnerable.

That’s what anger without a time limit does in your life – it lets the devil get his foot in the door to your life. That small opening gives him access to do great damage. It may not feel like it, but even that justified anger that lingers can make you spiritually vulnerable.

There comes a point with anger where we almost cherish it. We find delight in replaying the story, retelling the events, and rekindling the anger. The more people we can get to join us in that anger, the better. But that’s only better for the enemy. Now he has greater access to more hearts. Footholds are everywhere, and we are creating them!

1 Corinthians 13:6 TPT says, “Love finds no delight in what is wrong.” Really think about that. We are called to love. That is our purpose and our mission. Love finds no delight in what is wrong. That means when we are living according to the way God has called us to live, we don’t happily point out and talk about what is wrong. We don’t joyfully retell the story about what is wrong or who is wrong. Why are we making our conversations all about what is wrong? We have to stop that! Find something better to talk about. My goodness, there has to be something better to talk about. And here’s the thing … someone just has to turn the conversation and redirect it to what is right … I’m pretty sure God has asked YOU to be that person.

I often make it a daily goal to “take no delight in what is wrong”. I can fall into the trap of watching something bad unfold and secretly enjoy the show. I caught myself just yesterday watching an angry old man on the train to Rome causing a ruckus for everyone around him. It was delighting to my eyes like entertainment. I wanted to hear the fighting. I wanted others to get involved. I was literally delighting in what was wrong, and that simply IS NOT LOVE. The enemy had a little opening to my heart and actively began working on my dislike of this human who I didn’t even know. My facial expressions told everyone else on that train that I was with them in their anger towards an old man who was clearly having a very bad day.

That’s not right. That’s not God’s way. In fact, I’m just actively doing the devil’s work for him. I’m part of the problem.

Paul gives us the solution earlier in Ephesians 4:2, “Always be humble and gentle. Be patient with each other, making allowance for each other’s faults because of your love.” Can we just make allowance for each other’s faults? Can we be tolerant with one another? Can we remember that sometimes people have bad days? Can we remember that some people are carrying heavy burdens within that we know nothing about? Can we assume the best instead of the worst and allow space for our differences without anger?

This isn’t just for strangers on a train, this is for the people we live with. Can we just allow space for rough mornings, overwhelmed minds, and poor choices of words sometimes? Can we give grace where they are wrong without making it all about us?

You know what that does – that slams the door on the enemy. If his foot was trying to slip in there, his toes got smashed! The devil gets no foothold because my anger isn’t necessary and it’s simply not allowed here in the things that ultimately don’t even matter.

But when it does matter – and sometimes it does – what’s important for us to remember is SET A TIME LIMIT on that anger. Don’t let the anger grow and fester. If you keep replaying the offense, the resentment will grow and bitterness will take root. And that bitterness is like the angry grapevine that attaches to you and creates destruction. It just won’t let go. It will wrap around you and force its way in.

The foothold given to the devil becomes his stronghold. And if he has a stronghold on your heart, then you become the angry bitter woman you never wanted to be – and the woman no one wants to be around. Clinging to anger helps the enemy accomplish his work. He is the accuser, the divider, the destroyer, the condemner … and we partner with him in our anger and begin doing his work for him. We accuse instead of restore. We divide instead of reconcile. We wound instead of heal. We rehearse offenses rather than extend grace. This isn’t love … this is the enemy’s trap and we fall right in and become his slaves in his nasty work.

When you feel angry, deal with it quickly. Don’t nurture it. Don’t let it settle it. Set a time limit and when the time is up, let it go. Your heart NEEDS YOU TO LET IT GO NOW. Before the sun goes down, let it go.

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When you realize how truly loved you are by God, you are made complete with two things: the fullness of life and the power that comes from God. Knowing you are loved frees you to live like never before. Not in fear and not in shame, but in bold courage to show up in this life you have been given and live like the girl you were truly created to be. Oh how I pray you are living in that freedom, my sister. You don’t have to play little. You don’t have to shrink back. You don’t have to sit it out. You can show up as the unique masterpiece you were created to be and live as only you can live.

