Note: The formatting shown here is not the actual formatting in the Book. Also, the discussion questions and calls to action included at the end of each chapter in the book have been omitted.

                                           Reading List, God Loves You:
                                John 3:1-21        Matthew 6:1-34

    The words of the first promise are Christ’s own words as recorded in the third chapter of John.

          For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that
     whosoever believed in him might not perish but have everlasting life
     (John 3:16, KJV).

     John 3:16 is the basis for the New Testament. In many ways, this is what the rest of the New Testament is trying to get us to understand - the unlimited and unconditional love of God and His intent that we have everlasting life with Him. The loving relationship stated in this scripture is so different from what people have experienced with each other that even the incarnation of God, in the human body of Jesus Christ, and the real suffering that He endured as Christ, has not convinced very many of God's children to accept His promises. This chapter introduces the idea that each of God's promises is another way of our being able to understand and accept His love for us. As with all the other chapters, this chapter will show what we must do to respond to God and receive His Gifts.

You Must Be Born Again
      If we look at the rest of the third chapter of John, we find that Jesus is in Jerusalem for the Passover feast, and He is telling Nicodemus that if he is to receive everlasting life with God that he must be "born again."

         Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God without being
     born from above (John 3:3b).

     Like Nicodemus, we do not understand what Christ is saying when He tells us that we must be "be born again" or "be born from above." From verse 16, we can conclude that what Christ means by being born from above is to "believe in Him." Most would accept that we are born again, of the Spirit, and from above when we truly accept and believe in Christ. The point where we may differ is the method or procedure by which this acceptance and belief in Christ occur. Some have experienced the change in an instant, like Paul on the road to Damascus. It is a lifetime process for others—that the belief and acceptance of God and Christ grow over time—with no specific time or event that marks the point of having accepted God. Still, others, like John Wesley, followed a lifelong process of searching and believing. However, there was a specific point when the assurance of the rebirth was complete. As Wesley put it, "my heart was strangely warmed." There are also those who may not publicly declare their acceptance of Christ, but the fact that they have accepted is discernable by how they live their lives.

Our Concern Is; Knowing That We Have Accepted Christ
     As individual Christians, we need to remember that it is not our concern how someone else has accepted Christ. Our concern is knowing that we have accepted Christ. Acceptance of faith is a personal journey. We each are responsible for our acceptance of Christ, and then we can claim His promises. Only then can we truly accept His gift of the Son as the complete and final sacrifice for our sins. And we can begin to understand how His unconditional love can change our lives. Regardless of how you come to understand the mark of acceptance of God the Father, Christ the Son, and the Holy Spirit — each of us must accept Christ and be born again before we can receive any of His promises. Understanding and acceptance are also necessary before we can incorporate His unconditional love into our own lives.

Christ Not Sent to Judge

        For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that
    the world through him might be saved (John 3:17, KJV).

     In the next verse, John 3:17, Christ tells us that God did not send Christ to judge us but to save us. First, verse 16 tells us God is willing – through His incarnation as Christ – to suffer all our sins so that we might live with Him everlastingly. Second, verse 17 tells us that Christ is not interested in judging us but in saving us. However, the two verses come as a pair. We must accept the sacrifice of Christ for ourselves – "believe in Him" – before we can receive the gift of everlasting life with God. If we do not accept Christ and His sacrifice, we have left ourselves under God's judgment because of our sin of not believing. We separate ourselves from the promises of God in the New Testament if we do not accept Christ as our personal savior. There will be no Holy Spirit in our lives to guide our thoughts and actions or provide His power in our lives. Also, there is no one to intercede for us with God the Father if we do not accept Christ. To receive all of God's promises, we must believe in Christ as our personal savior and have our priorities straight relative to how we live our lives. Of course, the primary reason for knowing God and accepting Christ as our personal savior is that we want to spend eternity with Him. However, eternity starts now, and when we accept God's love in our lives, it is a great power to help us live our lives today. There are events in our lives that would be unbearable without the acceptance of Christ and the presence of the Holy Spirit. The following poem provides an example of how God can and does work in our lives today.

