God's steadfast love

How do we know that God loves us? At times, we feel lonely and miserable, unable to function, however the thought of being loved by our Father in heaven is balm on our wounds. 

All the following verses in the Bible, the word of God, tell us so. Remember that 'All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness;so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work. 2 Timothy 3:17

- but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 5:8 

So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. 1 John 4:16

John 3:16 - For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

Romans 8:37-39 - No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Ephesians 2:4-5 - But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ— by grace you have been saved ...
Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you. 1 Peter 5:6-7 

So that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. Ephesians 3: 17-19

 But you, O Lord, are a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness. Psalm 86:15 

 The LORD your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing. Zephaniah 3:17 

Six statements by Bono...

Six statements by Bono

1) On both losing their mothers while they were still children:
Bono: I don't have a lot of memories of her, which is [an] unfortunately situation. ... I look forward to meeting her again. But the loss of that is significant for [a child], and for me, I filled it with music and … and it deepened my faith, I suppose.
2) On David and the Psalms:
Daly: That Scripture in Psalms that talks about God being close to the brokenhearted and saving those crushed in spirit—does that mean something to you?
Bono: First of all, David's a musician, so I'm gonna like him. ... And what's so powerful about the Psalms are, as well as their being Gospel and songs of praise, they are also the Blues. It's very important for Christians to be honest with God, which often, you know, God is much more interested in who you are than who you want to be.
3) On Jesus as the Messiah:
Daly: So often those that struggle with accepting Jesus Christ as their savior … it's the idea that he's the Messiah. ... How did you respond to that?
Bono: Jesus isn't lettin' you off the hook. The Scriptures don't let you off the hook so easily. ... When people say, you know, "Good teacher", "Prophet", "Really nice guy" ... this is not how Jesus thought of Himself. So you're left with a challenge in that, which is either Jesus was who he said he was or a complete and utter nut case. ... You have to make a choice on that.
And I believe that Jesus was, you know, the Son of God. And I understand that ... we need to be really, really respectful to people who find that ridiculous and ... preposterous.
4) On how C. S. Lewis might inspire the next U2 song:
Bono: It's very annoying following this Person of Christ around [chuckling], because He's very demanding of your life.
Daly: It's very hard.
Bono: And it's hopeless … trying to keep up with it.
Daly: In fact, Bono, C. S. Lewis has a great quote which I love: "When a man is getting better, he understands more and more clearly the evil that's left in him. When a man is getting worse, he understands his own badness less and less." That is powerful, isn't it?
Bono: Yeah, it might … that could turn up on the next U2 album, but I won't give him or you any credit.

5) On how Bono's advocacy for PEPFAR, The One Campaign, and debt cancellation have improved the lives of million in Africa:

Daly: That is visionary and I think it comes right from God's heart.

Bono: You're absolutely right; it's a much grander vision. ... We have a pastor who said to us, "Stop asking God to bless what you're doing, Bono." ... He said, "Find out what God is doing, 'cause it's already blessed." ... When you align yourself with God's purpose as described in the Scriptures, something special happens to your life.

6) On how evangelicals got PEPFAR going:

Bono: Most of the 9 million lives that are now saved, HIV/AIDS sufferers, are paid for by the [United States]. ... This should be shouted from the rooftops. This is a heroic American story. And I am here to thank the American people for that.
And I also want to thank the evangelical community for that, because it wouldn't have happened without their leadership. Because they like myself, pestered George Bush and the administration, who actually deserve praise for starting this out. President Obama has followed through on it. It's always been bipartisan. ... But you know, it was the evangelicals [that] did that.

I'm in the middle of designing a quiz for my form according to their wishes...questions on planes, music, cooking and...the bible! So here I am and then the name of Bono pops up in my head!

Have a blessed evening...N.