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So the Portuguese Roman Catholic Chaplains failed as outlined  in the devotional entitled “Will We Be Like Jesus”; the trained Missionaries that followed also failed as outlined in the devotional entitled “Empty To Be Filled”; and the Dutch Calvinists that drove out the Roman Catholic Portuguese cared more about the gold in the Gold Coast, and not the welfare or the souls of the natives; but rather hardened them in their wickedness, by their lewd loose lives, as outlined in yesterday’s devotional entitled “Voiceless Gospels”!

This looks like a tragic end to the various attempts to evangelize the Gold Coast; but God’s love stretches from eternity to eternity! He never gives up; His love is all loves excelling!

His love brings to mind the Charles Wesley hymn, “Love divine, all loves excelling” (Methodist Hymn 431, GBH 46). I reproduce all four stanzas of this great hymn below.

Love divine, all loves excelling,
Joy of heav’n to earth come down:
fix in us thy humble dwelling,
all thy faithful mercies crown:
Jesus, thou art all compassion,
pure, unbounded love thou art;
visit us with thy salvation,
enter ev’ry trembling heart.

Breathe, O breathe thy loving Spirit
into ev’ry troubled breast;
let us all in thee inherit,
let us find the promised rest:
take away the love of sinning;
Alpha and Omega be;
End of faith, as its Beginning,
set our hearts at liberty.

Come, Almighty to deliver,
let us all thy life receive;
suddenly return, and never,
nevermore thy temples leave.
Thee we would be always blessing,
serve thee as thy hosts above,
pray and praise thee without ceasing,
glory in thy perfect love.

Finish, then, thy new creation;
pure and spotless let us be:
let us see thy great salvation
perfectly restored in thee;
changed from glory into glory,
’til in heav’n we take our place,
’til we cast our crowns before thee,
lost in wonder, love, and praise.

This hymn, addressed to Christ, begins as a prayer for the indwelling of his love: “fix in us thy humble dwelling” and “let us all in thee inherit” (st. 1-2). However, a tone of praise and adoration runs through the entire text. The final stanza is a prayer for sanctification, for consistently holy lives. It is our fervent Christian prayer that our sanctification will ultimately lead to glorification.

“Love Divine” is considered by many to be among Charles Wesley’s finest texts, and was published in his Hymns for those that seek, and those that have Redemption in the Blood of Christ.

God’s persistent love towards us was well captured in this conversation between Jesus and Nicodemus.

READ John 3:9-10, 14-17

“Nicodemus answered and said to Him, ‘How can these things be?’

Jesus answered and said to him,

‘Are you the teacher of Israel, and do not know these things?

————————————————————————————————————

‘And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up,  that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.’

‘For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.’

‘For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.’” (John 3:9-17NKJV)

God loves us so much He never gives up. He never gave up on the Gold Coast! The fact that I am writing this from Ghana today means God never gave up!

Please sing with me, “Love Divine All Loves Excelling”

MEMORY VERSE

“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16)

QUESTIONS

1. Do you sometimes feel God has given up on you?
2. Do you know that, God is not human, that he should lie; not a human being, that he should change his mind? Does he speak and then not act? Does he promise and not fulfill?

PRAYER TIPS

Unchanging God, Almighty Creator; thank You for assuring us that You never change, or give up on us.

Written by:
BENNY MALM

For:
TESTIMONY DEVOTIONAL

CREDITS:

1. HYMNARY.ORG,  https://hymnary.org/text/love_divine_all_love_excelling_joy_of_he

URGENT CALL

If you don’t know the Lord Jesus Christ as your Lord and Personal Savior, you need to do that now!

Please visit “The Believer’s Prayer” for guidance.

We will be happy to hear from you through the contact information on that page. God bless you.

SPECIAL GRATITUDE

Thank you for visiting the Testimony Devotional Website. 

We would not have gotten here without your prayers, goodwill and overall support. We are grateful, and humbled.

We thank God for counting us worthy to share in His Great Commission.