Now, today let’s talk about the second thing that makes you complete in God’s love … POWER that comes from God himself.

What a trick of the enemy to make you think you are helpless and hopeless. What a lie from the pits of hell that tells you you’re just a victim to life’s circumstances and bad luck is all you ever have. No, my sister, you have power. And what can the power at work within you do … well, you have absolutely no idea! Like truly, your mind can’t even comprehend the power working in you as the recipient of God’s love.

Ephesians 3:20, “Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think.”

You literally have no idea what God’s power within you can do. You have never even dreamed up a dream comparable to what is truly possible with this power of God’s you have within you. BUT DON’T YOU WANT TO? Don’t you want to start living with a better awareness of this power? Don’t you want to wake up with the knowledge of what can happen with God?

When you begin to know about God’s mighty power that is working inside of you, you start living different. You stop backing down in fear. You stop dismissing yourself. You stop allowing fear and anxiety to take root in your mind and rob you of your joy and peace.

This is not God’s promise to give you bigger stuff than you ever dreamed of … this is God’s promise of his power to do greater work IN YOU than you can currently imagine. Read it again – Ephesians 3:20, “Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think.” He can change you. He can supernaturally strengthen you. He can make you in tune with his voice and sensitive to his promptings. He can give you holy courage to do what you’ve always been to afraid to do. He can guide you to be in the right place at the right time for his perfectly right plans to unfold.

Sounds great, doesn’t it? We all want that. But don’t pluck this single scripture out and miss the full picture of God’s word. The revelation of this power at work within us comes AFTER experiencing the true measure of God’s love for us. This power doesn’t come without relationship. God is not a genie in a bottle with 3 wishes. He’s your loving creator who designed you to need him and thrive in the experience of his love for you. You are not complete without his love and you are not filled with this power without a relationship with him.

Nothing is impossible with God – that’s true. But let remind you of the impossible work God focuses on BEFORE the open door, before the opportunity, before the success, and before the breakthrough … he begins by giving you a new mind with new thoughts. He begins by healing your heart to make it soft again. He starts by strengthening your spirit. Before he builds your business, he builds your courage, grows you in maturity, sets you free, and teaches you to love like him.

If you’re only looking for the perks of riches, worldly success and selfish dreams, you may be sorely disappointed. God holds all those things, but he focuses on who you are becoming within FIRST. It’s his power at work WITHIN YOU, and that power can accomplish infinitely more than you could ever ask, think or imagine.

Those habits you feel can never change … oh they can change! That old way of worrying about everything and overthinking all things … well that’s all powerless compared to God’s power now at work. Maybe you were once jealous, negative, or fearful … welp, all that is subject to the power of God now working in you. Once you know just how loved you are, then you’re under his power to change everything within you.

Is there something you will boldly dare to ask God to go to work on in you? Something you want to surrender to his power and release to his control? Something you want to lay down right here and now and never pick it back up again?

What is it? What yucky thing within you do you struggle with? This morning I sat down with God and I wrote a list of 34 different inner battles. Things I’ve personally battled or seen others battle. Every single one of which God has the power to change, but first we must acknowledge our own struggles before God. Don’t ignore this – if you really want God to do impossible things within you starting today, then it starts right here. Where have you struggled and you want God’s power to change:

• Your tendency to perform

• Your deep need to be liked

• Your fear of disappointing people

• Your negative self-talk

• Your constant comparison

• Your default of inappropriate flirtiness

• Your need for validation

• Your emotional over-eating

• Your inability to say no

• Your fear of being overlooked

• Your inability to rest without guilt

• Your twisted thought patterns

• Your instant anger

• Your overwhelming worry

• Your need to control

• Your unquinchable thirst for more

• Your busy mind

• Your negative thoughts

• Your inability to finish what you start

• Your tendency to embellish the story

• Your constant scrolling and distraction

• Your default of gossip

• Your jealousy of others

• Your bitterness from past hurt

• Your addiction to comfort

• Your fear of failure

• Your perfectionism

• Your procrastination

• Your inability to trust God fully

• Your secret pride

• Your habit of settling for less than God’s best

• Your tendency to quit when it gets hard

• Your obsession with appearance

• Your struggle to believe you’re already enough in Christ

Oh my sister, you’re not alone – we all need God’s power at work within us. There’s no shame in what you’re willing to surrender right here to God.

