God’s Words of Love: John 3:1-21
verdict = a decision on a disputed issue in a civil or criminal case
John 3:19 This is the verdict. Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil.
I’m guilty. There are many moments where I have fallen short and let in the “darkness instead of the light.” Selfishly we allow the world to impact many of the choices we lean towards daily. Does my current circumstance or response to the circumstance show light or darkness? Thankfully, we have a LORD who came not to condemn us but to save us through Him. v 17.
Do you need to be saved? Do you need some direct exposure to light? Believe! Believe that this given day, today, was designed by God and made specifically for you. It is a day that allows our testimony to point back to Jesus and shine light into the darkest areas. Today, we can submit any earthly circumstance we are wrestling with and trust our Lord with the light He is waiting to shine on us.
John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that He gave his one and only Son, that whosoever believe in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.
Pray Psalm 51 – Dear Lord,
Have mercy on me, O God,
according to your unfailing love;
according to your great compassion
blot out my transgressions.
2 Wash away all my iniquity
and cleanse me from my sin.
3 For I know my transgressions,
and my sin is always before me.
4 Against you, you only, have I sinned
and done what is evil in your sight;
so you are right in your verdict
and justified when you judge.
5 Surely, I was sinful at birth,
sinful from when my mother conceived me.
6 Yet you desired faithfulness even in the womb;
you taught me wisdom in that secret place.
7 Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean;
wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.
8 Let me hear joy and gladness;
let the bones you have crushed rejoice.
9 Hide your face from my sins
and blot out all my iniquity.
10 Create in me a pure heart, O God,
and renew a steadfast spirit within me.
11 Do not cast me from your presence
or take your Holy Spirit from me.
12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation
and grant me a willing spirit to sustain me.
13 Then I will teach transgressors your ways,
so that sinners will turn back to you.
14 Deliver me from the guilt of bloodshed, O God,
you who are God my Savior,
and my tongue will sing of your righteousness.
15 Open my lips, Lord,
and my mouth will declare your praise.
16 You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it;
you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings.
17 My sacrifice, O God, is[b] a broken spirit;
a broken and contrite heart
you, God, will not despise.
Amen