Pope Francis – Wake Up – The Album DevoSample

Wake Up To The God Who Loves You!

by Pastor Rick Warren

Pope Francis’ “Wake Up!”Album Track #1: “ANNUNTIO VOBIS GAUDIUM MAGNUM!”

The Bible tells us that God is love. It doesn't say “God has love.” It says “God IS love!” Love is God’s nature. Love is the essence of His character. Love is how God naturally acts.

There would be no love in the universe if our Creator was not a God of love. The only reason you are able to give and receive love is because you were made “in the image of God.” That makes you uniquely human, different from animals. God gave you the ability to love Him and to love others.

The Bible says that God created you simply to love you. You were made to be the focus of God’s outrageous love. It is the reason your heart is beating right now. If God did not want to love you, then you would not exist. God only creates things that He loves.

Now God didn't need you – he wasn’t lonely. Rather He wanted you, much like loving parents want children that they can shower their love upon. God wanted a family, and He wants you in it!

God's love is unlike any human love. No man or woman will ever love you as much as God does, or the way God does.

First God's love for you is unconditional. That means he loves you whether you do right or wrong. His love isn’t based on what you do. It is based on who he is! God’s love for you is based on his character, not your conduct. It is based on his promise, not your performance.

Second, God’s love for you is unchanging. It is consistent. He loves you whether you feel it or you don't feel it. God isn’t moody or fickle or inconsistent. His love is steady, secure, and solid, You can build the foundation of your life on God’s love for you because it doesn’t waver from day to day. Think about this amazing fact: God will never love you any more than he does right now! And God will never love you any less than he does right now!

Third, God's love for you is unending. It is eternal. That means it will never stop. You can't make God stop loving you! You can try, but you will fail, because God's love is unconditional, unchanging and unending. That means nothing in your past and nothing in your future will ever make God stop loving you. You don’t know what your future holds, but you can count on this: God will still love you no matter what happens. Romans 8:38-39 tells us “NOTHING can separate us from the love of God!”

You will never be able to fully understand how much God loves you because your brain capacity isn't big enough. It’s like an ant trying to understand the Internet. God’s love is too great for you to grasp. A man once said to me “I think my problem is that I don’t love God enough!” I replied “No, your problem is that you don’t understand how much God loves YOU! For if you did understand that, you could not keep from loving God back!” So wake up to how much God loves you! It’s a truth that will transform your life!

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Rick Warren has helped people live with hope and on purpose for more than 40 years. He’s the founding pastor of Saddleback Church in Southern California and author of several books, including "The Purpose Driven Church" and "The Purpose Driven Life," read by more than 100 million people in 137 languages. He created the PEACE Plan (plant churches of reconciliation, equip servant leaders, assist the poor, care for the sick, educate the next generation), which is used by churches in 196 countries. You can hear Daily Hope, Rick’s daily 25-minute audio teaching, or sign up for his free daily devotionals by going to www.RickWarren.org.

This devotional © 2016 by Rick Warren. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

Companion devotional for Pope Francis’ album “Wake Up!” created by FrontGate Media. For more about the album, visit Pope Francis’ Wake Up!.