loved | Thoughts About God

Beware of the Stronghold of Cold Love

Devotionals — Tue, 04 Aug 2026 07:03:21 +0000

Is your love growing softer, brighter and more visible? Or is it becoming more discriminating, more calculating, less vulnerable and less available? This is a very important issue, for your Christianity is only as real as your love. A measurable decrease in your ability to love is evidence that a stronghold of cold love is developing within you.

Jesus warned of our era. He said,

“Many will fall away and will betray one another and hate one another. Many false prophets will arise and will mislead many. Because lawlessness is increased, most people’s love will grow cold” (Matthew 24:10-12).

\So let us honestly ask the Lord to examine us: Is our love hot or cold? Another persons thoughtlessness may have wounded us deeply, but instead of forgiving the wound or going to them and discussing it according to Matthew 18, we go to others with our complaint. The wound then begins to germinate into a root of bitterness, and many are being defiled (Hebrews 12:15). What is growing in us is not love but bitterness, which is unfulfilled revenge.

Again, Jesus warned that “stumbling blocks [would] come” (Matthew 18:7). There will be times when even good people have bad days; there will never be a time when “stumbling blocks” cease to be found upon your path. Remember also, people do not stumble over boulders but over stones — little things. When you have stumbled over something, you’ve stopped walking.

Have you stumbled over someone’s weakness or sin lately? Have you gotten back up and continued loving as you did before, or has that fall caused you to withdraw from walking in love? To preserve the quality of your love, you must forgive those who have caused you to stumble. Depending on the issue itself, it may be that you legitimately cannot trust them, but you do not have a reason to stop loving.

Every time you refuse to forgive or fail to overlook a weakness in another, your heart not only hardens toward them, it hardens toward God. You may still think you are open to God, but the Scriptures are clear: “The one who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen” (1 John 4:20). You may not like what someone has done, but you do not have an option to stop loving them.

What do I mean by love? First, I do not merely mean “tough love.” I mean gentle, affectionate, sensitive, open, persistent love. God will be tough when He needs to be, and we will be firm when He tells us to be, but beneath our firmness must be an underground river of love waiting to spring into action. When I have love for someone, I have predetermined that I am going to stand with them, regardless of what they are going through. I am committed.

We each need people who love us, who are committed to us in spite of our imperfections. The fullness of Christ will not come without Christians standing with each other in love. We are not talking about salvation but growing in salvation until we care for each other, even as Christ has committed Himself to us.

The goal of pulling down the stronghold of cold love is to see our hearts restored to the heart of Christ. You will be challenged in this, but if you persist, you will discover the height and depth and breadth of Christ’s love. You will become “a body filled and flooded with God Himself” (Ephesians. 3:19 Amp).

By Francis Frangipane
Used by Permission

Francis Frangipane
info@frangipane.org
www.frangipane.org
www.icitc.org
www.arrowbookstore.com

FURTHER READING

Feelings, Forgiveness and Peace

Overflowing with Life!

Dirty Oven – Sin in our life is like a dirty oven

The post Beware of the Stronghold of Cold Love appeared first on Thoughts About God.

To Be Loved By You

Devotionals — Thu, 12 Feb 2026 08:03:08 +0000

“Praise be to the Lord, for he showed me the wonders of his love when I was in a city under siege. In my alarm I said ‘I am cut off from your sight”! Yet you heard my cry for mercy when I called to you for help.” Psalm 31:21-22 NIV

Today as I sit reflecting on love and grace in my life I realize that You have always been there, even in the times I felt You abandoned me. I realize now that my feelings do not dictate Your actions. My feelings do not tell me the truth about Your love for me. My feelings cannot even begin to fathom the depths of Your love for me. I’m fragile and fail at times, in need of Your strength and Your resilience. You are strong and powerful, yet oh so gentle in Spirit. Your love is too grand to even measure.

It is so overwhelming knowing that I am held even in the times I feel alone. It is so refreshing to know that You are not like man, You are not here just because of what I can give.

You are here because You love me for me.

I so love the way you love me.

I love the way You calm my fears when I am shaken.

I love the way You whisper my name to let me know You are near and I am loved by You. Oh to sense Your presence in those times of loneliness and feel Your embrace when I am weary and afraid. There is none like You Oh God.