                                               ▬☼▬
                                                        Preston
                               "He's deaf - He cannot hear,"
                           The words filled my heart with fear;
                            As I rocked him and held him near,
                               This tiny baby I love so dear.
                       I rocked and talked - -even sang a song,
                 And often wondered what could have gone wrong.
                        I held him close and prayed every day
                    Asking the Lord to take the deafness away.
                Then deep in my heart, the Lord planted a thought,
                    "If he never hears your voice it matters not,
                  My Spirit will lead him to make the right choice
                         And in his spirit he'll hear my voice."
                      Then I prayed -- Oh Lord, help me to be
                          In tune with your plans so that he
                   Can have every opportunity to learn of Thee,
                      This lovely grandson you've given to me.
                       Love him, guide him, show him the way,
                            Entrusting us to help each day.
               Give us the knowledge that can only come from you,
                Then whatever the problems, we'll make it through.
                               Delores Nitz,  11-17-1989
                                           ▬☼▬
 
      As you might be able to discern, this poem is from the pen of a loving and born-again Christian grandmother after she discovered that her new grandson was deaf. As you read the poem, you can see the process of God's love taking over this grandmother's fear; of a child being born without all of the senses we expect. The emotions expressed by Delores Nitz in this poem show an acceptance of the promise of God's love in her life. The words show us how this acceptance of God has changed her outlook on all of life. If you reread the poem, you will see another aspect of this grandmother's life. She has focused her energy on God. In addition to being aware of the message in John 3:16-17, she is also mindful of Christ's message in Matthew 6:33.

God Must Be First

          But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all
     these things shall be added unto you (Matt. 6:33, KJV).

     John 3:16 tells us of God's infinite and unconditional love, but in the sixth chapter of Matthew, Christ reminds us that there are things that we do in our lives that can keep us from being able to accept that unlimited and unconditional love. What Christ tells us we need to do is simple, right? All we have to do to allow God's love to operate in our lives and to be able to recognize and accept all of God's promises is to put Him first! Well, it is simple, but it is not easy. As previously stated, it is all about our priorities! What is first in your life: your family, church, success, job, personal enjoyment, or God? How you might answer this question verbally and in the context of reading a book about God's gifts may not agree with how you answer the question each day with your actions. The honest answer is the same as the answer to the question: how do you spend most of your time each day. Does God come first only on Sunday? Or maybe not even on Sunday! How much time do you spend watching, participating in, or thinking about sporting events compared to the time you spend praying to, thinking about, listening to, and worshiping God? Does "Super Bowl Sunday" sound like something that puts God first?

     How much time do you spend in prayer each day? How much time do you spend reading the Bible each day? How much time do you spend reading Spiritual material each day? How much time do you spend doing God's work each day? How much time do you spend thanking God for the gift of His Son each day? Moreover, how much time do you spend thanking God for what He is doing in your life? Let us look again at the keywords in Christ's discussion about our priorities.

          But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all
     these things will be added unto you (Matt. 6:33, KJV).

     Well, what does this mean to me today? Let us look at the context of this one verse of scripture as a part of the entire chapter. The sixth chapter of Matthew is talking about:
     vv. 1-4: Give in Secret.
     vv. 5-6: Pray in Secret.
     vv. 7-15: Our model for praying is the Lord's Prayer.
     vv. 16-18: Fast in Secret.
     vv. 19-21: True treasures are not stored on earth but in heaven.
     vv. 22-23: Your eye must be clear, or your body will be filled with darkness.
     v. 24: You cannot be a slave to possessions and give your life to God.
And finally,
     vv. 25-34: Put Your Trust in God!
     Do not worry about your day-to-day physical needs! These needs are "the other things" that Christ is talking about in Matthew 6:33.

Put Aside Human Priorities
     We understand the gift of God's love is unconditional, and we believe that Christ died for our sins, but if we want to see the results of God's love in our lives, if we're going to claim the promise of John 3:16, then we must put God first in our lives. We must put aside our human priorities and accept God's priorities in our lives. We must spend the majority of our time each day searching for God, conversing with God, studying about God, listening to God, thanking God, and acting on what God tells us! We not only need to believe John 3:16, but we also need to rely on it every day. Our actions need to demonstrate that reliance. And no, requiring action on our part does not make God's love conditional. Our activity is necessary so that we can accept God's love that is unconditionally given.