Decide now, are you going to continue to wrestle with this, or are you going to seek the power of God at work within you that can accomplish infinitely more than we could ask or think. This isn’t about your willpower to change, this is about your surrender to God’s power. Will you surrender this?

If you’re really serious about this, I would recommend you go back and really listen to this list and with each one, ask God if this is an area you need his help with. Write them down, then bring them to God in prayer every day. Here’s how you could do that

Example: If you struggle with negative thoughts, a default of gossip and an obsession with appearance, write them down in your journal.

On one page write NEGATIVE THOUGHTS, then write Ephesians 3:19-20 to yourself, “I’m open to experiencing the love of Christ. Now I’m being made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God. God is able, through his mighty power at work within ME to accomplish infinitely more than I could ask or think.” Then, in your own words, invite God’s loving power to go to work on your negative thoughts. Ask him to heal your mind. Ask him to do things you don’t even know to ask for.

Then on the next page, write your next struggle, DEFAULT OF GOSSIP. Once again, write out Ephesians 3: 19-20 to yourself, “I’m open to experiencing the love of Christ. Now I’m being made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God. God is able, through his mighty power at work within ME to accomplish infinitely more than I could ask or think.” Then, in your own words, invite God’s loving power to go to work on your default of gossip. Ask him for holy conviction so you’re aware when it’s happening and special strength to change.

On another page write your next struggle, OBSESSION WITH APPEARANCE. Once again, write out Ephesians 3: 19-20 to yourself, “I’m open to experiencing the love of Christ. Now I’m being made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God. God is able, through his mighty power at work within ME to accomplish infinitely more than I could ask or think.” Then, in your own words, invite God’s loving power to go to work on your obsession with appearance. Ask him to take away the desires that are not of him. Ask the Holy Spirit to heal what has been broken within that makes you unhappy with who you naturally are.

Keep going back to this in prayer. As you recognize another need for God’s help, write it down in prayer.

Will it work? Absolutely it will work. Not because of a magic formula, but because of God’s promised power for the girls he loves … and that’s you! He wants to work in you. He wants to heal what has been broken, he wants to restore what has been stolen, he wants to fix what has been twisted, and he wants to renew what has gone bad.

Bring it to God, surrender it all to his power, and watch him work within you in unimaginable ways. He will radically change your life … and he’ll start with what’s happening inside of you.

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Something happens in your life when you have a personal encounter with God’s love.  Something that changes you.

I’m sure you know that God loves you.  But do you only know that on a surface level?

For some, it’s a mere blanket statement of faith – nothing more than a thing you say because it’s what everyone else says.  “Jesus loves me this I know – for the Bible tells me so.”  But God wants his love to reach you in a deep, personal way to the core of your identity.  More than just because the Bible tells you so, but because you’ve personally experienced his love.  What God has for you is this, “Jesus loves me this I know – for he met me in my soul.”

Before you are anything else, you are loved by God.  Before you are pretty enough, smart enough, or good enough in any way, you are LOVED BY GOD.  Before the first thing you did right or after the last thing you got wrong, you are loved by God.  Your mere existence proves the fact of his love for you.

But because you’ve had his love every day of your life whether you acknowledged it or not, maybe it’s just become ordinary and unimpressive to you.  Sure, I’m loved by God – but what about these bills?  Yeah, I have God’s love, but what about all the things I don’t seem to have right now?  What about this mess?  What about this problem?  What about next month?  God’s love seems irrelevant in my real life of real struggles.

