“And now these three remain: faith, hope and love.

But the greatest of these is love.”

(I Corinthians 13:13)

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I received a hug from the past today. “Consider yourself hugged,” the note read.

I stumbled upon it while sifting through papers and files that I intended to either discard and shred or refile and keep. This one was a keeper. We all need a hug from the past now and then to remind us of the  people God placed in our life during times of need.

The times when we needed that hug, He was always there too. Sometimes, we may have forgotten to reach out and receive it from Him though. In the midst of pain, loss, despair, frustration, depression, anxiety, fear—did we forget His presence? Did we forget His love?

“Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.” (I John 4:7)

If we know God, then we know love. He embraces us with His love while we are unworthy.

“God shows His love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8)

 What greater example of love could there be than a Father who sacrifices His only begotten Son to save those who forget Him, use His name in vain, deny Him, and think they don’t need Him? He still loves us.

“God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ – by grace you have been saved.” (Ephesians 2:4-5)

The “great love with which He loved us” is always available. When our need is for Him and His comfort, turning to Him with humility and awe, He wraps us with His hug of love.

³ Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, ⁴ who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God. ⁵ For just as we share abundantly in the sufferings of Christ, so also our comfort abounds through Christ. (2 Corinthians 1:3-5)

Let us remain in His embrace, His arms enveloping us in His love. Our pain, loss, despair, frustration, depression, anxiety, fear can be relieved, softened, and dispelled when we remember to reach out and receive His hugs of love.

And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them. (I John 4:16)

  “Consider yourself hugged.”

God’s message comes to us through His Word,

written in the past but always available now and forever.

**In memory of Christa, who died of cancer. We will share many more hugs one day, my friend. With love.

(Sharon G. Tate blog 02/10/19)  teacherforjesus.com Meditations on God’s Word