TODAY’S DEVOTION (WEDNESDAY 25TH FEBRUARY 2026)
“When I wrote to you before, I told you not to associate with people who indulge in sexual sin.
But I wasn’t talking about unbelievers who indulge in sexual sin, or are greedy, or cheat people, or worship idols. You would have to leave this world to avoid people like that.
I meant that you are not to associate with anyone who claims to be a believer yet indulges in sexual sin, or is greedy, or worships idols, or is abusive, or is a drunkard, or cheats people. Don’t even eat with such people”.
1 Corinthians 5:9-11 NLT
WELCOME TO THE 56TH DAY OF OUR YEAR OF STRATEGIC VICTORY
One of the areas that we need strategic victories every day is in our spiritual life. If the devil convince you that God no longer love you, you are gone. So, today, we will be looking at some Bible based thoughts on God’s love.
One major thing I know is that we will never understand the depth of God’s love on this side of eternity due to the mutilation and distortion. Indeed, there are things about this God that we will never know until we stand before Him face to face in heaven. One of those things is the revelation of His love.
Understand that the love of the LORD motivates everything He does to us and the entire human race. If we know this, we will not be asking Him to kill our enemies. Even when He is punishing sin, iniquity or trespass, it is done because of His love.
The Bible says God is love. It did not say God loves. It says He is love personified, which is deeper than saying God loves. He is love, therefore not capable of hating anyone in his image and likeness.
One way He expressed that love towards us was by coming into time as man and dying on the Cross. The Bible puts it this way:
“Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. He who does not love does not know God, for God is love. In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him.”
1 John 4:7-8 NKJV
THE COMING OF CHRIST TO THE WORLD WAS THE HIGHEST EXPRESSION OF GOD’S LOVE TOWARDS US.
This expression made it possible for all to be declared to be saved from sin, its practices and its consequences. It plucked us back from the grip of the evil one and brought us into God’s kingdom. The Bible says,
“for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus,
whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood, through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously committed, Romans 3:23-25 NKJV
The depth of God’s love is what we see in this scripture. By the death of Jesus Christ, all who were condemned in Adam were redeemed and justified on the cross, the highest expression of God’s love.
In other words, the penalty of the original sin of Adam which brought spiritual, physical and eternal death upon humanity, was obliterated by the love of God, and the eternal consequences of the original sin washed. People who accept this sacrifice of Jesus Christ and press on to live for Him, will make Heaven.
They will make Heaven because in His Forbearance God passed over all sins that were previously committed. Hallelujah!
This was done when He became sin for us and died in our place, both spiritually, physically and eternally. By reason of this, no human should be in hell. In fact, it will be a waste to be in hell because all the reasons for going there no longer exist.
ONLY THOSE WITH NO RELATIONSHIP WITH JESUS CHRIST WILL BE FOUND THERE. THAT IS HOW DEEP THE LOVE OF THE LORD IS.
The love of GOD has covered all our sins and remitted them. However, as earlier stated, some are yet to accept this good news. They are on their way to the very eternal death Jesus cancelled. The reason lies in their rejection of GOD’s love.
The love of God can save anyone except those who rejects it. That is why, it is when people reject love from GOD that they become eternally damned. Jesus, the manifestation of God in the flesh, died on the cross and saved us from eternal judgment so that we may enter His rest for our lives. He said,
Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.
Matthew 11:28-30 NKJV
But many have not! God does not want any of us to be part of the many.
The journey begins with believing in Him and continues with repenting from all sinful and ungodly ways, yielding yourself to His Holy Spirit and living His life, the Christ life, on the face of the earth. Like we shared yesterday. There are three to four things God placed on earth to help us achieve that.
The first is the Holy Spirit, the second is the Bible, the third is the Church and the fourth is our will to live right and walk in God’s ways.
If any of these is missing in our lives, we will be missing in Heaven in the age to come. We will be found in hell instead. What is at stake is our souls, not our earthly prosperity. Matters of making heaven are so severe that our devotional text today must not depart from our spirits. The Bible says:
“When I wrote to you before, I told you not to associate with people who indulge in sexual sin.
But I wasn’t talking about unbelievers who indulge in sexual sin, or are greedy, or cheat people, or worship idols. You would have to leave this world to avoid people like that.
I meant that you are not to associate with anyone who claims to be a believer yet indulges in sexual sin, or is greedy, or worships idols, or is abusive, or is a drunkard, or cheats people. Don’t even eat with such people”.
1 Corinthians 5:9-11 NLT
The eternal vision of the salvation of our souls is getting our names written in the book of life.
People the Bible says we should not associate with can sway us into living lives that will make us to be missing in Heaven in the next life. The Bible named them as those who claim to be brothers or sisters in Christ, but indulges in sexual sins, are greedy, abusive, drunkards, cheats or idol worshipers.
If we will ever have or keep our names in the book of life, we must stay away from them. The Bible teaches that when our names are written in the book of life, that is when we will escape the lake of fire when we die, not just when they are found in our church registers.
LET THIS SCRIPTURE BE AN ADDITIONAL MEDITATION FOR THE DAY
“Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away. And there was found no place for them.
And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the books.
The sea gave up the dead who were in it, and Death and Hades delivered up the dead who were in them. And they were judged, each one according to his works. Then Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire.”
Revelation 20:11-15 NKJV
