English
๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐
๐ฃ๐ฆ๐๐๐ ๐ญ๐ฏ๐ฒ:๐ญโ๐ฐ
๐๐ช๐ท๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฌ๐ด ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐๐๐, ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ช๐ด ๐จ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฅ, ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ด๐ต๐ฆ๐ข๐ฅ๐ง๐ข๐ด๐ต ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ท๐ฆ ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ถ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ด ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ. ๐๐ช๐ท๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฌ๐ด ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ฐ๐ฅ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐จ๐ฐ๐ฅ๐ด, ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ด๐ต๐ฆ๐ข๐ฅ๐ง๐ข๐ด๐ต ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ท๐ฆ ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ถ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ด ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ. ๐๐ช๐ท๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฌ๐ด ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฅ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฅ๐ด, ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ด๐ต๐ฆ๐ข๐ฅ๐ง๐ข๐ด๐ต ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ท๐ฆ ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ถ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ด ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ; ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ฎ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฐ ๐ข๐ญ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฆ ๐ฅ๐ฐ๐ฆ๐ด ๐จ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ต ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด, ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ด๐ต๐ฆ๐ข๐ฅ๐ง๐ข๐ด๐ต ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ท๐ฆ ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ถ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ด ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ . . .
๐ญ ๐๐ข๐๐ก ๐ฐ:๐ญ๐ฒ
๐๐ฐ ๐ธ๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฌ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ธ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ญ๐ช๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ท๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐๐ฐ๐ฅ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ด ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ถ๐ด. ๐๐ฐ๐ฅ ๐ช๐ด ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ท๐ฆ, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ข๐ฃ๐ช๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ด ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ท๐ฆ ๐ข๐ฃ๐ช๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ด ๐ช๐ฏ ๐๐ฐ๐ฅ, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐๐ฐ๐ฅ ๐ข๐ฃ๐ช๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ด ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ฎ.
๐๐ฑ๐ฑ๐ถ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป๐ฎ๐น ๐ฅ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ถ๐ป๐ด: Psalm 103:8โ13; Psalm 136; Lamentations 3:20โ23
In our time of prayer and fasting, we have reflected on our awesome God: He is with us, and He is our comforter, guide, and restorer. These describe who He is, not just what He does for us. They go back to His very being and nature: God is love.
In the Old Testament, when God talks about who He is, He describes Himself as ๐ข๐ฃ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ด๐ต๐ฆ๐ข๐ฅ๐ง๐ข๐ด๐ต ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ท๐ฆ (Psalm 103:8). The original word translated as โsteadfast loveโ in the English Standard Version is the Hebrew word ๐ฌ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ด๐ฆ๐ฅ. It is a word so full of meaning that many languages, including English and Filipino, do not have an equivalent word for it. ๐๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ด๐ฆ๐ฅ has been translated as love, steadfast love, loyal love, faithful love, loving-kindness, and mercy. These all capture aspects of ๐ฌ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ด๐ฆ๐ฅ, but not its entirety.
Godโs ๐ฌ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ด๐ฆ๐ฅ has been translated as โloveโ because it speaks of His motivation, which is other-centeredness. God is not selfish; He puts othersโ interests above His own. ๐๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ด๐ฆ๐ฅ has been translated as โloving-kindnessโ and โmercyโ because His love is not merely sentimental. In His loving-kindness and mercy, He acts for the benefit of those He loves. It has also been rendered as โsteadfast loveโ because it is constant and never fails. It is not dependent on whether or not we are worthy or faithful. He always remains faithful.
In addition, it has been translated as โloyal love,โ โfaithful love,โ and โcovenantal loveโ because it shows that the basis of Godโs love is His loyalty to the covenant He made with His people. He remains committed and loyal to His people.
Out of Godโs steadfast and covenantal love, He gave His only Son, Jesus Christ, to be with us and to save us (John 3:16). Because of His loving commitment that never fails, He brings us comfort and hope (Psalm 119:76; Lamentations 3:20โ23), He is committed to lead and guide us (Exodus 15:13), and we can trust Him for restoration (Jeremiah 33:11โ13). Whatever good thing we have lost, He can restore and give us something better, whether in this age or in the next.
Godโs love assures us that He will continue to be the awesome God that He is.
๐ง๐๐๐ฅ๐๐๐ข๐ฅ๐, ๐ช๐ ๐๐๐ก ๐๐ก๐ ๐ข๐จ๐ฅ ๐ ๐๐๐ฌ๐๐๐ฅ ๐ฃ๐ฅ๐๐ฌ๐๐ฅ ๐๐ก๐ ๐๐๐ฆ๐ง๐๐ก๐ ๐๐ก๐ ๐๐ข๐ข๐ ๐๐ข๐ฅ๐ช๐๐ฅ๐ ๐ง๐ข ๐ง๐๐ ๐ฅ๐๐ฆ๐ง ๐ข๐ ๐ง๐๐ ๐ฌ๐๐๐ฅ ๐๐๐ฉ๐๐ก๐ ๐ง๐๐๐ก๐๐ฆ ๐ง๐ข ๐ง๐๐ ๐๐ข๐ฅ๐, ๐๐ข๐ฅ ๐๐ ๐๐ฆ ๐๐ข๐ข๐ ๐๐ก๐ ๐๐๐ฆ ๐ฆ๐ง๐๐๐๐๐๐ฆ๐ง ๐๐ข๐ฉ๐ ๐๐ก๐๐จ๐ฅ๐๐ฆ ๐๐ข๐ฅ๐๐ฉ๐๐ฅ.
๐ฅ๐ฒ๐ณ๐น๐ฒ๐ฐ๐
1. Read Lamentations 3:20โ23. How have you experienced Godโs love? How does your understanding of His mercies, love, and faithfulness give you strength and assurance to face the future?
2. Think of one family member or friend who needs a reminder of Godโs love. How can you reflect Christ to this person? What can you do for him or her today?
๐ฃ๐ฟ๐ฎ๐
Dear Lord, thank You for Your love, which is steadfast, loyal, and active. Thank You that You never give up on me. Help me understand that Your love endures forever and Your mercies never come to an end. I pray that I would be rooted and grounded in Your love. May I face the future with the certainty of Your love and faithfulness to me. May I reflect Your love to everyone around me, honoring You and pointing them to Christ. I pray for people in my home, community, and nation to know Your love and turn to You. In Jesusโ name, amen.
