I John 4:16 “And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him.”
“God is love” in every respect! In this context, we know and believe “God” because He “is love” to us. Furthermore, because “God is love”, He dwells in us and takes us to dwell in Him. The indwelling of “God” is not just being near “God”, this is “God” reaching to His “chosen” Children (Ephesians 1:4) and taking them into Himself; making them to feel and know that He is our Loving and Gracious and Merciful God and that we are inseparable from Him (Romans 8:38-39). Therefore, when the storms of life are raging, He is our refuge; when our hearts are broken, He is our consolation; when love evades us, He is our Great Love; when fear is cast upon us, He is our delivering protector; when loneliness presses us down, He is there to lift us up; when confusion discourages us, He is the Answer and the Way forward; and when sin plagues us, He is our forgiving Peace! I struggle this morning to find a way to describe what it feels like to know that “God” dwells in us; because of my human imperfections, I will simply say that He reveals and shows Himself to be the All Wise, All Powerful, Forever Loving, Merciful, and Gracious Father. Even when He chastens us, it is because He loves us (Hebrews 12:6). And, even His Divine Jealousy (Exodus 34:14) rises from His “great love” (Ephesians 2:4) for us. Furthermore, even His Divine “wrath” against sin is the product of His Holy Love (Isaiah 13:9; 14:1; Isaiah 60:10). We do indeed have a Friend “that sticketh closer than a brother” (Proverbs 18:24) for He is within us! His “love” is so sure, so enduring, and so perfect that, though He chastens us, He will never, ever disown us or cast us away or completely destroy us; for as He said to Israel, “For I am the LORD, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed” (Malachi 3:6). Great peace settles over us as we reflect upon the “God” that so loves us and “dwelleth” in us!