You are my Peace.

You are my Rock.

You are my Hope.

You are the Lover of my soul, in You I find peace.

In You I find rest. In You I find the grace to continue on.

Thank You Lord for reminding me that You are still here. You have not forgotten about me. You have not forsaken me. You are working even when I can’t see it. Even when I don’t believe it. Thank you. My fears were real. They were valid and You heard me. You heard my cry. You answered every complaint showing me that You care. You are concerned about me. You are with me. You got me. Thank you.

By Mary Pinckney
Used by Permission

Do you know this love that is found in God alone, through Jesus? Would you like to have a relationship with Him? It starts with a simple heart felt prayer:

Lord, thank You for dying so we can be set free from all of guilt and sin — no matter how big or small. Your blood has erased all of our sin. Thank You so much! Lord Jesus, I want to know you personally. Thank you for dying on the cross for my sins. I open the door of my life to you and ask you to come in as my Savior and Lord. Take control of my life. Thank you for forgiving my sins and giving me eternal life. Make me the kind of person you want me to be. Amen

FURTHER READING

If you don’t have a relationship with Jesus, you can learn how to start one at this link:
https://thoughtsaboutgod.com/four-laws

The post To Be Loved By You appeared first on Thoughts About God.

Your Days Are Written in God’s Book

Devotionals — Thu, 12 Sep 2024 08:03:57 +0000

“Hear God’s Word for you in Psalm 139:16-17.

“All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be. How precious to me are your thoughts, O God, how vast is the sum of them.”

God nurtured you in the womb, and since your conception He has watched over you. Your days were not written haphazardly. Your life is not a random thing. His thoughts of you are precious and too vast to count. He thinks of you continuously and of new ways that He can bless you, just because you are His special child. He has written the script of your life. He chose every part of it. He is looking forward to reveal the chapters to the story He has already written.

God thought through all the details – your siblings, your birth order, large family or small family, city family or rural. He foresaw your pain, too. He knew that out of that brokenness comes a larger story, just like when Jesus took the loaves, and He blessed them, then He broke them, then He multiplied them to feed many. Because of His love, His power, and His blessing on you, He causes all the pain and negative things to be transformed into good things in His story for your life. So take courage. God has given you everything you need to be an overcomer, to have victory over the negative parts of your heritage, and to live in the beauty of all that He placed within you.

In God’s master plan and design He chose and designed every part of your spiritual heritage. He reached back into generations past and chose different parts of your heritage. Your generational blessings go back a thousand generations (Deuteronomy 7:9). He chose the spiritual treasure chest of generational blessings that is set aside with your name on it. You are blessed to be an heir to this spiritual treasure. Seek God for it and ask Him to release it at His appointed appropriate time.

Love is who God is and what He does. He says of you, “You are My beloved child, in whom I am well pleased.” That’s what He said of Jesus, and you are in Jesus and Jesus is in you. You are beloved. That is your incarnate identity. He pours out His loving kindness on you every day in big ways and little ways. Be blessed to receive your belonging and worth in His love. Be blessed as God’s love validates and affirms that you are special, His covenant child. God thinks you are the best. Be blessed to celebrate your identity and legitimacy. Today be aware of your belonging, inclusion, significance, and worth in Him.

Be blessed in the name of your Father who has carried you until you reached this place (Deuteronomy 1:31).

By Sylvia Gunter
used by permission

Apple of His Eye

Devotionals — Sun, 08 Sep 2024 08:03:51 +0000

“This is what the LORD of Armies says… “Whoever touches you touches the apple of his eye.” Zechariah 2:8 (God’s Word® Translation)

They sat side by side at the café table.

The girl, messy hair pulled into a ponytail, her pink winter jacket unzipped on this unseasonably warm winter day. Her daddy’s dark hair such a contrast to the blondness of the girl. Each had a bagel spread with strawberry cream cheese that they ate with obvious relish. Between bites the conversation flowed.

