Saved Anouncements

PULPIT: Valentines from God

Rev. Eugene Strickland

February 13, 2011 4:15 AM

"I have called you by name: you are mine...I will be with you...Because you are precious in my eyes and glorious, and because I love you.” –– Isaiah 43:1, 2, 4

I was in a local store this week and walked by the Valentine's Day card section. There were cards of every size, shape and color. Some were simple and others ornate. And there was a valentine for everyone there, not just your sweetheart but for any and all persons you love. Millions of these have been purchased and given out this week and this very day.

As I stood there looking at all those Valentine's Day cards and the people buying them to give to family and friends all over the world, the thought came to me, "God sends valentines too!" Valentines are messages of love, right? Who loves more than God? And each of us is God's beloved. Every day is Valentine's Day, for God showers love upon us in so many ways every second of our lives.

Take a breath. Every breath, that's a valentine from God...every sunrise, every sunset...every moonlit night, every starry sky...every meal...every walk...every hug from a friend...every second of our lives is filled with valentines, with "I Love You" from God. How have you experienced God's love recently?

The Bible is a collection of the most wonderful valentines ever written or given...love letters from God to you and to me –– for us to read over and over, to cherish...and find strength...and hope...and the reassurance that we are loved.

“With age-old love I have loved you; so I have kept my mercy toward you.” –– Jeremiah. 31:3

“His banner over me is love.” –– Song of Solomon 2:4

“Though the mountains leave their place and the hills be shaken, my love will never leave you nor my covenant of peace be shaken, says the Lord, who has mercy on you.” –– Isaiah 54:10

“O Lord, how precious is your love. My God, the children of the earth find refuge in the shelter of your wings.” –– Psalm 36:8

“Your merciful love and your truth will always guard me.” –– Psalm 40:12

“But I have trusted in Your steadfast love; my heart shall rejoice in thy salvation. I will sing to the Lord, because He has dealt bountifully with me.” –– Psalm 13:5-6

“I will trust in the Lord. I will rejoice and be glad for Your steadfast love...” –– Psalm 31:6-7

“But You, O Lord, are a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness.” –– Psalm 86:15

“See what love the Father has bestowed on us in letting us be called children of God! Yet that is what we are.” –– 1 John 3:1

“We have come to know and to believe in the love God has for us. God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in him.” –– 1 John 4:16-17

“Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?...No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” –– Romans 8:35, 37-39

There have never been any valentines like these! And they all are sent to you because God loves you more than you can know. If you ever forget that, just put up your collection of God's valentines and turn to most anyone of them...or close your eyes and let these words of love come back to mind.

Many people do not just send a card on Valentine's Day; they often send gifts like flowers or candy. God was not satisfied with just cards, just words on paper. No. God gave us all the best, the sweetest, the most wondrous gift of all. "For God so loved the world that he gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life." –– John 3:16

Heart-shaped boxes contain sweet candy...but this greatest of all valentines comes from the very heart of God...overflowing with love, grace, mercy, forgiveness, and life abundant and eternal...Each day is Valentine's Day when you are the beloved of God!

“May Christ dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have power to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. Amen.” ––Ephesians 3:17-10

Eugene Strickland is the Director of Missions for the Okaloosa Baptist Association.