Nothing Can Separate Us from God’s Love… & UK Fellowship Friday

When I was 19 years old I went to university for the first time. It was the University Of Dundee, in Scotland – 500 miles away from my parents. Once they had dropped me off with all my bags and finally said goodbye, I went for a walk along the beautiful estuary.

My beautiful view for walking in Dundee!

It suddenly occurred to me that I didn’t know a soul in the whole of Dundee, or even Scotland! But very soon after that the thought came to me that it really didn’t matter, because God was right there, and He loves me, so what else do I really need?!

The Bible says that nothing can separate us from the love of God, and as I was thinking about these verses today I realised that they are more deep than I had first thought.

For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Rom 8:38-39

God loves us affectionately

The word for love in the Greek here means affection. I am a mother and would love my children dearly whether they are in a submarine under the sea (depth), or on the moon (height), and even if the Queen told me not to (powers)! God also loves us despite whatever else gets in the way.

God loves us in action

‘Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy…’  1 Cor 13:4

True love is not just a feeling, like we so often get from watching films. It is an action – resulting in patience, kindness and all these other things.

As a mother I might have difficulty expressing some of these action forms of love if my children were on the moon or under the sea, because I’m not actually with them. But God is always with us, so he doesn’t have any problem with that and will love us in action, wherever we are!

God loves us through Christ

Did you notice that it says, ‘Nothing…shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord‘?

God’s love was shown to us in Him sending His only son to die on the cross for us. And the cross means that we can always go to Him for forgiveness and mercy, and sin’s power is forever broken.

Even if you’re not a Christian, God still shows His love to you in this, since you can at any time repent of your sins and ask for forgiveness because of Jesus dying on the cross in your place.

What does it mean for our life?

Confidence – We don’t need to worry about what people think about us, because God loves us so it really doesn’t matter that much!

Security – We don’t need to be afraid or feel lonely because someone who loves us is there with us and looking out for us: we can be secure in His love.

Boldness in prayer – We can be bold to ask whatever we want or need, because God loves to answer our requests.

Hope – We don’t need to be afraid of death because if we are saved we will go to be with the One who loves us. I loved this little story I read:

Mr. Hugh Kennedy, an eminent Christian of Ayr, in Scotland, when he was dying, called for a Bible; but, finding his sight gone, he said, “Turn me to the eight of the Romans, and set my finger at these words, I am persuaded that neither death nor life,” etc. “Now,” said he, “is my finger upon them?” And, when they told him it was, without speaking any more, he said, “Now, God be with you, my children; I have breakfasted with you, and shall sup with my Lord Jesus Christ this night;” and so departed.

Thankfulness – if everything else goes wrong we can still be thankful that God sent Jesus to die on the cross to  save us, and that we can have eternal life in heaven.

Here is a really cool song which we learned from a video of Jana Alayra, a children’s worship leader in the USA. I’ve copied the words below. By the way if you are looking for new children’s songs, hers are great – simple, Biblical, deep, and fun!

Nothing! Nothing! Absolutely Nothing!
Nothing! Nothing! Absolutely Nothing!
What can take your love away?
Nothing! Nothing! Absolutely Nothing!
What can make us separate?
Nothing! Nothing! Absolutely Nothing!
In death or in life
What’s deep or what’s high
There’s one thing that stays the same
No power or King
Can do anything
To take your love away!
by Jana Alayra

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UK Fellowship Friday Blog Hop
I would love you to link up if you live in the UK and have recently written a post about your faith that might encourage other Christians. Please link to the specific post you’ve written, then it will help people to find it.
If you join below, it would be good if you could link to this post on your blog so your readers can find the other blogs in the blog hop.

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10 Responses

  1. Hello. I love the affectionate part of this. No matter what is going on (and how much of it we have caused ourselves!) God is still tender hearted towards us. Made me stop and pause today. Thank you

  2. Rhoda says:

    Hi Nearly Martha, thank you for commenting and for linking up! I also loved learning about the affectionate bit – as I had never looked up the word before.

  3. Joan Davis says:

    Our Father’s love is great! It is so strong and trustworthy that it will carry us through any situation. He will never leave us – praise God!

    In His grip, Joan

  4. momto8 says:

    i would love to think my 19 yr old could come to those conclusions…
    wow! your faith is inspiring. I added my link today, thanks. I am also your newest follower..pls follow back if you can.

  5. Rhoda says:

    Hi momto8 it’s nice to meet you, thank you for linking up and following me!

  6. LivingforGod says:

    I’m forever grateful for God’s sacrificial, unconditional, everlasting love! I really like that wonderful story about Mr. Hugh Kennedy. I enjoyed reading your post and listening to the song.

    Thank you for your kind words that you left on my blog! I love your blog, too and I agree that we’re kindred spirits :). Have a blessed week in the Lord!

  7. Tracy says:

    Hi Rhoda – such a important thing for us to remember, NOTHING – can separate us from the love of God. Thank you for the timely reminder
    God bless
    Tracy

  8. Rhoda says:

    Hi LivingforGod, thanks for visiting – I love that story too!

  9. Charlotte says:

    When we liken God’s love for us to the love we have for our children we understand it a little better. Thank you for sharing these encouraging words.
    Thank you for sharing on Spiritual Sundays.
    Blessings,
    Charlotte

  10. Rhoda says:

    Hi Charlotte, thanks for visiting and for the great link up 🙂