I could hear the girl relating bits of information from a recent project she presented in the classroom and her daddy naturally joining the conversation. Occasionally he asked a question: “How did you feel about standing in front of everyone?”, pausing respectfully to hear her answer. He was genuinely interested in the events and people of the girl’s life. Through all the time that I observed them, I never saw the father’s eyes swerve from his daughter as she talked. He was totally “in tune” with this child who differed from him in age, education, career or life outside these moments. The café conversation I overheard left no doubt that the little girl was cherished, loved, respected, esteemed. And the way she leaned into her daddy spoke volumes about her trust in him.

It was clear to me she was “the apple of his eye.”

Does this experience describe my relationship with God? My conversations with him? Do I freely share with him the events and people of my day, talking friend to friend? Do I listen for his responses? Can I imagine his eyes gazing into my own? His ears hearing not only my words but the motives and feelings beneath my words? Do I accept that he sees me as the “apple of his eye”?

Past disappointments, an inadequate or mistaken understanding of God’s character, perhaps even abuse at the hand of those commissioned as caregivers—all can stand in the way of our understanding of God’s love for us. It takes increasing concentration on and trust in the character of God as revealed in the Bible and experienced in daily life for us to live deeply into the one who says, “You are the apple of my eye.”

Thank you, Father, for your extraordinary and very personal love. Help me dwell deep within it.

By Marilyn Ehle
used by permission

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Perhaps, you have encountered a hard time in your life but you have never made the decision to surrender you heart to Jesus. Let me encourage you to surrender your life to Jesus Christ today and start feeling his abundant love for you. The following is a prayer you could make your own:

Lord Jesus, I want to know You personally. Thank You for dying on the cross for my sins. I open the door of my life and receive You as my Savior and Lord. Thank You for forgiving my sins and giving me eternal life. Take control of my life. Make me be the person You want me to be. Amen.

Is it the desire of your heart to make this prayer yours? If yes, pray now and according to his promise, Jesus Christ will come into your life.

For God Loved the World

Devotionals — Tue, 09 Jul 2024 08:01:03 +0000

“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” John 3:16

Thought

Did you know the Bible doesn’t just say, “God loves you.” Now don’t let me confuse you. Scripture does tell us many times that God loves us. However, don’t miss the important truth here. Each time Scripture tell us that God loves us, it also demonstrates that love as well. God’s love is more than emotion and intention. God’s love is demonstrated. God loved us so much he didn’t just say, “I love you.” God showed his by sending and sacrificing his Son to give us his incomparable love! We never have to doubt that God means what he says. He has backed up his promises of love with his actions.

Prayer

Loving and Almighty God, thank you for loving me. Thank you for both saying it and showing it. Please know, dear Father, I love you, too! Accept my words and actions today as a testimony to my love. Through Jesus I pray. Amen.

By Phil Ware
used with permission

Do You Know How Much You are Loved?

Thoughts_About_God — Thu, 04 Jul 2024 08:03:23 +0000

I was amazed at the view below me. The vast expanse of ocean seemed to stretch on forever. Here and there a sand laced island broke the endless blue. From the airplane window I watched as the sun danced on the rolling waves.

A song learned in my childhood suddenly played across my mind.

“If we with ink the ocean fill and were the skies of parchment made;
Were every stalk on earth a quill and every man a scribe by trade…
To write the love of God above would drain the ocean dry,
Nor could the scroll contain the whole though stretched from sky to sky.”

From my vantage point in the sky I was reminded of our amazing God and His endless love for each one of us. If that vast expanse below me were ink it would not be enough to write of His love.

God’s Word reminds us that the Lord said,:

“... Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love: therefore with loving kindness have I drawn you.” Jeremiah 31:3

Do you know today how much you are loved?

Do you know God’s love for you is measureless and strong?

Do you believe it includes you… right where you are right now?

Never doubt God’s love for you.

So many people have no knowledge of the loving, personal God that calls their name. Be reminded today of how very much God loves you. Carry that knowledge in your heart today in a fresh way and be amazed by it. Give it away to those in your path. Thank Him for it right now and live as a treasured child of the Father today.

Prayer: Father God, Thank you that the even if the ocean were ink, it would never be enough to write Your love for me. What an amazing fact! Help me today to live in the knowledge of how very much You love me. Help me never to doubt Your goodness toward me. Give me Your strength to handle the things in my life that I do not understand right now. And help me to live today as Your treasured child. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.

by Gail Rodgers
Used by Permission