     Now you might say I do not have time for all of that each day. I have a family to take care of; I need a job to pay the rent so that my family will have a roof over their head. Surely, God does not want me to neglect my duties toward my family. After all, didn't God ordain marriage and family? Anyhow, I am a lot more comfortable with the idea of God's unconditional love than I am thinking that I actually may need to change my life to accept His "unconditional" love. Anyway, I pray each evening and usually say grace before my meals. Moreover, I typically go to church on Sunday. I do not have any more time in the week to spend reading the Bible.

     Well, let us go back to the scripture, Christ's words, and see just what parts we did not understand.

     Seek ye first – that is not very ambiguous. This phrase is not subject to different interpretations. First does not have very many meanings regardless of how you use it. If anything is first, that always means there is nothing that comes before it. This concept is not new, and it was not new in the time of Christ. It is straight from the Ten Commandments. "Thou shalt have no other gods before me." (Exod. 20:3, KJV).

The Key Word is GOD
     The Kingdom of God – now we could all come up with different specific definitions for the kingdom of God. We might also argue about exactly where it is, whether it is now or when it will come, but that would just be using our words to avoid what we know is the keyword, God! The key word in the phrase is not kingdom; the keyword is GOD.

     God must be first in our lives, every day, all of every day, for the rest of our lives. Not because God's love is conditional, it is not. The problem is our free will. We are free to ignore God and the promise of John 3:16. If we are to receive the benefits of God's love, we must consciously choose to put God first in our lives. It is that simple. That is our part of the bargain.

     And what is God's part, other than salvation? We do not have to sweat the small stuff! His love for us, as demonstrated by the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, is ours to claim. All of His promises are ours to claim. To paraphrase what it says in Matthew 6:25. I am telling you not to worry about your life and what you are to eat, or about your body, and what you are to wear. We do not have to worry about our daily needs, not any of them. The Bible says, "All of these things." However, there is a downside to this. If we continue to worry about our physical needs, we demonstrate that we either do not believe what God promises in the Bible, or we do not trust Him to fulfill those promises. Is there a question in your mind as to whether God is God? On the other hand, is there a question as to whether Christ is His Son and whether His death was the complete and final sacrifice for all the world's sins?

     Before any of you decide that, I am saying you should just tear up all your bills and sit and wait for God to send Ed McMahan with a $10,000,000 check. Or that you should wait for the lottery to pick your number when the jackpot is over $100,000,000. Let us look one more time at some of the other words in the sixth chapter of Matthew. In verse 34, it uses the word worry; it says, do not worry about tomorrow. The verse does not say sit and do nothing; it says; do not worry.

God Will Direct You
     Trust that God will direct you in a way that will solve tomorrow's problems. Seek ye first does not say that you do nothing but pray all day, every day. It says that searching for, communicating with, thanking, and acting on the things God reveals to you must be the essential part of your life. It says that you need to consult God about your life decisions, listen for His guidance, and then actually follow it.

     I will promise you that if you truly accept what the scripture tells us in John 3:16 and follow God's directions and His plan for your life, you will not spend much time being idle. You will find that doing God's work and seeking His kingdom are not mutually exclusive activities. You actually can be seeking the kingdom of God while you are doing His work. Fortunately, everything that you do within His direction is His work. Let me say that again.

      Everything that you do within His direction is His work.
                             
     You can be sure that God expects you to make the best use of the talents that He has given you. However, until you ask and receive an answer, you cannot be sure that your use of those talents is what His plan is for you.

     What if I have not been putting God first in my life, and I do not know what His plan is for me? Maybe I am not very sure about His unconditional love. Perhaps it is still a little hard to understand what God has done and is doing for me. Do I believe that God loved me so much that He sacrificed His son to redeem me? The answers to these questions are available through your PRAYER and PATIENCE. These words must be your guide for each day if you want to live your life to the fullest and claim the promises that God has made to you through Christ.

Keep a Daily Journal
     Keep a journal of your day with God. What are the things that you did today that brought you closer to God? Were there any things that you did today that tended to separate you from God? Do you feel like God's love is working through you? Spend a few moments to write down your thoughts about why you think God's love either is or is not working through you.

     Are you working on your prayer life? Are you working on being patient, waiting for His answers? Do you want to know what to pray, how to pray, and the conditions or requirements God places upon you? These are the topics for Chapter 2.