When you start taking God at His Word and just start believing His love, it will strengthen you inside. A consciousness of God's love will make you a spiritual giant faster than anything else I know. One reason is that fear is one of the tools the devil uses to make you weak, and "There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear" (1 John 4:18).

One of the first fears that begins to crumble is an unjustified fright of God. Although we are to have reverence and respect for God, there is no biblical reason to be afraid of Him. Why should we ever be afraid of a God Whose mercy is new every morning (Lamentations 3:22-23)? Why should we be afraid of someone Who is good to all who call upon Him (Psalm 86:5)? Why should we be afraid of someone Whose mercy endures forever (Psalm 100:5)?

God doesn't want to "get" anybody. If He wanted to get anyone, we'd all be gotten by now! Granted, calamity often comes when people get into sin, but God isn't the one who brings it on them. Calamity happens because, when they step into sin, they step out of His protection and into the curse that Satan is still bringing on the world. The curse is out there. If you want to walk in it, you can do it. But it cannot overpower you because Jesus redeemed you from it by being made a curse for you (see Galatians 3:13). So through repentance and obedience, you can walk out of that curse and into God's protection whenever you choose.

Meditate on God's Mercy

The second way to cultivate your faith in God's love is to meditate on it. Sit down with your Bible. Look up scriptures about God's love and mercy and compassion. Then, as you read them, ask yourself questions like these: "How do these truths change my life? What do they mean for me?"

David, the Old Testament psalmist and king, is an excellent example of what that kind of meditation can do for you. He meditated on the love and mercy of God so much that he was completely confident in it. (If he hadn't been, his enemies would have taken his head a dozen times!) It was David's confidence in God's loving care that inspired him to write the Twenty-third Psalm.

There is no doubt about it, that man knew God loved him! He was also a man who committed some of the most outrageous sins imaginable. Spiritually, he did some of the most foolish things a man can do. Yet, because David meditated on and trusted in the mercy of God, he knew how to throw himself on that mercy. David knew how to come before God with such confidence in His love, that God eventually called him a man after His own heart.

Right now, you may not feel like God loves you at all. But if you'll continue to meditate on what the Word says about His love, eventually the reality of it will take authority over your feelings. Suddenly, one day, you'll realize that you not only believe you're loved, you feel loved. And then you'll smile from ear to ear because you just can't help yourself!