"The Father's Love"

"Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth My word, and believeth on Him that sent Me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto Life." (John 5:24) I can not tell you how important it is to Know that I am Saved! And how do I know with all certainty that I am Saved? Well, one way for sure was given in the verse I shared at the end of yesterday's post, "My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me". Do I hear My Saviour's voice? Yes, most assuredly I do. Does He know me? I believe that He does; but there will come a day of judgement for the correct answer to that. But, do I follow Him? Well; for the most part, I try; at least I think I am trying to follow Him, that is until I get another glimpse of where I stray. As we near a time of year when we celebrate 'The Birth of our Saviour', I must remember with all certainty that the real reason for this Season is not just about the Lord coming to dwell among us, but it is about the Father's Love for us, in giving us His Son! When Jesus was speaking the verse in John 5:24, He was addressing Jews which had sought to kill Him because He had broken the sabbath and had made Himself equal with God. Now, many of you know how the Jews had always set out to trap Him, but in this case, Jesus had given them quite a lot to digest; and then He took off. If you read this whole Passage, and in the context of who He was speaking to, and what He was speaking about, you can see that these where those that should have known God; but yet, they did not know The Father's Love; which means that they really did not Know God. They knew the Law of Moses, they knew of God, and they even knew about all the Scriptures that spoke of Jesus' coming; however, they did not get the Big Picture of WHY He would come. To really believe on the One who sent Jesus, means that you have a full understanding of His Love! Oh, I don't mean that we have to understand it fully, nor do I think we can; but what we must be able to do, is to understand fully enough to suit our own need. In other words; when it comes to Knowing that we are Loved, and that His Love for us far exceeds any thing which could possibly separate us from Him, and that it was His far exceeding Love that has made all that possible, we can begin to understand His Love enough for us. The word 'passed', which is in the opening verse, "but is passed from death unto Life", is from the word 'metabaino' which means to change one's place or condition; to pass or go from one place or state to another; to go away, depart. This I believe is another reason that I know I am saved, because I Know what eternal life is with the Father; in His Love is Life...Real Life!!!