Really, what does God’s love do for you?  Well, besides the fact that his love for you created you, gives you breath, saves your soul, and gives you a promised eternity in paradise … there’s more.  More for your real life right here today.

Satan can’t take away the fact that God’s love gives you life.  He can’t cancel your promised destiny in heaven.  But what Satan can actively do is make your world so busy, so loud, and so fussy with absolute nonsense that you forfeit the power of God’s love here and now.  And then here you are walking around so totally loved by a God who holds all the power in the world, and totally unaware of how his love can radically change your life TODAY.

Yes, today.  God’s love can change your experience in this day of life.  God’s love can open your eyes to what you’ve never seen before.  God’s love can change your thoughts and fill your entire existence with peace and joy.  God’s love can supernaturally strengthen you to do things you’ve never ever been able to do before.

That’s what the enemy doesn’t want you to know.  Satan wants to keep you stuck in your pit of darkness, your overwhelm of sadness, your little hell of stress and worry.  Why?  Because there you are ineffective to share the light of Jesus.  There you are just another soul trudging through the existence of life waiting for it all to be over.

Wait – has the enemy of your soul tricked you into living like that?  If so, recognize at the core of his trickery is the web of lies from the pits of hell telling you that you’re not REALLY loved by God.  His lies tell you that you’re just one of millions and millions of people and life is just happening to you.  His lies tell you you’re not really important to the creator of the Universe and there’s no divine power over the details of your days.  His lies tell you your prayers have no power, you don’t really hear from the Holy Spirit, and God Almighty is a little too busy to constantly be caring about you.

Hmmmm – you’ve heard those lies, haven’t you?  Have you started to believe them?

How do you overcome a lie?  WITH TRUTH!  Here’s the truth from God’s word.

Ephesians 3:19, “May you experience the LOVE OF CHRIST, though it I too great to understand fully.  Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God.”

This is the scripture directly after yesterday’s verse giving us the measurements of God’s love through the cross.  Remember, we can look at the cross and know how WIDE God’s love is, how LONG God’s love is, how HIGH God’s love is and how DEEP God’s love is.  But it’s not enough to just know about these measurements of love through the cross, you must EXPERIENCE THIS LOVE.

No you will never fully understand it, but you can still experience it.  You will never have the right words to express his love, but you will feel it deep within your soul when you encounter it.  Jesus loves me this I know, for he met me in my soul.

May you EXPERIENCE the love of Christ.  The Greek word translated into ‘experience’ in this scripture is ginōskō.  This is a word for knowing firsthand after a personal encounter.  It’s deeper than knowing because you were taught or told – it’s a knowing because you’ve experienced it.  It’s a shift from “Jesus loves me this I know, for the Bible tells me so” – to – “Jesus loves me this I know, for he met me in my soul.”  It’s a shift from “I know God loves me”, to “I have BEEN loved by God in a way that changed me.”

How does God’s love change you?  It completes you.  It fills that hole that absolutely nothing else can.  You can achieve everything you’ve ever wanted to achieve, and still you need God’s love.  You can have purely wonderful relationships all around you, and still you need God’s love.  You can have the perfect body to include the hair, the clothes, the eyes, the smile, absolutely all the things, and you will still need God’s love.  You can have everyone’s approval and applause, and you will still feel a void within – a void that is only filled by God’s love.  You can have everything – and everything will never be enough, without God’s love.

And here’s why – Completeness comes from experiencing the love of God through Jesus.  Again, look at our scripture, “May you EXPERIENCE the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully.  THEN you will be made COMPLETE with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God.”  The answer for your emptiness is the love of Jesus.  The solution for your longing is the love of Jesus.  Yes, that wide, long, high and deep love represented through the cross.  Have you experienced his love for you?

