Name of God - Elohim Ahavah: The God Who Loves
Elohim Ahavah: The God Who Loves
Daily Verse: “Long ago the Lord said to Israel: ‘I have loved you, my people, with an everlasting love. With unfailing love I have drawn you to myself.”
☆ Jeremiah 31:3 NLT
Let's Talk About It: Who doesn’t desire to be loved? Who walks around everyday saying, “I do not want to be loved” or “I hate being loved”? As humans, created by God and in His image, the desire to be loved is embedded within our DNA. This desire is what prompts us to love others. Every person’s idea of love looks different, and each person’s way of showing love varies. This is because it is normally conditional and dependent on the actions of the other person. However, as humans with a sinful nature, this is not perfect love.
God’s love is perfect love. There’s nothing we can do to separate ourselves from His love (Romans 8:38-39). It’s like the ring on a bride’s finger. As years and years go by, the ring may tarnish, become scratched up, and even lose some of it’s stones and luster, yet the bride keeps it, loves it as much as the first day she laid eyes on it, and will not throw it away. Every time she looks at it, she doesn’t see the flaws. She’s reminded of the love she has for it and what it represents and all the loving memories accompanied with it. That’s how our Father loves.
Elohim, in the NAS Hebrew (transliteration) Dictionary, means God; Devine being. Ahavah, is the Hebrew word for love, which is being used after “everlasting” in Jeremiah 31:3. Just picture for a moment, when you felt truly loved in your life; a moment in time when you felt the person who was showing you this love saw you for who you were inside and out and did everything you needed, to prove it.
For some of us, one of those moments in time can be related to a Christmas morning as a child. Maybe it’s when you messed up or did something terrible and felt really bad and ashamed for it and instead of getting yelled at, your parent said it is okay, picked you up, and held you. That’s God’s love. And that’s the love we are also called to show others at all times. If you’re the type of person that says, “I live by and respect the law,” know that this love is the fulfillment of the law (Romans 13:8-10).
Crystal and I met in 2011. I can remember the first day I saw her in person. My heart was beating a thousand times a minute. I was concentrating so hard to hide it that I thought I was going to pass out. She was (still is) the most beautiful woman I’ve ever laid eyes on. I couldn’t believe someone like her would be interested in me. We were married seven years later. Our relationship has had its share of heartaches and let’s just say, heated debates. Some of these moments were like an afternoon sprinkle and others were like a Florida tropical storm. And just like rainy days in Florida, the sadness and personal feeling of hurt quickly went away and was quickly forgotten. I never hold on to them. It’s because of my love for her.
From the moments that weren’t so good, to the extremely great ones, even when we’re watching TV or me being awake just looking at her sleeping peacefully, I’m reminded of the first day I met her in person and of our wedding day. Seeing her emerge from around the corner in her wedding gown, I lost the air within every inch of my lungs, was unable to speak, and struggled to hold back the tears. I was thinking I don’t deserve the love she has for me and oh how I truly love her and always will. I see these moments every time I see her and am reminded of it during the not so good times…determined to let her know I have unconditional love for her.
GOD, our Father who carefully made us with His own hands loves us dearly and with a perfect love. Nothing we do will make Him hate us and turn His love away from us. He proved so by not sparing His own Son from death, that we may be saved. God, our Heavenly Father, has proven His love for you and me and continues to do so daily. If you haven’t done so today, just thank Him for loving you unconditionally and tell our Abba (Daddy) that you love Him too. Always remember, He is ELOHIM AHAVAH, and He loves you with an everlasting love! – Kevin