Good morning, DearHeart.
In the past I’ve written often about the prodigal son. Every time I read it brand new insight eeks out. Sometimes, truth so simple that it is profound.
God is Love.
Simple. So powerful.
God loves us for ourselves and not for anything we can do or give Him. We can’t cause God to love us more, or less, than He already does. Yet … we live in a performance-based culture, causing us to think we need to earn God’s love.
I can relate with each person in the story:

• The younger son, who the father restores all the rights of sonship, so that he loses nothing.
• The older brother, who had remained faithfully with his father, had a problem with the grace extended. Sometimes we can be just like the older brother – stuck and smug in our self righteousness, forgetting our God is gracious to all.
• The father who extends forgiveness, grace, and love in spite of all of the heartbreak that he had experienced.
  In my life, I have been the prodigal … the one in need of God’s forgiveness and grace. I have also been the older son … wanting to withhold God’s grace and celebration of another. And, I have been like the father … having to
  embrace,
  and forgive,
  and restore position to another. Maybe that is why I love this story so much. We can see ourselves in the story and recognize the depth of God’s love and mercy and grace in our own lives.
  With the prodigal in mind, flipping a few pages to 1 Corinthians 13:4-8.
  I read verse 7 over and over.
  “Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.”
  The word “endures” stood out.
  God’s love lasts – it has stood the test of time.
  In Psalm 136, all 26 verses end with the words “His love endures forever”. God knows we need reminding and repetition.
  God’s love toward you and me is
  higher,
  deeper,
  wider,
  and longer
  than anyone can comprehend.
  Throughout all the craziness the past year has delivered, through each trial and each victory, God’s covenant love for his people, like a mighty river, flows into you and me – as strong into the future as when it first began in the ancient past. This means that you and I receive the awe-inspiring wonder of being the special object of His everlasting love.
  God’s love endures forever.
  Wake up.
  Remind, repeat, and receive fully His enduring love.
  Go.