Oh how I pray that you would be caught by God and completely swept away in his love.  I can’t give you a formula for experiencing that.  I can’t tell you, go to this exact place, pray this exact prayer, wait for 5 minutes, then his love will meet you and change everything.  It’s simply not like that.  God’s love meets us each in different ways at different times.

I specifically remember the first time I experienced God’s love on this level.  It was at one of my worst moments.  A moment where I was utterly disappointed and broken by the way my steps of faith had been rewarded by more hardship.  I had grown angry and bitter in the hardship, convinced God has messed up.  Sitting on my couch that day, I wrestled with my true feelings and tried to suppress it all.  My husband said, “Pamela, why don’t you just say it – you’re mad at God.”  I had never been told I could have that feeling and still be loved.  I never knew God was bigger than my disappointment.  I seriously thought I would be struck by lightning if I told God how I really felt about the crap happening in our life.  But in that moment I just couldn’t hold it back any longer.  I screamed out, “God, I can’t believe this is how you repay faithfulness.  I can’t believe this is your good plan for me.  I’m so angry right now.”

And then I held my breath waiting for the withdrawal of his presence.  But instead of being struck by lightening, I was struck by his unfailing love.  I personally experienced the LOVE of CHRIST there in my weakest and most vulnerable moment.  He didn’t turn away from me, instead I could feel his peace fill me.  In unspeakable ways, I was loved like I had never been loved before.  In my most unlovable moment, I was fully loved.

That was a turning point for me.  I stepped out of being the victim and I harnessed new power.  Yes, power.  Power that comes from God when you experience the love of Christ.  Things didn’t instantly change for us, but I can look back and see exactly how God was working for good in every detail.  Our struggles prepared us for the outpouring of blessings to come.  We came out stronger, more grounded, stripped down of all the excess, and our hands were open to receive what God had for us next.

Honesty allows us to experience God’s life changing love.  You don’t have to pretend you’re okay.  You don’t have to play along like you’re happy about the way things turned out.  You don’t have to smile your way through the pain.  God can handle your honest emotions – but you have to surrender them to him.  When you do, you’ll be met with a love you could never earn.  And that love changes everything.

Paul writes that once you experience the true measure of God’s love that is wide, long, high and deep, “THEN YOU WILL BE MADE COMPLETE WITH ALL THE FULLNESS OF LIFE AND POWER THAT COMES FROM GOD.”

To have fullness means you lack nothing that is needed – you are perfectly filled.  Filled with LIFE and POWER.

Have you ever met someone that is filled with LIFE and POWER?  They just glow different don’t they?  There’s something magnetic about them.  That’s the power of Jesus’ love within them.  If you want it, it’s available to you too.

You’ll never understand this love, but you can live in it.  Faith is required here.  Surrender is your next step.  Go ahead and fall apart and let his loving arms catch you.  Experience his love.

This is the flow:

• Experience God’s love

• Be made whole in his love

• Live filled with God’s life and power

The life God has for you and the power to fully live that life only comes AFTER experiencing his love.  You don’t get that overflowing life without allowing a close relationship with God.  You don’t get to stand on the bank, sis – You are being called into the waterfall of his love.  This is not a spectator sport.  Spectators see others be filled with life and power and walk away wondering why they can’t have the same.  This is going to require you to get fully soaked in the flow of God’s love!

This is my genuine love-filled prayer for every single soul listening today – Oh how I want you to experience God’s true love for you personally.  I have, and it changed everything.  It can do the same for you.

May you EXPERIENCE the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully.  THEN you will be made COMPLETE with all the FULLNESS of LIFE and POWER that comes from God.

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Or Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/pamela.crim

Find out more about BIG Life – http://biglifehq.com

You were specifically designed with love for love. At your very core is the need for love. As humans, we are in constant pursuit of love. And ultimately, every behavioral issue we ever experience is in some way trying to earn love, experience love, experience love or force love. What messes we create when we fear love is uncertain, conditional, or unavailable to us.

