For this is the way God loved the world: he gave his one and only Son that everyone who believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.   John 3:16

Sounds simple enough, let's break it down.

God so loved...
How much love does that take? To give up his only son! Ask any father or mother whose son did not come back from the war. God's "Unconditional Love" (that means no matter what) goes beyond anything we know on earth.

everyone who believes in him...
Yes, that includes each and every one of us -- no exceptions! He is the only one who can save us, why wouldn't you want to have a personal relationship with him?

have eternal life
Imagine if death as we know it would no longer exist. What if death meant you would leave this troubled world with all its sorrows, and go to a paradise called Heaven and live there for all eternity.

Thank you God for loving us so much !

Thank you Jesus for giving your life for me !

Ellie Adams
10/22/02

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Father, I am the dicontented sheep whom you have put in a pasture so green and rich. But still I continue to poke my nose through the fence to see with a wanton eye what looks so good to me. What I know is in the long run it will bring ruin and despair.

But self is so strong and the tempermental child comes out to play her role. Yet the father says, "In due time I will give all that you ask, but you must be patient!" The child falls into disappointment and begins to pout.

But the loving father sends a loving friend to remind her of her own words, about the pasture always looking greener on the other side.

So she relents and goes to her father who with loving arms and lap for her to crawl up into scoops her up. Because she has realized she has let herself be a wanton child who has had a temper tantrum. She asks her father for forgiveness. And the father with all his great compassion and unconditional love, tells her that he understands.

He holds her as she weeps tears of pain and sorrow. He encourages her to put that pain on him. He takes my pain, suffering and shame, and wipes my slate clean again. So I put my hand in his and try to learn to be, once again the contented sheep in the pasture he has given me to graze in.

by Dottie Dubois

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