Hi there. I’m Patricia. And welcome to God Today. I want to encourage you today. Today is something that I’ve been pondering over this scripture for a few weeks now, and it really is a blessing to know how much you are loved by God, how much you are cared for by Him. And, you know, sometimes we’re in difficult times, and then we kind of, I think as women, sometimes we’re kind of down on ourselves and we kind of put ourselves down. Well, I want to tell you today that you are loved by God. And I want to share this scripture that means a lot to me. It says, “How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, (on you, on me), that we should be called children of God. And that is what we are. The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him” (1 John 3:1).
And I want to stay on this word ‘lavished.’ What does that mean to you? To me? It means ‘something in generous amounts, something extravagant.’ Think of something like you’ve been given an amazing gift, an extravagant gift, something over the top. Maybe a mother lavished over her child with lots of kisses. So that’s what God wants to do for you today; lavish you with love, with affection, with gifts, with affection. He loves you and cares about every detail in your life. And the end of that scripture, that is an absolute blessing as well, is 1 John 3:3, it says, “Everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.”
We are given that scripture, that word from God, that you can be pure, not only loved, but pure. Purify means ‘given in large amounts.’ So cleaning something, making something that was dirty, clean. So not only are we talking about lavished, but being clean inside, and that is so good. If there’s something that you’re holding onto that is not from God, whether it’s, you know, something you’ve said to somebody, something that you’ve done, you think, oh, I shouldn’t have said that. You know, God is ready to forgive you and to cleanse you of all unrighteousness.
So I want to pray for you today. I want to say, you know, come back to God. He is ready. He’s waiting with loving arms to lavish you, to love you. Father God, I pray for every person out there, who’s just feeling down. Who’s feeling like they need a touch from you. I pray, Father, that they get the sense that you are with them, that you are for them. I pray that you lavish them, that they sense your presence, that they sense that they are forgiven, like the scripture says, if we confess our sins, He is faithful, but not only faithful, He is just to forgive us and to cleanse us and to purify us from all unrighteousness. You are loved, you are cared for, you are forgiven, and we pray for you that you know that today.