This is why as women we seek attention, and often act in ways we’re later ashamed of. It’s why we are so quick to settle for the scraps of love because some type of love is better than the thought of no love. And this is truly why the enemy attacks so hard in making us feel unloved.

Have you ever felt unloved? What did you do in that space of feeling unloved? It wasn’t healthy, was it? It was far short of God’s best for you, wasn’t it. And now you know that was a scheme of the enemy to attack the very thing you are designed in and for … love.

You will never not need love. You will never love yourself enough to fill that hole. There’s no surgery, no hair extensions, no diet, no new shoes, purse or outfit that will ever make you love you enough to fill your core craving for love. And there’s no human who can fill that hole. Oh how they will fall short. Why? Simply because that was never within their design. That man will fall short. Those children will grow up and move on. That best friend will get busy.

BUT GOD.

This is your BUT GOD moment.

But God’s love will perfectly fill the hole within you. Why? Because your creator lovingly designed you to need his love, and only his love will ever do. God’s love is like the key to the lock that opens the door to the fullness of life you most desire.

But if you don’t know the measure of God’s love for you personally, then you will always feel lacking and unfulfilled. Right here, today, it’s time to learn the MEASURE OF GOD’S LOVE.

Do you realize that God’s love isn’t a feeling, it isn’t a thought, it isn’t a magical state or some future destination. God’s love is real and it’s measurable.

This is why Paul writes in Ephesians 3:18, “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.”

Literal measurement’s of God’s love. And Paul says you “May you have the power to understand it!”

You see my friends, if you understand the measurement of God’s immense love for you, all that striving, all that twisting, all that forcing can end. Every ounce of loneliness, every desire for something more or something different can be quenched in understanding the true measure of God’s love for you.

How can we understand how wide God’s love is?

How long God’s love is?

How high God’s love is?

How deep God’s love is?

We look at the cross. The cross where Jesus hung and died, thinking of you and I individually and personally, is the measurement of God’s love. May you never ever see the symbol of a cross again without knowing the measure of God’s love for you.

Looking at the cross, let’s look at the 4 measurements.

WIDE – The horizontal cross beam. His love is WIDE enough to include everyone.

Jesus stretched His arms outward toward sinners, doubters, outsiders, the broken, the religious, and the ashamed.

The cross is open-armed love. Jesus extends his invitation of love to every single one of us. No one is too far gone. Absolutely no one is excluded. To the very people killing him, he extended his arms. To the sinners hanging on the cross beside him, he extends his arms. To you and I, he extends his arms. WIDE IS GOD’S LOVE.

⸻

LONG – The long vertical beam . This is not just about physical length, it represents enduring love through all time.

His love is LONG enough to outlast your failure, survive every season of life, remain faithful even when you aren’t, and continue through every generation.

The vertical beam stands like an enduring pillar.

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HIGH – The top reaching upward toward heaven. His love is HIGH enough to lift us.

The cross raises us up from shame to identity, from bondage to freedom, from earthly living to eternal purpose.

God’s love doesn’t merely comfort you in your condition — it lifts you up out of it.

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DEEP – The buried portion beneath the ground. The deepest part of the cross is hidden underground.

Much of God’s greatest work happens beneath the surface. His love is DEEP enough to enter your suffering, descend into grief, reach your hidden shame and rescue you from the pit.

Jesus descended into humanity’s deepest brokenness. There is no depth your pain can reach where His love cannot go deeper still. The deepest part of the cross is the part nobody sees.

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His love is wide, it’s long, it’s high and it’s deep.

The dimensions form a cross… but the cross itself also points in every direction. The cross becomes the measurement of immeasurable love.

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Now, notice this – Paul doesn’t say: “May you understand theology.” He says: “May you have power to understand love.” Because love this large cannot be grasped intellectually alone. It must be experienced.This is how wide His love is.

This is how long His love lasts.

This is how high His love lifts.

This is how deep His love reaches.

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